.

I Hate Valentine's Day

.

Four words. Eighteen letters. Six syllables.

I hate Valentine's Day.

Those four words, eighteen letters, and six syllables always come to mind this time of year. When there's thousands of red and pink hearts scattered at every corner, pink and purple streamers hanging off of the ceilings, and extremely corny—not to mention stupid—love letters fluttering out of every pretty girl's locker.

Some people might find this time of year exciting—romantic, even. But in my opinion, Valentine's Day is really just a big waste of time.

And, I swear this to Arceus, if I see one more box of chocolate; I'm going to let all of these love-sick fools take it up with Venasuar.

"Hey, Leaf!" called a familiar feminine voice behind me.

Turning my head slightly to the left so I can glance behind me, I spot my bandana-wearing best friend, May Maple, hurtling towards me. A few particularly annoyed teenagers sent glares as she bumped into their shoulders.

"Hi, May," I greet just as she reaches me. May smiles breathlessly as she leans her hands on her knees, panting. After giving her a minute to catch her breath, I start to move forward. May follows closely behind.

"Aren't you supposed to be headed to Geometry?" I ask. "For like the 100th time, it's that way, May." I point down a hallway to our left that leads to the West wing of the school.

May starts to shake her head, then stops short. "Well, yeah, but I want to ask you something first."

I raise my eyebrows as if to say, Go on.

"W-well, um...," May mumbles, and it's only then that I notice how red her ears are.

I suppress a giggle. "Spit it out," I say.

"So… you know how there's the Valentine's Day dance coming up next weekend?" she asks carefully, her eyes looking anywhere but me.

I groan. "Yes, I do. But what's your point? You know I hate Valentine's Day. Unless…" Eyeing her suspiciously, I tease, "Are you trying to ask me out?"

May's eyes widen in disbelief, and I can't seem to stop myself from laughing maybe a little bit too hard. "Leaf!" she whines. "Not that I totally wouldn't ask you out, but there's kind of someone else that I'm trying to refer to…"

Getting my laughter under control, I grin at her. "If I totally didn't hate Valentine's Day, I'd so ask you out, too," I joke, and we both burst out laughing again. "But if not me, then exactly who were you referring to?"

May blushes again. "U-um…" Gulping, she whispers in a voice so quiet that I think I hear her wrong, "Drew."

But, still, even if she had screamed it at the top of her lungs, I probably would have heard her wrong.

"Drew?!" I practically screech, my arms waving around in shock. Several students turn to stare at us curiously, causing May and I to cringe.

"Would you keep it down?" she whisper-shouts, walking a bit faster and turning down a hallway that doesn't lead to either one of our classes. Shoving me into the girl's bathroom and into the handicapped stall, she locks the door and sighs in relief.

"I thought you hate Drew," I hiss. I'm really just testing her, though. Everyone knows that May and Drew are head-over-heels for each other, but for May to actually realize it… it's practically a miracle.

May sighs. "I… I never said I hate him."

"I can think of several instances."

"Okay, yeah, I have said it a lot. But I never actually meant it, you know? It's like you and Gary: you guys are always saying you hate each other, but everyone else says that you're secretly dating or something."

My eyes widen. "What?!" I yell. "Who says that? You know it's not true, right?"

May laughs. "Everyone except me, you, and Gary, I guess. And of course Gary's fan girls. But, yeah, I had a feeling that you two aren't really 'together' per say, but I do think you like each other."

I glare at her. "Well, we don't. Now tell me more about Drew." Changing the subject has never been my strong suite.

"We… um…" She sighs again. "He kissed me yesterday. It was like, out of nowhere and… Even though he confuses the heck out of me, I think I like him now."

I squeal, jumping up and down. "He kissed you?! No way! Omigosh! What was it like?" Sure, I've been kissed before, but as far as I know, May hadn't.

"It was quick. Like a peck on the cheek, only not on the cheek… heheh. I don't really think he meant to, or maybe he just didn't realize what he was doing, 'cause he pulled away really fast… yeah."

I frown. "Oh. Well, just take a chance and ask him out! If he says no, which I doubt he will, it's not like much will change. You guys fight all the time anyway."

"That's true," May says. "Okay, I'll ask him to the dance." I could see her confidence building, and I give her a pat on the back.

Just then the warning bell rings. "Maybe you should do that after school. Let's go, we only have two minutes to get to class and yours is on the other side of the building," I say, unlocking the stall and pushing May out.

"Thank you, Leafy."

"No prob."