It was like a scene from a movie, three heads poking around the corner to watch as Harper Finkle slowly opened the envelope left on her locker.

Zeke Beekerman was first, teeth biting his nails in anticipation. He had been careful to leave the envelope as late as possible for fear of someone else stealing it. Taping things on lockers didn't have the safety guarantee that the postal service had, but it would've been really hard to hire a mailman to deliver it to Harper.

Not that he hadn't looked into it.

Justin Russo was next, a grin on his face as he watched Harper. The fair-skinned girl had become like a sister to him – but, you know, the type of sister who had a crush on her brother, so not really a sister at all. Technically she felt like family, and she certainly treated Justin better than his actual sister did most of the time, so Justin wanted to see her happy.

And he wanted his best friend, who couldn't stop moving around next to him, to find in Harper what he had found in Juliet. Maybe it would be easier for them – they didn't have to deal with magic or monsters, just typical teenage drama and angst.

"It's gonna be fine," Justin promised, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder in an effort to calm him down. "Be fearless, be confident and don't worry. We have-" He paused, glancing toward his sister. She looked bored as she texted on her phone.

Wait. That was his phone! He snatched it out of her hand, quickly shoving it into his pocket before turning back to Zeke. "I have your back."

Before Zeke could answer he felt a vibration in his pocket, pulling out his own cell phone. "Hey, it's a text from you!" He cleared his throat before reading it out loud. "'This is lame. Why don't you actually go talk to her instead of watching her read mail?' What? Justin, you said that this was a good plan."

Alex Russo needed a shield to protect herself from the daggers her older brother was shooting her. It wasn't that she wasn't happy for Harper, she just felt she had the right to be entertained. If she was going to be woken up to watch, she wanted to see him make a fool of himself.

"Alex sent that," he explained, making a mental note to check if she'd sent any other texts from his number and, if necessary, to plan proper retaliation. "She doesn't understand romantic gestures."

"I just don't understand what's so romantic about a note on a locker," she replied, rolling her eyes before focusing on Zeke. "What's it even say?"

As Harper Finkle opened and read the card, Zeke recited the words he had carefully written. After three rough drafts and the final copy he had managed to memorize them. He'd written them neatly inside a greeting card – they didn't have any "sorry about your dress" cards so he settled for one featuring a cute picture of a puppy chewing a bone.

Harper –

I know nothing about women, but I like to think I know a lot about you. Not just the obvious stuff, either. Everyone knows that you wear awesome dresses, but I know that your eyes light up when you think of a new dress idea. Everyone knows that you do well on tests, but I know you have to use the same pencil for each one. It's a standard number two – probably the only thing you own that isn't bright and colorful. The one thing that makes you like everyone else.

This is just stuff I've picked up on – my own observations, or overhearing your conversations with other people. I didn't even know these things stuck with me but apparently they did. There's a lot of stuff I don't know, though, like what your favorite color is, what you like to listen to when you're sad or at what age you learned to tie your shoes.

I want to know those things. Maybe not specifically those things, but things like that. I want to get to know you better, if you'll let me.

Either way, consider this the first replacement greeting card. It'll make a fine dress.

- Zeke

"That is so lame," Alex replied, pretending she was only half-paying attention, her eyes focusing on her fingernails. A smirk pulled onto her lips as she slapped Zeke's back. "She'll love it."

Justin nodded. "I like the part about the pencil. That was nice."

Zeke didn't say anything, instead focusing on the girl reading the card. It was probably hard to read – he had written a lot, so his words were quite small to make them all fit.

Harper was squinting as she read the words, excited to see that it was for her and not Penelope after all. His words, though tiny, were sweet. They weren't the most poetic or brilliant thing she'd ever read, but they were for her. Just for her, actually. That made them more beautiful than even the words to the greatest love songs.

She carefully closed the card, slipping it back into the envelope then sliding it in her bag. She'd probably re-read it a few hundred times before she met up with him at the water fountain. She had no idea what she would say, other than 'thank you.' She was glad she had a bit of time to figure it out.

The words out of the way, though still in her thoughts, Harper began fiddling with the combination lock. She had to put the hoodie away and get to class. Hopefully Alex didn't actually go back home – she needed to gush to her best friend so she didn't gush to a random stranger.

As she pulled open the locker, a pile of envelopes and cards slid out, falling to the ground. It was like Max's closet, the contents pouring out in what seemed like a never-ending waterfall. Maybe it wasn't that many, but it had certainly taken her by surprise. So much, in fact, that she had let out a shriek. No one in the hall paid any attention, but she wouldn't care if they did.

She gently placed the hoodie in the now-empty locker, then quickly bent down to pick them up, a smile on her face as she realized what they were. They were all from him. It wasn't long before she noticed another set of hands helping her gather them.

Alex had pushed Zeke forward as soon as she saw the card-version of Niagra Falls. That was kind of cute, she decided, in a messy sort of way. It would be cuter, she told Zeke, if he went and helped her.

"No," he'd insisted, eyes wide. "I haven't prepared for this part!"

"Just wing it," Alex replied as she shoved him in Harper direction. "It's like improv. You've done improv before, right?"

He was an actor - of course he'd done improv.

"What's my motivation?" he'd asked, eyes wide in excitement.

Alex raised her to Zeke was like talking to Max sometimes - nearly impossible but sometimes worth it just for the resulting laughter. "You like her and you want to ask her out. Aaaand, action!"

So there he was, handing her a small pile of cards, a nervous smile pulling onto his lips as he caught her eye.

"I know they're not the same as the ones you had, but it's a start."

Harper grinned as she took the cards from him and placed them next to her. She picked up a few more, completely ignoring the stares she was sure they had now gathered. She was great at gathering cards and stares, but she hadn't yet gathered the words to say to him. Other than the obvious, of course: "Thanks."

A few deep breaths, eyes bright as she kept catching his, only to glance down as she felt her cheeks warm. She needed to be cool. This was no time to spaz out. The words of his letter ran through her mind, and a smile formed as she finally found a proper response.

"I choose a new color each week," she said, reaching out to take another handful of cards from him. "This week I like yellow - canary yellow, specifically. Next week I could be feeling periwinkle or a hunter green."

"I like that you don't limit it to Roy G. Biv," he said honestly. "My favorite's the color of Luke Skywalker's lightsaber."

Harper raised her eyebrows. "Which one?"

Zeke knew there were multiple options, but he hadn't expected her to. He forgot that she'd hung around Justin for years. Heck, she'd probably heard Justin and him debating the positives and negatives of lightsaber combat forms in their spare time. "The green one - the one he built himself."

She simply nodded, glad to have that bit of knowledge. Maybe it wasn't the most important thing she'd learn at school today, but it would certainly be her favorite.

She continued answering his questions, holding up a finger to explain her next choice.

"Billy Joel's 'And So It Goes,'" she said, letting out a quiet sigh as she thought over the track. "That's my sad song. It's not even a total sad song, really, cause there's a lot of hope in there, too. It's beautiful, and it has so many layers that it can really fit to whatever I'm feeling so it's my go-to sad song."

"'So I would choose to be with you - that's if the choice were mine to make,'" he quoted flawlessly, picking up a few cards and passing them to her. "'But you can make decisions, too, and you can have this heart to break.'"

Harper was surprised when he quoted the lyrics, but she tried to hide that surprise. There was nothing attractive about a dropped jaw and a blank expression. Instead she just smiled, nodding her head slowly. The more she found out about Zeke Beekerman, the more she liked him.

The more she liked him, the warmer her cheeks got. She was sure they were completely red by now.

"I was four," she said quickly, hoping to distract from her cheeks. (It didn't work.) "When I learned to tie my shoes."

Harper slowly started putting the cards in her backpack. She had forgotten about needing to get to class. She liked just kneeling on the floor next to a cute boy who apparently liked her.

Still, she knew the bell would ring any minute and pull her from this moment. She needed to be ready for that. "Anymore questions?" she asked, amused by their little 'get to know you' game.

Zeke took this as an opportunity to improvise. He understood the motivation Alex had been talking about.

"Yeah," he said, fingers shuffling the envelopes and cards in his hand nervously before he held them out for her. "Um...do you think you'd want to go out? Like, on a date? With...me. Soon. Dinner, maybe? Or a movie. Whatever you want."

"Yes," she said quickly, and in that moment she allowed a loud giggle to escape. She tried to play it off, of course, but she wasn't that smooth. "I mean....sure. Yeah. That could be...nice."

She then shoved the rest of the cards into her backpack and stood up, brushing off her knees. He followed suit, adjusting the bottom of his polo shirt, not bothering to hide the grin on his face. She'd said yes! And it was an excited yes, so he took that as a good sign. There was just one thing left.

He reached into his pocket, taking out a card he had noticed scattered on the ground while helping her clean up. His instinct had told him to keep it separate, to hand it over when the time was right. Now felt right.

"You forgot this one," he said, gently taking Harper's wrist in his hand, handing her the card with the other. He allowed their fingers to linger for a moment, laughing quietly as he watched her cheeks reach a new shade.

The card was cheesy, bright red, small and rectangular-shaped with a picture of kissing frogs on it. It was a Valentine's Day card, the type children exchange at school parties. It read "How 'bout a smooch, Valentine?"

As Harper's eyes scanned the words, Zeke reached out to push a strand of hair behind her ear. That's how they did it in the movies, and Zeke was glad he hadn't poked her ear or bumped into her gummy bear earrings.

That's when Harper looked up, eyes wide. She expected him to look nervous, but he seemed surprisingly cool. He had, after all, managed to orchestrate this whole surprise for her and, as far as she could tell, pull it off flawlessly. She, meanwhile, had giggled a little too loudly and felt like a goofball.

She loved it, of course.

His eyes locked hers, and while he tried to not bounce around or make a fool of himself, he couldn't hide the excitement in his eyes. They were trying to read hers, as if he was sending her telepathic-signals asking for permission.

And so she nodded, maybe not because she got the signals, but because she knew what he wanted and she wanted it, too. His fingers moved from behind her ear, gently cupping her chin as he tilted his head down. His lips met hers, and while it was brief, it was the best kiss Harper had ever received.

Technically it was the only kiss Harper had ever received, but that wasn't the point.

Harper's eyes remained closed after he'd pulled away - she only opened them when she heard the bell ring. Her lips remained slightly parted, Harper's brain trying to make sense of what had just happened.

"I should...get to class," she whispered, still a bit shocked from what had just occurred. There was no possible way she could focus on lessons today - that ship had sailed. She'd have to get the notes from someone else.

"Ditto."

All of the energy Zeke had managed to suppress to appear 'cool' had finally surfaced, the senior now rocking back and forth in his sneakers, hands tapping an unfamiliar beat against his pockets. He managed to give her a small wave, then turned to leave.

It was roughly 3 seconds before he turned back around, finger raised as if he'd just thought of a great idea.

"Hey, Harper? I have to work after school today, but...do you think it'd be all right if I walked you home?"

She thought it over for a moment as she pushed her locker door closed. "Yeah," she said confidently. "I'd like that."

He nodded, waving once again and rushing to find Justin before the late bell rang.

Harper, meanwhile, pulled out her phone, frantically typing a message to her best friend.

Zeke just kissed me!

It was seconds later that Harper felt a vibration coming from her pocket. She forgot she still had Alex's phone. All she could do was laugh, hand covering her face as she rushed toward class. She didn't hear the comments being made about her unscheduled public display of affection, but if she had?

She wouldn't have cared. For the first time in weeks she knew exactly where things stood: she liked Zeke, Zeke liked her and she had a backpack full of greeting cards to prove it. What other girl could say that?