Chapter 06: I Made a Girl Cry

     Monday morning came. A full whole day Dave wasn't talking. He just brooding in my room, looking out from my window and occasionally let out a morose sigh. It broke my heart to see him like that. I had my free time on Sunday feeling bad for him. My mom attempted to take Dave to the vet, when he started eating less, but I stopped her. Who knows what may come up in his result.

Even when I was readying myself to go to school, Dave didn't budge. He stood on my windowsill. His back to me. For sure, he wasn't watching the squirrel.

I stood unsure on my doorway. My bag slung over my right shoulder. I had grabbed my homework, books, gym clothes and my phone. A plate of bagel that I put on my nightstand for Dave was left cold. "Urmm..bye. I gotta go to school." I said lowly.

He didn't respond or I should take the low sigh from him as my reply.

"Bye." I said again, louder this time and closed my bedroom door.

After I grabbed my portion of bagel for my breakfast, checked my reflection on the window of my sister's Plymouth Fury. My hair was messy like a bird had nested on it. It was doing its floating thing again, where it looked like I had jammed my finger into an electrical outlet. I hastily braided it and combed it with my fingers. Then, I made my way to the bus stop.

It was my routine. Wake up in my room, eat and shower then go to the bus stop. Nothing peculiar except for this day, I went about my day with a worried heart. A deadline. Dave now had a deadline to change himself into his original form. Who or what exactly was Valentino Rofocale? I didn't have the opportunity to ask Dave about him.

War? Ares? Dave's brother? Something told me Valentino Rofocale wasn't the douchebag Dave liked to claim about his brother.

Five minutes walk to the bus stop, my mind already caught in a loop of Dave's conflict. A date for Valentine's ball. I didn't have any desire to go to the ball. But, I had to. Should I go hunt for partner now?

At the bus stop, there was only me waiting. Usually, there was other few students like me and my twin brothers were running late. As always as they had been. I sat on the bench under the awning. A mossy cypress grew thick and old, dropping dew onto me.

Something rustled on top of my bus stop. A metallic scratch. It must be the branches from the tree screeching against the zinc. It was a misty morning, the branches were heavy with morning dew and very often the tree dragged its bony twigs across my bus stop's roof.

Another rustle, this time it wasn't on the roof but behind my back. I tensed and then relaxed back. Jeez, why I wanted to get so worked up over some random sounds? This is Mansfield. The only haunted place was the Ohio State Reformatory, where there was "The Shawshank Redemption". I shouldn't be thinking weird things.

For my whole life, this was my place. I'd never known another home. I had grown up within these streets and neighbourhood. During summer, I would play with my twin brothers under the leafy shade of the tree. I would build snowman and had made improvised sleds out of garbage can lids in the winter. I knew this place like how I knew myself.

A branch snapped in the trees. I shifted uncomfortably, determined to keep calm. Then, I smelled sulfur. It was so pungent and out of place that I forced to look around and investigate.

I whirled around and there was the fiery orb of spectre from my nightmare. I froze in terror. It hovered close to me. I saw every red tendrils of its fire. Closing my eyes shut, I turned away from it and tried to steady my hammering heart. Maybe, it's just your morning hallucination. Maybe, there wasn't any fiery orb of spectre. I attempted again. I looked around so fast I almost snap my neck and the fiery orb was gone. I stammered.

"Janice?"

I leapt away from the source of the voice. My heart was in my throat and I choked on my scream. I was so terrified that I didn't make a sound.

"Hey, are you okay?" It was Ethan's voice.

I looked behind me and there was him. Ethan Thorne, my neighbour. He stood before me, his caramel eyes widened in perplexed expression. "Wow, Janice. Are you like practicing cheerleading or something? You've must jumped three feet in the air."

"Huh?" It was embarassing and my face reddened like the stop sign.

Ethan began to laugh at my absurdity. "What? Are you thinking that I'm a ghost or something?" He sat on the bench. His tumbling brown hair looked like it was blown dry by a hairdryer.

My neighbour was actually a cute boy. Short and thin, our build was the same size. But every time our PE coach sent him to the field or gym, either the ball hit him in the face or he hit the ball with his face. It wasn't his bad luck in sports that made him the loser side in our school. It was this one accident. An accident that happened way back to the kindergarten.

It was the massive wedgie competition between the two biggest bullies in kindergarten and Ethan had became their victim. When Ethan spoiled himself and cried after his spiderman underwear got wedged, he was engraved to the stone as one of the pathetic loser kids.

But, Ethan was cute and adorable if you knew him closely. He was soft spoken, liked to draw anime cat girl and had memorized to heart every stories in DC comics.

"It's actually nothing." I lied and sat down next to him. "Though I saw something." I muttered.

"Coach Peter should see you in action. He may make you enter the cheerleading team." Ethan cackled.

"No. I will not and cannot be a cheerleader." I said. I was about as interesting as the 90s wallpaper in our art room.

"By the way, have you seen the theater club's Facebook post?" Ethan asked.

"About the Valentine's ball, right?"

"Yeah, I heard they will have Cupid theme for the event." Ethan said and I smirked, thinking about the depressed Cupid back in my room.

"Whaddya think? Do you want to go?" Ethan suddenly asked and I looked at him expectantly. It wasn't that I wanted to go or not. It was the matter that I have to. If I wanted to help Dave, I needed to go.

"Do you want to go with me?"

My heart began to pound in anticipation. "Do you want to go?" I asked back.

"Of course. If you go too." Ethan answered innocently.

Once again, I'd almost jumped in my seat. This time it was in excitement. This meant Ethan was my date and I'd found one! And this also meant, Dave's curse would be unraveled!

I fought the urge to run back to my home and tell Dave about this. He would be elated! I've found my partner to go to the ball and now we only had to find Mr gorgeous-blue-eyed-angel Valentino Rofocale.

This problem turned out easier than I thought!

"So you'll go with me?"

"Oh well, because you asked so nicely how can I say no." I grinned and Ethan rolled his eyes.

By the time, the bus stop was full with students and the bus had arrived. I excitedly got on the bus, grin on my face and thinking that I started out my week greatly.

Sadly, my grin wasn't going to stay on my face for a long time. I'd got a big storm coming for me.

╰♥╮

     The clock ticked by until it rang to signify lunch. Every minutes I spent on the lecture, my energy drained faster it seemed. I swear, there was a moment that the clock seemed to move backwards. Apparently solving the integration and continuous limits problems are just way power intensive for me. When Mrs Hopkins dismissed us, I practically jumped on my feet that our calculus teacher was actually impressed that little-plain-Janice was able to do that.

Since it was Monday, our school actually made that day as the hamburger day to solve students' Monday's blue. I especially adored the uncle Sam's (our kitchen cook) black pepper sauce. It was his specialty and lots of students loved it too.

After I chucked my book into my locker, I manoeuvred the crowded hallways. There was a lot of eyes on me. Strange. Usually, the flower pot or the graffiti on the walls gained more attention than me. I heard hushed conversation being spoken behind my back. For some reasons, I felt horribly exposed and I hurriedly went to the cafeteria. All the attention and whispers on my back couldn't be directed at me, could be?

What? Did the school has found out that I was the one who broke the screen projector in the computer lab and pretended that I didn't know anything?

At the cafeteria, more students huddled in groups. Big or small, they all were talking with each other. That was the sign that there was a juicy topic had been passed around. I got into the queue to fetch my fries and hamburger when a junior bumped her shoulder on me. Her big eyes were looking at me in disbelief and she muttered "stealer!"

I recoiled in shock. Since when? More students shifted their attention towards me and whispered. Even my twins were looking at me like I had committed a great sin and deserved to be put on a witch trial.

"Stealer..."

"Can't believe she did that..."

"The audacity of her..."

"Jonas brothers are back."

Then, finally, the cause for all of these students to unite against me came to face me. It was Angela Chase and her popular clique. Her face looked swollen and all puffy. Her eyes were red and wet in tears. Was she crying? Meanwhile, her cheerleader friends were making mean face at me and clicked their tongue harshly.

Angela, who was still manage to look glorious in her tearful state began to speak. "You said you're not going to the Valentine's ball." She said.

Uh-oh.

"You said you don't know if Ethan will go.."

Crap.

"And you said you will help me by asking Ethan for me." Angela said tearfully. Her blue eyes were looking at me in regret.

This was one of the biggest oopsie I had made in my life. What? You thought this is my biggest oopsie? Oh-ho, just stay tuned for more. It all will come nicely in the future to torment me.

I could only stammer in a silent regret. The cafeteria too was in a deathly silence that even the overzealous sized portrait of our head principal seemed to gasp.

"I'd just asked Ethan and he said he will attend the dance with you. Why are you lying?" She started to sob. "Did you want to spite me?"

"No! I-i'm sorry. It's just–" One of the Angela's friend came forward. It was Erica, the angry pixie because of her haircut and petite body. She took the tray she was holding and dumped all of the content onto me. A rain of French fries, diet cola and half eaten burger showered me in a humiliating stream.

Before another friend of Angela dump their lunch on me, my twins blocked them. I was actually so flabbergasted that I barely heard the commotion that was erupting before me. Angela was crying. Her cliques were shouting. My twins brothers shouted back. One student was blasting off Jonas brothers' new song.

Jack, my younger twin dragged me away from the cafeteria while Jasper, the other twin smacked Erica with her own tray. Jeez, that one knew no mercy.

I wanted to cry and wail like a two-year-old. But, I refrained. This was my own stupidity. I'd promised Angela about Ethan and I completely forgot about it! Oh how I wished the earth would swallow me up and I would be done with this world and everything.

Until the end of the school, I holed up in a nurse's office, faking a horrid headache. Ms Lee, the school nurse let me be. She probably had heard about me. How I became the school infamous vixen. Stealing girls' boyfriend left and right. I lay down in a cot, wondering how I can fix this mess up when Ethan appeared.

He smiled sheepishly. "Hey, I've heard about what had happened." He said.

I groaned. "Am I going to be crucified by the school?"

"Lol, no. You're dramatic, Janice." He said and sat on the stool next to me. "But with the what's the girl's name? Angie? Angel? She's weird."

"It's Angela. How is she weird?" I frowned.

"I don't know why she's making a scene out of this." He explained.

"Well...yeah." I said. "Look Ethan, maybe you should go with her to the ball. She's—"

"No." He cut me. "I don't want to go with her."

"Why?" I asked, feeling confused that why would someone reject a girl as popular and hot as Angela.

"I don't know her. Why would I go to the ball with someone that I don't know?"

"What?! You've never heard about Angela? She's the leader of the cheerleading team. She's like the queen of the school."

"Maybe because I don't give a flying bear about the social hierarchy or the popular stuff. Being popular at school will not give you anything. I can't care less." Ethan said and he looked at me adamantly.

"Look, if you don't want to go. Then, I will not too. I don't want to go the ball if you're not my partner." He said, his eyes blazed and this was the first time I saw Ethan got so worked up.

I groaned again. Mistakenly, I thought this problem was easy. Not it was not. It had evolved into a big freaking mess.

I closed my eyes. Shutting off Ethan. My mind swirled and suddenly, out of blue, the fiery orb of spectre surfaced at the back of my mind. Its fire raged on.