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The groaning noise from the legs of Nora's wooden chair being pushed against the floor snaps me out of my trance. I straighten my striped shirt and bell-bottom jeans as I stand up to gather my things. "Thanks for letting me come over, Mrs. Hall."
"What did I tell you, Luna, call me Goldie. Or Mom, for all I care."
I smile at her, loving that she has become like a second mom to me.
I slip my boots and coat back on, and with my bag in hand, I head home.
The next morning, I have my velvet red skirt with a white top on. For once, I'm the first one outside waiting for the other three to make their appearance for our walk to school. My backpack is tight on my shoulders with Roman's Valentine's card slipped into the front pocket. I'm holding my bag with my box and candy.
Soon, everyone else stumbles out, half asleep and bundled up in their winter gear. February is freezing in Wisconsin. I thought it was cold during the winter back in Illinois, but Wisconsin takes it to an entirely different level. It's been below freezing most days, making it impossible to spend any time outside. I can't wait for the summer again. I hope this summer I can spend it at the lake again with Roman. I hope we can do that every summer for the rest of our lives.
"Ready?" Harper asks. Since she's in middle school, she doesn't do anything for Valentine's Day. But she's still dressed in a red dress. I've got a heart shaped barrette holding the front of my hair back.
Roman's hair is unusually tamed today, and Nora has her curls pulled back in her own barrettes.
We walk silently, our feet trudging through the thick snow. My cheeks burn from the cold wind, and I tuck my face behind the front of my coat. Nerves start to take hold once school comes into view. I spent so much time on Roman's card, and I hope he likes it.
What if he doesn't?
What if he didn't get me one?
"I'll see you after school," Harper says, jogging across the street toward her own school. We all make our way inside, and Nora rushes off to her locker. Roman is about to make his way to his own locker in the second-grade pod when I wrap my freezing fingers around his coat-covered arm. "Wait."
"What is it?" His nose and cheeks are red from the cold, and his hair looks wet from the winter frost. I slip my backpack from my shoulder and pull out the card that's peeking out from the front pocket. The card itself is in the shape of a heart, with red and white tissue paper bunched up on the front. In a black magic marker, I wroteHappy Valentine's Dayon the front.
I hand Roman the card with shaky fingers. He stares at it for a moment, his brown eyes darkening and brightening at the same time.
He takes the card, holding it with both hands as he tips it from one side to the next. He looks up at me, down at the card, and back up at me again. His finger clips underneath the fold, peeling the card back, and his eyes drop, falling to my girly and swirly scrawl.
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
I may just be your friend,
But I like you.
Will you be my Valentine, Roman?
It's an admission of my feelings, and not very poetic, but I didn't want to go as deep as my heart was telling me to. I think if I told him how I really feel, he would run for the hills.
I wish he wouldn't stare at it for as long as he is. It seems like he isn’t even blinking as his brown eyes spear the rough pink paper. Then he folds it up, a little rougher than necessary. He looks up at me, his eyes a little lost but also a little found. Like he wants to tell me something, but he doesn't know how. I want to ask him, and I'm about to as my mouth drops open and the question rolls across my tongue, when the bell rings.
"I've got to go," Roman says, hefting his backpack over his shoulder and walking toward his locker without another word, my card clutched in his left hand.
Tears fill my eyes as I stand there. I feel lost, confused. I don't know why his reaction was like that. So cold. Does he really not like me? He finds even being my Valentine for a stupid holiday so horrific that he can barely talk to me?
He didn’t even get me a card.
A tear leaks from my eyes, tickling my cheek as it makes its way down to my lips. I bat it away, embarrassed to be the new girl crying in the hallway on Valentine's Day.
"You okay?" one of the office staff asks me as she checks the nearly empty hallway.
I nod, barely sparing her a glance as I make my way to my own locker. All I wanted to do was tell him how I really feel, but he finds me so unlikeable. Like I'm some freak. A monster.
Maybe he wasn't who I thought he was in the first place.
"Luna!" I can hear his voice call my name from down the road. I didn't wait for Harper, Roman, or Nora like I usually do. The moment we were released from class, I grabbed the rough strap of my backpack and hauled it out of the school. I didn't even put on my winter boots or zip up my coat. I just shoved everything on as quickly as possible and started racing home.
