Jada had never felt so foolish before, and she hoped she'd never feel so foolish again. It all began on the day of doom and misery known to most as Valentine's Day.
'Something is just bound to go wrong today,' Jada grumbled to herself as she slugged into Bermuda High School. Pink, frilly hearts flew past her view as she trampled and dodged her way into the only safe place: The Band Hall.
'Oh my goodness,' Jada muttered. To her surprise, even the Band Hall had been attacked and now became a battlefield of endless hugging and affection. The room became a labyrinth as Jada considered her plan of action. Darting into the cracks and open spaces seemed like the only safe way in the end.
Choking on the love contaminated atmosphere, Jada pretended to gag when she finally met her trio.
'I think I'm going to relinquish my food!' Chandler complained. She faked a barfing motion as the others enjoyed the joke.
'The only plus side of all this is the excess candy,' chimed Kathy.
They shrugged at each other and crept through the mess to their classes. While they walked, Jada scrunched up her face at several people enjoying the essence of the day.
'Maybe we're just not mature enough for Valentine's Day,' Kathy suggested.
'But that make me somewhat imperfect, which we all know isn't possible!' Jada joked.
Jada finally made it to her first period class. Neatly, she pulled out her class work and supplies and sat quietly, waiting for class to begin. Her eyes closed solemnly as she tried to remain reserved while the rest of the class was busy with the daily gossip.
'Did you hear that Jared dumped Cassie?' a voice yelled.
'He didn't!' replied another voice.
Letting out a sigh of frustration, Jada tried to clear her mind of everything else.
'It'll all be over after a few more periods,' she soothed.
Finally, the teacher came up and settled the class down. The lesson began and everything went back to normal. At least, that's what Jada had hoped. First it began on the inside. Something felt different, she felt her fingers shake. Her heart beat abnormally. Widening her eyes, Jada realized that something was seriously wrong. The teacher droned on and on. Even though the lesson was probably interesting, everything sounded like a vacuum cleaner.
'Ok, this is really starting to freak me out,' Jada admitted to herself. No one else seemed different. They didn't seem to notice anything either. The rest of the period was spent trying to figure out what exactly was going on. Finally, the bell rang and released Jada from her misery.
Running to Chandler, she felt a feeling she never felt before. Jada felt fear. Babbling on at rapid speed, Jada poured out the whole story. Chandler had a look of confusion imprinted all over her face.
'Would you mind speaking in English?' Chandler mused.
'I don't know what happened.'
'That doesn't help.'
'Well, I started feeling really weird inside and started shaking all over!'
'Ah, my friend, you have what we call, the Valentine's Virus.'
Jada pondered over it a moment. Was Chandler pulling her leg or was she actually being serious? Before she could decipher the meaning, they were pushed apart by a typical mob at a junior high school. She mouthed the word 'bye' to Chandler and sped to her next period.
Each period was the same; she'd feel a tingling feeling. Then, her body would shake uncontrollably and the world looked faded. Yet, no one else noticed or understood how she felt. Shaking her head, she tried to rid herself of fear, but was unsuccessful.
By the time lunch came around, Jada trudged gloomily to the table. Chandler and Kathy came by but left when they saw her in such a foul mood.
'Thanks a lot, friends,' Jada grouched inside her mind. She certainly didn't want to eat alone, but she knew that the company of others wouldn't make things better. Jada sat at the table and conversed with no one.
'It's all because of this dumb Valentine's Day!' Jada blamed. If it wasn't Valentine's Day today, Jada was convinced that she wouldn't be like this.
'Stupid Valentine's Day virus,' she grumbled under her breath.
Just then, a figure sat down next to her. The last thing she needed was someone to bother her.
'Maybe if I ignore them, they'll go away,' Jada reasoned, but the figure remained. She glanced up in annoyance and realized that it was her good friend, Jake.
'Hey,' she replied flatly. Waiting for him to walk away in satisfaction, she was disappointed when he remained in the seat.
'What's wrong,' he questioned. His head tilted in curiosity and concern.
'Oh nothing, just the stupid Valentine's Virus,' she responded. He chuckled amusingly and smiled kindly.
Suddenly, she felt her pulse race uncontrollably. Sweat covered her hands.
'Why is this happening to me?' she shouted to herself. On the outside, she tried to look as casual as possible.
'Stall!' she told herself. Jada began to emerge herself into a conversation with Jake while she tried to get herself under control.
'Are you sure you're alright?' Jake asked with an eyebrow raised in question.
'Never better,' she smiled and hoped she looked convincing.
Finally, he left and Jada sighed in relief. She rushed over to her trio's side and everything spilled out of her. There was a moment of silence when suddenly they burst out laughing.
'This isn't a funny matter!' Jada yelled, 'I may be a victim to the Valentine's Virus!'
'Jada, you actually believed that!' Chandler managed to stammer while in tears from laughter. For a while, Jada stood there dumbfounded. She wasn't sick and there was nothing wrong with her. Well, there wasn't anything abnormal happening other than the fact that she was growing older and more mature.
Her cheeks grew hot, and she began to blush into a shade of red. She was silent for quite a while as her friends laughed away. No one had ever laughed at her before. Jada had always been too smart, tough, and reserved to be laughed at. She thought the events through her head again. Finally, Jada still felt foolish, but she laughed anyways.
'Hey, you never know when the Valentine's Virus will hit you guys!' Jada joked with Chandler and Kathy.
They laughed one last time at the ordeals of the day. One thing was for certain, this was a Valentine's Day Jada wasn't going to forget. It was the first time she was hit with the Valentine's Virus.