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"Okay, have fun!"
I burst out the door with my winter boots, and red coat zipped up to the neck.
It's Valentine's Day tomorrow.
For school we get to make cool boxes so we can pass out Valentines to our other classmates. I'm making a special Valentine’s Day card for Roman, even though he's a year older than me. I leap across the yard, making sure to step in the already made footprints in the snow. My boots crunch with each step, the snow packing down with each push of my weight.
The door opens before I even knock, Nora's bright smile and spindly curls bouncing with excitement. "My dad comes home today!"
My eyes widen. Wow. I kind of forgot Roman even had a dad. His mom does such a good job taking care of both Roman and Nora, it's hard to believe he's ever had a dad at all.
"Wow. Really?"
I step inside, the cold air making my legs chill.
"Yeah! We've told him all about you. You'll have to come to dinner tomorrow. I would say tonight but he's not going to be home until really late. My mom already said it would be okay if you had dinner with us. Do you want to?" Her words fly out of her in rapid succession. I can barely follow her, her excitement making her vibrate in front of me.
"Um, yeah, if my mom and dad are okay with it."
"Okay!" She starts walking through her house, her red shirt with a bright white heart in the center shining at me. It smells of banana bread and chocolate chip cookies, and as if on cue, my stomach rumbles.
Then he appears.
"I can hear your stomach growling from the other room." He lifts an eyebrow.
I set my bag full of candy and supplies down on the table, feeling a bit embarrassed.
Roman has become my very best friend. I mean, Nora is my best friend. But Roman, he's something on a completely different level.
It's like he's a part of me.
"Do you want a cookie? They're still warm." Nora picks one from the cooling rack and bounces it from hand to hand as she walks over to me. "Here."
I take it from her and take a bite, the cookie falling apart the moment it hits my tongue. The chocolate chips are still melty, and I can feel the sticky goo spread to my lips.
"You've got…" Roman lifts his hand, then drops it at his side when we hear his mom's footsteps. "You have chocolate on your lips."
"Great! You're here! Let's get started on those Valentine's boxes, shall we?"
We all sit around the kitchen table and munch on cookies and banana bread while Roman's mom helps us build our boxes. We get to pass out Valentine’s cards to other kids in class and make a cool box however we want. Mine is full of pinks, reds, and whites with a glittery pink trim around it. Nora's looks similar to mine, except she adds purples and instead of a glittery pink she uses a glittery red.
Roman opted out of all the glitter and pinks. He chose reds and blues and put cardboard wheels on the sides of his to make a car out of it. The top is an open slot so people can put their Valentines straight into the car.
It takes us most of the afternoon to finish up our boxes and get our candy ready to pass out to our classmates. By the time we're finished, my hands are sticky with glue, the table is full of scraps of paper, glitter is all over the dark wood, and my teeth throb from all the sweets.
I glance outside, my eyes widening when I see complete darkness. "I better go home before my mom comes looking for me." That, and I want to finish up Roman's Valentine, and I can't do that with him right across from me at the table.
As if he knows I'm thinking about him, he looks up and locks eyes with mine.
"Can't you stay for dinner?" Nora asks. I feel bad for her. I love hanging out with her and I do all the time, but sometimes, I feel like my mind and body drift toward Roman.
Like, every time.
"Oh, not tonight, Nora. Daddy's coming home tonight." Her mom pushes a finger through one of Nora's curls, pulling it down and releasing it. I watch as it springs back up and bounces a few times.
"Okay," Nora grumbles.
Roman is still watching me, and I find that this is happening more often than not lately. We watch each other. Stare at each other.
