Free My Sweet Valentine by Dairenna VonRavenstone Page B

door open and glanced in the magnetic mirror she had
hung there. Her hair was misbehaving, frizzing out in all
directions and she wondered at her own sanity for getting it cut
off before school started. She had loved her almost knee length
blond hair but her friends said that the nickname Rapunzel would
never leave her if she kept it so long. So she had conceited and
chopped off close to two feet of hair.
    She sighed and
forced a large science textbook into her locker. She snatched the
math textbook and shoved it into her all ready full backpack.
Something crumpled and she hoped the worksheet, or notes would
still be in one piece when she made it to her next class. She never
thought high school would be so different then elementary school.
Apparently a lot changed going from one year to the next.
    Her backpack
decided to rebel, as most inanimate objects do at the worst
possible time. It slipped from the precarious position she had
placed it in and she let out a little yelp as she scrambled to grab
it before it tumbled to the floor. She almost whacked her head off
the metal locker and felt a nail break as she grasped the strap in
one hand and prevented the fall.
    She felt as
though she had just saved a child from a deadly plunge into some
kind of abyss and breathed a sigh of relief. She brushed back a
curled strand of hair with a grumble and flung her heavy load onto
one shoulder. The sound of the locker slamming shut was drowned out
by the ruckus of students moving around her. With her locker now
locked she turned and almost let out a shout of surprise.
    Standing in
front of her was the boy that had been stalking her since the
beginning of the year. He was of medium height and reed thin with
greasy looking brown hair that covered his forehead. His eyes were
an interesting shade of brown and despite the smattering of pimples
on his face, he had good features. In his hand was a somewhat
wilted red rose.
    “ Hi, I
wanted to give this to you,” he told her.
    Amber blinked
at the offered flower with its deep red color and missing petals
here and there. She then remembered that it was Valentine’s Day and
wondered why of all the boys in the school that her creepy stalker
had to be the one to give her anything. She had hoped someone else
had noticed her but it was to no avail. She didn’t think she had
become that unnoticeable without her long hair.
    “ Uh,
thanks but that’s okay I really don’t have anywhere to put it
anyway,” she muttered lamely.
    He stared at
her for a long moment and Amber realized she did not even know his
name. Amber knew that even if she was acquainted with him, his
appearances wherever she went in the immense high school would
still disturb her.
    “ But I
got it especially for you,” he informed her.
    “ Uh,
thanks, really, but, um,” she tried and knew she sounded
unintelligent.
    “ I know
it’s kind of wilted and stuff but I don’t really have a lot of
money. I still wanted to get you something though because I really
like you,” he went on to explain with his arm still extended to
offer her the floppy rose.
    “ That’s
really sweet and everything but I don’t even know you and it’s kind
of weird,” Amber finally admitted.
    She tried to
shrink back away from him but her locker prevented an escape.
Students crowded the hallway but were uninterested in the scene as
class would be starting in a few minutes. Class trumped a
conversation between two strangers, especially since tardiness was
met with detention and no one wanted detention on a Friday.
    “ Well my
name is Russell and I really like you,” Russell admitted with a
scuffling of his shoes.
    “ Um, well
that’s nice but I’m not interested in boys right now,” Amber vainly
attempted to make him leave.
    “ Oh, but
I still want you to have the rose. Maybe you’ll change your mind in
a few months or something and we can hang out,” Russell
insisted.
    He thrust the
rose towards her again, his grip tight on the stem. Amber