Valentine

"PINK!"

"What?"

Ralph came tumbling back to earth as many pink things assaulted his thoughts. He stared into the excited eyes of his friend, Mina.

"Pink, Ralph. I think you should go buy pink underwear."

Ralph sputtered and paled, "Mina! You're not getting me in pink underwear. No way in hell."

Mina rolled her eyes. "Honestly Ralph. I was joking, but it serves you right. You should pay attention sometimes. I was actually talking about the Valentine's Day Dance decorations. They should be pink."

Ralph cringed. "Mina, could they not be pink? It's a very girly colour I mean…" He trailed off.

Mina looked ever so slightly annoyed.

"But Ralph! It's Valentine's Day. It's got to be pink. It's – "

But whatever else Valentine's Day was, it had just been drowned out by the school bell, signalling for pupils to go to class. Ralph was very relieved about this and practically ran to his next lesson (which was Maths by the way). It wasn't that he found Mina irritating, it was just that she'd been going on and on and on about the Valentine's Day Dance that her and her creepy other friends on the school pupil counsel were organizing.

He sat down at his desk, pulling his books out of his bag whilst other teenagers walked through the classroom door. A certain red-haired boy caught Ralph's attention. It was Jack Merridew, a boy who Ralph knew fairly well, but for reasons he wouldn't like to go into. Jack's expression visibly brightened when he found Ralph and grinned from ear to ear as he sat down beside Ralph. Ralph instantly knew he was up to something.

"Jack, what the hell are you doing?" Ralph realised that he used a tone of voice that you shouldn't really use when 'greeting' another.

"Sitting beside you of course." Jack replied.

"Well, you can't!"

"Why? Is it so wrong for me to grace your presence once in a while?"

"What are you up to?" Ralph said suspiciously.

Jack blinked and his smile fell slightly, but then a second later it re-appeared just as cheery as before.

"Pink?" He said.

"What?" Ralph decided that if Jack was going on about the Dance (though it was very unlikely) he was going to have to hit him.

Jack laughed, "I heard you girlfriend was buying you pink underwear. Is this true?" He raised his eyebrows.

"Jack, do you think I would wear pink underwear?"

"I think you'd look good in it."

Now it was Ralph's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Well, I'm sorry to burst your bubble Jack, but I don't wear anything pink, nor do I plan on buying any."

"So what was your girlfriend – "

"She's not my girlfriend." Ralph cut in.

"… Fine. What was Mina going on about?"

"Valentine's Day Dance. She wants it to be pink." Ralph explained.

"Oh."

"Are you planning on going?"

"No."

"No. Why?"

Jack looked at Ralph seriously.

"Because I have a funny feeling the pink will clash with my hair."

Ralph smirked.

"Really?"

"Well, that and the fact that Valentine's Day is the tackiest day ever. Plus more people commit suicide on Valentine's Day than any other day of the year."

"That's… sort of depressing…"

"I know."

There was silence for a moment or two, before Jack spoke again.

"Are you going to the dance?"

"Not if I can help it."

"You mean not if your girlfriend – "

"She's not my girlfriend!"

"…Not unless Mina drags you there?" Jack finished

"Not unless she drags me." Ralph paused. "Jack, you're looking at me funny, what is it?"

"So you're still single?"

"Yeah…" Ralph frowned, looking worriedly at Jack.

Jack said nothing more, and turned away.

---

Ralph passed another of the horridly pink posters proclaiming that the Valentine's Day Dance was next Tuesday. It had been about 2 weeks since he had the conversation with Jack, and in that time Mina had managed to organise the Dance and make it as pink as possible. Mina had demanded that Ralph should go with her, but Ralph had refused. It was the end of school on Wednesday which left almost a week in which a 'miracle' could happen and Ralph would change his mind.

He headed towards his locker so he could get his art sketchbook among other things, when he noted that there was a flower poking out of a small gap in the side of the locker door. Ralph pulled it out and looked at it. It was a yellow rose. On the stem there was a piece of paper pinned to it. What was written on the piece of paper confirmed what Ralph thought.

'RALPH' It read in block capitals, so he was unable to recognise the handwriting. He had half expected it to be written on in swirling handwritings with hearts and flowers on it or the words 'To Ralph…From ?'

Ralph sighed. Clearly he wasn't going to get through Valentine's Day unnoticed. Still, the plain handwriting had made him curious. Who was the flower from?

---

Ralph thought lots about the yellow rose that had been 'given' to him. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get it out of his head. It was like one of those mystery stories you couldn't help but wonder who the culprit was. Ralph had thought about who the culprit could be in this case. It was difficult because he was very popular with the young ladies at school (though he hated to admit it), so it could have been ay one of them. However, he felt as if he was missing something important, like the final piece to the puzzle.

His first thought, of course, was that the rose had come from Mina, She was smart (if a little klutzy) and would have known to disguise her handwriting to make it less obvious. Except that it wasn't her. He hadn't asked her outright (that would have been too awkward), she had sort of found out on her own. Whoever it was who had left the rose of Wednesday, had left identical ones on Thursday and Friday. They always appeared at the end of school as he went to his locker. When he had gone on Friday, Mina had joined him, and therefore had seen the rose with the note that read 'RALPH'.

Her reaction was the shriek 'Oh My God!', then jump up and down a little, and announce the obvious by stating "Ralph You have an admirer!" and then ask if he knew who it was. Which he obviously didn't. She had been a little disheartened at this (though Ralph suspected it might have had something to do with the loss of some juicy gossip for her to tell her other friends).

Presently, Ralph sighed, giving up. Whoever it was would surely reveal themselves on Valentine's Day. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that the answer was right in front of him.

---

The weekend had passed with nothing out of the ordinary happening i.e. no roses had been delivered to the house. Monday had been okay too, if you ignore the increasing interest of Valentine's Day between the female population of the school (Ralph had been shocked to find that even some of the teachers were getting into this Valentine's Day 'spirit) and the yellow rose that Ralph once again found at his locker (and once again with no indication as to who sent it).

So Tuesday came, Valentine's Day, the 14th of February and Ralph began to wonder who his admirer would turn out to be and how she would announce herself. Would there be another rose at his locker? A letter giving him a time and place to meet? Maybe she would catch him in the corridor or before a lesson, or would she wait for him at his locker after school, smile shyly and hand him another rose (yellow, of course). Ralph tried to pay attention and see if any of the girls were acting strange (though he soon decided he would be best off if he looked for those who weren't) or those who were sneaking glances at him when they thought he wasn't looking, But by lunch there was still nothing.

"You thinking about your mysterious Valentine?" Mina asked.

"No." Ralph lied.

Mina smiled all-knowingly. "She's very good at hiding herself you know. She should get a medal."

"Very funny."

"Gosh Ralph, I hope she shows up soon so you can be put out of your misery."

Ralph glared at Mina.

"Okay, okay. Maybe she's just shy you know?" Mina pondered.

"Hm…"

"Or maybe she's really ugly with loads of spots! And all this time you've been obsessing over her!" Mina cackled evilly.

"I am not obsessing!" Ralph said angrily.

"Jeez, Ralph. Chill out. I was only joking. But still, it's rather sweet she's gone to all this trouble just to get your attention."

"I guess…"

"She must like you a lot." Mina stated simply.

"You think so?"

"Definitely."

The bell rang, putting an end to their conversation.

"Ralph, I have to stay after school for last minute Dance stuff, so call me tonight and tell me all the details!" And with that she hurried away.

The last two lesson of the day dragged by. Ralph wasn't sure whether it was just because they were boring, or because he soon to find out who his mysterious Valentine was. So when the bell rang at the end of school, he was thankful.

He walked to his locker expecting to find the familiar sight of the rose, and perhaps a girl to go with it. But there was nothing. Ralph frowned slightly, checking if there was a note or anything, but there was none. So, he grabbed his stuff and walked away.

---

He had got home to find the house empty (of other people that is). His dad was still working, but had arrived later, stayed for at most one and a half hours and then left again telling Ralph he had a date with his current girlfriend and wouldn't be back till late. And so Ralph found himself once again alone.

He was now feeling a little bit irritated, and a little angry that his Valentine had not revealed herself. He was even more angry with himself for taking it all so seriously and being led on so easily. It also occurred to him now that it could also have been a joke, a prank, and somewhere, right now, someone was laughing at Ralph for being so stupid.

So Ralph found himself flicking through the music channels, considering whether he should improve his art coursework lest his teacher murder him the next day, and altogether trying to avoid thinking of anything to do with Valentine's Day.

It wasn't working of course. His thoughts kept returning to the roses, the notes, his ever elusive Valentine and how much of a fool he had been. His face felt like it was burning, and Ralph knew that if he looked in a mirror he would find himself blushing bright red.

He considered whether he should try and phone Mina, and tell her he'd decided that he would go with her to the dance. Yes, there was enough time to do that. The dance had not started yet, in fact, there was plenty of time left until it began.

Ralph held the phone in his hand and dialled Mina's number, but as he went to press the 'Call' button, he hesitated, pressing the 'Cancel' button instead. He knew that if he called her now, he would only end up confessing how he felt about his current situation, and she would feel sorry for him, and dash round to his house to see if he was okay. No, he couldn't call her.

There seemed to be silence as he fell into thought, the sounds of the cars driving up and down the street fading away, the voice of the singer on TV becoming quieter. He stayed blankly staring at the phone for an unknown length of time, though in reality it could not have been more than a couple of minutes.

The chime of the doorbell caused him to jump and drop the phone on his foot, and cursing he grabbed the TV remote and pressed the 'Off' button. Ralph opened the door to find somebody he had not expected to see.

"Oh… Hello." Ralph said, slightly stunned.

"Hello." The other smiled and from behind their back they produced a single, yellow rose and handed it to the still shocked Ralph.

Ralph accepted the rose and stared at it, then stared back at the person stood before him. Why would they be giving Ralph a rose?

The other smiled again, shyly. And then it clicked.

This person was Ralph's Valentine.

This time Ralph smiled, and, with the rose still in his hand, he wrapped his arms around the other's waist, pulling them closer. A flicker of surprise passed through the other's eyes, but it was gone in a moment, to be replaced by a mischievous glint and they wrapped their arms around Ralph's neck. The two leaned closer and their lips pressed together in a kiss. Ralph couldn't help but smile some more and he deepened the kiss. After a moment or two he broke away, resting his head on his Valentine's shoulders.

"Honestly Jack…" he murmured.

---

Disclaimer: I don't own Lord of the Flies, or Jack or Ralph. They belong to William Golding. I only own Mina.

Okay, first things first, I have to apologise soooooo much for the lateness of this. I started writing it almost a week before Valentine's Day, but then hit a rut on the Monday and have only just finished it. Two weeks late!

This is for all the wonderful people who read and reviewed my last LotF story, and especially to jenny-gnosis, TomiSama04 and bagheera for writing such wonderful LotF fanfiction! I seriously advise you check out their stories if you haven't already done so!

The yellow rose by the way symbolises love and happiness, but not in exactly the same way as a red rose. I chose a yellow rose because I'm awkward And I'm saying that Jack and Ralph are about 16 in this. Giving them nearly four whole years to work out their differences! (and originally Mina's role was supposed to be given to Simon but I reckoned that awkward people would complain. Plus the story wouldn't flow as I wanted it to.)

As always flames, praise, and any other kind of relevant review is welcome. Oh, and this is a one-shot, so no more chapters. Hope you enjoyed it!