First Valentine

It was glorious to behold.

Who knew one little card could change a person's entire perception of Valentine's Day? It used to be just a day, a day where he saw others receive gifts when he did not. It always made him jealous. He wanted some chocolate too, damn it! But now, that has all changed.

Sora gaped at the card with wide-eyed wonderment. It was a Valentine's Day card addressed to him and him alone. The last time he received a card was in elementary school, when it was obligatory. He became conscious of where he was, standing in the middle of a hallway lined with lockers. He tucked the card close to his chest, leaned his head forward into the locker as if to hide, and glanced both ways to see if anyone was watching. His eyes didn't spot anything out of the ordinary, which was kind of disappointing. He thought maybe the person who left the card would be watching. Well, whatever, he just got a Valentine!

He shut the locker and hightailed it to class early. It was break time, and despite the powerful urge to fill his stomach with food, he didn't want his friends to see his special secret. The classroom was empty except for the teacher but Sora paid him no mind. He was as giddy as a schoolgirl. The card was laid out on top of the desk, drenched in soft hues of pink and purple. It was lovely. He never imagined being the recipient of an honest-to-god Valentine's Day card. It was a momentous occasion.

"What are you grinning about?" the stoic voice of the teacher, Mr. Leonhart—or as he preferred to be called—Leon, asked.

"Huh?" Sora looked up and caught Leon's amused smile. "Oh, it's nothing."

"You received a Valentine, did you?"

For some reason, Leon was making him a little nervous. "Yeah."

"Awfully excited for a card."

"So what?" he shouted, offended by the implication.

Leon chuckled. "You just reminded me of my high school days."

How long ago was that, a couple years? He looked like he graduated just yesterday. "Reminded you of high school? Don't tell me you never got any cards?"

The teacher shook his head. "No, I got plenty. I just threw them all away though." Oh, so he was just rubbing it in, the bastard. "It just reminded me of an incident when I was in high school. There was this couple that broke up right before Valentine's Day. The girl was cheating on him, so the boyfriend broke it off. He was so angry; he forged a bunch of Valentine's Day cards and put them in the lockers of all the nerds, geeks, and 'losers' at school. When the day finally came, they all came running after her. Even after it was revealed that it was just a prank, some of those guys were so desperate, they continued chasing after her. She eventually dropped out and moved to a different school." Sora stared blankly. "Let me ask you this, did you ever receive a Valentine's Day card before this year?"

"No."

"Don't you think it's kind of weird then that you'd get one now? Did you do anything different this year?"

"Not that I remember…"

"That card could be a trap—a prank. When things are too good to be true, it usually is. Chew on it for a while." Leon rose out of his seat and walked to the doorway. "I'm going to get a snack, watch over the classroom while I'm gone." He left.

Sora sat at the desk, dumbfounded. It was true, this was the first time he got a card and it wasn't like he did anything different or made any new friends. Maybe it was just a practical joke. The card seemed downright dangerous now. Great, thanks to Leon, all his excitement disappeared. Should he even open it? Maybe he should throw it away.

Yeah right. Like he was going to let Leon convince him otherwise. He tore the envelope open and pulled out a letter: "At the courtyard. Five o'clock." That was it? Maybe he was expecting too much? He thought it was gonna be a love confession, not a location and time. He recalled Leon's words.

A trap? Too suspicious. He antagonized over it all day, and couldn't even concentrate in class, then again, he normally didn't. He couldn't wait for school to be over. The bell finally rang and school ended. Great, now he had two hours to kill before the "meeting." He scouted out the meeting place. The courtyard was sparsely populated with few students. He found an empty bench and sat down. He might as well wait in the meantime, and began rummaging through his memory for a list of suitable suspects.

Could it be…Kairi? She was the girl closest to him, with her being his best friend and all. But it wouldn't make too much sense considering she already had a boyfriend in the most popular guy in school, Riku. Last he heard, things were great between them.

Who else was there? Oh yeah, there was Naminé, a really quiet girl who was good friends with Kairi. Did she like him? Somehow, he doubted that. She was too timid, and he couldn't see her having the courage to slip a card in his locker—not to mention, last time he heard from Kairi, she liked Roxas instead.

Then maybe Selphie? That's probably a negative. She only goes for the "hottest and cutest" guys in school, a category that he did not belong to (at least to his knowledge).

What about Olette? Nah, they didn't know each other too well. She was just a friend of a friend, and didn't spend enough time with him to even form much of an opinion, much less feelings of love.

What about Yuffie? She's a little older, but he had a sneaking suspicion that she had the hots for Leon, not that he would ever reciprocate.

Yuna? No wait, she's already attached to blitzball superstar Tidus.

Xion? Probably not.

"Hey."

Sora looked up to see Riku. "What are you doing here? Wait a minute, don't tell me…" No. NO. NOOOOOO! IT WAS A TRAP AFTER ALL.

"What the hell are you thinking? I'm not the one who gave you the letter," Riku explained.

Thank god, wait, what? "How do you know about the letter… Wait a minute, do you know who wrote it?"

He nodded his head. "Follow me."

So he did. Riku led him back into the school building until they reached a door. "Well, here it is."

"What's in there?"

Riku looked annoyed. "Find out for yourself. Later." Gone, just like that.

No matter how you looked at it, the situation screamed "trap!" A time and place with Riku as an escort? It could only be a devious set up. Whatever was behind that door had to be a trap of some kind. He put his hand on the handle and turned it slowly.

Click.

He pushed the door open.

He saw her.

She was smiling at him.

He was shocked.

He couldn't say anything.

"Happy Valentine's Day."