Valentines Day Blues

 

Note: Lets see…there’s no credits are things I need to explain for this one; I just made it up. I suppose Rika and her friends are just in the fourth or fifth grade…it doesn’t matter either way.

 

            Rika smiled at her handcrafted box. In homeroom they had made Valentines Day boxes out of old shoeboxes for the upcoming day. They used construction paper, glitter, markers, pencils and other decorative items to make the box special. They also had to write their name really big on the box so people would know which box belonged to whom.

 

            Rika had covered her box in pink paper all the way around. She the cut out red small and medium sized hearts and pasted them to the pink. She added some white glittered hearts and on one side she made a large pink pop-out heart and wrote “Rika” in large red letters. She cut a hole in the top big enough to slip a card inside.

 

            Valentines day was the next morning so Rika knew she had to do something special for Mr. Terada. She would make him a boxed lunch but that was too plain. She decided to make him some chocolate chip cookies and a card. When she got home she finished her few math problems and got straight to work on it.

 

            She took out the flour, eggs, oil, butter, chocolate chips, and other special ingredients she used to make her cookies a bit more favorable. Rika poured her ingredients into a bowl and mixed it into a smooth batter. She stirred in the chips and poured medium-sized circles onto a foiled sheet. She placed them in the oven on 350 degrees and started on her card.

 

            She took a seven by four inch white card and on the front made a pink heart with a felt-tip marker. Inside the heart she wrote “To Mr. Terada…” in black. She decorated the empty white space with red glitter on the front. She opened the car length-wise and wrote “Happy Valentines Day,” on the top portion in large red letters. She speckled glitter over the letters. Below that she wrote in a black pen, “I hope you have a wonderful day. Love, Sasaki Rika.”

 

            On the back Rika made heart designs and let the card dry for a minute. She smiled at it leaned back in her chair, satisfied. She heard a bell go off and looked to the clock. The cookies were just on time. She put on some oven mittens and took out the tray of golden brown cookies and placed them on the kitchen table.

 

            Rika took out a small lunch box and some tissue paper. The tissue paper had tiny pink and red hearts on a white background. She fit the twelve cookies neatly into the space and put tissue paper over it. Placing the lid on the box she wrote, “To Mr. Terada,” in a black pen.

 

            Rika put the box and card in her room and went back to the living room where she turned on TV to watch her favorite after-school cartoon. She heard her mother come through the front door and switched off the TV, and came to greet her.

 

            “Good afternoon Mother,” she welcomed, greeting her. Her mother patted her head and smiled.

           

            “How was your day, Rika?” her mother asked, smiling kindly. She put her purse down on a table and walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. Rika followed and sat beside her.

 

            “Very good. We’re getting ready for Valentines Day; we even made special boxes for tomorrow to stick cards in. By chance, did you remember to pick up some cards for me at the store?” Rika asked.

 

            Her mother nodded and pointed to the kitchen. “I put them in the kitchen beside my purse. Rika, I have work to do so I’m going to my room if you need me,” her mother said, heading up stairs.

 

            Rika nodded and headed to the kitchen to find the cards her mothers had picked up. They were small, white cards with cute phrases on the inside. A little heart shaped lollypop fit inside as well. Rika took out a pen and wrote the names of all her classmates on the cards.

 

When Rika had finished it was five-thirty so she made a quick dinner for her and her mother composed of spaghetti, parmaghon cheese, and meatballs. She excused herself and went to her room. Rika packed her backpack for the next day and dressed for bed.

 

The next morning at school everyone was in frenzy and excited about Valentines Day. She headed to her class, before the bell rang, like everyday. She gripped her present for Yoshiyuki in her hand. To her dismay, he wasn’t in the room. She frowned and placed the box and letter neatly on his desk.

 

“Perhaps if I wait for a few minutes,” Riak said, taking a seat at her desk in the middle of the room. Five minutes passed, and than eighth, and then the bell rang and still no Mr. Terada. Rika sighed and waited for all her classmates to join her. The children came piling through the door.

 

“Rika! Good morning, how are you?” asked Sakura, as she stopped by Rika’s desk. Rika blinked, startled by Sakura, and smiled. “Very well. Happy Valentines Day to you!” she greeted her. Sakura giggled and went to her seat.

 

Rika say Mr. Terada come into the classroom and she caught her breath. The students stood and said a ‘good morning’ and he gestured for them to be seated. She lit her lip as he went to his desk- he didn’t even seem to notice! He just looked through some lesson plans.

“Ok class…I know everyone is very excited about the day but we’re going to celebrate this afternoon at one-thirty until two-thirty, when school ends. However, we’re going to place the cards in people’s boxes right now, so we won’t have to this afternoon. The boxes are located in the back of the room on the shelf with the person’s name facing front. Please attend to that now,” he directed.

 

All of the kids raced to the back of the room but Rika took her time, without much energy. She slid a card into every box and took her seat again. The bell rang for homeroom to be over and everyone stood.

 

“I’ll see you all at one-thirty,” Mr. Terada said, waving them off. Rika took her time, incase he may want to speak to her. He didn’t; instead, he sat at his desk and began to grade papers.

 

“May I help you, Rika?” he asked, as she was leaving. Rika tried to catch his eye but his head was looking at the papers. She shook her head and left.

 

At one-thirty, everyone gathered in his room. There was ice cream, soft drinks, cake, and lollypops were set up in the front of the room. The students took their seat and Mr. Terada came to the front of the room. “Well… what are you doing sitting down? It’s Valentines Day; go open your boxes,” she joked.

 

Kids raced to get their box and bring it back to their desks. Many kids had turned their desks around to face their friends or make groups. When Rika had her box Sakura called her name.

 

“Rika! Come site over here with us, ok?” she asked, pulling up a chair beside her desk. Rika smiled and took a seat with Sakura, Tomoyo, Chiharu, Naoko, Takashi, Meiling and Li. Everyone was opening their boxes. Rika started on a few cards but stopped to watch Mr. Terada.

 

He was just sitting in his desk. He didn’t even notice her. She had put a lot of work and heart into those cookies. How could he just sit at his desk and say or do nothing? For sure, she had put the box and card visibly on his desk, right? She set it right in the middle. Rika turned away and smiled as her friends talked and laughed amongst themselves.

 

She saw Sakura blush as she opened a card from an anonymous person. Rika knew it was from Li, but Sakura was somewhat clueless. Meiling gave Li a box of candy and he made her a personalized card. Tomoyo and Sakura had exchanged special gifts from each other that morning and Tomoyo was marveling at Sakura hand painted art project. Everyone was getting something special from someone else except herself. Chiharu and Takashi exchanged gifts; Chiharu received a small velvet bear and Takashi a special card.

 

Even Naoko got a Valentines Day card from someone. It was rather large and had a small rose that was somewhat crushed in-between the pages. It was signed ‘Anonymous’ but Naoko knew it was from a boy across the hall who had his eye on her.

 

No one seemed to notice that Rika was upset because she tried to hold a straight face. Inside she was concerned, hurt, and shocked but she didn’t want everyone to worry about her when it was a special day. All she wanted to do now was leave; she was a bit embarrassed.

 

The bell rang and everyone hurried to leave. Rika returned to her desk with her box with many unopened cards in it and gathered her things into her backpack. She was the last to leave with a couple of other students but Mr. Terada called her attention.

 

“Rika, could you wait a bit?” he asked, from his desk. His face was facing down, at something on his desk, and he didn’t look up. Rika’s heart jumped and she blushed a bit. She nodded and walked in front of his desk.

 

He looked up and smiled. Rika waited, beaming back. He gave her his attention and folded his arms. “I wanted to thank you for the gift. You’re a thoughtful young lady, Miss Sasaki,” he said, in a kind voice.

 

Rika waited for more but he turned back to his work. Didn’t he have anything else to say? He acted like it was only a gift of appreciation and not from the heart. Maybe that’s all she was to him anymore. Rika had always seen difficulties in their relationship. It had never had time to develop either. Rika started to the door with her head down. She had wanted this day to be special. She opened the door to step out.

 

“Rika?” Mr. Terada’s voice called again. Rika turned around to see catch a small basket that he tossed directly at her. It had roses, incense, and chocolates inside the clear wrapping. Rika blinked and dropped her items and backpack.

 

She ran to Terada, who was now standing up, and thrust herself upon him. He bent down to both knees and embraced her. She held on to him for some time but finally released him. A tear welled up in her eyes and she beamed a brilliant smile.

 

“Thank you…Mr. Terada,” Rika said, using is formal name; he frowned. She giggled and said, “Yoshiyuki.”

 

She picked up her items and looked back before she left. He smiled and waved her on saying, “Happy Valentines Day, Rika.”