Red Petals for Valentine's

Monika looked at her club room in horror. It was if Cupid had a party and trashed the place, puking sugary, lovey-dovey vomit everywhere. "Sayori, what the hell?!"

"Ah, Monika! Aren't you excited?"

"For what, to clean this mess?" Monika moans, widening her arms to encompass the heart decorations, balloons, and pink confetti.

"What do you mean, mess? I'm preparing for Valentine's Day!" Monika's attitude does little to change the glow coming off from Sayori's smile.

"Sayori," Monika pinches her nose. "I didn't think we were doing anything special. Especially nothing like..this."

"Of course we are! It's the best holiday, after all! Well, except for Christmas. Or Halloween. Actually, I like 4th of-"

"What else-what else did you exactly have planned for tomorrow? Aside from decorating the place?"

"Oh, lots!" She attempts to pull out a piece of paper from her knapsack, as one of the doors to the room slide open.

"Woah, isn't it too early to be asking someone to prom?" Natsuki whistles as she walks into the room, followed by Yuri who, despite not being frightened by things like horror novels, sheepishly inspects her surroundings.

"I'm getting ready for the big V!"

"Huh? It's tomorrow? I didn't even realize."

"Hahahaha, you didn't even realize, good one Natsuki!" She slaps the pink haired comedian on the back making her eyebrows flare, as Sayori said, "I have so much planned - I'm going to bake cookies, read out some looove poetry, oh! And I have some old magazines with quizzes that'll help us find our perfect partner! I just thought of that, that's a great idea, isn't it?"

You could hear a pin drop, as everyone tried to avoid eye contact. "I-Isn't it?"

"How do I put this lightly-"

"We don't like Valentines. At all." Natsuki says, with her fists planted on her hips.

Sayori looks at her like she just spoke Japanese. "Why? How come?"

"It's corny, and lame, and a total waste of money, and..."

"I-I like to eat candy at Halloween more..."

"It just means a lot of work to me, Sayori - I mean I have to help out with all the activities we do at school, then my friends always make me help them with this and that..."

"I can't believe it...don't you guys care about looove?" Sayori swoons to emphasize love's power.

"I believe I can speak for all of us.." says Yuri, more quietly than usual, "when I say our lack of romantic interest in anyone diminishes our interest in this 'holiday'."

"Yeah, in fact, it makes a lot of people feel bad about not being able to celebrate it with someone special." Monika chimes in, with a finger pointing upwards into the air.

Sayori scoffs. "You don't have to have a lover to enjoy Valentines! This holiday is about love - in general! If you don't want to be sad about being single and alone, we can celebrate our family and friends!"

"Don't know with you, but I have Thanksgiving for that."

"Ohh you guys are such party poops! Fine then, I'm going to show you how great Valentines is, just you wait!" Sayori hastily stuffs her bag with her belongings and storms out the room. "You don't know all my plans!!"

"I should go apologize," Yuri begins to follow her but is stopped by a firm hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay, she'll be alright." says Monika. "Besides, whatever she has planned will make tomorrow very interesting for us, don't you think?" Monika begins to join some desks around for the other two to start the club meeting.

"If you say so..."

"Oh come now Yuri, how bad can it be?"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sayori opened the club room door on Valentine's Day and let her cheery self in, greeting the table of comrades a good afternoon before noticing their mood. "What's wrong? Didn't like the cookies I made?"

Without words, Yuri and Natsuki both lifted the roses held within each of their hands for her to see. Sayori breathes inwards excitedly. It seems this year, they have been wrapped up in the festivities of gifting loved ones a rose on Valentines. Sayori asks them who gave the roses to them, but they deftly tell her that they both got their roses from a 'secret admirer'.

"Monika, what about you, did you get a rose?"

"Well..." Her eyes bashfully drift to the corner of the room, where she's left a sizable bouquet laid atop one of the classroom desks. "I-It's mostly from the girls on the running team! We always do that, give each other roses, so we don't let anyone feel left out and feel like a lose-"

"It's quite all right Monika, you don't have to explain the rationale of a high school girl to us." says Yuri, taking a quick sip of her tea. "Lord knows it can't be done."

"Psh, no kidding. Do they care so much about looking like a guy's got the hots for them that they gotta get their friends to send them roses in secret? That important to prance around class and act big?"

"No, it's not like that at all! Just think of it like those cards you would give to the class as a kid. It's just letting everyone in on the fun - I mean, did you ever once, not get a rose on Valentine's Day?"

"Yes."
"Few times, didn't matter. Why would it?"

"Buuut!" interjects Sayori, sticking her head in the middle of the table, "you must've felt like a million bucks getting that rose today in class, huh?"

The two shift in their seats, not wanting to answer. "Aahaa! Ehehe, see? Isn't love so much fun? Come on, Natsuki," Sayori begins, elbowing her arm, "which guy do you think is into you?"

"N-No one! They smell, and I don't talk to them!" She says with a huff, and a swift turn away.

"Ohh, they're not so bad! You're just too shy to say it out loud, aren't you? Kay, just quickly say it to me~"

"...Fine." The two lean into each other, and through a pair of cupped hands, Natsuki whispers into Sayori's ears, "Your cookies use too much flour and they're overcooked."

"Rude!!" she yells back at her, causing Natsuki to flinch. "Fine, how about you, Yuri?" She looks back at the now empty chair. "Yuri?"

"She's in the closet, dear." notes Monika, without looking up from her poem writing.

"Yuriii? What are ya doin in there?" Says Sayori, knocking on the door a few times.

"N-No reason. I enjoy the compactness here at times." Her voice comes muffled through the door. "Assists with my concentration while reading."

"Well, did you wanna tell me who you thought your secret admirer was?" No response.

"I-I'd love to know Yuri..."

"..."

"Oh fine! I should've expected this! I wanted to teach you the magic of Valentine's but you just can't teach babies, can you! Well, if you wanna act like this from a single rose, fine! I'd love to see you act when your admirers give you your "real" present! Oh, look, there they come right now!"

In a flash Natsuki and Yuri both bolt out of the clubroom. In a rage that would put mothers to shame, Sayori chases after them to scold them for being so prudent and guy-shy. Monika, only able to choke out a sound in her throat, was left alone. She decided to wait until they came back.

They didn't.

If only they would keep the fun in the club room. She stands up and looks around the decorated room to follow them, and then realizes she's going to be the one to have to clean this all up. With a elongated sigh she gets up on a chair and begins whipping the confetti down from the ceiling.

"Goddamnit, Sayori." she'd mutter occasionally under her breath.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She was sick of seeing blood red. She should be sick of pink as well, but she has to still be polite to Natsuki. Not her fault, after all. Helping out with the rose giving service was an exhausting task for her, what with taking everyone's elaborate orders for a whole week, dealing with the logistics of purchasing the roses, to handling the delivery from the shop to the hands of every hopeful boy and girl in the school. Monika saw herself in the reflection of the window, finding the makeup didn't completely mask the bags in her eyes. She wanted nothing more than to go home and rest - not clean up the whims of someone who had the time to go through the trouble of setting all this up, with none of the foresight of closing it down.

She got another pang of frustration seeing that bouquet of roses off the corner of her eye as she cleaned. It was annoying to lug around to classes all day, on top of everything else. It also brought up many a conversation from other girls not dissimilar to the ones Sayori tried to bring up, but she had neither the luxury nor callous to dismiss the questions and comments like Natsuki and Yuri.

Frankly, she didn't want to say it out loud, but she felt the same way as Natsuki. Was it so important to look like you're loved that one would fake it? Wouldn't the love itself be what was cherished? And with that said, what mattered to the girl more - being able to brag or the act of affection on it's own? Monika grimaced. She wasn't in any sort of relationship but, if she was, she would never force her partner to do that kind of stuff - the stuff that would let her get more attention. Not only does she want less of it, but there are more important things. Surely. She hopes.

She takes another look at the bouquet after popping the last heart balloon. She figures there's not going to be anymore people walking around the school at this time (the sun was showing off it's final rays in the distance) and so she picks up the group of thorns and petals. She begins walking towards the garbage can, but not before bringing the flowers close to her nose and taking a deep breath. She could smell lush green fields, a massive oak and nestled under it, a picnic for two. In the straw basket held a single bottle of wine and snacks to stave their hunger before dinner. Assorted vegetables, slightly steamed, to be dipped in hummus. Her favorite. It meant the world that he knew - he?

Each rose came with a small folded card listing the sender, and whatever comment they decided to put on there. She takes out a single rose out from the pack and she tosses the rest in the trash. A card signed from her "secret admirer" hangs around one of the thorns. She looks at the comment again, and feels her heart flutter. She's so stupid, she knows better. She took everyone's money donations, she knows who send whom what. She knew all. So why was she letting herself feel this way?

The side of her lips curl into a frown. Maybe it's not about attention at all. Perhaps, like at a concert with thousands around her, a girl just wants to imagine that the singer is directing his poetic words to her, and none other. A fabricated, wistful fantasy. She smiles, and laughs to herself as she tosses the rose into the trash with the rest of them.

With a grunt she puts on her backpack and heads home. Perhaps she'll have nice dreams, of her prince charming singing about the special kind of love they share together.

One day.