Chapter 44

"Do you ever know how eyes lie?"

Weathers.

The sun streams in from all corners of the earth, embracing me, nurturing me. Aqua-blue tulips wither, their colour leisurely fading as the trees display their vibrant, light-green leaves in splendour. Pale-pink mockingbirds soar across the magenta sky, before the first smear of indigo emerges onto the horizon.

Acid-yellow lights attained by the street-lamps flicker off as the sparks of daylight radiate the world.

Miniature droplets gradually descend the tip of cherry-red petals, a faint splash barely audible. The resonance of a whistle drifts through the atmosphere, the notes heard stored within my memory like a file, hastily put a way into a charcoal-grey cabinet. Hopefully, I may remember the tune, so that I can look back fondly on the day in which the shining, white clouds drifted above me whilst I witnessed in awe the beautiful, auburn-orange butterflies.

Hands trembling, I make an attempt to not fret over the bags of chocolates placed in my bag. I bite my lip, rehearsing the lines that I've already muttered thousands of times the night before, in hopes that I won't forget them at the last minute. Sighing, I shake my head, reassuring myself that this was just a generic gift that anyone and everyone could give on Valentines' Day. No emotional strings attached.

Well, not necessarily.

Since today is my first Valentines' Day with Wyatt and Red, I wanted to make it extra special. Something that we could contemplate years from now, laughing and chatting like the good friends we are.

Unfortunately, Wyatt already has a multitudinous amount of girls eager to gain his affection. Therefore, I'm afraid that my efforts will be nothing compared to the various, extreme presents he is bound to receive. Even though my doubts were persuasive, convincing me that there's no use and I might as well discard what I'm planning to offer him, I came to the conclusion that Wyatt's smile would be my compensation for doing what my heart desired. That our friendship was bigger than the obstacles thrown my way.

As a result, I am now ambling to school with an anxiousness to prodigious it's incredible.

"Hey!" Red exclaims as he jogs over and slows down to walk beside me. "Happy Valentines' Day!"

Stretching out his hand, Red opens his palm to reveal the most wonderful necklace I've ever seen. On the chain, is a little, silver bear with the words 'love you' carved into its heart-shaped chest. In the bear's claws, is a rose and in the other, is a cupcake. In addition to this, Red pulls out of his back pocket a card and his phone.

"Say cheese!" He grins as he unlocks the phone and we pose for the selfie.

"Thank you!" I say, happy that he bothered to think about me.

"No problem," Red retorts with a dismissive wave of the hand. "You deserve a lot more but my family's going through a tough financial crisis, so this is the best I could do."

"I don't mind, I love it! You're so sweet," I answer, observing the beauty of the little bear.

Rubbing his neck and stuttering slightly, Red asks:

"I-is it o-okay if I-I hug you?"

Giggling, I accept and we embrace, my smile brightening all the while. However, we are interrupted by a loud cough, clearly insinuating that they disapprove of our reunion.

"Ahem," Wyatt coughs into his elbow, his emerald-green eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Shall we walk to school? We have a busy day ahead of us."

"Just a second," I state, taking one of bags of chocolate out. "Here Red, Happy Valentines' Day! Thank you for being a good friend," I say after quickly pulling out the card as well.

The plastic bag has a sparkling, red ribbon tied to it with an origami rose attached to it too. On the label, was Red's name written in cursive and inside, were the chocolates. Furthermore, I placed a loom band bracelet in a tiny container.

Red had told me he liked them and I took the initiative to make one out of a kit I had lying around.

"Seriously?! Thanks Blue! Is that a bracelet? It looks so cool!"

Gasping, Red covers his mouth.

"Did you make these chocolates yourself?" He inquires, hands on his hips.

"Stop teasing me!" I whine, playfully.

"I'm kidding, let's see if this is any good."

Carefully, Red opens the bag, admiring the rose as he does so. Reaching inside, he grabs one of the caramel chocolates and only a few minutes after tasting it, his eyes widen.

"Oh no," I think, "he didn't like them."

I am then proven wrong when he barely manages to mumble:

"This is amazing. The best I ever had."

"Really?"

"Really!" He nods, finishing it off. "I'm not a fan of chocolates but these surpass any other I've ever tried!"

"Thank you," I stammer, genuinely happy that at least half of the operation went smoothly.

"Can we get to school now!" Wyatt screams, his fists bawled at his sides, eye brows furrowed and nostrils flared as he proceeds to stagger away from me, jaw clenched.

"What's wrong, Wyatt?" I question, craning my neck to look at him.

"Yeah dude, you seem a little tense. Want a chocolate?" Red suggests, waving them in the perfect boy's face.

"Get those damn chocolates out of my face," he growls, smacking Red's hand away.

"Oh, you don't want them 'cause you're gonna get a ton at school, right?"

"Along with a hundred letters from girls, who are declaring their love for you," I whisper.

"Will you guys just forget Valentines' Day for one moment?!" Wyatt shouts. "Maybe I don't want a hundred gifts, maybe I don't want a hundred declarations of love! Maybe, what I want is for a certain person to look at me and say..."

His eyes wander but they finally land on me and when they do, I'm surprised to realise that he's glaring at me, as if it's my fault.

"I'm walking to school alone," Wyatt announces.

"Dude, what are you doing? You're acting so weird for no reason," Red says.

"Leave me alone," is the only reply as the perfect boy increases his pace.

Not wanting to bombard him with questions, I permit him to leave, slightly disappointed and yet confused at his sudden outburst.

"What in the world was that? Why is he being so strange?"

"I-I don't know," I stutter, still in disbelief.

"He was looking at you, Blue," Red informs me, recalling the situation. "He glared at you. The type of glare that's filled to the brim with hatred."

"He...hates me?" I whispered.

Noticing his mistake, Red rapidly explains.

"No, not at all. It's just that when he looked at you, he seemed like something was bothering him. Did you do something?"

"No, not that I remember," I respond.

"Then it's all right, okay?"

"Okay."

Except, it wasn't