In
High school, the student council had a fund-raiser where we could
buy a flower for someone special and have it delivered to him
or her on Valentine's Day morning in their first-period class.
That
year, I sent out three carnations to three unsuspecting girls.
I figured there might be a chance to attract at least one of them.
Besides, if any one of them had sent me a flowers and I didn't
send them one in return, it would be over before it began. A carnation
went out to Melanie, Susie, and Jenny (Jenny was a long shot).
The
whole week, I anticipated who might send me some carnations. My
friend Brian sent one to his girlfriend, Stephanie sent one to
Jason - she had a crush on him all semester. Lisa sent one to
her good friend Tracy just for fun. The entire week a list of
girls ran through my mind. I wondered who would be the one to
try and win me over. I had two potentials on my mind, but I was
more than ready to be completely surprised by any random girl.
Finally,
the morning of February 14 arrived. After thirty minutes of math
class, I spotted the student council delivery person outside the
classroom in the hallway. She entered the room carrying a massive
bouquet of flowers for distribution in Mr. Aaron's math class.
Mr. Aaron reluctantly stopped class and organized the flowers.
As he shuffled through the thick stack of cards, the room filled
with anticipation.
At
long last, Mr. Aaron finally had our undivided attention. He asked
for a helper and started handing out the flowers. He announced
the names on the card as he delivered the goods. "Neil, Brian,
Jennifer, Scott, Chad, Anne, Amy…" The list went on for a good
ten minutes.
Flowers
began sprouting up on desks all around me.
Some guys were already on their second and third flowers. One
guy even scored a good half-dozen. Even though it was public knowledge
he had a girlfriend, the reality was the he six times as many
flowers as me.
Mr.
Aaron read out the last couple of names, "Two more for Neil and,
oh good, one for Harlan," Yes! There was one for me! Total
relief.
I had a pretty idea of who had sent it to me. I looked down at
the card and it confirmed exactly what I expected. It wasn't from
Melanie, it wasn't from Susie, and it definitely wasn't from Jenny.
The
card read:
Happy
Valentine's Day Love,
Harlan
My friends asked me who had sent it. I told them it was someone
special, and left it at that. They never knew. They didn't need
to know.
