(unedited)
Forty-Seven
Valentine's Day
It had been a few days since Nadia had gone to the movie theater with Mason. And as she now made her way towards her locker, she couldn't stop herself from smiling as she remembered what had happened.
Throughout the movie, she had occasionally stolen glances at Mason, wondering if he was enjoying the movie. And when she saw the little smile on his lips each time, she couldn't stop herself from also smiling. On one occasion, after looking at him, she reached for some of the popcorn where it Mason had placed it beside him so that she could reach it. And just as she was pulling her hand out with a handful, Mason reached into the bowl. She turned her head to look at him as she felt her heart suddenly beating quickly from his touch, causing her to drop the kernels.
He smiled at her before grabbing some popcorn and returning his attention to the screen, as if nothing had happened. She quickly placed the few kernels that she had managed to grab with her now shaking hands as she turned her head to face the screen.
And for the rest of the movie, she couldn't stop playing that scene over and over in her head as she wondered,
Why did a single touch have such an effect on her?
When the movie ended, they exited the theater and as they were making their way to the bus stop, Mason suddenly stopped walking, causing Nadia to also stop.
"Are you okay?" she asked him. He nodded his head before awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.
"I'll be right back, wait here."
Before she could say anything, he walked away, leaving her at the entrance of the theater. A few moments later, he returned, holding a bag.
"What did you get?" she asked.
"It's nothing," he said to her. A big part of her wanted to continue to ask him until he told her but for some reason, she found herself just nodding her head. They continued to make their way to the bus stop, with one of them occasionally breaking the silence to talk about different parts of the movie.
---
Nadia opened her locker and was surprised when an Avengers plush toy fell onto her lap. She picked it up and immediately saw the envelope which was attached to it. Reminded of how she had done the same for Mason, she smiled as she removed the envelope and opened it. She removed the card that was inside and read it,
Nadia, you are the most beautiful that I have ever met both inside and out.
And sometimes I really wish you saw yourself the way that I see you because
I think I'm starting to love you 3000.
-your secret admirer
Nadia's lips turned up into a smile as she reread the words that were written in the card. A warm feeling surrounded her as she sensed a presence beside her. And thinking that it was Mason who had come to see her reaction to the card, she turned with a large smile. But she was slightly disappointed when she saw Mandy standing beside her.
"Why do you look so disappointed to see me?" Mandy asked.
"I'm not, I just thought you were someone else," she told her.
"You mean Mason?" Mandy asked, wriggling her eyebrows suggestively. Nadia chuckled as she looked at her, trying to keep her disappointment controlled. She didn't say anything as she quickly took her textbook out of her locker and closed it.
"Let's get to class," she said to Mandy who simply nodded her head with a small smile.
During the first half of the day, she could barely focus in her classes as she found her mind wandering back to the words in the card.
From what was written, she could tell that it was Mason who had put the card in her locker. But she found it odd that she hadn't seen him before she went to her first class and also during the first break when they would usually meet up.
And now that it was lunch time, she couldn't stop herself from looking around once in a while, wondering if Mason was going to join them.
"Why do you keep looking around?" Mandy asked.
"I'm just wondering if Mason is coming to join us."
"Speaking of Mason, you seem pretty distracted today," Mandy said.
"What do you mean?"
"During class, I noticed that you were looking out of the window for most of the time and you barely wrote anything down which isn't like you. Is something wrong?"
For a moment, Nadia contemplated whether or not to show Mandy the card to get her opinion.
What could go wrong? she thought to herself as she reached into her bag and pulled out the card.
"Tell me what you think of this," Nadia said as she handed it to Mandy. Mandy took it and read it.
"You have a secret admirer? That's so cute," she said to Nadia, a large smile on her face. Nadia felt a small smile appear on her lips.
"You think so?"
Mandy nodded.
"Do you know who it is? Or do you have any guesses?"
"I feel like it's Mason," Nadia told her, biting her lower lip nervously.
"You guys would be so cute together!" Mandy said, causing Nadia to chuckle slightly.
"But I haven't seen him since the morning and I'm beginning to doubt it," she told Mandy.
"But you don't have any classes with him today."
"I know but usually we still meet up during breaks and lunch."
"Maybe he's not at school today," Mandy said as she took a bite of her sandwich.
"But he didn't send me a text that he wasn't coming today."
Lunch quickly ended and Nadia was once again in a class. And as the class dragged on, she couldn't stop thinking about Mason, hoping that everything was alright. As the time for the last class approached, she found herself counting down the minutes. But she was interrupted when two people entered the class with a box of roses.
"We're here to deliver roses to some people," one of them told the teacher who gestured for them to give out the roses. And that was when she remembered that it was Valentines Day. With everything going on, she had completely forgotten that Valentines Day existed. One by one, different names were called out. And as the girls went up to receive their roses, people began to cheer for them.
Nadia tuned out the names as she returned her attention to the clock, waiting for the bell to ring. But her attention was returned to the people delivering the roses when she felt someone tap her.
"They said your name," the guy sitting beside her said.
Surprised, she looked at the people at the front of the class as they repeated her name. With rigid movement, she wheeled herself to the front and received a bouquet of roses. And as she returned to her desk, she couldn't ignore the whispers that she heard.
Once she was at the desk, she looked at the roses, wondering who had sent them to her. She found a small card attached and she quickly opened it only to find three words in it:
your secret admirer
With those words, she began to wonder if her secret admirer was truly Mason.
Was it possible that it was someone else?
---
Thankfully, her last class passed by quickly and she was now making her way to her locker. She looked at her phone to see that there weren't any messages from Mason; she had gone through the entire day without hearing from him and now she was really starting to worry that something had happened to him.
As she approached her locker, she noticed that there was a sticky note on it. She removed the sticky note to read the words that were neatly written on it.
Do you want to know who I am? If you do, meet me behind the school
-your secret admirer
"What does it say?" Mandy asked as she came to stand beside Nadia and Nadia handed the note to her for her to read.
"Are you going?" she asked her.
Nadia couldn't hide the fact that she was curious about who it could be. At the beginning of the day, she had been convinced that it was Mason. But after going through the day without seeing him or hearing from him, she was beginning to doubt that it was him.
And if it was someone else, she didn't know if she could handle it.
"I don't know," was all she could say to Mandy. Mandy looked at her, an undecipherable expression on her face.
"Why not? Aren't you curious about who it is?" Mandy asked.
"I am but I don't know if I can handle it if it's not Mason," she told her. Mandy nodded her head in understanding before saying,
"If it'll make it easier, I can come with you and help you if it's not him."
Nadia considered her offer as she placed her textbooks in her locker and took the ones that she needed for her homework. And as she closed the locker, she looked at the bouquet of roses on her lap and said to Mandy,
"Okay, let's go."
As they made their way towards the back of the school, Nadia felt her heart beating faster the closer they got. And by the time they reached their destination, her palms were damp. She wiped the sweat from her palms on her jeans as she took in a deep breath and exhaled.
"I'll be right here, if you need me just call my name."
Nadia nodded and began to push herself towards the person that they had spotted standing with his back towards them. She tried to figure out if it was Mason by attempting to look at the person's hair color but his hair was covered with a hat.
Once again, she took in a deep breath and exhaled before saying,
"I'm here just like you asked."
She saw the sides of his jaw lift before he turned around. And before she could see his face, he covered it by holding a brown teddy bear in front of his face.
"Do you know who I am?" he asked.
She tried to listen closely to his voice but it was muffled by the teddy bear. She heaved a sigh.
"I don't know if this is some joke but I don't have time to play around. So if you're not going to show me who you are, then I'm leaving."
And with that, she turned around and began to leave. But before she could get far, she was stopped by the guy wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug.
"I just wanted to do something special, I'm sorry Nadia."
Her eyes widened as she finally recognized him.
"Mason?"
"Yeah, I'm your secret admirer Nadia. I'm the one who put the plush in your locker, the one who had the roses delivered, and the one who is confessing his feelings to you now."
He turned her chair around as he finished speaking and bent down to be at her eye level, looking directly into her eyes and taking her aback.
"I know that I tried this before but this time, I feel like the time is more appropriate."
She watched him as he took in a deep breath and exhaled before saying,
"Nadia, I really like you and if you turn me down again, I'm prepared to change your mind this time."
He smiled slightly as he continued to look at her. And as she looked back at him, she didn't know how to react. She thought that she had been prepared for him to confess his feelings to her again but now that it was actually happening, she didn't know how to reply.
Her body replied before she could form words to say. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him towards her. She felt his chest vibrate as he laughed.
"Can I take it that you accept my feelings?" he asked as they continued to hold each other.
They pulled away and she was finally able to speak.
"I really like you too Mason--"
And before she could finish her sentence, he placed his hands on her cheeks and pulled her towards him and placed a kiss on her lips.
* * *
A/N:
Hello dear readers! Thank you very much for checking out another chapter of this story! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it (especially the last part :P). I apologize if there were any grammar/spelling mistakes because I didn't edit it; I was too excited about uploading the chapter (LOL)
As always, please let me know your thoughts/comments/concerns about this story!
See you in the next chapter!
~candysweet101