Two Hearts Apart

Chapter 6: Valentines Day

Valentines Day turned out to be one of those days that you actually have to recover from. The school was abuzz with the blossoming of new romance and the resuscitation of old ones, and everywhere you turned you would find dreamy girls with roses, chocolates and hearts. For all that the teachers were lecturing on the importance of grade eleven, it was a wonder that they decided to give the grade elevens the day off from regular classes- a standard tradition that made it easier for the students to organise the day's events. Despite himself, Zaheer was put in charge of one of the stalls in their quad-turned-market. As if it was not enough that they actually had him working here, he had the great misfortune of being in charge of the stall that sold roses- the stall that happened to be the most popular one.

From early in the school day they all had to help organise tables and chairs, set up the stalls, place up posters and signs and help pack and unpack. It was tedious work, especially when you really didn't care much about any of it. The quad, centre of the school and hub of all administrative activities, was commonly known by all as 'prison block'. Situated at the far end was the tuck shop which led directly into the staff offices and rooms which looked out upon the entrance to the school. The quad was not big by any standards but surrounding it was 2 floors- comprising of classrooms all around. If one were to stand outside of the classrooms and look down towards the quad- well it would be easy to mistake it for a setting straight out of Prison Break. Today, however, the quad looked more like a young girl's bedroom than the intimidating prison block it usually was. It was transformed into a quagmire of vivid red; red balloons and banners hanging from the banisters, red hearts and confetti strewn over the floor and red signs and posters displayed on the walls. Yes, the girls had gone all out in their attempt to leave behind their legacy and the unwitting boys had been begrudgingly dragged in. The only silver lining was that they didn't have to sit through equally tedious lessons, and of course the possibility of seeing more of Zahraa.

Though Zaheer had seriously contemplated giving up on her, he had the sneaking suspicion that she liked him too. And while that suspicion was still travelling through his mind, it provided him with hope and possibility, and an unwavering resolution not to give up. So it was thus, with renewed vigour, that Zaheer decided that he would try once more. It seemed to him as if all girls were suckers for all this Valentines stuff, as if Valentines Day suddenly made them all feel romantic, hopeful and, and this was especially important for Zaheer; open to new possibilities. If he was going to do anything, he would have to do it on this day. This was his opportunity and he could not afford to waste it.

For Zahraa he purchased a single rose- not one of the fake ones that he was in charge of selling but rather a real and beautiful, long stemmed, velvety red rose. He had bought it the day before and had to endure the laborious task of ensuring that his parents didn't see it. If they had then he would be riddled with their various concerns. Who was this girl? Where was she from? Did she like him? Were they dating? Since Zaheer hadn't made much progress with Zahraa he was not willing to answer any of these questions. He therefore had to ensure that he hid the rose, though he had to keep it in water, and had to ensure that it was well kept so as to not wilt in any way. With all of the effort he put in he was glad that, on bringing it to school, it was as perfect as it was when he first purchased it. Now that he had it here he wanted to give it to Zahraa, not just at the perfect moment, but also as soon as possible- to spare him any additional effort.

It was during the first break that he saw her. While others had come and gone throughout the morning, the Matrics had been in class, busy with their studies. Though the grade elevens complained constantly, Zaheer knew that Zahraa must have had it far worse- what with being the final year and all. He was thus elated when he finally saw her making her way towards the quad. He quickly made some excuse for having to go, grabbed the rose- which he had kept in a tall glass of water in one of the nearby classes, and walked towards Zahraa, motioning for her to join him. She seemed unresponsive at first and for a brief moment Zaheer thought that she was just going to ignore him, but after a while she left her friends and walked over to him. "I have something for you." He told her when she got there, handing the rose to her. Her response, as always, was calm and collected. She simply said: "Zaheer I told you that I'm not interested, I don't want anything from you." "But its Valentines day!" he protested. "I had to get you something." "No." She replied in an agitated voice; "You shouldn't have gotten me anything. You don't seriously buy into all this Valentines crap do you, because you better than that."

Zaheer didn't know what to say, his courage suddenly drained. He had had a whole speech planned. He was going to explain the significance of the solitary rose; how she was one rose amongst so many other flowers. He was going to explain how he wouldn't dare to buy her any cheap gifts because she was far superior to any of that, that her beauty could only be matched by the real exquisite beauty of this red rose. But here she stood, once again confusing him, not even acknowledging the rose that he held in front of her. His silence turned into a silent rage; rage at himself for not giving up sooner; rage at all the effort he had to endure for a gift that wasn't appreciated; and rage at Zahraa for playing games with him. His tone must have sounded angry when he said to her: "Well keep it anyway, what else am I going to do with it!" because at that moment Zahraa's expression turned grave and she suddenly seemed to regret her response. The rose was now within inches of her face and Zahraa had no other alternative but to accept it. The minute she did, however, Zaheer turned around and walked away- not wanting to spend another embarrassing moment with her.

The humiliation that Zaheer had endured silently ate away at him for the rest of the day. He was frustrated and angry. Who did she think she was? Why was she hot then cold then hot, couldn't she just make up her mind already? What had begun as a promise of a new beginning had so quickly turned into a painful memory. "Just forget about her man!" that was Aarif's response when Zaheer had told him what had happened. "Don't let anybody make you feel this way, you look depressed. Just forget her and move on. You came, you saw you tried. It's over now." Zaheer had to force himself to believe it. Clearly Zahraa was not interested in him, clearly she didn't like him. Maybe the little attention that she gave him was just her way of being friendly; maybe he had misread the signs and jumped to conclusions. For all that happened at least now he knew that it would never be. He kept on telling himself that it couldn't have been as real or special as he had thought. Maybe his hormones had just run a little wild and clouded his otherwise sturdy judgement. Zahraa was over and he would have to learn to accept it.

Zaheer was glad when the day finally came to an end. As he walked through the school he couldn't help noticing all the couples and he felt a twinge of pain that things hadn't worked out for him. Suddenly he felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around to see that it was Zahraa's friend Hafsah. For a moment he felt a pang of joy, hoping that maybe Zahraa had sent her with a message for him, but instead she held out a card and said: "Happy Valentines Day". Before he could even get a word in Hafsah was explaining that she had waited all day for him to wish her a happy Valentines and had now eventually grown tired. It was that reason that had incited her to track him down to give him this card. She ended with an ever-so-sweet: "So will you ask me out already?" "Hmm what?" was the only response that Zaheer could muster. Hafsah, apparently unperturbed by Zaheer's lack of enthusiasm, continued: "Well I couldn't help noticing you- you know that day when I kept your stuff for you and I noticed how you looked at me when you came to get it back, and a lot of guys have asked me out today but I turned them all down for you, so now I was just wondering when exactly you were going to ask me out." Zaheer was astounded by her. She had caught him completely off guard- when he had least expected it; he didn't even know what 'look' she was talking about; and he was barely surfacing from his last humiliating attempt with a girl- so he replied with a quick: "Yeah, we'll see, I'll think about it" and rushed off before she managed to get another word in.