"...And that, class, is how you divide by zero."
Another boring afternoon in Mr Pentious' math class came and went. You had spent most of the lesson gazing out the window, watching the raindrops pitter patter on the concrete outside.
"Ugh, the weather sucks," Niffty complained after class had finished for the day. "I really wanted to go shopping for a cute dress for the dance. Ooh, and maybe a little silver tiara? Do you think that would look pretty on me?"
You giggled at your friend's display of enthusiasm. "You're small and cute, so you'd suit most things. Just don't forget you still have to post your letter in the letterbox on our way out, ok? Today is the last day."
"Oh! Of course!" Niffty opened up her shoulder bag and sifted through it, looking for her love letter. And looking. And looking again.
She stopped walking, panic spreading across her face. She dropped to her knees and frantically started emptying her bag completely, carelessly tossing the contents onto the floor.
"No!" Niffty shrieked. "I can't find it! I've lost it!"
"Hey, calm down! It has to be in there somewhere."
You helped her search, even turning her bag inside out, but there was no sign of the letter.
"What am I going to do?" Niffty wailed, starting to cry.
"It's ok!" You desperately tried to reassure her. "You probably just dropped it somewhere. Come on, I'll help you look for it."
"Ok then," Niffty sniffed, repacking her bag.
The two of you split up to cover more ground. Niffty checked her locker while you hunted in the girls' bathrooms. You even checked in each toilet cubicle, but there was nothing.
You searched the cafeteria. Nothing. You looked in the classroom. No sign. You scanned the gymnasium, even crawling underneath the bleachers, but you couldn't find Niffty's letter.
"Is everything alright?"
You poked your head out from underneath the bleachers to find Alastor peering at you with a curious smile. Your face turned pink with embarrassment as you lifted yourself to your feet and dusted yourself off.
"Yeah, everything's ok. Just looking for something."
"May I be of any assistance?"
You froze. You couldn't risk Alastor finding the letter. "Th-That's very kind of you, Al. But I think I'll be ok on my own."
His smile faded slightly. "Ah, I see. No problem at all, I don't want to be a bother. Best of luck, my dear!"
With that, he left you alone in the gymnasium. You felt bad for turning down his offer to help, but Niffty would never forgive you if he somehow read the letter before it was delivered properly.
There was only one place left to look. You made your way to the school entrance, a shiver running down your spine just looking at the cold rain. You didn't particularly want to set foot out there, but for your best friend, you decided you could deal with a little dampness in your hair.
Almost immediately, you spotted something small and white floating in a large puddle in the parking lot. Oh crap.
You gingerly lifted the dripping paper out of the puddle with your thumb and index finger. Squinting, you could just make out a few smudged words.
'Roses... eyes... beloved...'
It was barely legible. There was no way you could put this in the letterbox; if Alastor received something like this, there's no way he'd go to the dance with Niffty. But if she saw her letter in such a tattered state, she'd be devastated. There was only one thing to do.
You quickly tore a piece of paper from one of your school notebooks and grabbed a pencil, and began to write the entire poem again. Thank goodness you helped Niffty write it; you remembered the whole thing, and signed it the same way she did. 'Your secret admirer'.
You breathed a sigh of relief. Crisis averted. You took out your phone and sent a text to Niffty.
"Hey, I found your letter!"
She responded almost immediately. "Holy shit thank you! Where was it?"
"On the ground outside. Don't worry, I posted it in the letterbox for you."
"You're the best!"
The two of you joined up again just in time to catch the school bus home. You didn't know it at the time, but you had made a terrible mistake.