What to do?

I ran straight to my room to open the bag. What can it be? Inside was the panda stuff I tried on in the Japanese store. The slippers, neck pillow, the stuffed toy and about ten more assorted panda items. I smiled. Then there was a package from the bookstore. I opened it and inside was Backman's new book and a pop-up book of The Little Prince. I opened it and he wrote something in it,

"And now, here is my secret, Cassie. It is only with the heart that one can see rightly and find that TRUE LOVE begins when nothing is looked for in return. Please be my one and only rose Cassie.

Raiden

My heart skipped a beat. What does this mean? I was going to text him to thank him for the stuff but after I saw what he wrote in the book, I did a double take. I called Therese immediately and she picked up on the first ring. "Tell me everything, girl!" she said excitedly. I turned on the video call and showed her the stuff. She squealed in excitement and I shushed her. "My mom's gonna hear you! I haven't said hello to her yet!"

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" she exclaimed. "I'm so excited for you!"

I told her I was gonna text Raiden to thank him but now I don't know what to say. Am I supposed to answer his proposition?

"You don't have to say anything to him yet. Pretend that you haven't seen it yet."

"Ok, I'll text him right now. I'll call you back."

I hung up and texted Raiden 'I forgot to thank you for the gifts. You shouldn't have. I will start reading the book tonight." I erased the last part, if I say that I will be reading the book tonight then it will mean that I have seen the books. In the end, I settled for " I forgot to thank you for the gifts. You shouldn't have though I love the pandas so much. Thank you again!" and I pressed send.

I threw my phone on the bed and went to my mom's room. "I'm home." I announced as I slowly opened the door. She was sleeping. I guess their shopping trip tired her out.

I went back to my room and sat on the bed as my phone buzzed. It was Raiden, "I hope you liked the books as well."

I panicked! What am I gonna say? I opened my laptop and video called Therese.

"Help!" I said as soon as she picked up. I showed her my phone so she can see the text messages. "what do I say?"

"Uh, just tell him that you're gonna look at it before you go to bed later? Or you can wait until later to answer and say, I'm going to look at it now before I sleep and say goodnight. That will buy you some time."

"I guess you're right. I think that's the best idea." I said biting my nails.

"Cas! Get your hands away from your mouth!" She scolded. She hates it when I bite my nails.

"Okay, okay! Geez! I'mma go get ready for bed now though I doubt I can go to sleep."

"Hey, no fair! I want the juice on your date!"

I filled her in on the highlights of my day. "I hate you! I'm so jealous!" She exclaimed as she plopped down on her bed.

"Why are you jealous? You have Brett!"

"Brent! His name is Brent and I'm not gonna see that asshole again. Can you imagine, he had the nerve to ask me for money for gas?"

"Hahaha! I thought you're all about equality?"

"Yeah! But duh, he asked me out for a date. He should at least have money for gas. Besides, we just went to the mall and had ice cream. I even paid for my own ice cream." She rolled her eyes.

"Oh no! You got the date from hell!" I can't help but feel sorry for her.

We talked about our other friends and life at Lincoln High for a while before we finally hung up and I got ready for bed.

After I got inside the covers and got settled on my bed, I got my phone and decided it was time to text Raiden. "Hi, sorry for the late reply but I was on the phone with my best friend, Therese. I'm going to look at the books now before I sleep. Thank you, I think it's sweet of you to get me these books. Goodnight."

I put the phone on the charging dock on the side table but it buzzed as I was turning off the lights.

"Goodnight and sweet dreams, my rose."

I decided to leave the message unread because i really did not know how to respond to that.

I closed my eyes to sleep and then I remembered Mark. He hasn't texted me at all today. I grabbed my phone and decided to text him "Hey, thanks for going with Mom and Jason today. Goodnight." I waited for a few minutes but he did not reply so I just returned the phone to the charging dock. He must be sleeping too, they must have had one tiring day.