Chapter 1

Deanna went to her locker after lunch to grab her books that she would need for the afternoon. She’d been mildly aggravated listening to her friends go on and on about Valentine’s Day coming up. Her aggravation skyrocketed when Vicky’s boyfriend, Seth had come over to sit down. Vicky’s attention turned from her, mid-sentence, to him. They hadn’t even finished discussing their plans for the night.

She turned the combination with a little too much force, passing the number she needed. Crap! She took a deep breath and tried again, this time successfully. When she opened the door, her mouth dropped open. Sitting on top of her chemistry book, was a chocolate rose. Deanna lifted it out, looking under it for a note, but there was nothing. She looked around, watching the people walking by, wondering if one of them had put it there.

The bell rang and she knew she had to go. She laid the rose back inside her locker, grabbed her books and scurried off to class.

The rest of the afternoon passed uneventfully, but she barely noticed. Her mind was focused on the chocolate rose in her locker. Who could have left it?

Deanna headed home after the final bell, going straight to her room to study for the next day’s Language Arts test. She knew most of the material, but there were a couple of details from the novel they were reading that she wanted to reinforce in her mind. While she was reading, her cell rang. She knew it was Vicky by the ring tone, so she answered. “Hey, Vic.”

“Hey, I’m sorry about lunch. I didn’t mean to ignore you like that. This balancing thing between boyfriend and friends is harder than it looks. You are so lucky to not have that problem.” Deanna felt a pang in her chest, even though she knew Vicky didn’t mean it in a malicious way. Sometimes, Vicky just didn’t think before she spoke.

“Yeah, lucky.” Deanna answered. “Are you coming over to study?”

Vicky hesitated. “Well…Seth wanted me to come over for a little while before he went to work…” Her voice trailed off, while Deanna fought to not snap at her friend.

“Go. Go have fun with Seth, Vic. But don’t forget about that test tomorrow. You know you need a decent grade.”

“You sure you don’t mind, De? I know I said I would come over and study with you tonight.’ Vicky sounded a little anxious.

“No, no. Its fine. I’m just going to do my own studying and maybe surf Facebook for a while before I go to bed.”

“Okay!” Vicky’s voice was back to it’s perky, happy self. “I’ll see you at school tomorrow, De.” Vicky hung up.

Deanna closed her phone and turned back to the book laying in front of her, mimicking Vicky’s earlier statement. “You’re so lucky you don’t have to worry about that.” She glanced up at the chocolate rose, sitting on her desk. “Why didn’t I tell her about that?” She wondered.

Deanna went back to studying until her stomach rumbled. Now was as good a time as any to take a break and go downstairs to find something to eat. Her mom was working late again tonight, so she had to fend for herself when it came to dinner. Deanna found a hot pocket in the freezer door and warmed it up, grabbing a handful of chips and a glass of milk to round it out.

When she was done eating, she went back upstairs to do a little more homework. Again, the chocolate rose caught her eye.