Sugarcane Chronicles Volume I: One and Lonely (ryden)

When Valentine's Day Sneaks Up On You

hey guys :) there is a very important message at the end of the chapter you need to read

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Valentine's Day was in ten days. How did I let it get this late?

I almost had a heart attack when Mom brought it to my attention. My first thought was oh, my God what am I going to Ryan? but then it was oh, my God I still have to get cards for the whole school.

You see, I did this thing every year where I got Valentine's Day cards for the whole school so no one felt left out. There was this kid that did it when he attended but he always signed them, and when he was graduating, everyone thought they would stop, but he passed it down to me. He told me it was my choice to sign it his name or my name. I decided to not sign it to add mystery. But this year, it being my senior year, I was going to sign my initials.

But Ryan. What to get him...?

He had basically (no, no, literally) every item of Green Day merchandise. What other stuff did he like? Journals? Ha. No. A bath? Maybe. Men? Yes, but not for Valentine's (unless it's me (but I'm not exactly a man (yet))). Yarn? No (I'm stupid). Blink 182? Yes. Jack and Alex were talking about them coming to Nevada in April. Perfect.

I'm a genius.

I got Mom to help me buy the tickets online and went out that night and bought up all the stores I could find of their Valentine's Day cards (Mom didn't know about it, so I had to lie to get out). When I got home, I entered through the basement and kept all my cards down there. I would sign a few each night until the fateful night before Valentine's, when the principal would show up at 1:00 AM exactly to the school and unlock the doors so I could deliver them.

Me, the principal and the guy who passed the tradition down to me were the only ones who knew about it. Until that year, of course, when I would pass it down to my favorite freshman, Ian. I had decided to talk to him in person about it.

The next day at lunch would be the day (but I didn't know it yet). I was walking through the halls, using my new shortcut to get to music class, when I saw Brent, Gerard and Jack surrounding Ian.

"Guys, please," Ian pleaded. "Not again today. Please."

"Oh, but I'm afraid we have to," Brent said, taking a step closer.

"Not on my watch," I said because it made me sound like a superhero. I stepped over and glanced at all of them, landing on Jack because I had befriended him and hoped he would get Gerard and Brent to back off. "Guys, just leave him alone. For today. Now. Please."

They glanced at each other.

"Nah," Brent said.

They burst into laughter and I wondered how I could get around them. I devised a plan of distracting the goons so Ian could run away. I didn't care what would happen to me (but Mom would be worried about what happened to my face).

"Guys, really," I said. "If you're gonna beat up anybody, it should be me. Just leave him alone." While they glanced at each other, I winked at Ian before turning back to them. "I bet you dipshits couldn't even win in a fight with me anyways."

They took a step closer (the plan was going well) and added a threat.

"Really, fag?" Brent asked. They took another step closer. "What makes you think that?"

"Because," I said, stepping closer, too, "I'm fast." I pantsed Brent and then turned around and ran.

I heard them yelling and swearing before I heard footsteps after me.