Justin's alarm clock went off. He groaned as he reached over to hit the snooze button. He had been dreading this morning for a year. This particular day was Valentine's Day, and he hated it! Why did he have to celebrate such a mushy holiday? He didn't want to make valentines for girls. He didn't want to get valentines from girls, especially from one girl--Shirley Wilson! Every year she made him a card in the shape of a heart, but that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was that she spent the entire day making kissy lips at him--that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up.      "Justin! Get up or you'll be late for school." Mom stood in the doorway. Justin groaned. "I'm sick, I can't go to school."      "What's the matter?" Mom asked.      "I'm hot. I'm cold. I'm nauseous." The last one was true . The thought of Shirley Wilson made his stomach turn.      Mom put her hand on Justin's forehead. "You're burning up. I'll go get the thermometer."      Justin grinned. This had to work. He wasn't going to school today. That was for sure!      "All right open your mouth," Mom said, coming back into his room. She put the thermometer under his tongue.      "My ed urts," he groaned, the thermometer still in his mouth.      "I'll go get an ice pack," Mom said. "Leave the thermometer under your tongue until I get back."      Justin nodded. When Mom was gone, he took the thermometer and put it up to his light bulb. He watched the numbers on the tiny screen go up to 101--perfect! He put the thermometer back under his tongue. When Mom came back in, she put the ice pack on his head and took the thermometer out of his mouth.      "Oh my, a hundred and one. You definitely have a fever. You're going to stay home from school," Mom said. "What a shame, you're going to miss the Valentine's Day party at school."      "I know. What a shame," Justin agreed. Then when Mom was gone, Justin grinned and shut off the heating pad he had hidden under his covers--to make his forehead feel warm. That had been easy enough. He wouldn't have to celebrate any mushy holiday and his day would be free of Shirley Wilson.      It was three thirty. School was over and he had missed Valentine's Day! He stayed in bed all day and had plenty of water to drink. Mom said she wanted him to feel better so he could go back to school the next day.      "Justin, someone's here to see you!" Mom called upstairs.      Justin pushed his baseball magazine underneath his covers. Must be either Troy or Brent to give him his homework and tell him how lucky he was to have been able to stay home from school.      "He's in his room. Go right on up."      Justin suddenly felt like he was going to throw up. He heard a familiar voice say, "thank you, Mrs. Davis."      It was Shirley Wilson! In his house! Coming up the stairs to his room!      "Hi, Justin!" Her voice sounded like nails on a chalkboard to him. "I heard you were sick. Wow, what a great room!"      Justin groaned silently. What was she doing here? He got out of going to school so he could avoid seeing her. His scheme had backfired…royally. He couldn't have a worse Valentine's Day if he'd planned it.      Shirley dropped her backpack on the end of Justin's bed. Now he had cooties on his bedspread.      She touched the poster of his favorite baseball player. "My brother has this same poster in his room. Anyway, I came to cheer you up."     It's not working! He thought.      She opened her backpack. "I brought you your Valentine's Day cards. Mine is handmade. I put it on top." She dropped the cards in his lap.      Oh great! Her cooties flying all over the place making themselves at home. He wouldn't be able to get them out of his room unless the house burned to the ground.      "I brought your homework assignment." She dropped the lined notebook paper in his lap. "I also brought you one of the chocolate cupcakes I made. I made this one special for you. I put a candy heart in the middle that says, ‘be mine'."      Now Justin was really sick. He certainly had learned his lesson. Lying only leads to trouble. He groaned as he pulled the covers over his head to drown out Shirley's voice.     I really wish I'd gone to school today!    ©Copyright-Elizabeth Wrobel