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

Blog Entry Number Forty-Three

(Candie's POV)

Henry hasn't come to school in three days. I wonder where he is.

I sit down in my seat, and glance at the empty desk next to me. The bell rings, and still no Henry. I know he's fine, but at the very bottom of my heart, there's a twinge of worry.

"Where's Henry Hart?" Miss Shapen asks. I hear murmurs and whispers around me, then they gradually stop, and are replaced by stares in my direction. I look up from my book, which happens to be "The Selection" by Kiera Cass.

"What?" I retort. "Do you think I have him... oh, I don't know, in a straight jacket, locked up in my closet with a strip of duct tape on his mouth?"

They murmur some more.

"Well, I don't! He's probably on vacation or something!" I blurt out. I look back at the words of the book.

"Well someone's a little defensive," someone, possibly Chloe, singsongs.

"I say she does have him hidden in her house," someone else pipes up, probably Bianca.

I march right up to their desks, fist clenched, and pound it on the table. "Listen, you skunky, nasty, wannabes. I'm not hiding him in my closet. So you can shut your overly lipsticked mouths that resemble a rat's butt, because nothing but crap is coming out of them."

I storm back to my seat and put my head down.

"Watch out, she's got a screw loose," Chloe says shakily, after a few minutes of complete silence.

Meanwhile, I'm thinking, He's all right, Candie. He's probably got the flu. No, he's in Florida. He's always wanted to go there.

***

But their car is in their driveway. I see Piper in the hallways all the time, looking frantic, and... worried. It's like she's missing something big. She asks everyone a question, and then they shake their head sadly.

"Uh... C-C-Candie?" she asks me one day, on the the fifth day that Henry hasn't shown up in class. "Have... have you seen Henry?" Her voice starts to crack, and her eyes water up.

I shake my head sadly, like all the others. "No. I haven't seen him in five days." My voice sounds quiet and mousy.

Piper wipes her eyes with the back of her hand. "Are you sure?" She raises an eyebrow.

Oh great. Even she's skeptical. "I-I- I wish I have. I... I miss him."

"So do I," she whispers. "Even though he annoys me, and I annoy him, he's still my big brother, and I-I love him."

I smile a little bit. "Yeah. He... he's told me how much he cares about you."

Piper leans against the locker next to mine. I open my locker and stare at our pictures together. I sense my eyes starting to water, and I blink, making my vision blur. I feel a salty tear rush down my cheek.

"He talked about you... a lot," she states. I crane my neck to look at her. This time, she really is in tears. "It annoyed me, but... he loves you so much. Maybe even more than he loves me." She wilts. "Anyway... I better go. My teacher's probably looking for me at recess."

"Okay, Piper. Goodbye," I say.

"Bye, Candie." She waves, and walks away.

***

I rush into my house, not caring if my speed affected my hair, making it look all tousled and messy. I don't care that I ran through the mud, making my cowboy boots a teensy-weensy bit muddy. I just needed to let my emotions out.