Hay Lin scrutinized her messy hair, it was in an unmanageable mess. Quickly, glancing at the clock, she ran a comb through it a few times, and pulled it back to the way she always wore it. She dawned her regular clothes and adjusted the goggles that she wore on her forehead. She fixed her belt that had always been too big for her, so it sat slanted across her waist. Hay Lin grinned at her image in the mirror before glancing at the clock again, grabbing her book bag and dashing out the door. Her hair flew behind her like streamers fluttering in the wind as she ran. A few blocks down, Hay Lin joined the steady flow of her fellow peers as they all filed into the school. The school was decorated with colorful decorations, hearts, streamers, balloons and frilly pink –er—whatever that stuff was. She quickly opened her locker and grabbed all of her books and stuffed them into her bag. Today was Valentine's Day! Nothing could contain her glee seeing so many beautiful decorations, and whatever the pink frilly thing was… Anyway, every Valentine's Day at the Sheffield Institute, there was a Valentine's Day dance. All of the boys were given pink ribbons, and no, not to wear themselves. They would present the ribbon to the girl that they would like to ask to the dance, and if she accepted, she wore it to let others know that she was taken, and if she didn't accept, then better luck next time!
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a very moody Irma coming her way. "For the last time Martin! I said no!" Irma shouted at the boy who had been following her around since she had stepped foot outside her house that morning. Hay Lin couldn't contain her smile, earning her a glare from Irma. Luckily Taranee appeared before Irma could say anything. "The school looks nice, doesn't it?" She remarked, dreamily even.
Hay Lin and Irma glanced at each other. "Taranee, did you get hit in the head or something?" Irma asked, waving her hand in front of her friend's face. "Hmm? No. Of course not." Taranee shook her head. "Why?" Irma shrugged. "Hay Lin's usually the spacey one." Irma was getting her back for laughing at her "Martin Tubbs" situation. Hay Lin stuck her tongue out at Irma when the water guardian turned away. Irma caught sight of the frilly pink thing that Hay Lin couldn't identify. "What on earth is that?" She asked, tilting her head sideway, trying to figure out what on earth it was. "Beats me." Hay Lin replied shortly. Taranee was also trying to figure out what it was, but no matter how hard they studied it, they couldn't figure out what it was. Hay Lin stood behind Taranee and Irma, her gaze shifted to a hot pink fabric braided into Taranee's dark hair.
"You got a ribbon Taranee?" Hay Lin squealed. Taranee's cheeks turned about the same color as the ribbon at being found out. "Yes." She admitted, still blushing insanely. "Well, spit it out girl! Who are you going with?" Irma demanded. Taranee explained what had happened in a dazed sort of way, unaware that they were being watched.