[for Beat]
It was the different part that Serena kept getting caught on. She'd done a lot and seen a lot, wasn't convinced she had many firsts left to her name, but for all the men she'd been with, she'd never actually celebrated Valentine's before. In school, it had been a steady stream of ornate cards, overblown bouquets of hothouse orchids, jewelry that, despite the price tag, had been pretty cheap if the thought was all that counted. There'd never been a boyfriend. There'd never been a boy who loved her. There'd never been reason to bother to care.
She'd drifted her way through Italian that morning and spent Sociology thinking about what to wear and do - old habits and bad ones, but she couldn't seem to shake them today. Focus and discipline had never been among her better traits. Still, by afternoon, she managed to distract herself, making cards for her friends, pleased when she dropped them off in their mailboxes, swiping a handful of candy hearts on her way out of the Compound as the evening fell. If she'd felt a little strange about the whole thing at the start of the day, she'd forgotten to by the time she set on her way to meet Beat, cheerful as ever as she set out.
She'd drifted her way through Italian that morning and spent Sociology thinking about what to wear and do - old habits and bad ones, but she couldn't seem to shake them today. Focus and discipline had never been among her better traits. Still, by afternoon, she managed to distract herself, making cards for her friends, pleased when she dropped them off in their mailboxes, swiping a handful of candy hearts on her way out of the Compound as the evening fell. If she'd felt a little strange about the whole thing at the start of the day, she'd forgotten to by the time she set on her way to meet Beat, cheerful as ever as she set out.