Seven Heartbeats

A Valentine's Night

Alexandra capped her pink marker and put the last Valentine's card into its envelope. 16 red envelopes were stacked on her bed, ready to be put into her friends' lockers tomorrow. She pulled at the hair tie keeping her hair in a messy bun on the top of her head. Ashy blonde locks tumbled down to her shoulders, covering her face and the sad frown she didn't know she was sporting.

"Lexie!" Her mother's voice called from downstairs. "Lexie, supper's on the table."
"Coming..." Leaving her phone behind on the bed she shuffled down the stairs and into the kitchen.
"Hope you don't mind leftover lasagna." Alexandra smiled at her mother. Krystyna Drozd was stunningly beautiful with her long black hair in a braid over her shoulder, porcelain white skin and clear blue eyes. The fact that she was in a wheelchair was something you didn't notice at first, and her infectious laugh and good mood made most people forget all about it if they did notice.
"I love your lasagna." Alexandra kissed her mother's cheek as she took her seat at the table. "And it's even better the day after." To prove her point she loaded her plate with food and started eating.
"Are you done with your cards? There seems to more of them every year!" Krystyna laughed and buttered a warm roll, placing it on Alexandra's plate.
"Yeah. There are 16 this year and they're waiting to be put in my bag." Alexandra put a fork full of lasagna in her mouth to not have to say anything more.
"You're always so kind to your friends." Krystyna beamed at her daughter. "They're lucky to have you, darling." Alexandra nodded and focused on her food. She felt her eyes burning and a lump in her throat and didn't know why.

The next day was Friday. It was a beautiful morning, the sun seemed to have climbed over the horizon only to sparkle in the heavy frost coating every surface outside. Clutching her bag's shoulder strap Alexandra waited for the bus down the street from her house. She was the always the first to arrive, a deep fear of missing the bus made her hurry in the mornings. They had no car and riding the bike to school would take nearly half an hour. There was no way she would be on time if she ever missed her bus.

"Lexie." Alice Long, her 13 year old next-door neighbor, pulled at her coat. "Do you want to buy more Girl Scout cookies? Mom said to ask you." Alexandra was careful to keep her face neutral at the thought of buying yet another box of overpriced cookies. She offered Alice a friendly smile and adjusted the knitted cap, which sat lopsided on the younger girl's head.
"I'll have to ask mom. Why don't I come by after school?" Alice smiled, knowing another box would be sold to Alexandra and her mother.
"Alright." Alice's friends soon arrived and the girls were giggling and talking excitedly among themselves about Valentine's Day and boys. The school bus soon pulled up alongside them and Alexandra let the younger girls go on ahead of her. Alice and her friends walked to the very back of the bus before sitting down. Alexandra took one of the empty seats at the front, if she was lucky no one would need the seat and she could sit in silence the whole way.

It was a little painstaking making the rounds to her friends' lockers, the school had three floors and she had to climb the stairs from the bottom to the top to put her Valentine's cards through the slots beneath the metal doors. Many lockers had big red hearts taped on them, there were even a few with heart shaped balloons, slightly swaying in the breeze from students walking past them. Alexandra tried to push the last envelope into the locker of Dominic Higgins, his locker was completely covered in red and pink hearts with different girls' names written in all colors of the rainbow.

Dominic was ridiculously popular, everyone liked him and most girls at school were half in love with him, including the female staff. Alexandra told herself that she only liked him as a friend, ignoring the fluttering of her heart whenever he gazed into her eyes before asking her if he could borrow a pen. Dominic knew the power he had over girls, but never really used it for anything but good. Sometimes Alexandra wondered why he was hanging out with them. His best friends were Ben and James and those two were just regular non-dreamy boys. But apparently they had been good friends since preschool and really, she'd never complain about the fact that she got to hang out with Dominic Higgins almost every day.