Spring Writes Stuff

48. "Free Hugs!"

"Do we really need to do this?" Kubo complains as his friend gives him a huge 'Free Hugs!' sign over his shoulders. He could tell she was amused by his reaction.

"Stop being a killjoy," Winnie scolds him as she points a quick finger to his back. Kubo immediately straightens his posture and snarls lightly.

Kubo watches as Winnie picks up her hand camera and props it up to record him.

"Please stop recording," he groans.

"That's what you get for losing a bet!" Winnie giggles.

Kubo rolls his eye and sighs, muttering a curse under his breath. Without warning, Winnie starts recording on her camera.

"What we have here folks is my friend who lost a bet against me," she says as she moves the camera closer to Kubo's face. He grunts and shoves the camera away from him, making Winnie laugh.

"As you can see, he's not so happy about it," she comments with a teasing smirk.

"You're really enjoying this, aren't you?" Kubo asks as he looks up to the camera, visibly irritated.

Winnie ignores his question and motions her hand to Kubo, just enough for the camera to see.

"He will be doing anything I say as a consequence," Winnie declares. "Since Valentine's Day is upon us, I made him wear a 'Free Hugs!' sign for the whole afternoon. But!" Winnie pauses, pointing her finger to Kubo.

"He'll ONLY be allowed to remove it after his crush hugs him!"

"Yay," Kubo cheers sarcastically.

"Are you ready to give free hugs?" Winnie asks him in a sprightly voice like she's mocking him.

"No," Kubo says simply.

"Awesome!" Winnie cheers.

~

"Isn't it wonderful to roam the school grounds on Valentine's Day?" Winnie says innocently.

"Not if you're wearing a 'Free Hugs' sign," Kubo sneers.

"If we find your crush sooner, you don't have to wear that sign all day!" Winnie chuckles as she points the camera to him, in time to see Kubo's face brighten up at the realization.

"Well, where do you think my crush would hang around, Winnie?" Kubo asks her, a playful grin forming on his lips.

They both stop walking for a minute. Behind the camera, Winnie forms a funny look on her face.

"Interesting..." Winnie raises a brow.

Without even stopping the camera recording, Winnie throws her arms around Kubo, catching the one-eyed kid off guard. As she let go of him, she saw Kubo's face on the brink of bursting out of laughter.

"You really thought it was you?" Kubo asks her before finally bursting into a fit of uncontrollable laughter, holding onto his stomach.

"What?" Winnie looks at him, genuinely confused. "I was just checking."

"Oh man," Kubo wheezed as he wipes the side of his eye with a finger, "I wish it was you so I can get this stupid sign off of me."

Winnie glares at Kubo as he continues laughing at her.

~

Their duo roamed around their high school grounds, where all the main Valentine's Day celebrations have been happening in their school. Most of the Freshmen and Sophomores hung out there with their own group of friends.

Kubo became an instant eye catcher for the young students (boys and girls alike) because of his 'Free Hugs!' sign. But, to Winnie's dismay, none of them prompted Kubo to remove his sign.