If only Dakota had been here. Maybe Jordan would feel less awkward then.

The food court teemed with frolicking people. Way too many of them for Jordan's liking. His preferred crowd consisted of two people: himself and Dakota.

But the surplus of people was probably to be expected on Valentine's Day, especially with all the love-filled events put on by the mall. A giant pink tent blocked the aisle on one side of the food court, heart-shaped pink balloons were attached to the fountain in the middle of the plaza, and the pet store announced a special Valentine's sale on geckos.

A few years ago, Jordan had–after finally convincing his mom he was responsible enough to have a pet–bought a rat in that pet store. Which almost instantly turned to ten rats, since the pet store owner conveniently forgot to tell him the rat was expecting. Soon the rats all escaped, on account of the cage not being manufactured for baby rats. Sometimes at night, Jordan could still hear nibbling from the attic, perhaps from the original rat's, Pebbles', great-grandchildren.

His mom had not been pleased with Jordan, or the pet store, after that incident.

Jordan worried he might meet someone from school among the mall visitors. Usually, he was quite good at blending into the woodwork of his high school. No one noticed the boy who sat in a corner with his hoodie hiked up over his face, drawing on his notepad. No one except Dakota. But here in the mall, it wasn't as easy to attain invisibility. Taking his grandma out for Valentine's Day was definitely something that might get Jordan noticed and teased if a classmate recognized him. Just the thought made him want to run home and hide away in the attic with his beloved drawings.

Spaceships. Unicorns. Giant rabbits. Extraterrestrial geckos. In his mind, he could go anywhere. With anyone.

But Jordan couldn't run away to his fantasy world right now. So when he saw a lizard-like shadow run across a table, he chalked it up to his vivid imagination. This was no time for such ventures into dreamland since it had been his idea to treat his grandma Charlotte to a night out for Valentine's Day with her favorite grandson. Which happened to be Jordan, since he was also Charlotte's only grandson. If there had been other grandsons, surely they would have topped him in the rankings. Regardless, he wasn't going to let her down now.

"Here you go, Grandma." Like the true gentleman he was, Jordan pulled out the highback chair for his older relative.

"Thank you, sweetheart." Elegantly, like a Victorian lady, Charlotte placed herself on the chair, back straight and legs crossed.

Seeing his grandma beam as she looked out across the tackily decorated mall made Jordan feel a bit more at ease about the endeavor. There were worse ways to spend an evening than in the company of his sweet grandma.

It wasn't like he had anyone else to celebrate this day of love with anyway.

He'd had an idea. A stupid idea. Of course, he'd never be brave enough to actually enact it. And now, the card–the stupid hand-drawn card he'd put so many hours into making just perfect–burned in his jacket pocket, reminding him of his cowardice.

"What do you want, Grandma?" he asked, trying to not let the self loathing in his mind be heard in his voice. "I'll go order something for us."

Excitedly, his grandma looked around the brightly lit plaza, decorated with pink heart-shaped balloons and garish red roses made of paper. An assortment of restaurants and food stalls surrounded the sitting area.

"Oh, I would like to try one of those bubbly teas you kids always talk about." She pointed toward the sign of Bobble Wobble Tea.

"Bubble tea, grandma," he corrected her.

"Oh yeah, that. Bubble tea. Get me one of those."

"One bubble tea coming up!" he exclaimed. "Any specific flavor?"

She squinted to try to see the items on the menu but soon gave up. "You order something for me, sweetie." She patted Jordan's shoulder. "You know what I like."

Strawberry. His grandmother liked strawberries. She always had strawberry cake for her birthday, despite it being in the middle of winter. She said it reminded her of summer days of the past, on her grandparents' farm up north.

Just as Jordan was about to leave, his grandma nudged his shoulder. "Here, sweetie." She put a rolled-up 50 dollar bill–much more than the bubble tea would cost–in his hand. "I know you said you'd take me out for a date, but this is on me."

He was about to protest but knew it was to no avail. His grandma was not one to argue with. If he even mentioned needing a certain clothing item or school supply in her presence, she would show up with it on his doorstep the next day. Usually in every size and color available.

So Jordan stuffed the bill in his pocket and pulled up his hoodie. He needed some protection from the hordes of happy-in-love couples parading around the aisles on his way toward the bubbly tea. Girl with boys. Girls with girls. Boys with boys. All nauseatingly perfect and smitten with each other.

The blinders from his hoodie almost made Jordan walk into the arm of a man pointing at a garishly pink party tent.

"Excuse me," Jordan mumbled and did his best to become invisible. Not for the first time in his life, he cursed the fact that superpowers weren't real.

The man barely seemed to notice him–he was too busy arguing with the woman who appeared to be in charge of the offending tent–so Jordan opted for walking in a half circle around him to avoid the commotion. This was a patented move he often used in the corridors at school. If no one noticed you, then they couldn't get to you. That was his motto.

Although, the fact that there now was one person he really wanted to notice him had started to complicate matters. Because every time he saw Dakota, Jordan forgot his wish to blend into the walls. Instead, he smiled, giggled, and blushed. He'd even agreed to have his drawings shown during the school's annual art show. Because Dakota would see those drawings, and perhaps smile at Jordan.

The line to the bubble tea shop wasn't long. Once Jordan had perused the menu and decided on the right flavors and toppings for his order, it was his turn to order.

"Two... medium milk teas," he began, having repeated his order in his head a few times so as not to falter. "One strawberry and one coconut. Tapioca pearls in both."

Jordan looked toward the cashier and realized he recognized her from school. Alyssa perhaps? She was friends with Sandra. Loud and pushy Sanda who always hung out with Dakota. He'd even heard they were going out for Valentine's Day together.

Dakota Malaitai, whose dark ponytail always seemed to swoosh into Jordan's daydreams.

Alyssa showed no sign of recognizing Jordan at all. Perhaps he'd successfully achieved invisibility in the school hallways after all. She just stared in confusion from his hasty order but eventually wrote something down on a little pad in front of her. Or perhaps she was just doodling.

"That's all?" Alyssa moved her hand to reveal a skittering gecko on her paper. It was impressively realistic.

"That's all." Jordan handed the ditzy cashier the fifty-dollar bill.

With an eye-roll, maybe-Alyssa took the note. "Oh, cash..." she mumbled. She held the note up to the light, seemingly unsure what she was looking for. Perhaps she'd just seen other employees pull the same move. After some rummaging, she managed to open the cash register and counted out Jordan's change.

"Thirty-seven dollars and twenty cents." She put the money on the counter.

"That's not..." Jordan looked at the bills in confusion. "That's not right. That's too much."

Alyssa stared back, similarly confused. It seemed math wasn't her best subject. Which explained why she wasn't in his Advanced Calculus class.

"You gave me forty cents extra."

With a sigh, Alyssa adjusted the amount. "There," she declared.

So, with thirty-six dollars and eighty cents rumbling around in his pocket and two medium cups of delicious bubble tea, Jordan walked back toward his grandma.

"Strawberry." He slid the pink beverage toward Charlotte, who was busy admiring a guy outside the jewelry store dressed only in a cupid's outfit–which left his ripped chest and sculpted legs naked.

She took a sip of the beverage, and her face lit up. "This is delicious," she exclaimed. "You picked well, sweetie."

Jordan took a sip out of his tea as well and wrinkled his nose. It did not taste like coconut. Rather like guacamole. Which was a fine flavor, but not in tea.

"Is something wrong?" Charlotte asked.

"Nope, it's fine!" Jordan knew that if he told her he'd gotten the wrong flavor, she would stomp toward the bubble tea stand and make a scene as she demanded her precious grandson get the bubbly tea he'd ordered.

Jordan was in no mood for such scenes–which would definitely draw attention their way–and he also didn't want to embarrass poor Alyssa further. Thankfully the cashier had managed to get his grandma's order right at least.

So Jordan sipped away on the green sludge in his cup, while enjoying his grandma's happy face as she took another sip of her pink beverage.

He really should take his grandma out more often. Charlotte was independent, as far as grandmas went, and frequently turned down Jordan and his father's offers of help to put up shelves or shovel snow around her house. She had a blossoming social life; she played the piano for a gospel choir several times a week and often went to concerts with her choir friends.

Jordan couldn't help but wonder if Charlotte longed for someone special to share intimate moments with–as she'd been divorced for almost thirty years and no new man (or woman) had ever been in the picture–especially as he was getting to an age where he longed for such things himself.

"Glad you like your bubbly tea, grandma." He sat down on the chair beside her and pulled down his hoodie again. Back with grandma, he was safe and could let his guard down slightly. "Oh, and here's your change."

He rummaged around in his pocket to find the bills and coins.

"Oh, that's all right, sweetheart." Charlotte put her hand on his elbow to stop the money hunt. "You keep the change and buy yourself something nice. Maybe take your friends out for bubbly tea some time."

Jordan didn't really have any friends to take out.

Well, he had Dakota, but they were really only friends when they were at home. When Dakota came over from across the street and they spent long hours in Jordan's room–since Dakota's dad was rarely home–looking at his drawings, watching stupid cartoons, and laughing until they fell into a pile on the bed. But outside of that environment, they rarely shared more than a smile.

But he still took the change. He was, after all, saving up money for art supplies. Perhaps he could give his grandmother one of his drawings to pay her back eventually.

"Thank you, Grandma." He pulled his hand out of the jacket pocket.

That was when disaster struck. Because when Jordan pulled his hand up, something else followed. A well-hidden card drifted slowly downward and landed smack-dab in his grandma's lap.

~~~~~~

lisa_london_
Lisa writes fluff, puff, and other stuff. Check out her romcom Sweet Little Birds (and the spin-off Sweet Tea) if you want more sugary sweet cinnabons in love, and if you want more animal shenanigans, her pirate romp Iguanatopia might just be your jam.