Author's Note: A nice little one shot on love. I hope you like it. Please read and review. Thanks!

Disclaimer: I do not own 'For the One I love.'

Love: A Collection of Short Stories

Valentine's Day.

It is the holiday in which you are supposed to proclaim your love for that special someone. The day you took a chance and believed in faith. If the person accepted you, you became a couple and spent all the time in the world together. If they didn't, you would admire from a far. Not caring if they loved you back anymore. If they were happy then you were happy. That was all you needed to go on. That was the way I lived. I watched the boy I had loved since fifth grade. I watched him succeed in everything that he did. I cheered when he scored points in his lacrosse games and was sad when things didn't go his way. I never forced myself onto him. I never burdened him with my feelings of love. I knew he wouldn't look at me no matter what. I wasn't as tall as any of the other girls who hung around him. I wasn't as big slut. I didn't go to the movies and smoke pot with him and his friends. I stayed home and went on the internet. I downloaded songs to my iPod. I sat in the nearest Bookstore and read books. I went to Starbucks and sipped mindlessly at my frappuccino. I was a loner. I had no friends. The only friends I had were my two dogs. But something in me told me that I had to do this. I was planning to make brownies for Valentine's Day and give them to him. I was also going to tell him how I felt.

I was falling asleep. Again. My teacher was talking in monotone and teaching geometry. I didn't know anything that she was saying. I guess that was why I was failing this class. In order to keep myself awake I started doodling. I am sure that my teacher was probably going to call on me. She knew that I wasn't paying attention. I could feel her staring at me. She walked over to me a look of sheer disappointment on her face. She took up the doodle that I was drawing. As she walked back to the front of the classroom she ripped up the doodle and threw it away. Fine art is never appreciated. She returned to me a little later she came back to my desk and sat a pink slip down. I picked it up and read it. 'DETENTION', was written in big bold letters across the top. I sighed. A detention was just what I needed. My mother probably wouldn't care. She would just sign the slip and tell me that she was disappointed in my inability to concentrate in class. But I didn't care what she thought. The bell rang, ripping me away from my thoughts. I stuffed the pink slip into my purse and left the classroom as quick as I could. Of course in doing so I was being careless. I bumped into something and fell. I heard whatever I bumped into grunt as it hit the floor. Shit. They were probably going to starts cursing and yelling at me. It wasn't like it was something new, but still I didn't have time for that today. I looked up to see who it was I exactly had bumped into. It was him. I had bumped into him and hadn't apologized yet. I felt my face turn bright red. I had never been that shade of color before except for in the fifth grade when I had urinated on myself in front of the entire class. He looked back at me. The anger off his face melted away when he realized that it was me. I guess he didn't angry at girls. He handed me my purse. My face cooled down a bit. 'Thank you. I am so sorry about bumping into you.' Was what came out of my mouth. I don't think he heard it since I had spoken in barely above a whisper. I stood up and got back on my way. My next class was French. I sucked at French too but I just didn't want to take Reading.

My head hit the window of the bus hard. Really hard. I snapped awake and yawned. I guess last night I hadn't gotten enough sleep. The school day had been a big pain the ass. My day had gone from bad to worse. I had failed my French test. I had forgotten about the writing assignment in Social Studies and when the teacher had called on me I didn't have anything. In science I didn't have my packet and the teacher called out aloud that I was the only person who had yet to turn it in. That was all I could make it through before I just completely shut down. Valentine's Day was in tomorrow and I had to start on my gift tonight or I wouldn't be able to give him anything. The bus made a loud screeching noise as it reached my stop. I stood up and walked down the aisle. Kids sneered at me as I got off the bus. I tripped on the last step and I heard laughter. Grumbling I stormed home. "Mom, I'm home!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. No reply. She was probably working a double shift at Wal-Mart. I threw my book-bag on the floor and went to the refrigerator. I got out a Sprite and opened the bottle. Immediately fizz started coming out. I gritted my teeth. I put the two-liter bottle into the sink and ripped paper towels away from the roll. Mopping up the mess I cursed in my mind. My life was so hard and complicated. The phone rang. More mental cursing. I picked it up. I was to pissed for words. "Hello?" I sounded like a brat.

"Hey is this…um…Amy?"

I scowled at whoever it was. "Yea, it is. Who is this?" There was more question in my voice than I had wanted there to be. I hated when I couldn't control myself. I let my emotions out a little too much sometimes. I became impatient waiting for the person to reply.

"Oh. I'm sorry. It's me Brian." I dropped the phone on the floor. It was him. I wanted to scream and jump all around. It was him. The boy I loved had called my house. A large smile crept across my face. I heard him asking if I was still there. I didn't know if I wanted to answer. If I did I would have to engage in my first phone conversation with someone that I knew from school. I picked up the phone off the floor and cleared my throat.

"Sorry. My phone lost the connection," Liar, "is there a reason you called?" I kept my voice level.

It took him a minute to answer. "I have been trying to get to you all day. I found your book." My book? What book? I reached over for my book-bag. I unzipped it and searched inside. It wasn't there. I had bought the book just yesterday and already it was missing. I had been dumb to forget something that was like my head to me.

"Thank goodness you found it. I had been looking for it all day. Could you give it to me tomorrow?" I just kept the lies coming. I had only found out about my book thirty seconds ago when he said something. Maybe later I would start telling the truth again.

"Okay…well bye." He hung up before I could say anything. The whole conversation had been awkward. I guess he wasn't used to talking to me or anyone like me. After all I was a special type of person. I wasn't a social butterfly. Hanging up the phone I put my book-bag on the kitchen table. It was time to start on the homework that I would lose by tomorrow. I only did it to make myself feel better. It was so when I told my teachers that I had lost it I wouldn't feel as though I was lying to them. Though they probably thought I was. I opened my science book to chapter one section one. The first sentence 'What is matter?' turned me off right then and there. I continued against my will.

She strolled in half-drunk. One of her co-workers was supporting her. That was my mother. She didn't care whether or not she had a daughter that needed her. It was the same every night. She went to bar and got drunk. Along the way she had probably screwed around with a couple of guys and had either had sex with them or given them a blow job. And she probably charged a good bit. That was the reason she had some extra cash sometimes. It wasn't like my mother was a prostitute or something it was just that she did some risky things sometimes. I told her co-worker to lay my mother in her room. I took it from there and thanked the person as they left. I thought that my mother would be home sooner. I had made dinner already and put it up. It was late, almost midnight. The brownies I had made for Brian were already done cooking and I had wrapped them up in special packaging. I had been making a card off the computer when my mother had come home. After putting her to bed I went back to the computer and started working again. I had to make sure that I put something meaningful on the card. It couldn't be something stupid and cheesy. Sighing I wrote what I felt. I turned it into a poem rather that a card but it turned out okay. I printed it then read the small poem that I had written:

I cannot say what I can write, I cannot write what I can say

I could write 'I Love You' a thousand times over

And still not be able to tell you by mouth, You don't understand

The effect you have over me, but I love it, I love it

And everything about you, I am not sure about a lot of things but

The one thing I am sure of is that…I love you.

It still sounded corny. But it was a little to late now. If he didn't like the poem I didn't care. All I wanted him to like was me. If he didn't like me then I would go back to the way I was before. I would watch him from the sidelines as I had before. I would cheer for him when he did well and would be sad when he didn't. I would live my life as passive as I had before.

I was nervous. I held the present for him in hands. I was afraid that it would drop to the ground and smash the brownies that were inside. Then I would have only the card to give him. Which I am sure he wouldn't like. I tensed up even more as the bus pulled up to the school and we were let out. I walked slowly through the crowd. I say girls and guys carrying their gifts. I felt better that I was not the only one who recognized this holiday. I turned the corner onto the hallway where my locker was. I put the combination too fast and missed it. I tried again. I held the gift in one hand and my book-bag in the other. I would come back and get my stuff later after I had given my present to him. I searched around the hallways for him. I looked where I knew his locker was which was by the Spanish room.

I waited. I waited about five minutes before I saw him. He had my book in his hands when he came over to me. He put the book in my free hand and turned to walk away. I hadn't thanked him yet and I hadn't given him my gift. I thought to call out his name. Hopefully my voice wouldn't fail me now. "Brian!" He stopped but didn't turn around. Maybe he didn't want to talk to me. Maybe his kindness had ended when he gave me back the book. "Brian, wait." I came over to him.

He looked at me. A small smile was on his face. I knew it wasn't real. "Amy, I know…you probably don't—".

I interrupted. "I don't know what you are talking about but here. This is for you." I handed him my gift and prayed that he would like it. "I…I love you." He looked at me. His eyes were wide with surprise. He pulled me close to him in a hug. I didn't understand. I pulled back with a puzzled look on my face.

"I love you, too." The four most important words came out of his mouth. A large smile spread across my face. I knew at that moment I wasn't a loner anymore. That I had somebody there with me too. At that second I realized that this what it was like to be on cloud 9. He held my hand and leaned in towards me.

We kissed.

We kissed in front of everybody.

All of our classmates watching.

They were finally staring at me.

And I hope with all my heart that some of the girls were jealous.

I was happy for the first time. I had gotten the first boy that I had loved to love me back.

'I love you.'

'I love you, too.'

This is the end of the first one shot. On Friday, look for another story. I hope you liked this one. If you didn't please I am sorry. You may not want to read the next one. Anyways, if you like or not could you please review? I would definitely wasn't some input on the story. Please review! Thanks and 'til next time.

XOXOXOXOXOXO,

tRash-giRl