long story short (chaennie)

i like shiny things but i'd marry you with paper rings

February 14, 1996

Jennie's not sure why Valentine's Day is a holiday that second graders celebrate, but the class party is fun enough, they don't have to do any math, and she likes arts and crafts.

She peels some dried glue off of her fingers and peeks over at Rosie's project. It's simple, neat, and has the word "Felix" scribbled in thick blue marker. The teacher had told them they could give a Valentine to anyone, be it a friend or parent, so Rosie chose her brother. Jennie does not have one of those, so she carefully selects the sharpest red colored pencil she can find to draw a heart around where she'd written, for her sister, "Lia."

Lisa hasn't written a name on hers yet, but she pushes her messy hair to the side and smiles at the table. "This is so romantic."

"Ew," Jisoo says. Hers is for her dog.

"What's 'romantic?'" Jennie asks.

"It's like, when you like someone," Rosie says. She colors in a line of hearts around the edge of her paper and continues, "You know, how people get married and stuff. Marriage is romantic, I think."

"Well, I like you," Jennie says, trying to think it through. "Maybe we can get married."

"No," Rosie says. She shrugs and says, matter of factly, "we don't have rings. You need rings to get married."

"Oh." Jennie frowns, but then pushes aside her card project, and pulls out a new sheet of blank white paper. She colors it roughly with a pink pencil, and then gets to work. It might take way longer than it should for a simple project, but she wants it to be perfect. Tuning out the bickering between Jisoo and Lisa, she focuses on her coloring, cutting, glueing, twisting, and taping, until she's able to hold out her hand and present Rosie with two paper crafted rings.

Rosie just smiles and shakes her head. "You also have to be an adult." Jennie isn't sure why she didn't already know that, but she closes her fist around the two rings as Rosie says, "Ask me when we're older."

February 14, 1997

When Jennie had been told she was supposed to make a Valentine's day card for every single kid in her class, she thought it was a joke. She had about three friends, and that was enough for her. She didn't know most of the kids in her class, and she certainly didn't like them. She wasn't even confident that she could name every single kid.

Still, her mom had wrestled her into the idea with the promise she could make the cards with Rosie, and that they could all be the same.

"Just tape a piece of candy to this piece of paper and write a name on it, okay?" she practically begs.

And that's how she finds herself walking over to Rosie's house on a day perfect for playing outside. She tells her this much as they sit down at the table, but when they actually start working and Mrs. Park brings them apple slices, she decides it's not that bad.

Halfway through, Jennie frowns when she thinks about Rosie getting a Valentine from her that's the same as all the others. She wonders if you're allowed to make a special one for your friend — no, your best friend — but then chooses to ask for forgiveness rather than permission. She hastily scrawls through the rest of her Valentines, and then starts on one for Rosie.

Mrs. Park takes a break from cooking dinner and taps the piece of paper she'd given them with a roster of the kids. "Make sure you double check the list, okay? You can't forget anyone."

Rosie steals the last apple slice and nods, scratching lines through each name as she goes through her pile. Jennie is busy working, so Rosie starts counting her cards as well. "You missed one."