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Her smile has no right to be as big as it is as she approaches her locker.
For the fifth day in a row, there's a flower stuck there with a small piece of paper. She already knows what it's going to say, but that doesn't stop her from excitedly opening it up, and then sticking it with the rest of them on the inside of the door.
Today's flower is a peony.
Yesterday’s was a sunflower.
And she suspects tomorrow’s will be different again.
She closes her eyes and takes a moment to get lost in its sweet scent.
(It's beautiful and not for the first time, she's wondering how he's been able to pull this off)
"Ooo! What is it today?" Gina gets pulled back to reality as Carlos rushes over to her.
"It's a peony." She replies, as she momentarily hands it to him to pull her stuff together for first period.
"I'm guessing the note's the same?" Carlos asks, also taking in its gorgeous scent.
"Yep. Just todays number, followed by a heart."
"You are one lucky girl." Carlos says as they start making their way to homeroom, placing the flower on top of her books. (She'd carry it around all day, just like she's done since Monday)
Her friends, especially Carlos, had been invested since day 4, as soon as they’d come back from the weekend and she’d excitedly told them about receiving the first two flowers (a rose and a tulip).
Since then, it’s the first thing that gets asked. Some mornings she’s wondered whether they’re more excited than her. But then she realises that’s completely impossible since it’s her boyfriend that’s sending them.
Monday brings a new week, and with musical auditions just around the corner, things are getting busy. And fast. Thankfully Valentine’s Day is at the end of the week and with EJ busy with college, she’s planning a quiet one in with her mum.
Monday also brings something else.
Another flower.
She almost has to stop herself from skipping into school and beelining it to her locker.
There waiting for her is a yellow gerbera, along with the familiar piece of paper, and really, it’s kinda stupid how much her cheeks already hurt from smiling.
As she’s walking to homeroom, she bumps into Kourtney who immediately asks her about her flowers and the weekend. Gina tells her about the carnation and daffodil she’d woken up to on Saturday and Sunday and how she’d finally decided to ask him about it.
For some reason, she had never brought up the flowers with EJ, despite how much they spoke, and neither did he, so it was just left at that. But her curiosity had finally gotten the better of her.
“He gave me nothing Kourt! All he said was ‘you’ll see’. Like what is that supposed to mean?!” Gina says incredulously. She wasn’t mad. Quite the opposite really.
“I don’t know girl, but he’s clearly planning something.”
The school grounds are abuzz, people showing their love and affection towards each other everywhere. Love was almost literally in the air.
Which just heightened the anticipation as Gina made her way to her locker. Her heartbeat slowly increasing as she weaves through the halls.
For the last 13 days she’d received a flower, a different type each day. They’d become the talk of the theatre crew, and over the last couple of days, they’d suspected that they could possibly be hinting towards something for Valentine’s Day. She’d hardly slept the night before in anticipation, wondering what today may bring and if she’d finally find out what EJ meant when he said ‘you’ll see’.
As she rounds the corner, she stops abruptly, the person behind her knocking her in their way through.
She doesn’t know how long she stands there staring at the blank door that is her locker. For a moment she thinks she’s in the wrong spot. It looks wrong, naked almost, without a flower stuck to it.
She steps forward and opens it, hoping that maybe, maybe, there’s something inside. But her heart sinks a little and her eyebrows crease in confusion as all that stares back at her are the existing 13 little pieces of paper.
She takes a moment before walking through the homeroom door, shaking herself out, putting her bravest face on. Though, Carlos and Kourtney immediately notice the missing flower and greet her with questioning looks. Her resolve falters slightly, as she just shakes her head and shrugs in reply. There’s not much else to say.
The rest of the day goes by in a bit of a blur. Not finding the flower has kinda thrown her for a loop.
Though, thankfully, she starts feeling better by lunchtime. The atmosphere in the cafeteria is surprisingly contagious and she can’t help but smile as she witnesses countless displays of love.
Even within their friend group, gifts are given. Carlos gives her a beauty voucher and Ashlyn gives her and Kourtney the other two of a set of three matching necklaces engraved with ‘S4L’ (sisters for life) (which they put on immediately of course).
After lunch, she pretty much aces her history test and by the final bell, she’s ready to head home, spend the night watching cheesy rom-coms with her mum and hopefully FaceTime EJ.
What she isn’t ready for is the sight that meets her at her locker. This morning suddenly feels like an eternity ago, as she stops in her tracks for an entirely different reason. What’s at her locker now is far better than any flower or piece of paper.
Standing there, not holding just flower number 14, but instead, a whole bouquet of pink camellias is EJ.
“I heard you were missing today's flower.” He says smiling.
Students and classmates move around her, some completely oblivious to what’s happening. She faintly registers her friends gasps and exclaims behind her, but it’s like they don’t exist as she slowly walks up to him, still in complete shock. “I hope this covers it.”
“I…” She’s still processing that he’s actually here in front of her and it’s not some vivid dream. He’s meant to be back in his dorm, not standing in front of her locker in Salt Lake!
EJ chuckles, passing her the camellias, the piece of paper sticking out the top. “Happy Valentine’s Day babe.”
His hand comes up to rest on her hip as she dips her head to smell them. She remembers they had these at the house before all the moving started, and since then they’d always been her favourite. However, she doesn’t ever remember mentioning it to EJ.
He gently squeezes her hip, directing her gaze back to him. And before she can stop herself, she’s leaning up, lips meeting his in a spellbinding kiss.
Most students have cleared out by now, but the clear sound of their friends cheering echoes through the hall.
“Happy Valentine’s Day.” She laughs against his lips, before pulling away and turning towards their friends.
After exchanging quick hellos and goodbyes with the group (and adding the last card to her collection) she finds herself slipping into the passenger seat of his car.
Her mind seems to be only now catching up with the events of the last half hour and as EJ slips his hand into hers over the console, the question that’s been on the back of her mind slips out.
“How the heck did you pull this off?”
EJ doesn’t say anything as he pulls out of the school car park, only smirks and places a kiss on the back of her hand. But now that he’s here in person, she’d determined to get an answer.
“Ash didn’t put you up to this did she? Cause she’s kept her lips pretty sealed.” She questions. “And so has my mum, now that I think of it.”
EJ laughs at her interrogation. “No comment on you mum. And no, not this time. Though she did help me with some of them. Did you like them?”
“Yeah,” she sighs, “though I was pretty confused this morning.”
“Sorry about that.” Another kiss to her hand. “I hope it was worth it.”
“Oh absolutely. So what’s the plan then?” She asks relaxing into the seat, satisfied for the moment with the answers.
“How do you feel about risotto for dinner?”
She knows he’s joking, but she doesn’t care.
“Sounds perfect.”