The Beaver's Heart

“Rose,” said Willie. “What a wonderful name. There’s no flower more romantic than the rose.”

As usual, Willie was caught up in his fantasy. Probably dreaming of a swimming pool filled with rose petals. With a tug on the arm, Maria pulled him back to reality. Jaime shifted in his chair as the Lonely Lovers Club members gathered around him.

“So tell us about this girl,” said Maria. “What's she like?”

“I don’t think this is really necessary,” said Jaime. His face was still the color of a peach. “I can handle - “

“Nonsense,” said Willie.

“Relax man,” said Ginko. “We’re the best of the best. You said her name was Rose? What’s her last name?”

“Zalatoris.”

Sandra straightened up in her chair. “I know her. She’s on the field hockey team.”

“Yeah, she is,” said Jaime, brightening up a little.

“Speaking of which,” said Sandra. “Practice starts in 20 minutes. I have to head out of here by then.”

“Same,” added Maria. “I should really get started on these books.” She gestured to her stack of textbooks.

“Geez you girls are no fun,” said Ginko. Sandra responded by sticking her tongue out.

“Don’t worry. It shouldn’t take us nearly that long to come up with the perfect love story for Jaime and Rose,” said Willie.

“Do you already have a plan?” asked Maria.

“No. We still need more information. Jaime, what do you like about Rose?”

Put on the spot once again the color came back to Jaime’s face. “I guess... she's nice?”

“I would certainly hope so,” said Willie. “What else?”

“What kinds of things does she like?” added Ginko.

Willie watched Jaime as he pondered the question. Ginko seemed to ask the better question. You can’t ask someone why they like another person. They simply do. If someone asked Willie the same question, Why do you like Maria? Willie would probably give the same answer. She’s nice. She’s pretty. She’s smart. She’s funny. But there’s a lot more to it than that.

“Beavers,” said Jaime.

“Excuse me?” asked Sandra.

“Rose likes beavers. She has these beaver pins on her backpack. I think they're from some TV show.”

“Okay,” said Ginko. “We have beavers and field hockey.”

The room grew quiet. What could they do with beavers and field hockey? The overlap between those two interests was minimal at best. And neither one really inspired romance.

“Unfortunately those things don't really give me any ideas,” said Maria.

“Nada,” said Ginko.

“I think we're going to need a little more information,” said Sandra.

“Oh you of small minds,” said Willie. Willie stood proud at the front of the classroom like a teacher about to give a lecture. “I had more faith in you. The Lonely Lovers Club should be the pinnacle of creative romantics.”

“Oh boy,” said Sandra.

“Does that mean you have an idea?” asked Ginko.

“Yes. The start of an idea anyways,” said Willie.

“An idea about beavers? This has got to be good,” said Sandra.

Willie turned towards Jaime. “What kind of music does she like?”

“Oh good,” said Maria, clapping her hands together. “Another singing proposal?”

“Those ones never work out,” said Sandra. “Not unless you can actually sing.”

“Can you sing?” Ginko asked.

“No.”

“Well then this might not work out,” said Ginko.

“Relax, comrades. I know what I’m doing,” said Willie. “ Jaime. Music?”

“Right. I guess, well I don't know. I guess she likes pop music.”

“At least that gives us a lot of options,” said Ginko.

“Don’t worry. Jaime. You have homework,” said Willie. “Find out what music she likes. Check her old social media posts. Follow her music streaming. Ask her friends. Whatever you can. Leave the rest up to us.”

Willies head was running at full steam. The idea had caught on in his head and he would not be able to let go if he tried. And finding the right song was almost busy work for Jaime. Willie kept up on the latest trends. Willie already had a playlist of the most romantic pop songs ever made. But the task was not completely useless. Music tastes still reveal a lot about a person. When trying to win someone over, every detail helps.

“Okay,” said Jaime. “I can do that.”

The boy still looked nervous. Almost like he didn’t trust whatever strange plan Willie would come up with.

“Are you sure about this, Willie?” asked Maria. “This seems like you’ve come up with an idea pretty quickly.”

“There is no time to waste when it comes to matters of love,” said Willie. “Besides. This should be obvious.”

The students looked around the room to see if someone was able to figure out Willie’s plan. After a moment of silence it was clear none of them had figured it out.

Willie sighed. “The beavers from a TV show. There are only so many TV beaver stars out there. These ones are no doubt from Pan’s Magic Forest.”

“Oh yeah,” said Jaime. “I think that’s right.”

“Exactly. And of course, Pan’s Magic Forest is filled with music and singing throughout the program. So we are simply going to combine that to create the ultimate setup.

“Are you going to make some beavers sing to her?” asked Sandra.

“Goodness no. Although I will note that down for future ideas,” said Willie. “However we will be the ones doing the singing. And we will also be the beavers.”

“Say what now?” said Ginko.

“We are going to sing Rose a song. Something romantic and heartfelt -”

“The beaver part?” interrupted Sandra.

“And we will be dressed up as beavers while we sing.”

The group was stunned.

“That’s gotta be one of your worst ideas yet,” said Sandra.

“Well we won’t be dressed up like any beavers. We will dress up as the beavers from the show. I know the party store had some costumes from Halloween last year.”

“That’s idiotic,” said Sandra.

“I guess it could work,” said Ginko.

“Seriously,” said Sandra. “You seriously think that dressing up as a bunch of beavers will make someone fall in love?”

“When you say it like that, no. But the goal is to get a date, right? It could work for that. Maybe.”

Jaime overcame his confusion to ask a simple question. “This seems a little over the top. I mean, I guess we could do something special, but -”

“No no no,” said Willie. “Where is your romantic spirit? First we must grab Rose’s attention. No simple display will suffice.”

“I think this will grab the wrong kind of attention,” said Sandra.

“Okay I get it,” said Ginko. “Nothing will grab attention more than a group of singing beavers. I like it.”

A look of discomfort settled on Jaime’s face as Willie once again got lost in his fantasy. He imagined elegant animated beavers performing like a pop group to a crowd of highschool students. Lights and lasers flashed to the beat of the music. Confetti fell through the air. The fans would scream every time the beavers performed a synchronized dance move. Then a young girl, Rose, is pulled onto the stage during a love song. And there's Jaime, ready to sweep her off her feet.

Noticing Jaime’s lack of trust in this plan, Maria stepped in. “This may seem like a crazy plan, Jaime, but Willie does have a purpose. Usually outrageous displays get the most attention. And right now that's exactly what we want.”

“We’ve done this a bunch of times,” added Ginko. “We’ve matched up a ton of people.”

“Yeah,” said Sandra. “Think about Rose. You do want to win her over.”

“You’re on board now?” asked Ginko.

“I still have my doubts about this plan, but he’s practically lovesick,” said Sandra gesturing at Jaime. “We need to get him together with Rose one way or another.”

Jaime let out a sigh that sounded more like a groan. “Okay, fine. Let’s try it.”

“Atta boy,” said Willie. “Now, leave costumes and choreography to me. You all, be ready to perform your hearts out.”