The Perfect Candy

Chapter 6: To Kiss an Irishman

"So...she was the real reason you went to detention," Spence said later as the two stood on the basketball court behind the high school. He dribbled the ball for a minute before shooting it and missing the hoop by a good five inches. Catching the ball when it bounced back, he tossed it to Coop who caught it easily and took a shot of his own. Basketball wasn't really either of their sport. "You could've just said so."

"She wasn't."

Spence shot him a doubtful look but then shrugged. "If you say so." The two took turns shooting the ball for a few minutes in silence, but eventually, Spence couldn't stop himself from bringing it up again. Coop should've expected as much; Spence wasn't a fan of overly long silences. "She's kind of cute, don't you think? In that shy, kind of nerdy way. I could almost see why Matt would leave Sera for her. I mean, she'd be lower maintenance, don't you think?"

Coop shrugged, ignoring the watchful gaze of his friend. There was no comparing Candy to someone like Sera. They were as different as any two people could be. You could see it just by looking at Sera with her perfectly manicured hands, designer clothes, perfectly put-on make-up, and static-free hair. Sera was all about the spotlight while Candy shied away from it.

"Well she didn't seem all that interested in you," Spence mused. "Do you think she's actually seeing him?"

"I don't know." Coop's mind flashed back to her conversation in the parking lot with Jay. Was something going on there? Not that he cared, of course. Who she was or wasn't dating held no significance to him.

"Maybe I'll ask her out and see for myself. You don't mind, do you?"

That snapped Coop out of his musings and back to reality. He turned his head to find Spence watching him a little too closely. "No," he said after a silence that was probably just a little too long. "Why would I?"

Spence shrugged and tossed the basketball back at Coop before pulling his cell phone out to check the time. "I don't know, but hey, I've gotta get back. Told my mom I'd watch Willow tonight while she and my dad have their date night. Later man."

***

Friday morning came accompanied by bright and welcoming sunshine, which, Candice felt quite bitterly, was just Mother Nature's way of mocking her dark and forbidding mood. This week was turning out to be quite the opposite of normal and she resented the changes with every fiber of her being. Stepping off the bus and heading for the school's main entrance, she was bombarded with further proof of this by the blue-eyed boy from detention the previous day. Spence was leaning against the stair railing grinning at her, and after briefly considering her options, Candice decided it would simply be too rude to look away and try to hurry past now. After all, they'd already made eye contact, and it was obvious he was waiting for her.

As she got to the top step, he straightened up and fell into step beside her. "Hey!"

"Good morning," she replied politely, eyeing him speculatively. He wore a pair of blue and grey Nikes and faded black jeans with a green T-shirt inviting people to kiss him accompanied by a large four-leaf clover. He did know it was nowhere near St. Patrick's Day, didn't he? His hair was black and held up in tiny little spikes with just enough gel to look good. None of that, of course, told her why he'd been waiting for her, or why he was walking beside her now.

"So, I heard you've had a rough week."

She frowned at his words. Rough seemed to be understating it just a bit. She cast him another assessing glance and clutched the strap of her bookbag just a little tighter. "It's been unusual."

He nodded, as if in agreement, but how did he know her weeks weren't normally like this? They'd never spoken before yesterday afternoon. "My name's Spencer by the way. People call me Spence."