About a year ago, if you asked me, I would’ve rolled my eyes and said Valentine’s Day was commercialism at its finest. But now? I’d pictured it: those goofy flowers the Key Club was offering for purchase? I was all over that. Didn’t matter that the actual day was more than a month away; I’d already gotten the form and written out my message to him.

D—I love you, you amazing, wonderful, gorgeous but also completely insane person, you.—H

Maybe I’d buy Declan an enormous chocolate heart too—if I had the time and funds.

I also thought I could put together a book of our selfies. He had taken a thousand of them of us together, always texting the best ones to me, and now that I had a new camera, I knew there’d be more. I’d have to go to the craft store to get a nice scrapbook, but he’d appreciate it. Declan was sentimental that way, which was why he kept mementos of our life together—movie tickets, napkins from restaurants we visited, things like that.

I was visibly cheerier than everyone else in our group. The ones who showed up to school all went around like zombies, still getting over their New Year’s hangovers. But Kane, Declan, and Luisa all had a stomach flu that kept each of them out for much of the week. And our pre-first-period meetings had stopped including all six of us. So I decided to rally the troops. We should all do something over the weekend.

I set up a group message: Movies. This weekend. YOU MUST BE IN.

Kane responded first: K.

He was notoriously terse when it came to texting.

Then Nina, who had to know everything: What are we going to see?

Javier responded with: You get to spend 2 hours in the dark with me

Declan was last: What time?

Luisa never responded, but I heard from Kane that she was up for it. We arranged to meet at eight at the Grand, which is this old-style one-screen movie house on Main Street. Since I arranged it, I told the boys I’d drive them and we’d pick up Luisa on the way, but Kane bailed on me and told me Luisa would pick him up, so it was only me and Declan.

When Declan showed up at my door, I waved the paper for my Key Club carnation in front of his face. “Guess what this is?”

His eyes followed it. “Paper?”

“Funny. No, it’s my secret message for you. But you won’t find out what it says until Valentine’s Day.” I folded it and wiggled my eyebrows cryptically. “Intrigued?”

“Very.” He nodded slowly. “Actually, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”