14 DAYS OF VALENTINE

There are many things in life I love.

The one that tops it all has always been chocolate. Give it to me in any form, and I’ll worship it with my tongue. That explains the masterpiece I was staring at. A towering work of art made by these blessed hands of mine. I had poured my heart into it. The whisking, the folding, and the decorating. Baking has always been my thing, something I inherited from my father, who was the best cook in the family.

I could feel my taste buds watering just at the sight and could not wait to have a taste of its heavenly taste. I picked up a fork and stretched my hand towards it. The anticipation was killing me to the point where my hands were shaking. My heart thumped in excitement as the aroma filled my senses at the slice, and when I brought the piece to my mouth, I started to imagine the taste of it.

One bite. All I needed was one bit, and I would be transported straight to he-

Boom!

A loud echo thundered around, and just like that, I watched as everything started to explode in the kitchen. The horror marred my face, especially when my cake, my masterpiece, my life, burst into tiny pieces and then disappeared as a whole. What followed was a pitch blackness that caused me to close my eyes momentarily, and when I finally blinked, I was aware of the soft fabric covering me.

Oh, hell no!

I cried internally, as I recognized the bed I was on and the blanket covering me as a whole.

“Please don’t let it be a dream,” I cried, wishing that me being on the bed was the dream and not my perfect chocolate cake. As if to ground me in reality, another boom sounded through the room, this time followed by a very annoying and annoyed female voice.

“Open the door, you lazy punk!” She called out, and I groaned, burying my face deep in my blanket.

“Stop, please…” I groaned as the knocking continued restlessly. Silence followed, and I sighed in relief at that, but only for my door to be kicked wide open by the lady who decided to ruin my morning. Sometimes I wondered if Carrie was some secret ninja, given how she literally kicked my door.

“Can’t a girl just sleep in peace on a weekend?” I grumbled, never lifting my head from where I had it buried. Many things in life irritated me, and still do, and on the top is being woken up before I was ready.

“Are you kidding me? Have you checked the time?” She huffed from above me. “It’s already noon for goodness’ sake, and you are calling this sleeping?”

I didn’t need to look to know how she had her arms crossed, foot tapping on the floor, reminding me of Mom.

“In case you don’t know, today is my day off, Carrie.” I grumbled, starting to get a headache. “Off from school, from work, and especially, from you!”

Sleeping in was like a sacred ritual for me. I loved disconnecting from the world until necessary. I cherished sleeping as much as I loved my cupcakes. Why was she ruining everything I liked?

“You do know that oversleeping invites demons into your life, right?” she lectured, and I snorted at that. That was just a myth designed to wake kids up early.

A long-suffering sigh followed when I remained still inside my blanket.

“Can you at least get rid of the cover? It’s summer for heaven’s sake! How you even manage to sleep this long beats me, and don’t even let me start on your friend Lizzy,” she paused and then sighed louder. “Lizzy has been binge-watching since yesterday. Does that girl ever sleep?”

I bit my inner cheek to keep from laughing at how accurate her statement was. When Carrie was a morning person—always cheery, bright-eyed, and full of energy—I was the opposite of that. I loved sleeping in and keeping to myself, whereas Lizzy…well, she had the dedication of a cinephile. That girl could watch and never blink.

Anyway, our personalities matched our majors. We were all students from the same university, after all. Carrie was in fashion, I was in TV production, and Lizzy was in theater.

Another resigned sigh from Carrie yanked me back to the present.

“Can you please wake up? I’ve got news, and it’s been killing me to keep it inside.” She almost whined as she tugged on my covers.

That was enough to snag my attention. Not the whiny part but rather the news and the keeping it in part. To think that she made it home without calling us to spill the tea was a surprise, given that she was incapable of holding in any juicy gossip.

Carefully as I could, I made a hole in my blanket and peeked, my eyes landing on my gorgeous best friend. Standing in all her might, even a simple worn-out pair of blue jeans and a gray floral crop top looked effortlessly luxurious. My best friend was living proof that black is beautiful in her deep complexion that carried a rich, smooth, soft, and luminous ebony.

What made her even more beautiful was the natural confidence she carried like a second skin. This usually made people want to be around her.

“4 1 1?” Just then, an excited voice filtered into the room, and Lizzy made an entrance. True to Carrie’s words, Lizzy was still in her pink pajamas but still managed to look like a Barbie.

“For a moment, I thought we didn’t exist,” Carrie scoffed, sarcastically. “What happened to your show?” she continued. Lizzy sighed dramatically and then dropped on my bed, or better yet, on top of me.

“Niklaus, that traitor just murdered Elijah’s girlfriend, stabbed him in the chest, and teamed up with the evil aunt. Too much heartbreak to handle.”

I used my leg to push her off me; she almost fell off the bed but managed to save herself.

“Rude…” she mumbled, then turned to Carrie. “Okay, spill, or you might turn blue from holding it in,” she taunted Carrie, a smirk on her face. Carrie rolled her eyes, and then just like that, they shimmered.

Oh, it was going to be juicy.

“Oh, you won’t believe what’s happening at school!” she squealed, then turned to Lizzy. “Remember the hush-hush rumor we had about the Valentine thingy?” She asked, and Lizzy took a second before nodding frantically.

I did not hear any rumors and hoped whatever she was about to tell us was not associated with that word.

“Well, they are not just rumors anymore. It’s Valentine’s season, baby!” I watched as she and Lizzy got excited, squealing, while I felt mine dwindling and confused at the same time.

“Wait, first, isn’t it too early to start obsessing about this crap? And second, what is so important about it? It is just a one-day thing, and we still have to go to school, and people have to work without being paid overtime. Unless…” I drawled, my annoyance halting. “It’s getting cancelled?” I perked up, hope flaring in my chest.

Now that’s what would be juicy.

“Aah, aha,” Carrie tutted. “Even better!” I quirked an eyebrow as she continued. “Instead of only celebrating Valentine as a single day, the university will be having a fourteen-day celebration.” My eyes widened in horror as my stomach dropped to my knees.

My friends, however, were having the time of their lives. How could they not? They loved everything, while I hated most of everything. Especially Valentine! I often tolerate and barely make it past one day of it without puking, and now they were talking about fourteen days.

Did they lose their damn minds?

“What do you mean?” Carrie came down from her high, and that was when I realized that I might have spoken out loud.

“Ah, ignore her, the anti-Valentine friend. Tell me more.” Lizzy waved me over and scooted towards Carrie.

“So, there are going to be different activities and themes each and every day. The most fun is that everyone is recording everything new in this amazingly designed diary…” She trailed, reaching out for her handbag.

“Lucky for your sleepyheads, I got you one!”

I made an exaggerated gagging noise that earned me a swat from Lizzy and a glare from Carrie. Shaking her head, she pulled out three journals and handed Lizzy a pink glittery one, a blue one for me, and a silver one for herself. “14 Days of Valentine’s” was scrawled across them in obnoxiously large letters.

“You are welcome, of course.” She batted her eyelashes.

As much as I hated the entire ordeal, my curiosity led my hand and took the diary. To be fair, the diary was…pretty and cute, and it had tiny hearts with intricate swirls.

“This is crazy,” I muttered, inspecting the journal.

“Yeah, like crazy awesome!” Lizzy exclaimed, flipping through hers. Her journal screamed romantic swoon, and Lizzy was the definition of a hopeless romantic.

“No, I mean, this entire thing is crazy, like cuckoo. Who even came up with this idea! We don’t get this on Labor Day, but suddenly for Valentine’s?” The entire thing was utterly ridiculous!

“Oh, stop being such a buzzkill,” Carrie perched on my couch. “Take this as an opportunity to get out a lot and indulge yourself with practical romance. You’ve been too single.”

“Not the point, but I’m not the only one single here. You dumped your boyfriend a week ago because he couldn’t buy you an expensive bag.” I pointed out.

“It wasn’t that expensive,” she scoffed, flipping her hair to the side.

“Don’t let Chanel hear you.” Lizzy commented, raising an eyebrow knowingly. We all knew that the bag wasn’t the real reason. Poor guy.

“Can’t blame a girl for having standards. He was such a promising guy but only had promises. If you can’t keep up with this-” she gestured at herself, “then what’s the point of them in my life?” Carrie shrugged while Lizzy chuckled.

“And let me guess. You’ve moved on already, no?” I asked.

She offered me a sly smile and crossed her legs elegantly. “Let’s just say, I’ve got my eyes on a certain ‘predator.,”

“Huh?” I wondered aloud. “You mean prey?”

“Duh,” she replied obviously. “But we can’t let him know that now.” She leaned forward. “He has to believe that he is the one chasing; he has to see a sheep in me when I’m the wolf.”

Lizzy let out an impressed whistle and a laugh, then turned to me. “Well, honey, that leaves you the only single one standing. You cannot celebrate this festive on your own.” I stiffened, hating the look she was giving me.

“And please, would you unwrap yourself from the blanket?” She reached out, trying to pull it off, but I just rolled in it more.

“I’m not. I do not want to participate, and I will not!” I would be damned to engage in such a circus of insanity.

“Oh, sweetheart…” Carrie gave me a sickeningly sweet smile. “You have to participate. It is a must, and the school has passed on it.”

I paused and narrowed my eyes.

“And who will make me?” I challenged.

“The dean,” she answered, not missing a beat.

“Well, I am the queen of this nation, and I refuse.” I scoffed. As if I would believe a word she said. Carrie said nothing but reached for her tablet, scrolled a second, and held it up for me and Lizzy to read.

It was the university official mail.

IN THE SPIRIT OF ‘CHOICE PARTNERSHIP,’ THE GREAT UNIVERSITY OF KENYA ENCOURAGES ALL SCHOLARS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE FOURTEEN DAYS OF VALENTINE, TAKING PLACE ACROSS CAMPUS. WE URGE STUDENTS TO EMBRACE THIS OPPORTUNITY AS IT OFFERS CHANCES FOR SCHOLARSHIPS AND BONUS POINTS TOWARD FINAL EXAMS. FOR MORE DETAILS, REFER TO THE ATTACHED FLYER.

I reread the text again and again, thinking that maybe it was a trick on the eyes, but it was real.

“What the hell!” I cursed, this time with outrage and not just annoyance. I hated to be forced into things I did not like; more so, I hated being cornered. I could’ve just feigned sickness till it was over, but I needed those bonus points.

Sitting up fully, I flung off the blanket, my bird’s nest braids tumbling on my shoulder.

“This is ridiculous! Just who on earth is he to force us into this bullshit?” I stood up from the bed and battled with the blanket that was refusing to fold neatly. As if to add to my anger, a lawnmower rumbled to life somewhere outside.

“Why are you overreacting? It’s not that serious, plus I thought you said that you do not have a problem with—”

“Don’t,” I cut Lizzy short with a glare. “It becomes a problem and serious when it’s being shoved downmy throat and when the dean decided to tie our grades to it.”

Lizzy rolled her eyes, looking away.

“Well, people at school are inflamed by the news,” Carrie pointed out, with a shrug. They knew what Valentine was to me. They knew how I hated it and would rather they write it off the calendar despite telling them I had no issue with it existing.

Was this their way of testing me?

“Well, I do not care!” I huffed, giving up on the blanket, snatched the overly cute blue diary, and then stormed out of my bedroom.

“Come on, Madison. Don’t be a bore and live a little.” Lizzy, always the careless one with words, called after me. “It’s bad already that you only flirt with guys and not even date them…that is stupid.”

I rolled my eyes at her. It wasn’t that I was against dating; it’s just that I had sworn off dating till my graduation. I needed no distraction or complication and was certainly not about to change my mind now for fourteen days of haze.

“You want to know what’s actually stupid?” I asked, turning to face her. “This stupid fourteen-game—” I flung the diary onto the couch and watched it bounce before turning to a window, my annoyance intensifying at the noise.

We had a law in the neighborhood that there was to be no mowing on weekends when residents are at home, so what on earth was Toby doing?

With the anger simmering in my veins, I marched towards the window, yanked it open, and was ready to unleash verbal destruction upon him.

“-and all this stupid noise can go straight to he—” My words wobbled, halting as my eyes landed on the scene outside. One word barely came out of my lips, like a whisper.

Heaven.

“Huh?” Somewhere in my clouded haze, I had Lizzy’s voice, obviously confused by the turn of words, until they too saw what I was seeing.

“Wu lala,” Lizzy drawled, standing next to me.

“Well, hello baby,” Carrie joined in.