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“Raaayyy!” Emma called out as she ran toward her moody friend and jumped into his arms. As she received an irritated grunt from the boy who was now holding her entire body weight, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a warm embrace. “Happy Valentine’s Day! I love you,” she mumbled into his neck.
The dark haired boy dropped her to her feet and pushed her away playfully, “Telling me that you love me isn’t going to get you out of doing chores, idiot.” He smirked and ruffled her hair, trying to draw attention away from his rosy cheeks. Ray was expectant of his best friend’s excess affection on holidays by now, but his heart still beat rapidly whenever she hugged him close.
“Yeah, Emma. Don’t forget you’re the reason we have to do class chores on a holiday,” a familiar voice spoke from behind Ray. Norman snickered softly before speaking again, “Happy Valentine’s Day, Ray,” He smiled toward him and then toward the girl looking at him with bubbling green eyes, “Emma.”
“Happy Valentine’s Day, Norman!” She excitedly hugged her other friend in response, ignoring his teasing. Norman was in a separate class from his friends this term, and Emma always greeted him with excitement at the end of the day. The blue-eyed boy smiled gently and cherished the hug she gave him, even though he’d received a hug from her at the end of every day. Norman had other friends at school, but he’d never felt closer to anyone than Ray and Emma. They had been friends since elementary school. The soft-spoken boy silently recalled their meeting all those years ago. Young Emma had spilled Norman’s juice on Ray’s book, which caused Ray to throw a fit and Norman to cry. They all got timeout in return. Norman was somehow always roped into Emma’s accidental antics and that hadn’t changed- even in high school. He didn’t mind though. He looked at Emma and Ray with a certain fondness that he hadn’t felt toward anyone else. “I love you!” Emma exclaimed into Norman’s warm red scarf.
He chuckled, “I love you too, but I agree with Ray. You’re not getting out of chores today.” He flashed an acidic smile her way.
As the white-haired boy began to take off his scarf, Emma groaned, “I’m not trying to! I caused this mess, so I don’t mind cleaning up!” She smiled gratefully at her best friends, “Thanks for helping me guys.” Her voice was serious, and a little bashful.
“You don’t need to thank us,” Ray sighed. “That’s what friends are for, right, Norman?” He glanced over at the slightly smaller boy who was putting his coat and scarf on the coat hanger near the door.
“Yeah,” He smiled at Ray. He would never admit it, but Ray hated to see Emma upset, probably even more than Norman. “We don’t mind at all. So let’s get started! The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can go home.”
“Yeah! Are we still going to your house after school, Norman?” Emma asked in a very cheerful tone, hoping the boys hadn’t forgotten that they planned to hang out today.
“Yep. Did you guys bring your games?” He’d asked the both of them as he tossed a broom toward each of them. He began sweeping at the door of the classroom, slowly collecting a pile of glitter that Emma had sprinkled across the room earlier that day. The boring grey floor looked better with pink and red hearts, he thought, but their teacher sure didn’t think so. He was surprised that they didn’t end up with cleaning duty more often from how spontaneous Emma could be with her class surprises.
“Yeah! Did you, Ray?” She asked, looking into the boy’s dark gray eyes and waiting for a response.
“Of course I did,” he responded flatly. “I don’t forget things as easily as you, Emma,” he sneered as he turned away to continue sweeping the floor.
“I don’t forget that easily!” She argued, huffing as she swept the floor. Though she made a huge mess, Emma didn’t regret it at all. The look on everyone’s face when she had exploded through the classroom door with tons of glitter was priceless. She’d gone out of her way (as usual) to surprise everyone with homemade chocolates for the special holiday. While her teacher pretended to be unamused, she was very happy that Emma always made it a point to be excited for holidays. Cleaning the classroom was the least harsh punishment she could think of for the girl with honest emerald eyes.
Once they were done, Norman had walked out of the room to take the brooms back to the supply closet while Emma and Ray put on their winter coats to walk home in the cold February weather.
Before they set off on the small trip home, Norman stopped them both. “Wait, I have something for the both of you in my bag,” he said over his shoulder as he put on his thick jacket.
“Oh me too!” Emma exclaimed excitedly, reaching for her bag. “I almost forgot.”
“As usual,” Ray taunted her in order to see her puffed cheeks, which he thought were painfully cute. Though, he would never say that aloud. “I do too. I was gonna wait until we got home, but might as well since you guys are so impatient.”
Ray reached into his black bag with shaky hands, pulling out a card for each of them. He handed them out and received a grey, needle felted cat from Norman that the boy had crafted himself, as well as his favorite homemade snack from Emma that she only made for him on special occasions. He was very happy with his gifts, and had hopeful thoughts that the two of them would understand and accept his gifts.
Norman and Emma opened their cards in excitement, anxious to read what Ray had written for them. Ray was never the best with words, so whatever he had to say must be good, they thought. They gave each other quick glances before glancing back down at the cards. The cards were adorned with a bouquet of flowers on the front of each of them, but had no words. The front of Emma’s card had a bouquet full of red roses, white carnations, a single daisy, and hydrangeas. Norman’s bore a similar drawing of the same bouquet, but with an aster instead of a daisy.
Red rose… I know that one means, “I love you,” Norman thought, trying to recall the meaning of the rest of the flowers. His cheeks flushed at the realization that Ray had put much thought into the beautiful watercolor drawings before them. White carnations mean “pure love,” I think… And hydrangeas mean “harshness” if I remember correctly. But since the other messages here are positive, I think it serves as a “thank you”? A daisy for Emma is perfect; representing purity, innocence, and loyalty. And asters mean patience and elegance.
He looked up at Ray with a questioning glance before opening the card. The cards read the same message for the both of them:
I’m not great with words. So, if you ever feel distant, use these flowers as a reminder for how I feel about you. - Ray.
Norman smiled at this, biting back a laugh caused by how blank the rest of the card was. Ray was always bad with words, and he was glad to see that hadn’t changed. “You’re the same as always, huh?”
“Yeah, yeah,” he mumbled, shoving his sweaty hands in his pockets.
Emma beamed up at him, smiling like the naive fool that he’d always loved, “Is this why you lent me that book about flowers, Ray?!”
Norman laughed as Ray responded, “Well, you wouldn’t understand otherwise, would you?!” he barked at her and his face reddened as she threw her arms around his neck happily for the second time that day.
“You don’t have to be so harsh, you know,” Norman chided as he hugged the both of them tightly. He breathed in their scents, appreciating the warmth he received upon embracing them. “I love you both more than you’ll ever know,” he whispered softly, savoring the long hug that he rarely received from the older boy.
The orange-haired student was the first to break the embrace, “Hey! I just remembered if we don’t get home by four, we’ll miss dinner,” she hurried to lace up her brown boots.
“Oh, shit, I forgot,” Ray grumbled as he zipped up his jacket.
“I didn’t think you’d forget something so important like Emma would,” Norman teased, sticking his tongue out to the dark haired boy.
“Shut up, we’re gonna be late. Come on,” he hid his expression in his scarf, running out of the classroom door.
Emma smiled and followed after the boys, thinking of how she couldn’t wait to spend another meal with them. She was silently grateful that even though they were all so different, they’d found a way to communicate their love to each other.