Valentine's Love

Valentine’s Love


It was a cold February morning. Nothing special. Not to Anna anyhow. She knew her friends would be out on special dates with their boyfriends, but not her. She would be sitting at home, trying to forget the date, as it didn’t occur on her calendar.

The doorbell rang. This was no surprise; it was bound to be for her brother. Why was it that she had missed out on the good looks? She slouched back to her room, after eating numerous pieces of chocolate covered toast for breakfast and sank into her beanbag, turning the T.V on. Nothing was on to suit her interest. All the programmes were dedicate to perfect partners and soul mates and all the rest of that unwanted rubbish. Why was it that one simple date had turned the nation into lovebirds, cuddled up in their nests?

“Anna,” her handsome brother called up the stairs. “There’s someone at the door for you.” Anna ignored her brother’s comment, knowing that it would be some kind of practical joke. She turned her stereo up full volume and flicked through some magazines. “Goodness Anna, your friend is here to see you,” That would be right. A friend. No doubt obviously to catch a glimpse of her brother on Valentine’s Day. Pathetic.

“Send her up,” she told him, forgetting that she looked a state, and was still in her pyjamas. Her best friend Lara entered her den. “Hey!” she took one look at Anna and laughed. “Take it you’re not going out then!” Anna glanced in her mirror and turned red. “Don’t worry ‘bout it hun!” Lara went to the cupboard and picked out a denim skirt, which had flowers and sequins embroidered up one side. “Here,” she thrust it at Anna. ”How about this top?” Anna was used to Lara’s nosiness; after all, they had been best fiends forever. It didn’t matter to her; it was just how Lara was. Lara held out a cute lilac glittery butterfly t-shirt. “Yep, that’ll look great,” she answered her own question. Anna looked up at Lara with a puzzled expression. “What?” Lara was now busy going through Anna’s jewelry box. “We’re going shopping, and having a girlie day out. Me, you Fran and Lex. And after, we’re all sleeping up Lex’s house. I’ve sorted it all out with your Mum already don’t panic!” Anna was shocked. Was she really hearing this? “Now go wash your hair! We want you to look like a supermodel, before you leave the house!” Anna noticed that Lara already looked like one. She gave Lara a hug before leaving the room. She knew how much Lara had been looking forward to seeing Dale, but instead, she had gone to all this effort to cheer her up.

After about half an hour, Anna’s hair had been blow-dried, and she was ready for the next step. Lara produced a pair of the best ceramic straighteners from her beaded bag.
“Only the best for Anna!” she said before starting work on Anna’s hair. After an hour of clipping hair up, and straightening each strand, she started work on Anna’s make up.
She knew that Lara wanted to be a hair and beauty therapist when she was older, so she assumed that Lara was having as much fun as she was!

“Right, now get dressed, we’re meeting Lex and Fran in half an hour,” After a lot of messing about with lip-glosses and hair products, they were finally ready to leave the house. Anna passed a mirror on the way to the front door, and was amazed at her reflection. She really did look like a supermodel. She was actually pretty. She had transformed into some kind of beauty queen.

They were quite aware of the male attention that they were receiving, as they got off the bus at the city centre. “Thanks guys!” she exclaimed, as they met up with Fran and Lex. “You don’t know how much this means to me,” she hugged each of them in turn. “We knew you’d have felt left out, what with all us with boyfriends, and it being Valentine’s Day and everything. Then we thought Valentine’s Day isn’t just about boys, it’s about friends too. And as we all know friends win over boys every time,” Lex told her. Anna knew that all three of them were in relationships except her. “So where first?” she asked, changing the subject as she as starting to feel guilty. However, she was looking forward to her girlie day. “Want to know the plan for the day?” Lara asked them all. They all looked at her. “Well, we’re getting manicures at eleven, and then we’re booked in for makeovers at one! A proper girlie day, no boys included, and we’re gonna literally shop ‘till we drop. Yay!” This was what all of them could do with, especially Anna. At five past eleven, they were all sat at some fancy Chinese nail bar, relaxed; their hands soaking in warm water.

“Food time I think,” as they stood outside the shopping centre admiring their new nails. “For today, no crazy diets. Let’s pig out!” Fran commented as they waited in the queue for McDonalds. They were prepared for a French-fries competition!

As soon as they got their meal, there weren’t enough seats upstairs, so they sat on a bench outside, watching people pass by. Then Connor and Alex walked past. All of the girls were stunned to see that they were alone. Girlfriendless. They stopped to talk for a while. Connor was unusually quiet, but Alex was as gobby as usual. Anna was sure, that if she wanted anyone to be her childhood sweetheart, Connor would be him. He flashed her a gorgeous smile as he walked off. However much she tried not to notice, Anna’s legs had turned to jelly. Lara nudged her and whispered, “Someone’s got an admirer!” Anna blushed furiously, and looked away, trying not to catch Lara’s eye, when she said that Connor and her were just friends. Lara rolled her eyes.

By two o’clock, they were even more dolled up. In fact, they looked like they had just walked off the front cover of a celebrity magazine. Their makeovers had been a great success. “Now for some retail therapy!” Lex dragged them around all the shops. Not that they minded in the slightest. They tried millions of things on, and they posed in the mirror, and acted like the length of the changing rooms were catwalks.

Two hours and twenty bags later, they were worn out, and sitting in Starbucks, showing off what they had all just bought. Anna nearly had a whole new wardrobe, and the others had several pairs of jeans each, and lots of tops. Talk about pampered.

Back at Lex’s house, her Mum had made enough chocolate brownies, chocolate muffins, and toffee popcorn to feed an army! At seven o’clock, after trying all their clothes on again, and messing about with each other’s hair, they were ready for the Ultimate Girlie Sleepover to begin. They had a pile of Chick Flick DVDs, ready to cry their eyes out. Titanic on the top of course. They were all snuggled under a huge fleecy blanket.

An hour into the film, Anna’s mobile flashed, telling her that someone was trying to call her. “Sorry, won’t be a sec, it’s probably just Mum checking up on me!” she took her mobile into the kitchen, and looked at the display. It was Connor. “Hello?” she answered, her voice trembling nervously. “Hi,” a husky voice replied. “How are you?” he asked. What was he ringing her for? “I’m good thanks,” she answered. He knew she would have to be quick on the phone, so was eager to know what he wanted. “Listen, after seeing you today, I realized how great you are, and all these feelings just came to the surface which I had been ignoring for months, so I was wondering if you fancied coming to the cinema with me on Saturday, or whenever,” he now sounded nervous. She had to sit down. Had Connor Matthews just asked her out? “I’d love to,” she replied, almost too quickly. She was thrilled.
“OK, so I’ll text you the times and stuff,” he told her, before he hung up.

She went back in to see her friends. “Guess who’s got a date with Connor on Saturday?” They all squealed in excitement. “But just remember, girlfriends come before boyfriends?"
"OK, friends come first every time!” Anna repeated as Lara pressed play on the DVD remote, and cuddled back up under the blanket, though she couldn't wipe the smile off her face.