031 Flowers

    “This is for you and you,” said Chris as she handed a small box to each of the Go brothers. They were gathered on the wooden floor of the Gos’ house, chilling on a Saturday afternoon. Zach’s four AP classes’ worth of homework could wait until later. Only junior year. And A.J. was merely a freshman. No big deal.

    “What’s this?” asked Seth.

    “Chocolate. For Valentine’s Day.” Some of their classmates had given out Valentine’s Day cards to everyone, but Chris had always thought of that as some childish exercise they were required to do in second or third grade. She remembered there being some sort of project involving pink, red, and white construction paper crafted into a giant heart pouch so that everyone had a holiday-appropriate container in which to receive their Valentine’s Day cards. Each person had to give a Valentine to everyone else in the class; otherwise, it wouldn’t be fair.

    There were no such rules like this now that they were in middle school, so Chris opted to only give chocolate to a few select friends. Watching anime had its influences.

    “How come I don’t get one?” asked A.J. “I want to eat chocolate.”

    “We’re related. That would be awkward,” Chris deadpanned.

    “Then how come Zach gets one? He’s five years older than you,” pouted her brother. He apparently wasn’t taking this lack of chocolate very well.

    “I didn’t want him to feel left out if I gave one to Seth. Besides, that would be awkward if I gave one to only Seth. Right, Seth?”

    “Umm, yah, for sure. I suppose so..” Seth agreed, not knowing what the correct answer was.

    “Anyways, thanks for the chocolate, Chris. I really appreciate it.” Zach broke off a piece of his chocolate and gave it to the pouting basketball player. “Here you go, buddy. You can have some of mine.”

    “I’m not a dog,” A.J. frowned, “but thanks, dude.” He nibbled on the chocolate, savoring it as slowly as he could without having it melt in his hands.

    “Hold up. Are you ready for your date, Zach?”

    ~ ~ ~

    March rolled around, and Zach had been thinking of returning the favor from Valentine's Day to Chris.

    “What kind of chocolate does she like, Seth?”

    Zach had picked his baby brother up from his Chess Club tournament and dragged him over to a pastry shop before going home. Now he was scrutinizing the selection of sweets on display behind the glass.  

    “Who? Kate? I thought she didn’t like chocolate.” Seth tilted his head to the side, confused.

    “Not Kate. Chris,” Zach muttered, attention still on the numerous delicacies. “What kind of chocolate does Chris like?”

    “Oh.” Of course Zach wouldn’t be asking Seth about his own girlfriend’s food preferences.

    “How about mint?” the older boy inquired. Mint was also off-limits for Kate. Zach understood that just as little as he understood her dislike of chocolate. How could there be such a thing?!

    “Mint is good... Not sure about other flavors. Preferably something that doesn’t have stuff on the inside, I think.” Seth pondered the question some more. “Definitely avoid any fruit filling or even caramel since that’d be too sweet. I think just plain chocolate is fine. Or something with nuts. Yes, she likes nuts.”

    “Good to know.”

    Zach peered at the cases a little bit more and then located some suitable-looking sweets. He caught the attention of the shopkeeper and pointed at what seemed to be the chocolate-covered almonds blobs and the chocolate-covered chocolate marshmallow stuff.

    “I’ll take two of each of these.” The high schooler asked for the chocolate to be gift-wrapped in white and silver and dug his wallet out to pay for the treats.

    A few minutes later, Zach was on his way to the florist’s a few shops away with Seth trailing behind him. Flowers were unnecessary, but Zach supposed that the expense was worth it. Kate had liked them well enough when he had purchased some for her last month.

    Seth's face was even more puzzled when the older boy walked back out of the store with a small bouquet of roses.

    “You want one?” Zach smirked at his little brother.

    “No.. why would I want a rose?” Seth stared at him. Something was certainly wrong with his brother today. During math at school yesterday, the class had discussed how March 14th was Pi Day, but these particular items Zach had obtained didn’t seem to have anything to do with the transcendental number (or even pie for that matter)...

    “If you say so,” shrugged Zach. “Come on, get back in the car. We’re not done just yet.”

    Zach playfully pushed the sixth grader towards his somewhat old, black Toyota Camry, trying to force him into the shotgun seat. Seth shrugged his brother off and clambered into the right back seat. It was dangerous enough letting Zach drive him around without any adult supervision, legal as it was since Zach had recently turned seventeen and had had his driver’s license for over a year. However, Seth wasn’t about to sit in the front seat before he hit thirteen.

    Unsurprisingly, he was still delegated to holding the flowers and the white box of chocolate.

    They drove back into familiar territory fairly quickly; soon, Seth realized that they were headed towards Chris Sun’s house.

    “Why are we coming over here?” Seth asked.

    It wasn’t that he didn’t want to visit, but he didn’t see a need to come over to the Suns. They saw each other practically every day. Heck, Seth had just seen Chris this morning when she dropped by to cheer him on for his chess match before promptly growing bored at the deafeningly silent atmosphere and ditching him to go practice tennis.

    “I’m just returning the favor,” smirked Zach. Seth narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips. Clearly, his brother was up to something.

    They arrived at the Sun’s house. Upon exiting the car and locking it, Zach reclaimed his two items from Seth, approached the door, and rang the doorbell once. A few short moments passed before the Gos heard the sound of feet shuffling toward the entrance. Conveniently, it was Chris who answered.

    “Hey guys, what’s up?” She glanced curiously at the roses in Zach’s hand and then back up at the boys. “What's with the flowers?”

    “These are for you,” Zach told her with a wide smile as he held the bouquet of red flowers out to the girl. “Happy White Day.”

    While Chris’s brain was trying to process the odd gift, Zach also offered her the rectangular box. “And of course, I also have chocolate for you.”

    Ah, yes. Flowers. White Day. Chocolate. White Day. Zach was paying her back for the chocolate that she had given him on Valentine’s Day.

    Seth owes me too then. The girl had determined that her next line would be along the lines of, “And what about you, Seth? Don’t you like me?” but somehow it came out as—

    “Why did you get me so many flowers? They’re so useless. They’re expensive, and then they die within a few days. They don’t even smell that good.”

    Chris gave Zach a flat stare, causing his smile to falter. The chocolate should have countered any less-than-ideal reactions, he thought, but apparently she had forgotten about the second gift for the moment.

    “So... did you want the roses?” Zach was still standing there holding the flowers and the chocolate, his pose now somewhat more awkward, or so Seth thought.

    Chris hesitated a bit before answering. “I guess I’ll take them,” she sighed. “Thanks for the chocolate though.” Now she was smiling. So the chocolate did work. Maybe he should have ordered mint chocolate as backup...

    “Welp, happy White Day,” Zach shrugged. “Enjoy the chocolate.”

    The Go brothers waved goodbye to Chris and headed out. Zach stuck both his hands in his pockets and glanced back a couple times to check if Chris had gone inside. When he was certain she couldn’t see them anymore, he leaned over Seth and pinned him with a harsh stage whisper.