I Fell in Love, in Love With You Suddenly

Being five, Jack never really understood the actual meaning of Valentine's Day. Sure, he knew that his class would always throw a small party, create cute little, pink and white hearts and chains out of paper, and passed out candy and cards to everyone, but he didn't really understand what it truly meant to have someone as a "Valentine". That is, until he met Alex Gaskarth.

Now, Alex Gaskarth was probably the loudest kid Jack had ever met. He screamed a lot, usually as loud as he could while pretending to play a guitar which just sounded like a lot of screeching than actual guitar notes, and always barked at people like a dog. To everyone else in the class he was the biggest nuisance in the world, even some of the teachers got annoyed by him, but to Jack he was, and always will be, his Valentine.

Which is exactly why for nearly three months, Jack has been waiting for Valentine's Day to finally arrive. Alex, of course, was not in his class which was the only thing that bothered Jack. Last year, when the boy had first moved to Baltimore in kindergarten they had been sat together and became friends pretty quickly. Whenever Alex wanted to color over all of Jack's papers to get him in trouble with the teacher, Jack let him with a smile on his face. Jack really liked Alex. He was sure he was his only Valentine he'd ever have, and that's exactly why, now being six and in the first grade, Jack was determined to give Alex a card for the special day to show his admiration for the first grader.

It was just that Alex was in another class, and being in another class meant he'd have to ask to leave so he could give Alex the card. He had made it all by himself specifically for the boy. None of that crappy, five dollar cards you buy at the store! Jack put a lot of work into it! He had to give it to Alex! He had even glued a picture of his dog onto the front! The only picture he had of him! Just for Alex!! Jack had even told his own mother about the want to give the card to Alex which had the woman cooing over every little thing and making Jack wear the most ridiculous shirt that was white with a big pink heart on it that said "Be Mine!" On it. Jack had really, really hated it, but she had said that it was magical and if he wore it it'd make any boy he ever wanted his Valentine. Really, Joyce just wanted to take a ton of pictures of him in the long sleeved shirt and show every single one of her friends how sweet her son was.

That's not really why the card was so important, though. The reason it was important is because inside Jack had asked Alex to be his Valentine. This was the day when Alex would finally know that Jack really liked him, and Alex would have to tell him he liked him back. Jack assumed that's how it worked, right? Valentine's Day was the day where you asked the person you liked to like you back and they had to like you because it was Valentine's day and not doing just that was against the law, right? That's why Jack was so confident with his heart-shaped card made just for the boy he really liked. He really, really liked him.

So, as soon as the party started and Jack was sure the other class's party had started as well, he gathered all his courage and shyly walked to the teacher to ask for permission to go to the other class and give his card to Alex. The teacher, finding it out right adorable how the young boy was so determined, yet still so nervous with how his little hands shook as he gripped the card tightly in them, allowed her small student to leave as long as he was back before the party ended in about fifteen minutes.

Jack, after taking a very deep breath to rebuild his confidence, exited the room to hurry his way to Alex's classroom. He could feel his nerves building to incredible heights. Despite knowing he wasn't going to be rejected because if he did Alex was surely going to kid prison which Jack assumed was something similar to school but having to wear those ugly striped costumes with shackles and chains and never being able to go home Jack was still worried that something could go wrong. Like what if Alex didn't accept his card therefor never reading the inside and never giving him an answer? What if Alex thought he was weird or gross?

As Jack thought back he did notice a lot of girls making faces at the boys when they tried to give them cards. Disgusting faces where they scrunched up their noses and turned away. But then again, Alex wasn't a girl. Surely he'd rather have another boy Valentine than a girl one. The two boys were honestly perfect for each other. Or so Jack believed anyways.

They both liked the color green. They liked Pokemon. Sometimes they yelled a lot. They were both boys. They were totally meant to be Valentines, right? Right. Nothing could ever go wrong, in Jack's eyes. They just had too many good qualities together. Surely Alex would see this as well.

As Jack walked down the hall, folded heart card in hand, he stared down at his little sneakers that carried him and huffed. Something about the situation worried Jack. He wasn't sure what it was, but it made him really anxious. Every step was one closer to his Valentine who could or could not take everything horribly. Was it even normal for boys to ask people to be there Valentines? Was it a girl thing? Was Jack turning into a girl somehow?! Maybe his sister really did have cooties all along!!

Suddenly, Jack's breath got caught in his throat. He felt his body go rigid and freeze in his place in the hall. He didn't even notice Alex's classroom door open. Suddenly, he was second guessing himself. Maybe there was some weird counter-law that said Alex actually could reject Jack because he had cooties! Maybe all of this worrying and getting glue stuck on his fingers was all for nothing! Jack's wide eyes stared down at the heart-shaped card. He could see the red glitter shimmering as he ran his thumb over the white lace he had spent absolutely forever cutting and gluing on the construction paper and suddenly wondered if Alex would even like the glitter. Maybe he was allergic to glitter. Or maybe he was allergic to paper! Maybe Alex didn't even like dogs anymore.

In Jack's little frozen, panicked state a sudden poke to his shoulder was all it took to bring him out of it. He looked up, his brown eyes wide with fear, and was met with a familiar smiling face. Before Jack could say anything to his caramel-haired friend, Alex snatched his card from him and examined it. Jack looked down to see a card, equally as elaborately worked on, being held out for him to take as well.

Jack took the card but before he even looked at his own he watched Alex open his with a blush. Alex was grinning bigger than Jack's ever honestly seen him smile as he read the sloppy hand writing on the page. He admired every inch of the card. When Jack was sure Alex wasn't going to say anything he looked down at his own card and opened it to read the words inside.

Will you be my Valentine?