To Mask or Not To Mask (A Henry Danger Fanfic) [COMPLETED]

Blog Entry Number Forty

I walked out of the bathroom after the last performance, wearing a black t-shirt that had the words "Hairspray" written in neon letters, a pair of black jeans, and black high tops. (I wanted my shirt to stand out.)

"Candie!" my dad yelled, hugging me. He pulled back. "That was really good!"

"Yeah." The lady next to him stuck out her hand. "I'm Natalie. Your father has told me so much about you."

I smiled and shook it. "Nice to meet you, Natalie."

"That was an amazing performance. How do you move in that fat suit?" she asked.

I laughed. "Lots and lots of practice." I smiled, knowing that I couldn't replace my mother, but maybe Natalie wouldn't be so bad after all. At first, I thought she'd be like that evil stepmother from Cinderella or something. Or even worse, Simone's stepmother in "Wicked Jealous". (The mom tried to kill her by making her eat apple cake, which Simone was allergic to.)

"So, after this, we're gonna have lunch at 'Delhi Deli'. Sounds good?" my father asked. I nodded.

"Delhi Deli" was an Indian restaurant with the best samosas, naan bread, and... well, Indian food in general. We walked back inside of the cafeteria, and Natalie and I struck up a conversation about how curry tasted better with freshly baked naan. I smiled, but our conversation stopped when Cody was yelling my name.

"Candie, come on! There can't be a group picture without the lead!" he shouted. I excused myself from the conversation and ran to the stage, where everyone was standing. The photographer walked up to us with his tripod.

"Alright, everyone!" he ordered. "Say, 'Ultra Clutch'!"

"'Ultra Clutch'!" we yelled in unison. The camera flashed, and I blinked. Circles started to appear every time I blinked. I was rubbing my eyes when someone tapped me on the shoulder.

"Hey," they said. I blinked a few more times until I clearly saw who the person was. "Candie. Are you alright?" Henry asked.

"Oh, it's you!" I rubbed my eyes again. "Sorry, the flash kinda got me by surprise."

"Yeah, me too. I almost tapped on Julie Bradley's shoulder, thinking it was you." He rubbed his forehead, pushing his hair back. "So. Wanna have lunch somewhere? My treat."

I winced. "I can't. I'm going to 'Delhi Deli' with my dad and his new girlfriend."

"Oh, okay. Well... I guess I'll pick you up for the Winter Formal tonight?" He put his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah. That sounds great." I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him. "See you tonight."

He smiled goofily, as he usually did after we'd kiss. "Yep."

I smiled and turned around as I waved goodbye to him. I ran over to Natalie and my dad.

"I'm guessing that was your boyfriend?" she quizzed.

"Yeah... his name is Henry, and we've been going out for about three weeks now, even though we've been friends for a little bit longer..." I whispered, suddenly feeling embarrassed. I pushed a lock of hair behind my ear.

"Oh wait," she suddenly said. "Was I being nosy? Sorry, I tend to do that a lot."

"Oh no, no. It's fine." I smiled.

***

Lunch was pretty good.

But our conversations were even better.

Who knew Natalie and I had so much in common?

Even though she was (actually, to this day, she still is) pretty, with her strawberry blonde hair, petite, yet curvy, figure, and stylish, yet not too over the top, clothing choices, she was shy in middle school too. She barely had any friends until she had crawled out of her shell, thanks to a few new friends and music. She was also funny and goofy, and we even made an inside joke on the waitress and how her boobs were way too big for her body. It felt nice to have a person in your life where you can tell her anything. Of course, I had Bella, but Natalie had so much more experiences with my problems, seeing that Bella was eighteen-on-to-nineteen, and just in the shallow end of the pool of life, while Natalie, age 39 (and she looks 29. Wow!), was practically treading water.