A Single Rose (a Valentine's Story)

Chapter 5

I closed my eyes, humming along to the tune as I lost myself in the song's story.
All too soon, the music faded away as the song drew to a close. Then, unable to stop myself, I clicked the 'replay' button.
What? It's a good song.

When the final chords played once more, I allowed myself a few more minutes to take in the quiet yet courageous serenity the music gave me, then I opened my eyes.

Whilst a lot of people relate to Percy, I have always related to Annabeth more, but I'm not as brave and tough as she was. Her theme song always resonates deeply with me...

Struck by some random inspiration, I grabbed out my notebook and a pen.
One thing about me is that I love writing lists. Don't ask why, because I don't really know. But somehow it just makes me happy to have some sort of structure in my life, even about trivial things. Like similarities to fictional characters, just because.

I clicked my pen once, then began writing,
'My Similarities to Annabeth Chase:
1. I always feel invisible
2. I constantly wonder if I will ever be good enough
3. I wish someone would remember me, instead of always being left behind
4. I wish I could run away
5. I'm smart (?)'
I paused for a moment, my pen poised above the paper, before slowly adding,
'6. I wish someone would notice me'.

I gave a small sigh. Maybe this 'secret admirer' had noticed me. But... what if they hadn't? What is it all just some joke?
Getting that note and red rose, and following the clues, had made me feel more happy than I have for a while. I don't know what I will do if all this turns out to be some prank...

For a few moments, I was lost in these unhappy thoughts, then I shook my head, reminding myself,
You don't always need to expect the worst. Maybe... just maybe... it could end well.

I held onto that small glimmer of hope. It may well turn out to be a prank.
If it is... it will hurt. A lot.
But I couldn't give up and lose hope when there was at least the tiniest chance that it might be genuine.

Fueled by this newfound optimism, I tucked away my notebook and turned my attention back to the YouTube screen.

It was a great song, but what did it mean? What about it was the next clue? Was it something in the lyrics? The melody? The character?

Breathe. I reminded myself, stopping to deeply inhale and exhale before continuing, keep it simple.

Okay, so the song is from 'The Lightning Thief' musical, which is inspired by 'Percy Jackson' Book 1, 'The Lightning Thief' (duh). Since I knew there were no showings for 'The Lightning Thief' musical nearby, it seemed logical that the next best place to look was the actual book which inspired the musical and subsequent song.

Exiting the video and closing my laptop, I looked up.

And there, on the bookshelf right next to me, surrounded by other books in the 'Fantasy' section, was 'The Lightning Thief'.