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I shake my head and point out my car at the back of the lot. He follows my finger and nods when he sees my shiny red sports car.
“Cool. Well thanks again for today,” he says, before he hops on his bike, ready to leave.
“Bye Lorenzo,” I say, before my feet carry me to my car. The thrum of his engine grows distant the further it gets from me. He peeled out of the car park before I got to my car. I can’t blame him; most of the kids are always in a hurry to leave school and get home for the day. I’m the opposite. Always in a hurry to leave home but never in a hurry to return. I hope one day it will be different. Unfortunately, today is not that day.
Chapter Six
Lorenzo
Gramps stayed in the hospital for a week while they ran tests on him. They couldn’t find anything major wrong but prescribed him medication and told him to rest for the next month or two. He isn’t supposed to work either but that doesn’t stop him from going into the auto shop and doing paperwork.
I help more around home to take some of the load off him and I also go into the auto shop every day after school to help the other mechanics so they can focus on the bigger stuff. The last thing I want is my gramps pushing himself any more than he should.
Valentine's Day is coming up which has never held any interest for me. At my old school it wasn’t a thing unlessyou were in a relationship. These rich kids are something else. People can send roses to people they like with little notes. You can state who it is if you wish, or you can make it anonymous. They have a big red box set up in the front foyer as soon as you enter the school. It has a big slit cut into the top so all you must do is place a zip lock bag in there. In the bag you must include the note you want written and the name of who you want it sent to plus the money. It’s five dollars per rose.
The week before Valentine’s, everyone has been pushing their bags into the box, everyone excited over the prospect of sending their crushes little notes. I haven’t thought much of the tradition as I’ve never been here for it. I started here at the end of February last year, so I missed it by a few weeks. It’s all anyone is talking about now. Especially the girls.
I wasn’t planning to send anyone a rose until I catch sight of the red hair, I’ve consciously started to scan the crowd of students for lately. After the day of the fight, she keeps her distance. I don’t blame her. It’s not like I’ve given her any indication I’m crushing on her. Plus, I have Gramps to worry about now so like he said, girls will have to wait. It doesn’t mean I can’t do something anonymous though.
∞∞∞
Sitting in class I scribble down a quick note onto a page in my book before I rip it out as quietly as possible. I ask the teacher for the bathroom pass and then as quick as I can, I rush to the big red box. I push the note into the zip lock bag I grabbed from home earlier and add five dollars. I’d already added Sophia’s name to the note, so I seal it and push it into the slit. Not wanting to get caught, I quicken my steps and walk back to class, with everyone none the wiser. Now all I must do is waituntil Valentine’s Day and hope it brings a smile to that pretty face of hers.
Valentine’s Day arrives and as I enter the school, people are already gushing over presents they got from their boyfriends and girlfriends. Girls shove stuffed teddy bears and chocolates into their lockers and there’s more than one couple not caring about PDA today. I change my books over in my own locker before heading to home room. I’m not one to usually feel lonely but something about today makes me wish I had a friend to talk to. Someone to confide in about the secret note I wrote for Sophia would be nice. My friends from my other school turned out to not be very good friends at all, just like my gramps said. I’ve seen them around from time to time, but I have no time for their antics now. The things they get up to like tagging, drinking and smoking is low on my to do list these days. I am grateful my gramps got me away from that environment when he did. If only to show me the true colours of my so-called friends.
The bell chimes and I head to English not knowing when these roses are supposed to arrive. I slide into my usual seat and wait for the teacher to start harping on. About halfway through, there’s a knock on the door and in walks a couple of students carrying a box filled with roses for them to hand out. They call out names and hand them to the student when they place their hand in the air. My palms sweat as I wait for Sophia’s name to be called.
“Sophia?” the guy says. I watch as she lifts her head, her eyes widening. She raises her hand and as he hands her the single rose, my heart thumps in my chest. I can’t help but watch as she pulls the note off, unfolds it and tucks a piece of hair behind her ear. Her skin lights up a pretty pink as her blush coats her freckles. I hope it’s the note from me.
“Lorenzo?” my name is called, causing my brows to furrow as I raise my hand. The guy deposits three roses into mypalm before walking back to the front of the room to resume his list. There are three notes so they must be from different people. I open one note which reads: ‘You’re so hot. Your secret admirer.’ I didn’t know I had a secret admirer. I glance around the room and wonder if they are in here with me now, but no one is watching me. The students are either mesmerised by their own roses or looking at their friends' ones. I open another note that says: ‘If you are after a good time, message me.’ There's a number attached too but no name. I know the note will be going straight in the bin. I don’t have time to be messing around with girls. With Gramps, the shop and my studies, I have no spare time. Girls will just complicate that.
I pull the last note off and read it. My heart beats faster at the fact someone took the time to write something so nice and meaningful to me. I’m lucky I had three people think I was worthy to write notes for but it’s this third one which has me wishing it was from a certain someone. The thought would never be a reality though. She may know I exist but I’m still invisible in her eyes.
I close my eyes briefly and let out a sigh. For once I don’t want to be invisible to her. With my mind made up, I wait for the bell to ring and then quicken my pace to catch her before she leaves.
“Looks like you have an admirer,” I say, as she bends down to pick up her bag. Her smile grows as she looks at me. I wonder if she’s thinking about my note.
“Well not as many as you by the looks of it,” she says, as her eyes drop to the three roses I hold in my hands. I let out a chuckle, not knowing how to reply.
“That reminds me,” I say. I pull the note off one of the roses that holds the phone number on it and toss it in the bin as we walk out the door together.
“Why did you throw that one away?” she asks, her wide eyes looking at me.
“It said if I was after a good time to message the number on it,” I tell her, as we carry on down the hall together. I know people are staring at us, but I pay them no mind, my eyes focussed on her.
“You’re not after a good time?” she asks, as she tucks her hair behind her ear.
“Nah I’ve got too much on my plate as it is. Plus, I don’t think whoever is on the end of that number would interest me,” I say, and I wonder if she’s catching on to my hints. Are these hints? Damn it, I suck at flirting.
She stops in her tracks and turns to me. “What if it was my number?” she boldly asks, and it makes me gulp, my hands sweating.
“Was it?” I ask, and I fear my voice may have risen an octave.
With a slight tug of her lips, she pats me on the shoulder and says, “I guess you’ll never know now since you threw it in the rubbish.” She walks away without a backwards glance and leaves me standing there.
“Was it?” I yell out to her, but she raises her hand waving.
“Bye Lorenzo.”I shake my head as I laugh and continue to my class. She’s messing with me, but it still doesn’t stop my body from wanting to run back to the classroom and retrieve the note from the bin. Instead, I head to my next class after I put my three roses in my locker for safe keeping.
