"A rose for your special someone?"
Raven stopped in her path, a flittering Cupid smiling down at her. She held a rose in front of Raven's face and a few dozen others in her arms, all of them a variety of pleasant colors and fragrances.
"Oh. Hi Raven," Cupid said sheepishly. She drifted back to the floor. "Valentine's Day always has me floating on air. It's such a beautiful time of year, isn't it? You can almost feel the love around you." She sighed, palms pressed together by her cheek while she watched the couples in the hall exchange her roses.
"Right," Raven said with an uncomfortable shift.
Cupid arched a pink brow at Raven. "Say," she started slowly, "would you like a rose, Raven? I'm sure there's a lucky someone out there who would love to be your Valentine."
"I don't know about that." Raven cast her eyes down, suddenly wishing she could be anywhere else, even the Home Evilnomics class she was definitely tardy to now.
"Of course there is!" Cupid cheered, fluttering behind Raven. She held a blood-red rose out, over Raven's shoulder this time. "And perhaps you should give her this one because red looks lovely with eyes as exquisitely blue as hers, wouldn't you agree?"
Raven blushed a fierce shade of crimson. In that instant, she was sure Cupid could hear her heart skip a beat from where she stood.
"But who knows? Maybe I'm wrong," she said with a melodramatic shrug and roll of her bright eyes. She came back around to face Raven. "Maybe today isn't the perfect day to confess your true heart's feelings. Maybe I don't know for a fact that she wants a certain, raven-haired beauty to be her Valentine." An impish smile curled her pink lips.
Raven leaned back, eyes wide. She knew encouraging potential romances was Cupid's specialty as the daughter of Eros, but that still didn't make hearing Apple's feelings any less embarrassing.
"Thanks, Cupid," she mumbled, still flushed. She took the rose from her outstretched hand, then turned to hurry down the hall.
"Raven," Cupid called. She caught Raven's shoulder and managed to discreetly slip something between the books in Raven's arms. "I happen to know she adores white chocolate. Couldn't hurt to give her something sweet too." Cupid winked and turned away to hand the next person she saw a buttermilk rose.
Raven only hoped no one noticed her blush as she ducked down the hall this time.
For the entire rest of the morning, Raven sat through her classes on the edge of her seat. She spun the stem of the rose between her two fingers, staring thoughtfully at the gentle curl of its petals. Amazingly, Raven's absentmindedness was noticed only once, and it was just because a naturally curious Blondie noticed her rose and felt the urge to prod. Raven laughed a little too loudly before rushing off, leaving Blondie with a confused arch in her brow.
By the time lunchtime rolled around, Raven had mustered a certain amount of determination. Not much, but enough to send her into the school courtyard, where a certain blonde liked to have her daily lunch beneath the apple tree.
When Apple saw Raven, a smile instantly brightened her face and she motioned for Raven to sit with her.
"Raven!" Apple gushed at Raven's approach. "What are you doing here? Don't you usually have lunch with Maddie in the castleteria?"
"I don't… I mean, yes, but I'm not today because I… I…" Raven's heart pounded in her chest as her eyes glanced over the afternoon sunshine in Apple's hair and the way her soft lips pressed into the perfect smile. She had to take a painfully drawn out moment to clear her mind before she could talk again. "I wanted to join you today because I have something. For you, I mean."
Raven settled in the grass beside Apple. The next time she looked up, Apple was smiling politely at her. Rather than trusting her mouth again, she took the white chocolate from behind her books and held it out.
Apple accepted the heart-shaped candy with a laugh. "Chocolate is hardly a nutritious lunch, Raven, but thank you. I suppose I can't resist it anyway. It is my favorite candy," she confessed, breaking off a small piece and daintily placing it on her tongue to melt. She made a pleased, humming sound.
Apple glanced at Raven from the corner of her eye, hesitant of Raven's silence. "I'm sorry, did you want some?"
"No, no! It's not that. It's… I have something else for you."
"Two surprises? Whatever for? The chocolate was enough, really," she insisted.
Raven reached behind her books again, only this time she retrieved the rose. Earnest surprise crossed Apple's face as she accepted it.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Apple," Raven said, nervously tucking messy stands of hair behind her ear. "Would you be mine?"
Apple looked up at Raven and, for a heartbeat, Raven wasn't sure what to do. Apple only stared at her, her eyebrows knitted and her mouth empty of words. Then, before Raven could utter a hasty apology, Apple's lips were on hers, her heart soaring into her throat. When Apple pulled back, Raven was left with the sugary taste of white chocolate on her lips.
"I hope that answers your question," Apple said, only there was more color in her cheeks than before.
"I think so."
Apple met Raven's eyes before they glanced away, a shy smile on both girls' faces this time.