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Of all the humiliation that was high school, Valentine's Day had to be the worst.
There were the couples making out by their lockers. And all the talk about the Valentine's Dance. The cafeteria ladies were even serving heart shaped sugar cookies with conversation heart messages on them. Rose's had said "BFF." At least it didn't say "Loser" or "Perpetually Lonely," or "Just Kidding." "BFF was perfect for the person stuck in the friend zone for life.
But the worst had to be those damned HappyGram and rose sales that the Sunshine Society was trying to push on everyone in the school. That French exchange student Jeanne had been a particularly obnoxious seller. The idea was that you bought a HappyGram with a message for your valentine or a rose and it would be delivered to the object of your affection during fifth period.
People noticed who got them. They really noticed who didn't get them. Those people might as well have a sign that said, "no dance for me tonight, just Netflix."
Rose had never gotten a rose on Valentine's Day. Not even when she was dating Jimmy. And even then he thought he'd get his way with her that night.
Not that she cared. It was just a bit embarrassing, that's all. And the Valentines would be delivered during math, which was bad enough.
John wasn't in math with her. She was in business math and he was trigonometry. At least she wouldn't have to suffer the ignominy of not getting a valentine in the very same class that he was in. Not that he would have noticed.
John didn't really date. He wasn't gay or something, according to his older sister, Donna, who was a senior. He was just horribly awkward and shy and really, he probably liked her and if she'd just be patient, John will finally get his head out of his ass and ask her out. According to Donna, anyway.
John was her best friend, her confidante (about everything except any crushes she might have) and he was a fantastic scene partner in drama class. They'd be opening in the school's winter production of "The Fantasticks" as Matt and Luisa in three weeks. They acted out a romance on stage very well.
In real life, he was clueless and she tried not to look too desperate.
As she walked down the hall from her locker, math book in hand, thinking possibly of ditching math and hiding out in the dressing room in the theater wing. She'd done it before.
She looked up from the floor, mentally running through the logistics of ditching when she made eye contact with Mr. Smith, the math teacher, and realized it was no longer an option. She trudged in flopped into her chair next to Amy's desk. Amy said hi, Rose returned the greeting, and then Rose fished her homework out of her folder and realized she'd hadn't done two of the problems. She groaned and got her pencil out in a mostly vain attempt to got it all done before Mr. Smith started class.
It was too late. He strode in, already talking, commanding attention. His eyebrows were fierce and looked like they could independently attack you if you didn't listen. Rose had heard rumors that he was actually really cool and played guitar but she didn't believe it. He was already collecting homework three rows over from Rose as she struggled to work through the problem.
They were interrupted just before he got to her. Jeanne the exchange student and Rose's friend from drama class, Clara, were bearing roses and cards. "Happy Valentine's Day!" Jeanne chirped happily. Clara looked like she'd rather be anywhere else but there. Clara had told Rose that when she joined the Sunshine Society it was to have service opportunities, not be a part of a pseudo-sorority. The only reason she tolerated this was that the money raised went to a local soup kitchen
Mr. Smith's eyebrows looked angry about the intrusion but he waved them in anyway. Jeanne began to cheerily distribute flowers and HappyGrams. Amy received the first one, no surprise there. She'd been going steady with Rory since they were about two. Rose figured Rory wouldn't live it down if he didn't send Amy a rose. Sophie got one next and mouthed, "Craig!"
Rose was pleased at least to see that her shy friend Craig Owens had taken her advice and gotten Sophie a rose. Maybe I'm better at relationship advice than I am at actual relationships, Rose thought. She returned to her homework, desperately trying to ignore Jeanne and finish the work.
She could hear, though, that there was a rose for Sally and Astrid and even that moron Adam. Jeanne and Clara continued around the room long enough Rose to get just a minuscule bit of hope up. Maybe, she thought.
"Thanks and excuse the interruption!" Jeanne said happily. Mr. Smith nodded curtly. Clara rolled her eyes at Rose and Amy and followed her out. Jeanne caught Rose's eye and gave her a little smirk. Rose wasn't the only one who admired John Noble. Well, there's that settled, she thought.
Rose sighed, but she wasn't surprised that she hadn't received anything. She didn't really expect John to do anything, deep down. But it still hurt. She wanted more desperately but she had to resign herself to kisses on stage when they rehearsed their parts in the winter musical, "The Fantastiks." Mrs. Foreman, obviously aided by cruel fate, had cast them as Matt and Luisa, the romantic leads of the play.
It was getting harder to act the part of his on stage love when he seemed to be clueless about her feelings off stage. She sighed, and began to scratch out answers on her homework. A gruff voice said, "Miss Tyler."
She looked up to see Mr. Smith and his eyebrows looming over her and she relinquished her unfinished homework.
*******
It was with relief that Rose left the math room to head to the theater wing. Her best friends were there. Mrs. Foreman, was, in her opinion, the best teacher in the school. Even if she had to face John, it was okay. That was where she felt the most at home.
Martha caught up to her, carrying a rose and a construction paper heart. "Look at it," she said, "God bless him!"
It was from Mickey, Martha's boyfriend. It said, "Roses are red, violets are blue, you want to go out tonight, maybe?" Rose couldn't help but snicker. "He's just a natural at writing, isn't he?" Rose said. "And you'll be going out with him tonight, right?"
"Well, yeah!" Martha laughed. They stopped at Rose's locker. She threw her math book into it, hoping it would get lost in the depths, and grabbed her drama class things. She appreciated that Martha didn't remark on her lack of Valentines. She was happy for Mickey and Martha. Yet another matchmaking success for Rose Tyler, she thought. Can't handle it for myself, but by damn, love's gonna be in the air around me.
The auditorium was humming with activity. Mrs. Foreman was directing the students in the light booth as they placed lights and tinkered with the sound. Donna was the chief sound tech for this show.
"There we go. John, you go up on the platform, you too, Rose," Mrs. Foreman called. "I want to get the microphones set for 'Soon It's Gonna Rain.'"
Oh, lovely, the most romantic song we have together, Rose thought. That's all I need right now. Then she muttered to herself, "Suck it up, sweetie, the show must go on."
John was standing by the stage, a pink construction paper heart in hand. Rose would bet money on who it was from. John stuck the heart in his trig book, ran a hand through his really great hair and vaulted up onto the stage. Rose took the stage left steps. Seeing him stick the heart in his book disheartened her more than she expected. Well, you could have gotten him one yourself, she thought, and her internal voice sounded suspiciously like Donna's.
John Noble grinned broadly at her, and she returned the smile, albeit more ruefully. He raised an eyebrow. He stepped up into the platform that formed the center of the set. "You okay?" he asked
"Not too bad," she sighed.
The lights were moved around. "Sure about that?" he asked.
"No," she wanted to say, "I'm not. You've got the heart of some French tart in your trig book and I'm pissed about it."
What she said was, "Bad day in math class."
"I'm available if you need help, Rose, all you have to do is call me. I'm there. Whenever you need me."
She wanted to take some comfort in those words, have some hope that maybe, maybe he was talking about more than just math. She shut that thought down. She had to if she wanted to stay sane.
Mrs. Foreman wanted them to go through the dialogue from their scene together. "Take it from the thunder effect. Donna!" Donna gave her the thumbs up from the light and sound booth and cued up the thunder sound.
As rehearsed, Rose dashed into John's arms, and John gave his line: "There, there, that's all right."
Rose answered, "Matt, take care of me. I don't want to be awkward or afraid. I love you, Matt. I want there to be a happy ending." She choked a bit on the last word, and John gave her a curious look.
"I promise there will be," he answered as Matt. Then, as rehearsed, he kissed her gently. Rose found herself kissing him back with more fervor than she had before in rehearsals, until a deafening screech came from the stage speakers and Mrs. Foreman whirled around to yell at the sound techs. Rose backed out of his arms and stepped away. She had a feeling he saw the tears in her eyes anyway. It was really hard acting in love with someone with whom the love was unrequited.
They had other things to do in class so Mrs. Foreman decided to leave the technical issues until rehearsal. Rose tried to avoid John.
*****
Drama was the last class of the day but the cast had rehearsal so Rose made a run to the gym to buy a soft drink from the vending machine so she could make it through rehearsal on a caffeine buzz. It would be a short rehearsal with it being Friday and the dance that night. She was glad. She just wanted to go home. She was tired of wanting John and it being unrequited. Fine, let Jeanne have him, she mused. "The Fantasticks" opened in three weeks, she'd have to kiss him for six performances, then she could put that aside and move on, let him just be a friend instead of a potential love interest. Maybe she wouldn't hang out with him as much. That would make it easier. In theory, anyway. She'd been in love with him since freshman year, and she realized it would probably hurt like hell not being around him. She had to be strong, though. She could do that.
In theory, anyway.
"Rose?" She heard John's voice behind her. She sighed, not expecting a test of her resolve right then.
Rose turned around. John was standing there, in his brown jeans and hoodie and converses as always, hand in pocket, nervously rocking back and forth. In his hands was a small bouquet of daisies and baby's breath. She gasped. He stepped up to her and they were nearly toe to toe.
"I couldn't buy you a rose. Little too on the..." He tapped her nose. "..nose. Hey, made a poem." He grinned at her nervously. "And those HappyGrams were just dumb. Sorry. I gave Clara five bucks toward the soup kitchen fund."
"Oh," she said eloquently. "And what about the heart you received? From Jeanne, right?"
"Oh, yeah, I got one from her. It was in French. Couldn't read it. By the way, I didn't get one from you, either."
"I was too nervous to get you one. And they are pretty dumb. I gave Clara some money too." They both chuckled.
"I did get this one. Thought you'd appreciate it.
He handed her the pink one from his trig book. It was from Donna. "Tell Rose, you big dumbo," it said. "I figured Donna paid a good dollar for this so I'd better just do what she said."
"Is that the only way you'd tell me? And what are you telling me, anyway?" She looked at him intently, silently prompting him to continue.
"I would have told you even if Donna hadn't pushed me. I really enjoy kissing you in the play, Rose."
"I really enjoy kissing you, too. Does that extend to outside the play kissing, or are we only talking about kissing as Matt and Luisa?"
John rolled his eyes. "You don't make this easy for me."
"I've had a rough day, give me a break," Rose countered, but she stepped closer to John.
"I'm talking about John and Rose kissing, obviously, and how there's a distinct lack of it, and how we need to fix that. I think John and Rose kissing would be brilliant, I think, just as or even more brilliant as Matt and Luisa kissing, or Benedick and Beatrice kissing or Cosette and Marius kissing....." He was beginning to babble. He had an extensive knowledge of theater so he could go on for a while. Rose felt compelled to interrupt him.
"Just go ahead and kiss me," she said, "without the theater history lesson."
"That works too," he agreed, angling his head toward her. Their lips met softly. "Been wanting to do this for a long time."
They'd been kissing for weeks as Matt and Luisa. Now kissing as just John and Rose in the concession stand hallway in the gym, it was better than Rose could have ever imagined.
To begin with, he was a hell of a lot better at it than Jimmy Stone, who thought all kisses, even first ones, required extensive tongue usage.
John's lips brushed hers gently, tentatively, and she found herself reeling him in by the front of his purple hoodie. Her arms went around his neck and her hands began to play in his hair. He hummed happily. His hands rested lightly against her waist, but he then wrapped his arms around her more tightly.
The kiss might have morphed into something a little more desperate if Coach McCrimmon hadn't started yelling at someone in the gym. They broke apart suddenly, panting, and laughing. They only laughed harder as Craig and Sophie burst into the hall, obviously busted by the coach who was ranting about hating Valentine's Day. Craig happily gave Rose a thumbs up as they dashed by, and she returned it.
"Oh for crying out loud, you too?!" McCrimmon appeared in the hall, and as he started going on about giving detentions for public displays of affection, John grabbed Rose's hand.
"I think we better run," he muttered.
They did.
******
Years later, Rose and John Noble took their seats in the middle row of the same high school auditorium in which they'd acted Matt and Luisa so successfully as junior year drama students. Everything old was new again, it seemed, as they settled in for a performance of "The Fantastiks" with Rose's parents and Donna's family. "Oh, look!" Donna said, pointing out a picture in the program. It was a full cast photo of them years ago next to the new cast photo. "He looks just like you, John!"
Rose was looking through her program, and she gasped, pointing to a short paragraph by their son's picture. She had tears in her eyes. She and John read together, "Tyler Noble would like to dedicate this performance to his parents, John and Rose Noble. I wouldn't be doing this now if they hadn't done this play first."
"Happy endings," John murmured, and kissed his wife's cheek as the auditorium lights dimmed.