My Best Friend's Brother OneShot Collection Bunk'd

Sharing a Locker

Lou rolled her shoulders and stretched her neck from side to side as she stood in the crowded hallway of the high school. Her backpack was killing her today. She slid the bag off her shoulders and lugged it down the hall. Normally her backpack didn't cause her so much trouble, but normally she had a locker to store some of her heavier items.

She stepped to the side and waited as a dude carried a gigantic teddy bear down the hall. Lou smiled to herself. Valentine's Day. It was one of her favorite holidays, even though she didn't always have a valentine. But Lou had always been a big fan of love. So, even though her back ached today from having to carry around three thick textbooks, a laptop, and her lunch, it was worth it to see so many expressions of love.

Lou continued a few more steps down the hall until she reached the sophomore lockers. She glanced up at the ceiling and saw the red and pink streamers in decorative loops above her. Mooserump High School had a Sweethearts Dance every Valentine's Day to raise money for an unknown charity. Shaking her head at the thought of the charity, Lou always suspected Principal Gladys kept the funds raised for herself.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her friend Ravi walk out of his chemistry class. Quickly, she hoisted the backpack onto her shoulder and made her way to meet him at his locker.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Ravi," she greeted him as he walked up.

He smiled brightly at her, but looked a little shocked to see her. "Happy Valentine's Day, Lou." Adjusting the strap of his backpack, he rocked on his heels. "What brings you to this side of the school?"

Lou was a senior, so it wasn't often that she was near the sophomore lockers. Carefully, Lou lowered her bag to the beige floor. She used her free hand to rub her shoulder and said, "I wanted to ask you a favor."

"Sure," he said happily with a light shrug. "I would be happy to help."

She grinned at him and lowered her eyelids slightly. "I haven't even told ya what I wanted."

Ravi let out a small laugh. "That is true. Fine, tell me what the favor is and then I will tell you yes."

Lou bit the inside of her cheek to keep from grinning any harder. She had been friends with Ravi for what felt like forever and he was always willing to help her when she asked. It was one of her favorite things about him.

"Lou?" he asked when she had not responded after a few moments.

"What?" She blinked out of her stare.

He smiled. "You were going to tell me the favor..."

"Right," Lou said quickly. She felt her face heat up, but she didn't look away from him because his smile was another one of her favorite things about him. "Do you think I could move into your locker?"

His eyebrows shot up and she heard his slight gasp. "You want to...move in?" He awkwardly poked the metal locker beside them. "To my locker?"

At that exact moment, a couple walking hand-in-hand practically skipped up to the locker beside Ravi's locker. Lou cooed out an "aww" when she realized that the couple wore matching sweaters covered in hearts. She watched as one of them put in the combination while the other held tightly and leaned lovingly against their lover's side. One textbook was traded for another and the bundle of fake flowers that had nearly tipped out had been shoved back inside.

"You need any of your books, babe?" Half of the couple asked.

"No, babe."

With that being said, the locker door was closed, the couple kissed and then they happily walked away.

"Weren't they so cute! I love Valentine's Day," Lou said as she watched the couple turn a corner.

"Um, they share a locker," Ravi said in a shaky tone. He fidgeted with his hands as he tried to casually lean against his locker. "So...does that mean that you want to maybe, uh?"

Lou rolled her shoulders again and then stretched her arm across her chest. "I really do love the holiday, but Emma and Xander both got so many valentines gifts this year that they needed to use my locker as storage space. And I don't mind." She switched to stretch the other arm. "I mean, maybe they should mind that they're gettin' so much stuff from other people when they're datin' each other, but hey."

Ravi leaned away from his locker. His shoulders sagged and he stopped fidgeting. His smile saddened as he slowly nodded. "Your backpack is heavy, so you need to store your books in my locker today."

Lou stopped stretching. She blinked in confusion at the look of disappointment on Ravi's face. For a moment, she worried that he would tell her no and she would have to deal with her backpack for the rest of the day.

"No problem," he said, interrupting her worry. He put in the combination, opened the locker, and then stepped aside so she could access it. "My locker is your locker."

Lou exhaled in relief. She unzipped her bag as it sat on the ground and unpacked the books into his locker. "I could just kiss you, Ravi! You have no idea how happy I am."

His eyes lit up and his smile returned. He held onto the straps of his own backpack and said, "I, um, I am glad I could help." He thought for a second. "I shall text you the combination."

Closing the locker, she looked over at him. "Or I could walk you to your classes. That way we can both use it. I already know your schedule." She blushed when she realized how weird it probably sounded that she randomly knew his schedule well enough to walk him to his classes. She added quickly, "I've always been good with schedules; That's why I know yours! And I know Emma's. And Xander's. And obviously mine."

"Yeah, yeah! Of course." He made his tone more airy when he added, "We can walk to all of our classes together today...on Valentine's Day." He lifted her lighter bag from the ground and handed it to her.

"Thanks." She mentally reveled in the way that her hand tingled when his hand brushed against hers because she knew she had a crush on him. The only reason she ignored her crush was because she could never tell if Ravi liked her in that way or not. Sometimes she would catch him staring at her or he would say something that made her heart believe more-than-friendly things about him. But for the most part, he acted like a really great friend and she didn't want to mess that up.

"Shall we head to your English class?" At her look, he explained, "I, uh, know your schedule really well too."

Lou casually hooked her arm around his and nodded. Butterflies fluttered in her gut when he gazed at her in a way that seemed almost loving. It reminded her of the couple at the neighboring locker.

"Let's go," she said breathlessly. She cleared her throat. "To class."

As they made their way around happy couples and oversized gifts and pink decorations, Lou was happy that her backpack had threatened to destroy her posture enough that it forced her to seek out Ravi for help. Now she got to walk arm-in-arm with her crush and admire all the adorable Valentine's trappings without carrying a boulder on her back.