Me and the Gretchen Boys

Chapter 21: Valentine's Day

"Valentine's Day is coming!" Laura shouts twirling around. The whole class turns around and shoots her dirty looks.

"Laura it's the first day back and you're already yelling," Denise complains.

"I need to get some ingredients for chocolate." I dreamily whisper not paying any attention to Laura and Denise's argument.

They both stop the argument and ask, "Who's the mystery guy," in unison. My eyes widen as I realize I said that out loud. Knowing Laura and Denise I know that they aren't just going to let this go (especially Laura). Right then the bell rings.

"W-well look at that, the bell has rung. I gotta go." I say getting up, practically sprinting out of class. Saved by the bell, I think to myself.

I rummage through my locker and put some of my belongings away. Laura and Denise are all my heels. They corner me at my locker blocking all possible escape routes.

"What's the guy's name?" Denise questions. I pretend to look for something in my locker to avoid the question.

Laura shuts my locker and smirks, "Someone's acting like they're looking for something to avoid the question."

I don't answer. I find a slight opening and slide in between it. I speed walk to the cafeteria never looking behind me. We sit down at our usual seats. Denise and Laura (especially Laura) keep bombarding me with questions about who the guy is. I don't answer a single question as I stuff food in my mouth.

They both keep talking non-stop then abruptly stop. I look up at them and they seem to be staring behind me. I turn around to see Bryce approaching our table.

"Hey, Carmen! I've got the infamous handkerchief!" Bryce announces happily, taking it out of his pocket and waving it around.

"Oh, thanks." I nod, taking it from his hands. After that, I expect him to leave, but he doesn't. He just stands there oddly staring at me. Silence consumes the table and I finally break it by saying, "Thank you."

Bryce gets snapped out of his little trance and his eyes widen as he realized what he just did. His face turns a slight shade of red and his jaw tenses. He shifts his weight to one foot. It's as clear as day that he's embarrassed. He mumbles something incomprehensible under his breath and gives me a slight nod.

I turn my body back around and let out a small sigh. When I look up I can see the dumb grins on their faces.

"What?"

"So that's the mystery guy," Denise says staring over my shoulder (at Bryce I presume).

"He was practically drooling over you!" Laura mimicked the look on Bryce's face. The laughter from the two only grew more after that.

I huff and continue eating my food. Laura and Denise are so wrong. If anything the boys' are what's occupying my mind right now more than anything.

"If that's what you two want to believe then so be it. There's no reason for me to convince you since I already know the truth."

They both ignore me and are stuck in Bryce and Carmen land. They make their own ship name for us called "Barmen" which I think is the dumbest name EVER. They spend the rest of lunch creating a fantasy of Bryce and I. When the bell rang signaling lunch was over I was beyond relieved. Usually, I'm upset, but I'm not to mad about the fact I get to escape the "Barmen" shippers.

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The rest of the school day was normal and uneventful, to say the least. Laura and Denise's teasing found no end so I was glad to escape them.