Words cannot describe the relief that Seb felt when he closed his bedroom door behind him that night. The supper that the boarders had just endured should have been good, but in Seb’s mouth it was just chewy and tasteless. Erica and Adriel were the only people that managed to say more than a request to leave, which everyone voiced as quickly as they could.

He slowly gazed around at the peace of his messy room, avoiding the dent in the wall. Realising that he’d been standing pointlessly for almost a minute, he moved over to his desk. Damn, that was what he’d been doing. Incomplete Valentine’s cards lay scattered over the usual mess.

Seb wasn’t usually the type to send Valentine’s gifts to people. To him, it always seemed too much effort; you could tell someone that you loved them in hundreds of better ways. He’d never received one either- none of his previous girlfriends were into that kind of thing.

There were six cards in front of him, all with different volumes of colour and glitter. Last week, he had planned to make only Alissa one when she started giving him ‘subtle hints’. But then Shina would probably complain, and he couldn’t leave Freya out- the pair was practically joined at the hip. Of course he would make Erica a card. And he could hardly leave Ava and Tori to be the only girls without a decorated piece of paper. He’d drawn the line at giving Ash one; the boy might get the wrong idea. Thinking back, it would probably have been a better plan to actually buy the cards, but then again the chocolate had been enough to deprive him of the small allowance that his grandparents sent him.

Seb ran his hands over the card at the top of the pile, brushing off excess glitter. It was Shina’s; the type that made you feel sick- all pink sparkles and hearts. He moved it aside, wondering how he could have made that kind of thing with his own hands. Alissa’s was similar. Freya, Tori and Ava’s were alike, in that they all contained as few Valentine’s symbols as possible, and ‘friends only’ written in huge capitals inside. Erica’s was the last in the pile; this had probably been the hardest card to make. Erica would laugh at a sickening gift, not that Seb was prepared to give one to her. He didn’t really want to give her a ‘friend’s only’ card, either.

Now, what would have been a good gift was some lingerie he saw in a shop window recently. He could just picture Erica in it, but sadly, unless he wanted a punch in the face as a return gift, underwear was out of the question. It was such a pity that she was a plain T-shirt and jeans kind of girl.

He wasn’t sure that he wanted to give Erica anything now, though, after playing that messed up game. Had everyone else done it before? He was sure that no one looked as scared as he was; he was the only one to break the rules and quit. Maybe he was just overreacting, then. When he had returned downstairs, Erica leading the way, everyone seemed perfectly fine. Ah, that must be it, he thought, as he ruffled his hair for no particular reason. Getting scared over nothing. Heh. These were kids he was thinking about.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door, several quick taps, and Seb jumped. Who was it trying to scare him now? “Coming,” he called, prising himself off the chair and heading towards the sound. Then he remembered the cards, turned back, covered them, and returned to the door. It was Shina.

“Hey Shina,” Seb mumbled, peering out around the dark hallway, “what do you want?”

Shina blinked, then smiled, as her dark eyes focused on Seb’s face. “Ah, Seb,” she looked around her, “can I sleep in your bedroom tonight, can I, please?”

“Uh, what?” was the only thing that Seb was capable of blurting out. Wasn’t that a little forward? Did she want to sleep in his bed? With him? Damn- she was too young; what should he say? What about Erica, anyway?

“Please,” Shina repeated, “it’s scary. I want to sleep on your floor. My bedroom has a lot of scary things in it. Please, Seb?”

Seb mentally cursed himself for being so stupid. This was Shina; sure she might latch onto him sometimes, but she was still completely, pathetically, innocent. He noticed the duvet she was carrying- it had cartoon kittens and rabbits on it. It was slightly suspicious that she found her own room scary, seeing as it was the haven of all things unbearably adorable. But Shina was the type of girl who was still frightened of imaginary monsters under the bed, and jumped at her own shadow.

“Well, I’m kind of busy right now. Why don’t you go share with Freya?” Seb somehow felt uncomfortable with the idea of Shina sleeping in his room. She was cute and all, but it would still be wrong.

“Okay,” Shina said after a few seconds, chewing at her painted finger nails slightly. “I’ll go and see her.” And she was gone, the noise of the duvet being dragged behind her the only sign that she was ever there.

Seb stayed motionless at the door for a while, then blinked, shook his head, and moved back inside.

---

“Have a good sleep then, Shina?” Seb tapped the girl on the shoulder as he arrived for breakfast.

“Yes, it was fun! We stayed up late and talked!” Shina nudged Freya, who looked like she could have done with a couple of extra hours in bed. “But, I’m sorry for disturbing you.”

“Ah, that’s alright,” Seb grinned and sat down next to Erica, who gave him a quizzical look. “Tried to sleep in my bed; honestly, made some excuse about being scared,” he whispered.

“I always thought she was crazy.”

“Jealous, are you?”

“No! And stop doing eyebrows at me!” Erica gave Seb a playful shove, which resulted in him nearly falling off his chair; luckily Ash was in the way.

“Aw, you b-” Seb started, but stopped once he realised that he had grabbed on to Ash’s shirt.

“Ooh, hello, trying to undress me?” Ash winked, flicking a loose strand of pink hair out of his face. “Which reminds me, what day is it today?”

“Ah, damn.” Seb sprinted back up the stairs to his room, and returned seconds later with the pile of cards and gifts. “Ta-daa!”

“Yay! You didn’t forget! Is this all for me?” Alissa squealed, and ran faster to Seb’s side than he thought was possible. “You bought- chocolates!”

“Er, yes, and no,” Seb handed the correct card and chocolates to the girl, who still had rather a worrying smile plastered on her face. “This is for you, I, um, got some for everyone.”

At these words, there was a mad rush over to Seb. Well, Ash and Shina could count as a stampede by themselves.

“Everyone? You got something for me? On Valentine day? Thank you so much!” Shina gasped and practically threw herself at Seb, who found that distributing cards was rather more difficult when you had a girl attached to your waist.

Freya, Tori and Ava all took their cards dutifully, after Seb had mentioned that it was purely for fun. Ash frowned and pouted when he realised that there were only six.

“Seb, why didn’t you get me one?”

“Did you make me a card?”

“No, but,” Ash paused, and looked rather sneakily up at Seb, “I’ll settle for a kiss instead.”

“Er, I think I’ll pass. Maybe I’ll make you a card in a free period.” Seb reached out of Ash’s way, and towards Erica. Thankfully, Shina let go of him to talk to Freya. He also noticed Adriel roll his eyes over the newspaper, but he chose to ignore it.

“Eh? You got something for me?” Erica blinked at the card and gift that had just been extended towards her.

“Sure I did, Sexy.”

Erica groaned, but accepted the gift.

“Thanks, I guess.” She stuck her tongue out at him. “You know, we have to go to school now and you haven’t even made your lunch.”

“I was hoping you’d make it for me?”

“Not a chance. By the way, I hope you’re not expecting anything back.”

“Maybe I’ll take Ash’s suggestion and a kiss will do?”

“Er, how about no.” Erica shoved her lunchbox into her bag as everyone else filed out of the kitchen.

“Go on, who’d you rather, me or Adriel? You’d so rather me, wouldn’t you?”

“Oh, screw you.” Was the answer, before she turned around to pack some lunch for him.