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In the week leading up to Valentine’s Day, the rumor mill really started spinning. By lunchtime on the 13th it was going at 100 mph, or the same speed as Quinn’s mouth, whichever went faster. And even though Süheyla didn’t especially want to hear about who was coupling up with who, Quinn had decided that the two of them were best friends, so she didn’t have a choice.
“And then you wouldn’t believe it,” Quinn leaned in, speaking quickly. “Crisis decided that-“
“Hold on,” Süheyla tuned back into the conversation, having spaced out. “Who the fuck is Crisis?”
“Oh you don’t know her? She’s in Voidling’s class and let me tell you that is an apt name if I’ve ever heard one that girl is a mess! This is her third breakup since,” she slowed down to clap between each word, “the start of the semester.”
“Wow,” said Süheyla, committed to not caring but a little bit impressed.
“I know, right? Anyway, so-“ she launched into a lengthy description of the antics of some students that Süheyla had never heard of before.
She looked around the lunchroom. There was Elpis with Nelani, Jayce with Ethan, Kidd with Troy, and Azumi with Roland. Practically everyone was paired off. Sam, Shiloh, and Ozy were still uncoupled, and Cauchemar wasn’t in the lunchroom, but wait, was that Gatcha talking to Ozy? Like, leaning-across-the-lunch-table talking-talking to Ozy? Huh. Maybe if she’d listened to any of Quinn’s “hot gos’” she’d know something about that.
Sam noticed her staring at their little group and waved. She gave an upnod back, unsure why she suddenly felt embarrassed.
She turned her attention back to Quinn. “So,” she said, interrupting something. “What about you? Do you have any plans?”
She frowned at being interrupted, but quickly perked back up at the chance to talk about herself. “Omg totally! Me and Emilia are gonna check out this abandoned mansion that guess what, the rumors say it’s haunted! On Valentine’s Day mysterious candles appear in the windows and the sweet sounds of violin float through the air.”
Emelia spoke up for the first time since she’d sat down with the two of them. “We’re either gonna fight ghosts for go on a double date with them,” she said without looking up from her nails. “Might be cool I guess.”
“Isn’t that so romantic!” Quinn flung an arm around Emilia’s shoulder, pulling her close. Emilia lightly bonked her head against hers, still examining her nailbeds with an unchanging expression of disinterest.
“Nice,” said Süheyla. “Sounds fun.”
“And what about you?” Quinn asked, although there was no way she didn’t already know the answer. “Has anyone asked you yet?”
She shook her head. “Nah.”
“What? But you’re so pretty!”
She never knew what to say when Quinn told her that. Shrugging, she said, “well, no one has.”
The snow was pilled up on either side of the walkway. More fell lazily from the sky, light flakes swirling in the even lighter breeze. They landed on the salted path and melted immediately, adding to the thin layer of slush that had been building up all day.
Süheyla tromped through it, paying the routine amount of attention to the weight of her footfalls while the rest of her mind wandered. It was hard to not feel bummed about being single on Valentine’s Day, but she was doing her best to not let it get her down.
She spotted Sam and Ethan chatting ahead of her and hustled over to join them. Ethan turned quickly as he heard her approach and sighed in relief when he recognized her.
“Oh hi Süheyla!”
“Ethan, Sam, how are you?” She nodded to both of them.
“I am doing well,” said Sam. “Ethan and I were just talking about math. We are finding this current unit challenging.”
She smiled. She liked Sam’s voice modulator. At the beginning of the school year it was strange and slightly intimidating, but now it was just their voice. A charming voice too, in a weird way.
“Oh yeah,” she agreed about the math. “It’s frustrating because I know that I totally get it conceptually, but I have no idea what to do as soon as the numbers get involved.”
“Oh, if only that were my problem,” said Ethan. “I must’ve had a concussion the day the unit was introduced, I have no idea what’s going on.”
Süheyla and Sam exchanged glances.
“I thought Jayce gave you a helmet,” said Sam. “Is it insufficient?”
“Oh no, the helmet was great, it’s just broken now. Helmets are a lot like toothbrushes, you know? They don’t last long.”
Well it wasn’t her job to unpack that. “Speaking of, you got any fun plans with J-boy tomorrow?”
He gave her a confused look. “He mentioned wanting to make plans and I suggested patrolling, why do you ask-wait.” And expression of horror crossed his face. “What day is it today?”
“It is the thirteenth of February,” intoned Sam.
Ethan looked around, panicked. “I, I have to go.”
He started to run, nearly slipped on a patch of ice, recovered his footing, and used the momentum to keep running.
“There he goes,” said Süheyla.
“Good luck!” Sam called after him.
“He’s gonna need it,” she said as she watched him skid around the corner.
“Yes,” they said heavily. “He will. Many of us need luck we may not have.”
“Haha, yeah,” she agreed, wondering what they meant by that.
Sam sighed and turned to her. “Do you have any plans for Valentine’s Day?”
“Nope,” she stuck her hands in her pockets. “I’ve got nothing.”
“No one you’re planning on asking?”
She sighed. “Nah, after how things with Jayce went down I don’t want to be the one to make the first move.”
“Mmm,” Sam rumbled as they nodded. “I never got the whole story on that.”
She sighed again, but this time a lot heavier. “Yeah, there was a lot. But what I’m talking about right now is how he didn’t even realize we were dating. Like, the whole time where I thought we were dating, he thought we were two friend that just happened to go to prom together.”
Sam tilted their head to the side. “But you were wearing matching outfits. You called him your ‘hot date and personal Runic Cypher’ loudly while on stage.”
“See!” Süheyla gesticulated wildly, accidentally flinging a wave of force that shook the snow off a nearby tree. She winced at the loss of control, then continued. “That’s what I was thinking, but he didn’t get it. I mean we never had the whole “What Are We” conversation, but come on man!”
“Clear communication is key in relationships,” said Sam.
“Yeah,” she huffed.
The two kept walking, passing out the front gates of Valor Academy.
Sam cleared their throat. “So, is there anyone you’re hoping will ask you out?”
She gave a short laugh. “I’m not getting my hopes up.”
“Ah,” they said.
The two stopped walking, having reached the point where Süheyla would go one way to catch the bus, and Sam the other to go back to the dorms. They both hesitated.
“Would you like company while waiting for the bus?” they asked.
“Uh, sure. You sure you want to though? The bus is anywhere from 2 to 30 minutes away.”
“Oh, I know what the public transit system is like. But I will be fine, this mask is good for keeping my face cozy.”
“Alright, as long as you know what you’re in for.” She started walking. “Anyway, what about you?”
“What about me?” Their mask crinkled slightly in confusion.
“Well you’re asking me all these Valentine’s Day questions, so what about you? You got anyone you’re asking, or hoping to be asked by?”
“Ah.” They cleared their throat and started fiddling with their fingers. “Yes. Though I believe I will have to do the asking.”
“Whaaaaaaaaat!” Süheyla turned around to face them, walking backwards. “Who?”
They stopped fiddling with their hands to tug at their collar. “I didn’t think this through,” they muttered. “But turnabout is fair play.”
She blinked at them. “What do you mean?”
They looked around as if searching for a way to escape and found none. “This conversation. I asked you all those questions, and I should’ve expected you would ask the same.”
They stopped walking and so did she. They took a deep breath and let it out. “You, Süheyla. I was planning on asking you out tomorrow, for Valentine’s Day.”
She stood there, blinking. “Me?”
“I was going to give you a poem,” they looked down, their voice becoming more garbled. “Just thought I’d do some reconnaissance.”
This was something she hadn’t dared believe in, hadn’t opened herself up to hope for, because hoping for this meant she would be hurt when it didn’t happen. But with each passing second the wall she’d put her feelings behind was crumbling. The world felt unsteady, this moment not quite real.
“A poem?” she said, her heart hammering in her ears.
“I… haven’t finished it yet.” Looking down they mumbled, “I probably shouldn’t have mentioned it. Poems are not very cool.”
“No, uh,” her face felt so hot she was certain that any snowflake that touched it would instantly convert to steam. “That’s really cool.”
“Cool.” They sounded strangled. “I’m glad it’s cool.”
They both stood there, unable to look at each other.
“Well,” Sam cleared their throat. “I guess I’ll be going then.” They turned to retreat.
“Wait!” Süheyla reached out to grab their sleeve, but instead took hold of their hand.
Both of them looked at their now clasped hands in surprise.
“Oh,” said Sam. “So my advance was not unwelcome?”
She carefully interlaced her fingers through theirs, mindful of how fragile the small bones were. “Yeah, I mean, no, I mean,” she got briefly lost in finding the right response to a double negative, then forged ahead. “Sorry, you just caught me by surprise. I think I’ve had my head too far up my own ass to notice your feelings I guess. And, um, mine.”
She could hear their shaking breath echoing in their voice modulator. “So you like me?”
Of course she did. Now that she wasn’t ignoring it wow did she like them a whole lot. “Yeah,” she said, trying to keep her cool.
“Would you like to go on a date tomorrow?”
“Yeah!” She gave a huge grin.
“Awesome.” They squeezed her hand.
“And like, to be clear. This is a romantic date, not a friend date, right?”
“Yes.”
“Like, I’m your girlfriend now and you’re my, uh,” she floundered, then waited for them to fill in the blank.
They were silent for a moment before hesitantly suggesting “…Significant other? Perhaps S-O, or signif, for short.”
Süheyla dropped their hand to punch the air. “Fuck yeah!” she shouted. “I’ve got an S-O!”