Chapter Text
Between Candace’s science test, driving lessons, and weekly coffee get-togethers with Vanessa, next Friday sneaks up on Candace, and then it’s here like a freight train. Friday right after school, Candace tears through her closet, tossing out outfit after outfit. She thinks about asking Stacy what she’s wearing, but decides against it. It’s a date to the mall, not prom; They don’t have to match. Oh God, prom. Would Stacy want to go to prom with Candace? Would Candace go with Jeremy and Stacy? Damn it, Candace, focus! It’s one date!
Candace sighs and pulls a pair of jeans off the rack. They’re a little worn, but they’re comfy. Perfect. The color should bring out her eyes. Hm… Eyes. To makeup or not to makeup? That is the question. No, it’ll be too much hassle to not touch her face. Maybe just some coverup. She has a zit coming in on her chin.
Candace rubs her face and studies herself in the mirror. Oh! Her outfit. Oh, that’s perfect. Yeah, that’ll do nicely. After she finishes her coverup, she goes to her dresser and pulls out a shirt. Outside, someone pulls up in the driveway. Candace pulls on her clothes and brushes back her hair into a ponytail.
“I’m home!” Mom says, shuffling in the front door. Phineas and Ferb respond with a chorus of hellos. Perry chatters. Candace finishes with her hair. She swallows.
hey im gonna talk to mom
good luck! <3
good luck! ill be over in 30
Mom is in the kitchen, pulling groceries out of reusable grocery bags. They say hello. Candace puts away the gallon of milk and the grapes. Her hands shake.
“Don’t you look nice,” Mom says, folding a bag over itself, “Are you seeing Jeremy?”
Candace’s heart chorus-lines in her chest. She touches her phone in her back pocket.
“Thanks,” She says. She does look nice. Her pants are crimson, a couple shades darker than the dress she usually wears. Her shirt is a nice white button-up with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, “Uh. No, he’s working tonight. But I am going out.”
“Oh! A friend date! I used to have those with my friends all the time,” Mom says.
Before she can go on a tangent about her high school days, Candace interrupts. “No! I mean, I have a date. A date-date.” Candace says slowly, “Me and Jeremy talked, and uh. I’m going on a date,” Candace’s heart pounds in her throat, “With, uh, with Stacy.”
“Oh,” Mom says. Her hands still, hovering over the carton of eggs, “Did you and Jeremy break up?”
“No! No. We’re still together. Just. I’m going on a date with Stacy. Also. Like, while I’m with Jeremy. Too. In addition to.”
Mom narrows her eyes. Her hands fall uselessly between the groceries.
“You’re going on a date with Stacy, while you’re still with Jeremy?” Mom asks. Candace nods. “And Jeremy knows about this?”
“Yeah,” Candace says, “Yeah, he knows.” She swallows, “And Stacy knows. And they’re both okay with it.”
“Oh,” Mom says for the third time. She looks Candace up and down, “Okay. So, you like Stacy?"
“Uh. Yeah. I mean, I like… Whoever. Whatever genders, I think,” Candace says, “But yeah, uh, I do. Like Stacy.” Candace’s face heats up.
Mom nods, slowly, chewing her bottom lip. “Okay. Well…” She pauses, looking hard at Candace, “I don’t want to keep you. What are your plans with… Stacy?”
Finally, a question Candace knows how to answer. “We’re going to the mall, then we’re renting a movie, and we might come back here to watch it,” Candace says, “We’ll be back by eight.”
“What about dinner?”
“Food court, Mom. Get with the times!” Candace says. She smiles. Her mom hesitates, but smiles back. Candace sighs. Thank God.
“Okay. Well, you’ll let me know how it goes?” Mom asks, giving Candace a lingering look.
“Yeah, Mom,” Candace agrees.
They put away the rest of the groceries. A couple times, Candace opens her mouth to say something else, or else Mom starts a question, but they both fall silent. Eventually, Mom asks if they can talk about it more later, if Candace wants to.
“Yeah, Mom,” Candace says again, “We can.”
Mom smiles.
Just then, Phineas and Ferb whizz through the kitchen, shouting something about Baljeet and a rare species of beetle. Candace grips the applesauce container she’s holding.
“Candace,” Mom says, “No busting.”
Candace lets out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. Right. Right. Stacy’ll be here any minute.
Mom snaps her fingers.
“Oh, you know what? I have just the thing for that outfit!” She says. She scurries off, leaving Candace in the kitchen, staring after her. Candace glances out the back door. The boys have already disappeared down the street. She takes a deep breath. They’re probably just gonna take pictures of whatever the beetle thing it is. Maybe clone it. It doesn’t matter. Candace has other things to worry about.
Mom clunks down the stairs a moment later, a necklace swinging in her hand. She hands it to Candace. It’s a chunky, palm-sized geode, bright red, with a thin layer of gold painted around the outside. It hangs on a thin gold chain. Around her neck, it should come down to the bottom of Candace’s ribs. It compliments her ensemble wonderfully.
“That old things been hanging in my closet for years,” Mom says, “Your father got it for me as an anniversary gift, but I never knew what to wear it with.” Candace pulls it over her head and ponytail. Sure enough, it hits her sternum.
“Thanks,” Candace says, eyeing the geode more closely. Little bits reflect the fluorescent light around them, glittering patterns onto Candace’s skin, “Thank you.”
“Of course, Candace,” Mom says. She smiles and draws Candace in. Candace hugs her mother tight, the geode pressing between them. Mom smells of cut grass and fresh veggies. Candace squeezes her once, twice, before letting go. Mom holds her at arms’ length, “Thank you for telling me.”
Candace shimmies out of her mom’s grip. She doesn’t need that much mushy gushy feelings. Besides, Stacy is imminent. Mom presses her hand to Candace’s shoulder, then lets her go. Candace swallows. Her heart tap dances, waltzes, swings. She pulls out her phone and fiddles with the Ducky Momo charm.
how did it go?
hey im leaving now! be there soon
Candace replies to Jeremy, then clutches her phone tight.
Stacy pulls up the driveway a minute later.
here!
“Tell her to come in!” Mom says. Candace groans.
“Ugh, Mom. You already know Stacy, can’t you say hi to her when we get back?” Candace asks. Mom frowns.
“Well, I guess,” Mom says, “But it’s not every day I meet Stacy as your girlfriend.”
“Mooom,” Candace whines, “It’s one date! Lay off it.”
“Fine, fine. I’ll see you tonight, Candace,” Mom says, kissing Candace on the cheek. Candace doesn’t wipe it off til she’s outside. Stacy is in the driver’s seat of her mom’s car, tapping away at her phone. She smiles at Candace and Candace blushes.
“Hey,” Candace says, pulling the door open. Stacy pockets her phone. She’s in a short-sleeve blue dress and leggings with a swirl pattern. A dark blue scarf falls around her shoulders, the same color as her dark hair bow.
“Hiya,” Stacy says. She turns the key and the car hums to life, “I like your necklace. To the mall?”
“Thanks, it was Mom’s,” Candace says, “To the mall!”