Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind - Treebros

Chapter 26: "Leave Me Stuttering In Your Wake"

Thursday, February 14th

  The seatbelt of the car cuts into my neck, and I hold onto the door for dear life. Driving with Jared is always dangerous, but when he told me he was picking me up today, I felt like I couldn't say no.

Especially today. It's unusually hot outside for February and I don't need the chocolate in my bag to melt. Or the flower to wilt from the heat. Or for anything to get crushed by rowdy kids on the bus.

"So what are you gonna do with Alana for Valentine's Day?" I ask. This is the first year I'd ever done anything for Valentine's Day. Jared isn't exactly the 'get a card for your friend' kind of guy.

"Ugh, don't remind me," he groans, giving me a dirty look before fixing his glare into the rear view mirror at a car that's riding his bumper.

"Jared Kleinman isn't a romantic? Who knew?" I joke, and the glare's back on me.

"Shut the fuck up. Flowers just die anyway so what's the point?" he snarks. I want to poke fun at him for not getting it, but really, do I get it?

"They're a nice gesture. What about chocolates?" I suggest. He's gotta do something for Alana. I don't know how she feels about the holiday, but she doesn't deserve a half-hearted greeting and nothing else.

"What if she doesn't like chocolate?" Jared asks, eyebrows furrowed as he stares at the road.

"Everyone likes chocolate," I say. Connor likes chocolate. We made hot chocolate the other week. Unless he doesn't like chocolate and he just drank it because he felt like he couldn't say no. Or because it had vodka in it.

"But what if Alana doesn't?" Jared rarely shows any insecurity. But he's yanking the steering wheel so hard that I smack my head against the back of the seat.

"How do you not know if your own girlfriend likes chocolate?" I ask. Another glare.

"So you just aren't gonna do anything?" Fuck, I'll get Alana something if Jared doesn't.

"This bookstore she likes is having a Valentine's Day sale. I was gonna go with her after school," he says. Honestly, to her that's probably better than candy and flowers.

"Awww."

"Shut it."

"I might take Connor. He likes books too," I say. Maybe that's too much though. Maybe I'm coming on too strong. We've only been dating for like a month, and we've already said I love you. Maybe I'm fucking this up.

"No. No, you are not crashing my date. I will text you when we leave so you can go in after us, but if I see either of your faces after school I will bend your phone chargers until they only work at an angle," Jared threatens.

"What bookstore is it?"

"Can't remember the name of it, but it's on North Street," he answers.

"The North street downtown? Or the North street by the Waffle House?" I ask.

"Downtown. Anyway, what are you doing for Valentine's Day since you seem so interested in it?"

"I got Connor a flower and cat chocolate." It sounds dumb now that I say it out loud.

"Cat chocolate?" Jared's judgmental tone reinforces everything I'm thinking.

"It's chocolate in the shape of a bunch of little cats," I explain. I was shopping with Mom and saw it in the seasonal section. For some reason I thought Connor would like it, even though he doesn't particularly like cats or anything.