Chapter 30

[The following chapter contains strong language. Reader caution is advised.]

Sunday 14th February 1999

Before I get onto the story of my first Valentine’s Day with a girlfriend, I have a prologue of sorts.

Unsurprisingly, we all spent the Saturday hanging out, wandering around the local park and then gaming at Dakota’s. As the others steadily left, Kendal hung around, fiddling her fingers and looking at the floor.

“Are you planning on staying, or…?” I asked glibly; she looked up at me with wide eyes.

“Oh, no, course not, it’s just, err…”

She stretched exaggeratedly, as if to break the tension she was feeling.

“Y’know how I’m… more into girls than guys…? Like… ‘not-into-guys-at-all’ kind of ‘more-into-girls’…?”

“I mean… I don’t think you ever said you were… full lesbian…” I replied, not really sure how to discuss this. “But I know you like girls, yeah. You know I know. Why are you so nervous?”

“I’m not nervous! I’m just acting nervous! It’s a psychological trick!” she declared flippantly, before compounding her statement with “Totally!”

Hardly very convincing…

“Okay…” I said regardless, letting her carry on.

“So, not like I’m asking for your permission because that’d be weird…”

Yeah, I could tell where this was going.

“But I just wanna make sure it’s okay because I get how it might be uncomfortable for you… just that… I was thinking of asking Lucy out for Valentine’s Day and I wanted to run it by you so you at least know and then we can talk about it if there’s a problem…”

“I wish I could say this was out of the blue…” I smiled lightly. Neither Kendal nor Lucy were particularly subtle about their attraction to one another, so the idea of them dating had come to mind before. I’ll admit, it was an odd idea for one of my friends to go out with my sister, but then it wasn’t particularly comfortable having Bao in a relationship before and I’d gotten over that. Besides, at least it wasn’t a shade of envy this time…

“I don’t see why not…”

“Phew!” Kendal immediately blurted, all tension dissipating from her body. “That’s great! I knew you’d be cool!”

“You probably should’ve told me sooner, though,” I pointed out. “She might have already made plans by now…”

“Nah, I asked her last week!” she beamed back at me. “See you tomorrow then!”

She scarpered before I could respond, calling out a goodbye to Dakota before skipping out of the door.

“Was that Kendal going?” Dakota asked, seemingly out of confusion that our friend would leave so abruptly. I turned, and found her poking her head out from the kitchen curiously.

“Her or a devious mastermind who looks just like her…” I spoke in amazement.

“… what?” came the obvious response.

…

The morning of Valentine’s Day.

Operation: Do Everything Humanly Possible To Make This A Romantic Day (or, err, Operation: DEHPTMTARD for short) began in earnest as I forced myself out of bed almost as soon as I woke up. I almost distracted myself watching Dakota sleep, but my trusty stomach grumbled to remind me that I had business to attend to.

As soon as I got downstairs, I did a few star-jumps to help wake myself up. No way was I going to try and do this with my eyelids insisting on closing.

I won’t go over the whole process. After all, a magician never reveals his secrets. It’s totally not that I’m embarrassed over the complete shambles I made of half the process. No sirree.

Still wearing an apron over my nearly-naked body, I spent a good two minutes delicately carrying a loaded tray upstairs. Fortunately, Dakota was awake when I entered the master bedroom.

“I thought that’s where you’d disappeared to…” she purred, looking at me with that loving gaze.

“Nah, I was abducted by aliens. They put me in an apron exactly like yours and gave me this breakfast after probing me,” I grinned while steadily bringing the tray over to her.

“How romantic, anal probe jokes,” my girlfriend chuckled, sitting upright for me to place the tray on her lap. I took her mango juice (her favourite), putting it on the bedside table to make sure it didn’t get spilt, and then kissed her.

“You’re way too sweet,” she remarked, looking over everything I’d cooked for her.

“I was worrying I’d gone overboard… and you don’t have to eat everything…”

Removing the apron, I settled down on my side of the bed. She gave me a concerned look.

“Didn’t you cook anything for yourself?”

“… err…”

That was all I could muster, stupefied by my complete failure to think of my own stomach while cooking for Dakota.

“Daft boy,” she scolded me warmly. “I’ll cook something up for you after I’ve eaten. If I approve, of course,” she added with a twinkle before tucking in.

“Of course,” I smiled back at her like the loved-up fool I am.

… I actually wound up handing her the flowers and the box of chocolates that I’d managed to hide in one of the other bedrooms the previous day before we had any chance to worry about my stomach.

And after breakfast, I was rewarded with a Valentine’s present of my own, another Beast Wars figure. I know it’s silly, but god is it sweet that she buys me these.

…

“Squeeze in a little more… but try to look natural…”

“Bao, this couldn’t look less natural…”

Having suddenly decided to take up photography, Bao had the rest of us lined up on the bridge in town for an impromptu shoot.

“Nah, you look good!” our photographer assured us. “Just look off at the river! Maybe one of you point at something? But naturally!”

“This is gonna be fun…” Zahid grumbled again, while Harriet joyfully pointed out at nothing in particular.

“Haribo, you’re blocking Kendal’s face now…”

“Just take the photo!”

“But the composition-!”

Bao lost the composition when Zahid surged over to him, huffing and glowering.

This was already the fourth time Bao had tried to organise a photo in the span of half an hour…

The weather was fair, if cloudy; not particularly cold, and certainly not cold enough to stop Kendal and Lucy from buying ice creams. We had no particular aim or any destination, simply drifting from one place to another in an expanded group of four couples of varying flavours. An odd way to spend even part of Valentine’s Day, I suppose, but it was fun enough. Having both Lucy and Kayleigh around definitely changed things.

… also, Bao and Zahid both separately took me to one side and handed me a condom. Zahid even told me “I know fuck-all about romance but if tonight’s not the night, you’re a lost cause.”

So. Equal parts embarrassed and pressured.

We’d wound up looking through a clothes store – some of us more idly than others – when Lucy suddenly tugged on my arm.

“Need a brother-sister talk, give us a minute!” she chirped to the others, while dragging me off through the forest of jackets and coats. Rather than Narnia, we would up at a wall loaded with a variety of hats.

“I swear, if you’re about to give me a condom…” I warned, concerned that this was becoming a pattern and I’d have an entire selection by the end of the day.

“Eww, get your own protection,” she cringed back. On one hand, that was a relief, but now I’d made myself sound really weird…

“What is love?”

Without warning. Without even signalling the change in subject. That’s what she asked me.

So taken aback was I that I could barely muster a reasonable response.

“Are you asking for Haddaway…?”

“Ha! No, I mean…”

As she paused, her lips squirmed this way and that in contemplation.

“What would you say love is? How do you know you love Dakota?”

“Well…” I began, hoping to find a way to articulate something so profound.

How do I define love?

“I don’t know if it’s that simple… like, maybe love is different for each person…”

“Yeah, but for you?” Lucy insisted.

“It’s... not wanting to be away from her, I guess. Like seeing anything else, being anywhere else, doesn’t compare. Like I could drown in the sound of her laughter. And just seeing her smile at me makes me so happy.”

Yeah. That felt pretty comprehensive.

“I never knew you were so sappy…” was my sister’s denigrating response.

“Hey, you asked!” I countered in an attempt at defending myself.

“Yeah, and thanks! Guess I’m not in love with Kendal yet, then…”

With that, she began marching back and forth, taking wide strides. Almost goose-stepping, thankfully without any arm gestures.

“That’s why you were asking?” I clarified.

“Yeah! Checking your definition, seeing how it stacks up,” she nodded while taking an exaggerated turn. “Cos I dunno what love is, but Kendal does things to me…”

“You mean mentally…?”

“Mhm. Physically’s coming tonight.”

She snickered as she continued marching back and forth in front of me.

“Maybe your little sister’s gonna lose her v-card before you!”

In different lighting, that grin on her face would look insidious – no, satanic – and I felt a sting of peculiar dread.

“… you don’t know whether I’ve done it or not…” I played it cool with her.

“Your friends are giving you condoms, you’re either broke or a loser.”

“You don’t know they were giving me condoms!”

Less cool now. She was asserting, after all, even if she was spot-on…

“Anyway, you’re 15, so…!”

“Oh man, you’re right, I’m completely incapable of doing it!” she declared, throwing her arms out in mock-exasperation. And then, way too loudly: “I’m not able to have sex tonight!”

“Shh!” I hissed, feeling increasingly awkward. A few shoppers took unimpressed glances at us. “What the hell’s with you?!”

“You heard, Alex! The law says I’m too young and that’s that!”

“Okay, okay, I get it-”

“You don’t get it yet, apparently,” she giggled mischievously.

I sighed in exasperation. This was what my home life was like, folks. Can you blame me for hanging out with my friends so much?

“Just… take your time. Don’t worry about if it’s love or not. Enjoy spending time with her.”

“Yeah… I’ll do that.”

A more sincere smile was on her face now.

“And thanks. For being cool with this.”

“Of course,” I nodded back warmly.

… not long after, I took Kendal aside.

“If my sister asks to sleep with you… delay. As long as you can. I won’t let her beat me.”

“O-Okay scary blue boy…” she uttered, wide-eyed.

“Come on, you two!” Harriet called out to us. “We’re going to the arcade!”

“Huh… there’s an arcade in town…?” Kendal asked.

“… prepare to get your mind blown,” I forewarned her.

We spent the remainder of our time out at the arcade, where Bao showed off his exceptional experience with pretty much every game there. Zahid was glad to have a break from the random photo sessions… I definitely saw him pouting when Kayleigh beat him at a zombie-shooting game, though.

“You’ll have another chance to win later…” I heard her tell him sweetly, and immediately turned away at that point. Not a conversation I should be listening in on.

It was past 5pm by the time we left the arcade, with the sun just starting to make its descent towards the horizon. We parted ways with breezy cheer, and Dakota and I headed home hand-in-hand.

…

I’d insisted on cooking dinner, but Dakota was adamant that she should help me, so we spent a while in the kitchen preparing ourselves some food. Soon enough, we had ourselves romantic steak dinners which we settled down with in the dining room. I realised too late that candles would’ve set a nice atmosphere, with none in the house that I could use save for a scented one in one of those rounded containers.

Of course, our image of adult sophistication completely broke down once we moved to the sofa with tubs of ice cream for dessert.

(I promise we didn’t eat the whole lot. Maybe more than we should’ve, though…)

After that, we wound up digging out some old romantic film from amongst the videos… I’d be hard-pressed to name it, but after we ruled out Titanic on the grounds that it would leave Dakota in floods of tears, we didn’t have a huge number of options left. Love something, or something Love…

“Eh, that was kinda bad…” Dakota concluded once the credits began.

“It was alright…” I reasoned. “The main actors were good, at least…”

“I suppose. We’d be much better.”

She poked my cheek playfully.

“Imagine a film about us.”

“Painted Love,” I suggested before nipping at her poking finger.

“Funny,” she smirked slightly, apparently trying to act like she wasn’t amused even though she was.

“I try! Hey, uhm…”

I stood up from the sofa, stretching a little as I did.

“I’ll be back in a moment, I’ve got something else for you.”

“Better not be something you only bought today!” she called out after me teasingly as I dashed out of the room.

Quickly, upstairs, to the bag I brought my belongings in each weekend, and the inner pocket which I’d stashed the surprise in.

I raced back downstairs to find the TV off and Dakota looking particularly alluring. I’m not sure what she thought I’d gone to retrieve…

“I was waiting for the perfect opportunity but… well, I don’t know if there is one, really, so I guess now’s the time…” I explained uneasily, before handing her an envelope addressed to me, already opened.

She gave me a confused if curious glance, before pulling out the contents.

Her jaw dropped. Literally hung open.

“Oh… my… god…”

There, in her hands, were two tickets to The Corrs’ ongoing Talk on Corners tour.

“I know it’s short notice since it’s only six days from now… I could write a novel on what it took me to get them…”

And it’s not like I’d only just purchased them. I was looking pretty much since Boxing Day. What a saga…

Even in battle, I’d never seen Dakota move so quickly.

Within a second, she’d lunged for me and grabbed me into a giddy, bouncing hug.

“Oh my god oh my god you’re the best I can’t believe this you’re the absolute best!” she squealed joyously, and then peppered my face with kisses for good measure.

“You’re welcome! I promise I’ll get you something not Corrs-related for your birthday,” I smiled, but she shook her head.

“Shower me with it, I don’t care! I’ll buy you every Beast Wars figure you ever want! I love you so much!”

That ecstatic smile. I could’ve died a happy man in its presence.

“Can I ask a weird question?”

“You could ask me to do anything right now and I’d do it I’m still on a gigantic rush!”

I waited while she took a couple of deep breaths to calm herself.

“Go for it!”

“When did you fall in love with me?” I asked softly.

“I started falling the day we met,” she told me instantly, so assuredly. “But I only really realised the night of Melody’s party. Like it suddenly hit me. ‘I’m in love.’”

“Huh, snap,” I told her.

“Well, look at us!” she beamed. “A perfect match!”

“I know the exact moment I realised,” I continued, fondly, as the memory sprung to the forefront of my mind. “It was when you danced for me. That first performance… you were so beautiful.”

For a moment, she seemed surprised. Then, she bit her lip. Tilted her head forwards a little, while keeping her eyes locked to mine.

“Dance with me.”

“What, like this? Because I haven’t got my suit-”

“Dance… with… me…” she repeated herself, amorously.

I caught exactly what she meant. Second time lucky.

“I happen to have the suit for that…” I sung gently.

We kissed, slowly, tenderly.

“I know you do,” Dakota replied once our lips found their way apart. “Bao-”

“Of course…” I groaned. “I get he’s trying to be a friend, but-”

My girlfriend took my hand.

“- he… should…”

And she led me upstairs.