Valentine's Day | Teen Ink

Valentine's Day

November 27, 2011
By augustsun02 SILVER, Hamburg, New Jersey
augustsun02 SILVER, Hamburg, New Jersey
9 articles 0 photos 76 comments

Favorite Quote:
Write. It doesn't matter if you're overjoyed, furious, miserable, or what. Write to keep those emotions in check while managing to grow stronger.


I watched in disgust as happy couples walked the halls, holding hands and kissing unnecessarily every three steps. Boys roamed around with bouquets of roses, each one searching for his girlfriend. The girls were all dressed in either pink or red. Me? I was perfectly fine in my ripped blue jeans and black tank top. It was February, but cold weather never bothered me.

Someone ran by and dropped a card addressed to his sweetheart. I stomped my black combat boot on to the rose colored envelope and smiled.

"Is this yours?" I asked sweetly. Both he and I knew perfectly well that my boot was marking the envelope with mud with each passing second. He looked up at me and smiled meekly. The look of terror in his eyes humored me. I had forgotten how many little freshmen were terrified of me.

"I-i-it's for my girlfriend. C-can you please take your foot off it?" He seemed scared to ask such a simple question. I laughed at his insecurity and lifted up my foot. He quickly grabbed the mud-stained card and ran. I glanced to my left and scoffed at the couple making out in front of some poor sap's locker.

"Get a room," I muttered as I walked past. All this lovey-dovey romance was making me sick. I needed to get to homeroom. My homeroom teacher, Mr. Schoenstadt, didn't allow romance in his classroom. And may God bless him for that.

***************

I had peace and quiet for all of five minutes before Bryce sauntered into the room. Bryce had been my best friend for years, ever since I saved his sorry butt from bullies in first grade. I was shocked to see that he was carrying daisies, my favorite flower. What? I may have been the tough girl, but I still liked flowers. He cleared his throat to signal his arrival. I looked up from my sketchbook to let him know he had my somewhat full attention.

"Hey Jules," Bryce said in a semi-shaking voice. "Be my valentine?" He held the daisies out to me and smiled. Beads of sweat were glistening on his forehead. His blue eyes continuously shifted focus as he ran a shaking hand through his spiked black hair. Half of me was expecting him to spew out a pathetic love poem, so I took a brief pause before answering. When he didn't make a complete fool of himself, I turned back to my sketchbook. I thought for a while before I finally looked at him again. He was still smiling, waiting for me to say yes.

"Hey Bryce, did I ever mention that I hate Valentine's Day?"



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This article has 12 comments.


on Oct. 28 2012 at 3:18 pm
Snowflakes SILVER, Lichfield, Other
6 articles 0 photos 91 comments

Favorite Quote:
I'm afraid so. You're entirely bonkers. But I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are. - Alice In Wonderland

Haha this made me smile! I was expecting a mushy kind of story, but this was obviously very different. I like your tone in your writing, you really get the characters through well. 

on Sep. 8 2012 at 2:45 pm
DifferentTeen PLATINUM, Seaford, Delaware
32 articles 2 photos 329 comments

Favorite Quote:
"There’s no such thing as true love, just spurts of insanity—falling over and over again, thinking that won’t happen to me"

Valentines Day is the most pointless holiday. As one of my favorite pictures saved on my computer says, " Happy unimaginative, consumerist-oriented and entirely arbitrary, manipulative and shallow interpretation of romance day!" Yes, because chocolates and cards full all of the stuff that every girl wants to hear, even though they really don't mean it, is just the perfect gift from your boyfriend. Even though its totally unoriginal and has no feelings behind it. Well, anyway I loved how she wasn't all sappy and romance-y just because it was Valentines day; though, I did feel a little twang of pain for Bryce. Cause if my childhood friend did that, I can't lie to you, I'd be a little happy. But maybe she didn't like him like that. Either way, great story. Made me smile.

on Aug. 26 2012 at 8:53 pm
Randomscreennamelalalala PLATINUM, Bonney Lake, Washington
23 articles 0 photos 33 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.
-Albert Einstein

It was great, but it felt a bit cut-off. It caught me off gaurd when you said she was a girl, so that's good. I think it could have been even more powerful if you flipped the ending and she said 'You know Bryce, I used to hate Valentines Day.'

on Aug. 18 2012 at 3:05 pm
NitashaS SILVER, Queens Village, New York
9 articles 3 photos 11 comments
Oh wow she really doesn't like Valentine's Day D: Well, not that I like it much either but it's humorous how much she despises it. And poor Bryce! Awww he must have been mustering up the courage to ask her for a while and she just shot him down >.< Bad timing on his part I guess xD I like how it was written, short and sweet. :)

on Jul. 20 2012 at 1:18 pm
WSwilliams GOLD, Toronto, Ontario, Other
12 articles 3 photos 95 comments

Favorite Quote:
If you keep writing, you will pick up structure. You will pick up form

- Richard Matheson

So true!... so true. This story.... i can't type the words right now but it's good, that's all I'll say.

on Jun. 27 2012 at 12:08 am
luv2bLDS BRONZE, Peoria, Arizona
4 articles 0 photos 17 comments

Favorite Quote:
At times the world can seem an unfriendly and sinister place, but believe us when we say that there is much more good in it than bad. All you have to do is look hard enough.

Ahahaha I love it! I can totally relate! You are an amazing writer! Don't ever stop writing!

Poor Bryce :/


on Jun. 24 2012 at 10:09 am
these-roses GOLD, Bristol, Indiana
14 articles 2 photos 37 comments

Favorite Quote:
so many books, so little time

awww poor bryce! its a great story though. i didn't want it to end were it did lol

KateLA GOLD said...
on Apr. 12 2012 at 5:50 pm
KateLA GOLD, Everett, Washington
11 articles 20 photos 194 comments

Favorite Quote:
Don’t you find it Funny that after Monday(M) and Tuesday(T), the rest of the week says WTF?
-Unknown

I like it a lot, because I feel the same way regarding Valentine's day, and I'm always the one scoffing at the other couples :-(. 5/5! Great job writing this!

on Apr. 11 2012 at 7:45 pm
Allicat001 SILVER, Waukesha, Wisconsin
6 articles 0 photos 170 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Love is not someone you can live with, love is someone you can't live without."

"Always stand up for what's right even if that means you're standing alone."

Really good!  I feel terrible for Bryce!  I would have liked it if the ending was a little less sudden than it was, but otherwise this was really well written and you did an amazing job:)

on Apr. 8 2012 at 3:18 pm
kingofwriters BRONZE, DeWitt, Michigan
1 article 0 photos 196 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Books are a uniquely portable magic." - Stephen King

I love books, and I love technology, but I don't want to see the latter overwhelm the former. I just think books are meant to be pages you turn, not screens you scroll through.

Poor Bryce. :/ Nice job with the story, by the way! I read Lucifer and it was also really good! You're a great writer! :)

Honour SILVER said...
on Jan. 23 2012 at 6:32 am
Honour SILVER, New London, Connecticut
9 articles 0 photos 181 comments

Favorite Quote:
Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. ~John 15:13

"Give me liberty or give me death!" ~Patrick Henry

Be brave and steadfast; have no fear or dread of them, for it is the Lord, your God, who marches with you; he will never fail you or forsake you. ~ Deuteronomy 31:6

"I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery" ~ Thomas Jefferson

Oh man, poor Bryce! He must be crushed!

greg9381 GOLD said...
on Jan. 4 2012 at 7:56 pm
greg9381 GOLD, Atlanta, Georgia
12 articles 1 photo 50 comments
Ooh, very interesting...I didn't want it to end where it did, haha