Work Text:
It was February. This month is famous for Valentines Day. A day where you can send gifts to the person you love, or your significant other. This was no stranger to Whyteleafe. Last February, a student said all of the chocolates were sold out!
Its the 13th day. The students were eating breakfast and chattering like usual. Of course, a lot of them were about Valentines day.
"I'm planning to send him a gift on Valentines day!"
"I wonder what type of chocolates she likes..."
"If only I had the courage to give him gifts..."
"I already got the perfect gift for her!"
Julian was fiddling his spoon. His mind deep in thought. "Jul, if you don't finish your breakfast on time, you'll be late for class." Harry reminded. Julian snapped back to reality, "Oh, right. Sorry!" He muttered and continued eating.
"Say, Julian, ever since the month of February started, you seem very distracted nowadays." Robert pointed out. Patrick let out a small chuckle, "It's almost Valentines day. You know that." The others quickly caught on to what he meant.
"So, who's the lucky girl?" Martin asked. "No! I'm not thinking about something like that! I was just...thinking about the...geography quiz for next week!" Julian lied. "Jul, that quiz was last week." John said. The other boys smirked, "Tell us, Jul. No shame."
Julian's face turned red. No way he was admitting it. He was planning to look away and ignore his friends, when his eyes suddenly caught to Elizabeth at the other table. She was talking with her friends, making jokes, laughing. Her laugh is cute, thought Julian. Elizabeth suddenly made eye contact with him. She smiled and waved. Julian waved back. Trying his best to not get flustered.
He turned back to his friends, "Anyway, its nothing. Whatever it is, it's not Valentine related." Patrick rolled his eyes, "My cousin is such an idiot...you just made eye contact with Elizabeth and waved. And you blushed too!"
"I wasn't blushing!" Julian exclaimed. "Admit it, you want to give her a gift." Robert said. Julian shook his head. "Come on, I always see you talking with her." Martin said. "Tell us the truth. Lying is bad." John chuckled. "Yeah. And plus, most of the students are planning to give their loved one gifts." Harry said.
"Fine! I do want to give her a Valentines gift! Happy?" Julian finally admitted. The other boys laughed, as they were able to make him admit the truth.
"So, what type of gift are you planning to make?" Patrick asked. "Well, I want to give her chocolates. But I don't want them from the store. I want to make my own. Handmade. There's this new Home Ec room, right? Where students with hobbies for cooking or baking can make food there. I shall do it there tomorrow. Somewhere at noon, when classes are over and most of the students are out. I've already bought the ingredients." Julian explained. "Wow, you really are determined." Harry chuckled. "But, we wish you luck, Jul!" Robert assured.
After classes were done, Julian went to town accompanied by his cousin. Julian went to the gift shop to buy a heart shaped, chocolate box.
"Just in time, kid! This is the last one we have. The box is heart-patterned. That's okay, is it not? We had alot but the other designs were sold out. The last girl that came before you bought a floral patterned one" The shopkeeper asked. Julian nodded and payed for the box. After that, he went and bought a chocolate recipe book. Now he was ready to go back to school.
He hid the box in his drawer. Saving it for tomorrow. Hopefully the Home Ec room didn't have many students inside!
***
Julian set up the ingredients on the counter. Thank goodness, no one was here. But a student was here before. There was a bowl that had just been cleaned.
Julian flopped the recipe book on the table and began to flick through it. Seemed relatively easy. Maybe. He was probably more serious in reading this recipe book than reading his school books.
After finishing reading, he finally got to work. He had to make sure every single chocolate piece was perfect. Make sure the measuring of the ingredients were right.
After an hour or so, he finally finished. He was proud of it. "I feel like I forgot something..." he muttered. "I don't think there's anything wrong. I'll just put all of these in the box and give it to Elizabeth!" He beamed. He quickly put in all of the chocolates and went out of the Home Ec room.
He saw Joan, Elizabeth's best friend. "Hello, Joan! Have you seen Elizabeth?" He asked. "Oh, hello, Julian! Yes, she's actually at the garden, sitting near a tree." Joan informed. "Thanks, Joan!" Julian thanked as he walked away. Joan noticed the box of chocolates he had. She giggled. "At this point, they should get married." She thought (Our girl Joan reading our minds rn)
Julian went to the gardens and saw Elizabeth. "Liz! Hey!" He waved. Elizabeth waved back, "Hello, Jul! Oh, what's that?" She asked, pointing to the box. Julian smiled and blushed, "Here! A Valentines gift! A handmade box of chocolates!" He said with glee. Elizabeth gazed at the box. She didn't notice she was blushing aswell.
"Oh, thank you, Julian! It's such a coincidence because..." She said, pulling out a box of chocolates from her bag, "I made some for you too..." she blushed. It was a floral patterned box. Julian took the box, "Thank you, Liz." He smiled. They both sat down. Elizabeth opened the box and popped one in her mouth. Suddenly, she squinted and her brows furrowed.
"Julian...did you...forget to put sugar?" Sh asked. "Oh...oh gosh...I'm so sorry!" He apologized. Now he remembered what he forgot! Sugar! Oh, he felt like an idiot.
"No, no, its okay! Its fine." Elizabeth assured. Julian nodded and ate his chocolates. Well, he tried but...
"Elizabeth, these chocolates are hard as rocks! I can't bite into these at all!" Julian said. Elizabeth's eyes went wide, "Wait, really?!" She grabbed one and tried to bite into it. Julian was right, it was hard. "I must've made a mistake. I'm sorry, Jul..." She muttered.
Julian smiled, "It's okay. I guess we both are horrible at making chocolate." He joked. Elizabeth laughed, "At least we tried. Thank you, Julian." She landed a kiss on Julian's cheek. Julian's face went red as a freshly ripe tomato. "Come on, lets go for a walk in the stables." Elizabeth said, lifting him up from his feet. Julian, still a bit bewildred replied, "Alright...sounds good!"