I hate to do this to you guys, but...it's your fault for wanting to read this.
"AAAAAAAHHHHH!"
Carlos' scream frightened Dude, making him jump up from his little bed. He looked at his human friend walking around the dorm, confused. Carlos had been pacing back and forth for a while. Tomorrow was Valentine's Day. Otherwise known as the most dreaded day known to boyfriends. Earlier, Carlos was just reminded of that day when he and his friends were talking during a period break.
The other three watched as Mal opened her locker. As soon as she did, a small letter floated down to the floor. Mal picked it up curiously and opened it.
"What's it say?" Evie asked, grinning.
"'Meet me tomorrow at the front of the school. I have a surprise for you,'" Mal read out loud.
"Who's it from?" Jay asked.
"Guess," Mal answered, forcing a smile.
"I'm thinking a certain brown-haired king who is madly in love with you?" Evie asked excitedly, leaning on Mal's shoulder.
"Probably. It's got his signature mark on it," Mal said, showing her blue-haired friend the letter. "I bet you he's gonna be there with giant balloons in one hand and a box of chocolates in the other."
"Well, that'd be a lot better than what I was going to do for Audrey," Jay said.
Evie straightened herself up and said, "Let me guess. Watching a Baseball game while eating pizza?"
"How dare you underestimate my sense of romance," Jay said, dramatically placing his hand over his chest, pretending to be offended.
"Well, then what do you have planned for her?" Evie asked.
"I could tell you, but that would ruin the surprise," Jay answered.
"You don't actually have anything planned, do you?" Mal asked, an eyebrow raised.
"Just wait till tomorrow," Jay answered smugly.
"At least I know Carlos has something planned, don't you?" Evie asked, walking up closer to her boyfriend, who was distracted by the game on his phone.
"Huh?" Carlos asked, not taking his eyes off his phone screen.
"For Valentine's Day. Remember?" Evie asked.
All of a sudden, Carlos froze. His fingers stopped moving, causing him to lose the game. He looked up and noticed they were all staring at him.
"Um...o-of course I have something...planned...for...Valentine's Day," Carlos said.
"Mmhmm," Mal said, suspiciously. Luckily (for Carlos), Evie didn't hear Mal.
"Great. Ooh! I should go find something to wear for tomorrow," Evie said, about to head towards her dorm, but was stopped when Mal grabbed her jacket.
"After school," the purple-haired girl said, smirking.
"Oops," Evie said, innocently.
Carlos felt sweat forming on his head. He forgot about Valentine's Day!
Carlos sighed and collapsed onto his bed. He stared at the ceiling, millions of ideas running through his mind, but all of them seemed either too hard and long to set up or too cheesy and predictable. He felt Dude jump onto his bed and walk closer to his face.
"What am I going to do, Dude?" Carlos asked his canine friend.
In response, Dude leaped onto the floor and ran away. A few seconds later, he came back with a big bone-shaped dog treat in his mouth. He dropped the treat onto the bed and sat down.
"What does a dog treat have to do with this?" Carlos asked.
Dude whined and jumped off the bed again, coming back dragging a picnic basket in his mouth. For a moment, Carlos was confused. What exactly did a basket have to do with any of this? Then it clicked.
"Oh, a picnic!" Carlos stated. "But that's too predictable. It's not special enough for Evie."
"Are you talking to the dog again?" a voice asked.
Carlos turned his head to see Jay standing in the doorway.
"I need help," Carlos said.
"Obviously. I'd suggest going to therapy. Talking to dogs may be a sign of depression. Or a sign of potentially becoming a psycho," Jay replied.
"No, I mean," Carlos began, sitting up straight. "I don't know what to do for Evie tomorrow."
"See, here's the deal," Jay began. "Women are very complicated creatures. But I do know that they, along with men, do this thing when they really love each other. You see, when a man and a woman love each other very much..."
"Are you trying to give me the talk right now?" Carlos asked.
"It's a very important thing you need to learn," Jay answered.
"Jay, I'm trying not to have a heart attack as I worry about tomorrow. Can you stop joking around?" Carlos asked, his brows furrowing together.
"Relax, dude. Now, tell me what you got so far," Jay said.
"A picnic," Carlos answered.
"That's great! You should do that," Jay stated.
"But that's too predictable. I'm pretty sure all the other guys have something like that planned for their girlfriends," Carlos said.
"Not if you do it a little different," Jay said, causing confusion to both Carlos and Dude.
"Okay. Food?"
"Check."
"Nice clothes?"
"Check," Carlos said, looking at himself in the mirror app his phone has.
"Sphere-like glowing lantern things?"
"Check."
"Okay. I think that's everything," Jay said. "Except for the girl."
"I'll go get her," Carlos said.
As he and Jay walked away from the courtyard, a figure appeared from behind one of the trees. It walked closer to the bench full of food and placed a certain pastry on the table. Then it disappeared.
Carlos knocked on Evie and Mal's door and patiently waited for his girlfriend to answer the door. Jay had gone to spend the rest of the night with Audrey. As he waited, he fixed his hair, brushing through the longest part of his hair gently.
Suddenly, the door opened revealing Evie. Her hair was slightly curled and she wore a knee-length blue dress with a leather jacket over it. She also wore black heels and her signature red heart necklace. Her makeup was simple, but still stunning. Carlos didn't care much about any of that. All he cared about was spending time with her.
"Carlos? Carlos," Evie said, trying to snap him back into reality.
"Huh?" he asked.
Evie giggled. "Ready to go?" she asked.
"Uh, yeah. Of course," Carlos answered.
He took her hand and led her to the courtyard. It was dark, but Evie could clearly see the surprise Carlos had set up. Lights shaped like spheres were strung all around the trees near the table. The table itself had a red-checkered tablecloth on it with all kinds of food. And a little candle as well.
"You like it?" Carlos asked, amused by Evie's shocked face.
"Yes! It's like the most romantic thing ever," she replied.
"Well, I did have some doubts at first. The food took a long time to make and I thought I wouldn't get it done in time and-" Carlos was cut off by Evie.
"Stop talking and start eating," Evie said.
They both sat down at the table and began to eat the food in front of them. Evie soon noticed a delicious-looking pastry sitting behind the turkey.
"What's that?" Evie asked, pointing to it.
Carlos looked over at what she was pointing at.
"I don't remember putting that there," Carlos said. "Jay must've left that for us."
"It looks like an apple turnover," Evie stated. "Those are my favorite."
She picked up the pastry and bit into it. It tasted so good. But then she felt a little uneasy.
As all that happened, Carlos leaned to the ground to pick up his Ukulele.
"I brought this here. Maybe later we could-" Carlos stopped mid-sentence as he watched Evie stand up.
"Evie, are you okay?" Carlos asked.
Evie stepped out from the bench stumbling a little, worrying him even more. Her vision started getting blurry. Her throat was suddenly dry. It was like a constant feeling of the world shaking.
"I...feel...strange," she said, before collapsing onto the ground.
"Evie!"
I told you...You know what's worse? This is a oneshot. No following chapters. No sequel. Everything else is a mystery...Happy Valentine's Day everyone! (I'm just the worst, aren't I?)
