Chapter One

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Sarah woke up to Seymour knocking on her door, telling her breakfast was ready. She stretched and got out of bed. After making herself presentable, she walked to the kitchen.

She quickly glanced at the calendar on her way to the table.

February 13th

Sarah sighed inwardly. Tomorrow would be Valentine's Day, and she was not looking forward to it.

As she sat down, Audrey passed her a bowl of cereal. "Morning, honey," she told the girl brightly. Looking up at her, Sarah replied, "Morning Mom, Dad."

While munching on her breakfast, she took the time to look at the scene around her. She saw her mom, Audrey Krelborn, sitting at her usual spot opposite herself. Audrey was wearing a conservative dress, her hair and makeup done nicely, and a baby bump was showing.

Her dad, Seymour Krelborn, was sitting in his chair at the end of the table, beside (between?) the two women. He wasn't dressed up too fancy. A pair of khaki pants and a nice button down shirt. His glasses were sitting neatly on his face, and his hair was stubbornly sticking up in the back.

Her parents were chatting quietly like they always do. Everything was perfect. But Sarah couldn't help but wonder how things would change once the baby arrived.

She looked around the table again, using her imagination. She saw her mother wearing a wrinkled dress, hair brushed but no makeup, trying to feed a baby in her arms. Her father's clothes were also wrinkled, his glasses askew and his hair completely messy.

Both looked exhausted. And on the table was one almost empty box of cereal for her. Sarah blinked and discreetly shook her head. It was silly of her to think things would change that drastically.

"Well, I'm off to work. Have a good day, sweetheart. Sarah, honey, you might wanna hurry so you don't miss the bus," Seymour told them.

Audrey smiled and replied, "You too," while Sarah smiled, nodded her head, and grabbed her things. She hugged her mom goodbye before walking out the door with her dad. Once they reached the street, they hugged quickly.

Sarah ended up running to catch the bus. Once she was on it, she walked to the back to join her friends.

They spent the ride talking about their math homework. Just as the bus pulled up to the school, Mandy asked the other two who they're going to give cards to tomorrow.

"I'm going to give this card I made myself to Tony," Allison said dreamily.

Smiling, Mandy replied, "Of course you fall for the tough guy. I bought a card for Jacob. What about you, Sarah? Are you going to give one to David?"

She had been smiling, but it disappeared at the mention of that boy. "No, why would I? He's an annoying stalker."

They had gotten off the bus and were walking down the hall while speaking. Suddenly, Allison grinned.

"Don't look now, but that annoying stalker is heading our way."

Sarah groaned and said, "Just kill me now."

A few seconds later the boy in question reached them. His auburn hair looked like it hadn't been combed this morning. He was wearing dark pants and a light grey shirt that brought out his eyes.

He was smiling widely, and said, "Good morning ladies. Sarah, might I ask you a question?"

She scowled and shook her head no. He continued anyway. "I was wondering if you would do me the honor of being my valentine tomorrow?"

Sarah rolled her eyes before saying, "I already told you no. Goodbye, David." With that, she pushed past him and continued down the hall.

For the rest of the day, David followed her around, talking to her even though she refused to acknowledge his existence. By the time she got home after school, Sarah was exhausted.

When she went inside, she put her bag down and went to the kitchen to get a snack. While rooting through the cabinets for something sweet, the girl failed to notice Audrey sitting at the kitchen table.

Once she found a package of cookies, she turned around and was greeted by the sight of her mother watching her with interest, holding a book in her hand.

"Oh, um, hi mom," Sarah said, a bit embarrassed.

"Hi," Audrey replied. She turned back to her book, saying, "How was school?"

Sarah sat down and ate a cookie before answering. "Pretty good. We got our quizzes back in English. I got a B. Next week we're going to start a project in science on genes or something. We'll get assigned our partners tomorrow."

"That's interesting. Tomorrow's Valentine's Day, isn't it? Is anything special happening in school for that?" Audrey asked without looking up.

"No," was the girl's short reply. Curiosity finally got the better of her. "What are you reading?"

Audrey glanced at her daughter before replying, "It's a baby book. I just got it today. It's got all these suggestions for caring for a baby. Plus, it's got a short list of names in the back."

"Oh, ok." Sarah finished her snack and headed off to do her homework. The rest of the evening passed by uneventfully.

The next day, Sarah woke up with a groan. It's Valentine's Day, she thought miserably. I wonder what David's gonna do.

After getting dressed, she went to the kitchen. Her mom already had breakfast on the table, and she and her dad were dancing around the kitchen.

"You know there's no music, right?" Sarah asked jokingly.

Without stopping, Seymour replied, "You don't need music when you're in love," before reaching up slightly to kiss his wife.

Sarah just watched them for a minute. "Ok, if you say so. I think I'm just going to eat breakfast now."

She sat down and put some food on her plate. Heart shaped waffles with strawberries and eggs that Audrey somehow managed to dye red. To drink, she saw strawberry milk. When she started eating, her parents stopped dancing.

Audrey went to sit down, but Seymour grabbed her hand and kept her in place. She looked at him curiously. He only grinned in reply, taking a small box out of his back pocket. He held it out to his wife, saying, "For you."

Audrey gently took the box and opened it. She gasped softly. It was a beautiful silver bracelet. Grinning, Seymour put it on her. She whispered a thank-you before the two kissed again.

"Enough with the kissing," Sarah spoke up. She watched as her father turned his attention to her.

He walked over to his daughter before saying, "I didn't forget about you." He pulled a smaller box out of his other pocket.

Opening it, Sarah found a simple locket. "I love it!" she exclaimed as she jumped up and hugged her dad. After he put it on her, she went to the bathroom to see it in the mirror. The three then sat down together to continue breakfast.

Once they were done eating, Seymour left for work and Sarah left for school.

On the bus that morning, the girls studied Sarah's new locket. She was in a good mood when they arrived at school.

And as she walked to her locker, she found herself grinning at the fact that David wasn't in sight. Until, that is, she reached her locker.

Sarah and her friends stopped dead in their tracks. Her locker had paper hearts and a single red rose taped onto it. Upon closer inspection, one of the hearts read, To Sarah. Be My Valentine? Love, David.

"Wow," Mandy said.

"That boy really likes you," Allison added.

Sarah, however, was embarrassed by the stares she was getting. She hastily tore off the hearts and rose and stuck them in her locker.

Hopefully, she thought, that's all he'll do.

David had not gone near her all morning, and by lunch Sarah was feeling much happier. As she and her friends sat down, he appeared.

He sat down in the empty chair next to Sarah and took a quick look at the lunch she bought. "No, that's not what you should be eating on Valentine's Day," he told her.

Sarah glared at him before telling him to go away and leave her alone.

He just grinned in reply. "Can't you at least wait till you see what I brought before you make that decision?"

Sarah, who was getting very annoyed, said, "Fine."

David opened his bag and pulled out a container with still warm spaghetti and meatballs, a cupcake, and a thermos of grape juice. He put the food in front of her and waited for her to speak.

She took a few minutes to look at the food before talking. "If I accept the food, does that mean I accept the invitation to be your valentine?"

She was hoping to catch him off-guard, but he just grinned wider. "Nope, this is a no-strings-attached lunch."

Sarah looked from the food to his face, back to the food before replying, "In that case, I accept the food but won't be your valentine."

David nodded and stood up. He leaned over her shoulder and whispered in her ear, "Enjoy your lunch. The other offer still stands."

He then straightened up and left.

The rest of the day had been going nicely. He was once again keeping his distance from Sarah.

Sarah had been going through her locker, looking for her science book before heading to her last class of the day. After a minute, she found the book along with something else.

It was a tiny black box. Nothing fancy. She opened it and saw a small, plain silver ring that was beautiful. A small scrap of paper was crammed in the top part of the box. Looking closer, she saw that there was writing on it.

Even if you won't be my valentine, keep this. Just remember that I think you're amazing. –David

Sarah couldn't believe it. The bell suddenly rang, and she shoved the box and book into her bag and ran to class.

While the teacher handed out and explained instructions about their next project, Sarah had a hard time concentrating. She was pulled from her thoughts as her teacher started assigning pairs.

"Mandy and… Simon. Allison and… Tony. Sarah and… David."