Love is in the air! Enjoy!

February—Secret Cupid

He was gorgeous. His hair was dark, a bit long, and wavy; his skin tanned and flawless; and his teeth…

Kate sighed. Josh's teeth were perfectly straight and white and everything hers weren't. Which was why he was most definitely not going to be her Secret Cupid; nobody was.

Kate groaned. The entire idea of a SC was stupid anyway. It was just some guys and girls choosing another guy or girl to be their Valentine and sending them gifts to their homerooms for the two weeks preceding Valentine's Day and then they would reveal their identities at lunch, preparing sort of picnics to share with each other. It was all very cheesy.

Today was the first day and Kate was sure she wasn't going to get anything, yet when she stepped into Miss Lawson's Freshman English, she found a single red rose and a card sitting on her desk.

She smiled, picking up the rose and taking in its sweet scent, before opening the card. It read:

"Dearest Kate,

You are beauty and fierce intellect. Happy Valentine's Day.

Sincerely, your Secret Cupid."

Kate grinned, blushing as she smelled the flower again and sat down at her desk, wondering who would want to be her SC. She glanced over at where Castle was sitting, laughing and making jokes with the new girl, Kyra Blaine. Since she'd come around, Castle didn't seem to have enough time for her. There were rumors floating around that the two were dating but Castle neither confirmed nor denied them.

It must be someone else, she thought, looking down at the card. But who?

Lanie chose that moment to plop down in her seat next to her. "Hey, girl!" she greeted. "What've you got there?"

Kate smiled, showing her the card. "Aw," Lanie gushed, "that's sweet! Do you think this is Castle's work?"

Kate shook her head. "Probably not," she said, nodding towards him. "If anybody was going to get SC gifts from Castle, it would most likely be Kyra."

"Yet it looks like she got a whole lotta nothing," Lanie said, frowning. "I guess that makes two of us."

"Oh, Lanie," Kate said, "I'm so—"

"Lanie Parish?" a voice interrupted. Both girls turned towards the door where one of the delivery boys was standing, his arms full of stuffed bears and roses and cards. Lanie raised her hand and he made his way over, handing her a small stuffed bear with hearts on his paws and a card. "Sorry," he said, "there was a little mix up with the homeroom numbers."

Lanie accepted his apology and thanked him, smiling over at Kate before opening her card.

"Dear Lanie,

You are as hot as the sun, and shine just as brightly. Happy Valentine's Day.

Sincerely,

Your Secret Cupid."

She read it aloud to Kate and her friend couldn't help the girly squeak she let out as she hugged her friend.

"Do you think it's Javi?" she asked.

Lanie shrugged. "Possibly," she said. "I'm just gonna have to wait and find out. And so are you." Kate nodded in agreement, smiling down at the rose in her hand.

For the next two weeks, Lanie and Kate received a vast array of gifts, ranging from stuffed animals, to chocolates, to flowers, each gift more extravagant that the last and each one containing a card with simple, yet beautiful, messages. And every day, Kate grew more and more sure of who it was, though he was not always around.

Her mind often travelled back to the night of the Winter Formal, when Castle had danced with her almost all night to keep her mind off of Josh, who'd been surrounded by older girls the entire night and who didn't even spare her so much as a passing glance. He'd made her feel wanted and at the end of the night, she'd kissed him on the cheek after he walked her to her door, and waved at him from her balcony to let him know she got in okay.

Kate sometimes wondered why she still hadn't given him a chance. Why she was still so insistent that they were just friends and nothing more. She knew that that wasn't true anymore. Castle was…well, he was becoming more than a friend now and she wondered if he was aware of it as well.

It didn't seem like it, however, as he got closer and closer to Kyra, usually inviting her to sit with them at lunch or hang out with them after school. She was a nice enough girl, yes, but something about her was just a little bit…annoying to Kate.

She tried to shake off those thoughts as she made her way to the cafeteria that day, Lanie right next to her, each of them holding their final cards and roses. The second they entered, the girls were taken aback by how nice everything looked. There were decorations all over the cafeteria, hearts and colorful fabrics and candles…it all looked so romantic.

Kate found her nametag instantly, the letters of her first and last name written in perfect calligraphy. Lanie's own name was two tables down and so the two parted ways, promising to meet up before Math.

Kate took her seat at the long cafeteria table, draped in a fancy white tablecloth, and patiently awaited her date, though she was almost 100% certain of who it was. She'd decided the night before that she was going to stop making excuses and just go for it.

"Is this seat taken?" a voice behind her said. Kate turned, smiling, expecting to meet warm blue eyes. And she did, just not the pair she was expecting.

"Tom?" she said, surprised. "You're my Secret Cupid?"

Tom Demming, from Math class, sat two seats down from her and had never once given her any indication that he actually liked her; they barely even spoke. But there he was, and she was so sure it would be…

"You were expecting somebody else?" Tom asked, looking a bit hurt but trying to hide it behind a smile.

Kate shook her head. "No," she said, quickly, "well…sort of. I didn't even know you liked me."

"Well, I do," Tom said, nodding, "you're a very interesting girl, Kate. And very pretty."

Kate found herself blushing as she looked down. "Thank you," she mumbled.

"No need to thank for me the truth," Tom replied. Kate snorted and he took this as a good sign, sitting down across from her and placing an honest-to-God picnic basket on the table. "Do you like peanut butter and jelly?" he asked. Kate chuckled and nodded.

"I love it," she told him, accepting the sandwich he offered her from the basket, as well as the cookies and juice box.

From the other side of the cafeteria—the side for those who did not have a Secret Cupid, Castle sat with Kyra, trying to pay attention to what she was saying but unable to look away from his friends. Lanie sat with Esposito, the two making goo goo eyes at each other over their lunch; and Kate, who sat with Tom Demming, laughing at whatever he was saying. He sighed, looking down at his cell phone to see the new text that just came in.

"Thnx 4 all ur hlp, writer boy. –T. Dem."

"Rick?" Kyra asked, bringing him back to the conversation. "Are you alright? You seem a little distracted."

Castle forced a smile. "Yeah," he said, "I'm fine."

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