Dear Valentine

I

From a young age, I've always wondered: what is it really like the fall in love? There were so many secrets that go into the depth of the concept that I don't even know where to start. Love seems complicated, yet everyone still wants it. I want it.

I mean, my name is Valentina. How more ironic could my name be? To make matters worse, I was born on Valentine's Day, which is precisely how my parents came up with my name. I should've been a girl who could fall in love easily and to be fallen in love with. Instead, I was just the mere description of a normal girl who dreams big.

I wish to be like the couples you see on the streets. They look so in love. The way the guy looks into the girl's eyes and vice versa is how I want to be seen. With so much passion in his eyes, I would be able to return the love. I want to be loved.

Yet, here I am. I am a girl still in high school. Love is all so foreign to me. I know nothing about it and those who've tried to find love have seemed to fail. Do I want to risk getting hurt? Perhaps. I wouldn't know of the greater good if I didn't try, even if it will just end up in sorrow and regrets. I would risk falling in love.

They say that you should fall in love at least two times in high school, yet I haven't even managed to have a boyfriend. It is silly of me to think in high hopes, but alas, I cannot help it.

There are so many unanswered questions that I personally would like to know. School doesn't necessarily help answer any of my questions. School is supposed to guide students into a direction where their future will turn out for the greater good, depending on their academic efforts. However, school lacks and therefore, is a flawed process. Sure, they teach you the consequences of love - both the making of love and loving someone - but they don't show you how (to love someone.)

Maybe soon, I may get my heart broken or I may be the one to break a heart. It could be two or three, if I get the guts to even ask a guy out or for a guy to ask me. I don't particularly have my eyes set on any guys at my school, which makes it ten times harder for me to even be in a relationship.

♡♡♡

Another flawed characteristic about school is the early wake in the morning. My brain does not mentally wake up until after school. I shouldn't be complaining, though. My friend, Aiden, always wakes up at least an hour earlier than my wake time, just to make sure he has enough time to pick up my other friend, Corrine, and I.

The thing about my friends is that I could never fully tell our story. I could start from the moment we all first met and continue then on, but I would leave out many tiny details that make them all the more interesting. I could write an entire series of encyclopedias in alphabetical order and then, chronological order. Okay, maybe I am exaggerating, but they have been my best friends since almost our diaper ages and for that, I am grateful. I don't think I've met anyone more qualified to fit my best friends description.

Just outside my window, the sun hovers over the horizon, emitting bright orange and pink colors into the sky. No dark clouds are visible in the morning sky. It is as if the sun is saying, Today is going to be a great day. Perhaps it will be. I will believe that today.

I hear loud horns coming from Aiden's yellow jeep. It's too much work to walk up to my door and ring the bell, to him. Instead, he would rather wake up the entire neighborhood. It's no wonder the neighbors haven't attended my family's dinner party in months; everyone but Aiden's family.

"Must you always honk your horn? You could be decent and text me," I complain as I hop into the front passenger's seat.

"And ruin the only fun I get in the mornings? No thanks," Aiden teases. He starts the ignition of his jeep, letting it run for a few minutes as we talk.

From the door, I see someone crack the door open, so that the person's head could fit through. Make it two persons' heads. Meet Mom and Dad. My mom personally had to deliver Aiden when he was born. My mom was only a nurse back then, but a doctor was not available and so she took the initiative to deliver him herself.

It's a weird story for how Aiden and I met. His mom, Cassandra, and my mom quickly hit it off as soon as Aiden was placed into the nursery. Mom was there for her the entire time she was in labor and in return, Cassandra did the same when my mom had me. I believe my first words to Aiden were "I love you," or at least that is what our parents have told us. They knew from then on, we would become best friends.

My parents open the door wider so that they can step outside. They are waving, mainly to greet Aiden.

The ride from my house to Corrine's isn't that far. It is only two neighborhoods over from mine. She rushes out of the door, like she's in a hurry.

"Quick, start the car!" she yells, even though she's not a great distance from the jeep. Besides, we haven't even parked for a mere minute to be given the chance to turn it off.

Once she gets into the car, she says, "My brother is about to set off a huge exploding volcano." She then starts counting down from ten. Once she says zero, the house erupts with a loud noise.

"That seemed cool. Man, I love Todd," Aiden says as he looks at the house with admiration. To Corrine, he says, "Why didn't you just stay upstairs? You could've spent a few minutes in there. We get to school early, anyways."

"I am just running on my daily schedule. I get out of the house at 6:46 a.m., always. I don't plan it, but it always happens. Now that I think of it, I enjoy that satisfaction of being out of the house at the same time every day that I just, I don't know, try to keep it that way. Unfortunately, Todd was up to his crazy schemes that I wanted no part of, which I got out just a couple of minutes early. I couldn't let my outfit go to waste. I spent perhaps half an hour picking them out," Corrine rambles.

I laugh at her. "Only you, Corrine, would be doing all of that," I say and Aiden pulls out of the driveway and on to school.

The drive to school is relatively close. That is, if we take the shortcut through the ghetto part of the city. There's always a group of kids from school that hangs around the area in the mornings and after school. They were the kids that loved to get high, but didn't like others knowing about it. As long as my friends and I kept their secret, they wouldn't do anything to us.

The school doesn't assign parking lot spaces, but just after a couple of days after the first day of school, everyone who parked their car had seem to assign themselves. Aiden had managed to score a space not too far, meaning we won't have to tire ourselves even before the day starts.

Next to us in the parking lot is Ashley Simpson. She's not the most popular person in the school, but she's probably learned the truth about love already. She's broken hearts and in return, her hearts been broken. Yet, she's the perkiest girl I know.

"Hey Corrine. Valentina. Aiden," says Ashley, dragging Aiden's name in her mouth. It raises suspicion for her. I've wondered if perhaps she likes Aiden, but I could be wrong. The two have never hung out alone, unless Corrine and I weren't with them.

"Good morning, Ashley," greets Aiden, smiling at her. He's oblivious to Ashley's charms. I guess it's good for us. His last girlfriend didn't turn out well. He moped around for about a month. I wish I could've protected him from that, but alas, I couldn't. He also didn't want to risk having a clingy girlfriend. He's had one too many. I wish I could protect him from those kinds of girls too.