ROMANTIC ORIENTATIONS

Introduction: 'Love Is In The Air'

Sunday 14th February 2016

Today was Valentines Day; my first ever one since getting together with *insert overly preppy male name here*! I didn't think I'd be that nervous, and to be honest, I wasn't until I got a text in the morning: 'Happy Valentines Day!' and then I realised it was Valentines Day. That was when the butterflies started fighting over the Cheerios in my stomach and I had to pour myself another bowl to keep them all happy. It didn't work.

After breakfast, I started getting ready for school and then I realised it was a Sunday, so I got changed into some jeans and a random shirt that matched the butterflies in my stomach. That was when I remembered the text and replied to it with a butterfly emoji and a kiss. I don't even like butterflies.

I remembered that I'd arranged to hang out with Makayla so she wouldn't get too upset at being a single pringle today. I told her last week that pringles were more flavoursome on their own, but that didn't seem to be enough to cheer her up, so I sacrificed my own love-kiss day for her because I am a Good Friend who deserves an award for such heroic gestures, and gosh, aren't I a good friend? Anyway, me and *preppy guy* had arranged to meet later in the afternoon after I'd informed him of my plans as a good friend and he thought it was so cute that I was such a good friend.

So Makayla and I hung out together and made cookies, in lots of different shapes, including butterflies and good friends. We also watched some TV, but I don't really remember what was on because I was too busy fantasizing about the romantic evening that *preppy guy* had no doubt planned. I left Kayla's house feeling very excited!

At home, I still realised I had some time to kill before the date, but then it occurred to me that 4 hours wasn't nearly enough time to get ready for such an important event, so then I stopped killing time. It did not thank me. I was struggling to decide what to wear - I really liked this one shirt with buttons on it, but one of the buttons had fallen off, which is totally unacceptable. In the end, I settled for this dress, which was patterned with - you guessed it - cute caterpillars. I didn't really know what to do with my hair, so I left it alone to do its own thing. I can't believe it took 4 hours.

I was imagining the car that *preppy guy* would drive up in, when the doorbell rang. I was intrigued at who it could be, but then Mum said it was for me. I went downstairs and lo and behold, there was *preppy guy*! My knees suddenly disappeared and my head felt giddy. I remember thinking that I'd probably eaten too many cookies. Mum gave me a knowing look and then scuttled back into the kitchen. He waited until the door had been shut to speak.

'How are you, my butterfly?' he asked in his melty melty voice. My knees wobbled and it was confirmed - it wasn't the cookies, but his presence that was doing this to me. This must be what they call love.

'I am well', I replied, standing up straighter. 'How are you?', I smiled.

'Great!' said the melty melty voice. I had to stop this default reaction before it got life-threatening. I didn't really know what else to say, so I just smiled some more and hoped I looked normal. Seconds passed, but it felt like eons. It must have been seconds because he only scratched his head and no-one does that for eons. 'Shall we go then?'

'Sure!' I said, stepping out the house, with my arm linked with his. 'So, what restaurant did you book?', I tried to keep the excitement out of my voice.

'Restaurant?' He didn't even stop the melty melty! 'Well...actually, I was thinking...'