The weeks that followed Phil’s accidents were ones of change. Well, at least for Molly. First of all, she got someone else to sit next to in Bio. She used to work together with Phil, but since he had a broken arm and various torn ligaments he still wasn’t attending school. Fortunately, her new partner did not disappoint. It was David. A broad-shouldered soccer-playing senior guy, who everyone at school simultaneously looked up to and wanted to be friends with. Including Molly.
Speaking of partners, Molly had made another positive development relating to a certain Chemistry partner. After that afternoon behind the hospital, Sherlock had started slowly fading from her mind. He still wasn’t gone, but Molly wasn’t losing sleep over him anymore. No more worrying about what she had said or done. No more breaking rules about fighting. Molly was back in control again. Or at least, that was what she told herself.
The last and most recent change did not just affect Molly, but the entire school. In the last two days, the entire school was filled with hearts, roses and all sorts of pink objects. Valentine’s day was approaching. Unlike Molly’s school in London, Valentine’s day was actually a big deal at this school. Students could send roses to each other and leave romantic messages, but most importantly there was the Valentine’s dance. An event that had been part of every student’s conversation during the past week.
It was also part of the conversation Molly, Meena and Sally were having, while enjoying the first tiny rays of sunlight on a bench in the schoolyard. They became distracted, when suddenly a blonde boy came jogging towards them. David.
“Hi there, ladies. Molly,” He gave her a little nod, while greeted all the girls with a broad smile. He was holding a small box in his left hand.
“Hi, David” Sally and Meena both said in their sweetest voice.
With a tiny smile Molly just said “Hi.” She had actually gotten to know him quite well and it was strange to suddenly be reminded of how everyone saw him as the popular guy. Not that she blamed them, though. With his blonde curls, crooked smile and smooth talk, he simply demanded admiration.
“You girls want some chocolate?” He asked, opening the box he held. “It’s for charity, so I thought I’d buy a whole box from the Valentine’s committee. It’s way too much, for just me.”
“Don’t you have someone special to share it with?” Sally asked, looking up at him innocently. Molly felt herself become uncomfortable. She really wasn’t in the mood to discuss this kind of stuff.
While a lot of guys would have been somewhat embarrassed by this question, David just gave her his famous half-smile and answered; “No, I don’t. Not yet.”
This made Sally’s eyebrows fly up, Molly could almost see her sorting through recent gossip in her made. Trying to figure who David’s new girl would be.
“So, what about you girls? Someone taking you to the dance?” He continued.
Molly spotted just a tiny bit of nervousness in his voice and wondered if this question had been the entire reason he had come over.
“I’m going with Sam, but just as friends,” Sally answered overly nonchalant. “And Meena is probably going with Ian.”
This caused Meena’s expression to turn sour, because she had just told Sally she would go with Phil or not at all. Yet, she was too shy to call out her friend on her bossy behavior.
“What about you, Molly? Who you’re going with?” David asked her, while he looked at her with a gaze that was much more intense than usual.
Molly felt her stomach turn a little. Why did it suddenly feel awkward between them?
“Uh…. No one. I mean, I don’t even know if I’m going. I mean, no one asked her.” His question and the reality of her answer, turned her into a blubbering mess.
As soon as she spoke the words though, she noticed that David relaxed a little. Or maybe she had also made that up.
“I’m sure someone will ask you, Mol, ” he replied with suddenly serious expression. “Now please take this chocolate from me, before I have to get back to class.” As if nothing had happened, he fell back into his charming behavior and the girls all took several chocolates from his box. Then he told them goodbye and disappeared inside the school building.
It happened the next day during Math. While Mrs. Stone worked out a differential equation on the whiteboard, the door of the classroom opened and two girls in pink sweaters walked in. In their arms they held several bright red roses.
“Hi guys! We got some roses for you!” The shorter of the two addressed the class. “Let me see we got one for… Sally Donovan”
Sally, who was sitting beside Molly, flashed the classroom a triumphant smile while she received the rose. Molly gave her a small smile and resumed to stare at her pink sneakers, while the girls of the Valentine’s committee called out various names and handed out roses. She knew she wouldn’t receive anything and didn’t really care who did, so she wished they would just hurry up and let the lesson continue.
“And we got a rose for…. Molly Hooper!” One of the rose-girls called out excitedly. Molly immediately looked up, eyes wide with surprise. What?! Who?
With shaking hands she accepted the blood-colored flower. A small white card was attached to the stem. Molly turned it over and read;
Green picnic table. Schoolyard. 1 PM.
Love, your valentine
As soon as she finished, she felt her heart begin to beat faster and an torrent of questions flooded her mind. Who was it from? Why was he being so mysterious? What would happen at 1 PM? Should she go?
“Omg, Molly! Who’s it from?” Sally interrupted her train of thoughts by squeezing her arm. She was leaning over her shoulder, clearly trying to decipher what was on the card.
“Uhh… It doesn’t say. He wants me to meet him at 1PM.” Molly explained hesitantly.
“How mysterious. You are going, right?” Sally said, more like an order than a question.
“Uhh… Yeah, I gue-” She started to assure her friend, but was interrupted by the rose-girls.
“…And none for Gretchen Wiener. Bye guys!” They called out and left the classroom.
Going to class had become useless and during lunch Molly did not feel hungry. She just couldn’t stop thinking about the rose, or rather the mysterious message that was attached to it. The question that plagued her the most was who it was from. Her first instinct had been to relate the message to the conversation with David from yesterday. Yet, the possibility of a guy like him asking a girl like her out seemed kind of, well, impossible. Besides, he really wasn’t her type. (If she actually had type…) Still, she could remember very clearly that he had been interested in knowing if someone had asked her to the dance yet.
Molly sighed and plucked at her uneaten sandwich. She let her eyes wonder to the schoolyard. Seeing an empty picnic table, brought back all that had happened a few weeks ago. For just a moment she wondered. What if….What if the message was from him? After all, he liked to be mysterious. Molly felt her stomach turn into an even bigger not. ‘Stop it. Stop it.’ She thought to herself. She was over this. Over him and she wouldn’t let him make her feel like this anymore.
Molly looked at her leather watch and saw it was 12:58. There was no more time for speculating now. She was going to find out who her mysterious admirer was. As she rose from her seat, Sally squeezed her arm and told her; “Good luck.”
With shaking knees and clammy hands Molly stepped through the big red doors, into the surprisingly quiet schoolyard. As soon as she was outside, her gaze immediately moved towards the picnic table. Her heart made a little leap as she saw who was standing beside it. David.
In his arms he held a big teddy bear that held a big red heart in his arms. Upon seeing her, his mouth turned into a big white grin.
Molly surprised, relieved and excited, had to force her legs to keep on moving towards him. When she finally reached the table David began to speak.
“Molly Hooper,” he began, saying her name like a caress. “I think Teddy has something important to ask you.”
With a big goofy smile he handed her the bear. Only now, did she see that on the heart the bear held something was written. ‘Will you be my Valentine?’
With shaking hands she accepted the toy. She almost let out a squeal of excitement, as she hugged it tightly to her chest. Was this really happening?! To her?!
“Off… Off course I’ll be your Valentine, David.” She told him, stumbling over her own words. She had dreamed up moments like this so many times and now it was suddenly becoming real. Exactly, like she had imagined it. She needed someone to pinch her.
Suddenly, David gave her a serious look with his sweet brown eyes. Carefully, he took the bear out of her arms and took both of her hands in his.
“Molly, the best biology partner in the history of biology partners, I also have something to ask you.” An unusually shy smile came to his face.
He took a deep breath and asked her in an earnest voice; “Will you go to the Valentine’s dance with me?”
Molly was certain her heart stopped beating in that moment. Although, she had never thought of David in that way – they weren’t even that close as friends, really – she was suddenly certain that all she had ever wanted was to spend a whole night dancing with him. In a pink dress. In his arms. Maybe even a kiss at midnight. (!!!)
“Yes…Yes,” Molly nodded, her cheeks turning pink. She really wasn’t certain how to express all her excitement. “I’d really like to go to the dance with you.”
As soon as she got the words out, David gave her a really tight hug. With a triumphant smile on his face, he told her; “You’re the best, Molly.”
The sound of the ringing bell brought Molly back down to earth. She hadn’t realized it, but the spot they were standing in was in direct sight of the cafeteria and the Science labs on the second floor. It seemed like David and hers intimate moment had gotten quite an audience, out of all the windows she could see students staring at them. She felt her stomach make another flop.
“I got to go, I got chemistry.” Molly told David with a tiny smile on her face.
“Alright, just don’t change your mind while I’m gone.” He told her playfully. ‘Oh, I wouldn’t dare,’ she thought to herself, feeling the butterflies in her stomach as she walked back into the school.
On wobbly legs Molly, still holding Teddy in her arms, managed to reach the Chemistry classroom on the first floor. Her head was spinning with images of teddy bears, candy cotton dresses and words filled with affection. As soon as she entered the room though, her pink cloud disappeared. In her usual spot Sherlock sat, looking liked a cracked porcelain statue. When he saw her standing in the doorway, he got up almost mechanically and started to walk towards her. He looked at her once. His eyes ice-cold, but she could see that the hidden sadness was much more present than usual. The butterflies in her stomach suddenly froze. Then he walked past her, brushed her shoulder barely and exited the room.
He did not even hear Mr. Abott calling out in anger and surprise “Sherlock!”.
Molly realized she had been standing in the doorway way too long, the teddy bear dangling from her left hand all the time. Confused by her emotions, she slowly walked over to her usual seat. The one Sherlock had just been sitting in. On the table lay a stack of papers, a neatly typed-up document. The front page read: Salts and precipitation reactions – by Molly Hooper and Sherlock Holmes.