Annie had set her alarm for the crack of dawn on Friday morning. She rolled out of bed, made a groggy effort to smooth her long hair, then went over to her computer.
Moments later, the sound of the Skype signal filled her room, and seconds after that her mother’s face appeared on the laptop’s screen.
“Good morning, love,” said Mum from behind the desk in her office. “You’re up early!”
“I know,” said Annie, smiling. “I wanted to be the first to wish you a happy Valentine’s Day!”
“Oh...” Mum looked oddly flustered. “Well, thank you.” Behind her glasses, Mum’s pretty blue eyes darted to the corner of her desk where an enormous bouquet of roses stood.
“Wow.” Annie raised her eyebrows, properly shocked. “Looks like somebody beat me to it.”
Mum blushed. “Yes, actually.”
This was just too weird. Mum receiving flowers on Valentine’s Day from someone who wasn’t Dad?
“Did Gran and Grandad send those?” Annie asked, picturing a card that read “Happy Valentine’s Day to Our Darling Daughter”. But even as she posed the question she knew what the answer would be.
“No, sweetheart.” Mum forced a laugh. “You know Grandad. He always sends me chocolates.”
For some reason, Annie couldn’t even muster up a chuckle. Instead, she changed the subject.
“So, Mum, I um ... I ... well...” She sighed and decided to just cut to the chase. “I need some money, Mum.”
Mum raised an eyebrow. “May I ask what it’s for?”
Here we go...
“Camp,” Annie replied, cagily.
“What sort of camp?”
“Well, roller derby camp, actually. At Great Lakes University.”
Mum’s mouth turned down slightly. “Of course. Roller derby.”
Annie bristled, but refused to let this snowball into an argument. She took a steadying breath and willed herself to remain calm and reasonable. “I know you’re still not completely on board with me playing derby, Mum. But think of all the other benefits that can come from me going to camp.” Since Annie had anticipated her mother’s reluctance, she’d prepared a little sales pitch last night. “First of all, I’ll be away from home, on my own, for a whole week. The camp has plenty of supervision, of course, but this will be a great opportunity for me to start learning to be independent.”
Mum sighed, but Annie noticed that she’d begun tapping her pencil on the desk, always a sign that she was considering something carefully. Annie barrelled on.
“And I’ll be applying for college really, really soon. Well, OK, in a few years, but still, there’s no point in waiting until the last minute to start thinking about where I’d like to go. And since the camp is being held at Great Lakes University, it could almost count as a college visit. I’ll get an idea of how I feel about a big university campus.”
Mum actually nodded at that and Annie smiled. She’d known that bringing up the whole “higher education” thing would definitely work in her favour. Mum was all about education.
“And most importantly,” she said, gliding into her conclusion, “I know that one of the things you hate about derby is the fact that you think it’s dangerous.”
“It is dangerous...”
“OK, fine, it is a little dangerous, but this camp is going to be a great way for me to improve my skills. The more training I get, the less likely it is that I’ll get hurt.”
“...Again,” her mother added pointedly, referring to Annie’s ankle sprain a few months ago. “The less likely you’ll be to get hurt again.”
“Right,” said Annie. Then she smiled, looked straight at the bouquet of roses and said, “I know camp tuition isn’t as romantic as a dozen roses, but maybe you could consider it my Valentine’s Day present?”
Again, Mum blushed.
Annie knew that last bit had been manipulative – but all’s fair in love and derby. It was clear that Mum felt self-conscious about having an admirer. Hopefully she’d give Annie what she’d asked for as a way to soften the blow of finding out that her mother was dating.
Cheap shot, Annie knew. But she really wanted to go to boot camp.
Mum was quiet for a bit. Then, to Annie’s surprise, she gave her a broad grin. “OK,” she said, then held up her hand quickly before Annie could start shrieking for joy. “But it’s not because I’m suddenly delighted about you playing roller derby.” She narrowed her eyes playfully. “I’m not even giving it to you because you played the ‘I’m the child of a broken home and now my mummy’s dating’ card.”
It was Annie’s turn to blush. “Oh. You picked up on that, did you?”
“Of course I did, you cheeky little thing!” Mum laughed. “I didn’t get to where I am in my career by being easily manipulated.”
Annie rolled her eyes and giggled. “OK. So why are you giving me the money?”
“Because,” said her mother with a grin, “you gave one hell of a closing argument! That was pure Philippa Bradley DNA at work. I love knowing that you’ve got at least a little bit of me in you.”
“I have a lot of you in me, Mum,” said Annie sincerely.
Mum smiled. “You have no idea how glad I am to hear it,” she said. “Now, then, just ask the camp to send me the bill.”
They spent a few minutes talking about school, and the Valentine’s specials Dad would be serving at Rosie Lee’s.
“So,” Annie said, wagging her eyebrows. “Who sent the flowers?”
Mum reached over to gently touch one of the beautiful red blooms. They were from a new colleague, a man a few years older than Mum, whose wife had passed away a couple of years ago. The flowers had arrived that morning with a note inviting her to dinner.
“I’m happy for you, Mum,” Annie said, then winked. “Just don’t do anything I wouldn’t!”
This time Mum’s cheeks turned as red as the roses. “Annie Turner!” she sputtered, giggling. “You’re terrible.”
Annie laughed. It was kind of weird talking to her mum about dating. But she was truly pleased for her. It wasn’t just nice for Mum, it also took the edge off Annie’s guilt over leaving her mother alone in London.
“I’m glad you have a date,” Annie said. Then, after she’d signed off from Skype, she added under her breath, “At least one of us does.”
* * *
“Heart-shaped pancakes!” Dad announced when Annie appeared in the kitchen. “The official breakfast food of Valentine’s Day!”
“Yum,” said Annie, taking a seat, her mouth watering at the delicious smell of buttery pancakes and raspberry sauce. “Hey, remember that time you tried mixing Love Hearts into the batter?” she asked, giggling.
Dad winced. “Not one of my better attempts,” he admitted. “Really chalky and far too crunchy.”
“Not to mention the pancakes came out a sickly grey colour!” Annie reminded him.
“I was merely a novice chef at the time. I’ve improved since then.”
“No question!” said Annie, biting into a warm pancake dripping with red sauce.
“Be right back,” said Dad, turning off the griddle. “I’m going out to get the newspaper.”
Annie went on enjoying her breakfast until Dad returned to slide a bright pink envelope across the table towards her. “ANNIE” was written in neat cursive letters across the front.
“Oh, Dad,” said Annie, feeling bad that she hadn’t thought to get her father a card, “you didn’t have to.”
“I didn’t,” said Dad. “It was in the mailbox with the newspaper.”
Annie laughed. “Sure it was.”
“No, really,” said Dad, with a guilty look. “I’ve been so busy at the shop I never got around to hitting the card store. Sorry.”
“No need to apologize,” said Annie, taking the last bite of her delicious breakfast. “Besides, who needs Valentine’s cards when you’ve got Valentine’s carbs?”
“True.” Dad laughed. “But that doesn’t solve the mystery of who sent this one.”
Annie eyed the handwriting. It didn’t look familiar, but if she had to bet, her money was on Lexie. In fact, it was probably a custom-designed, hand-drawn card. Annie would save it and someday, when her best friend was a famous artist, it would be worth millions. She sighed, wishing she’d got a card for Lexie.
As Dad set about cleaning up the pancake mess, Annie opened the envelope.
But to her surprise, it did not contain a Lexie Jones original, or even a store-bought greetings card. It was a CD.
“What’ve you got there?” Dad asked from the sink.
“Oh, it’s something called a compact disc,” Annie teased. “It’s the great-grandchild of the cassette tape. Third cousin twice removed of the vinyl record.”
“Ha ha,” Dad dead-panned. “I meant who is it from?”
Annie peered into the envelope but there was no card, just the CD. She turned it over and saw that it had been inscribed on the front. In the same steady handwriting that appeared on the envelope it read:
HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY, ANNIE. YOU ROCK!
No signature.
Now Annie was beginning to understand.
“Well?” Dad prompted.
“Gee, I don’t know,” said Annie with wide eyes and a tone of exaggerated puzzlement. “I guess it must be from a secret admirer.”
“Yes,” said Dad with a straight face. “I guess it is.”
“Dad!” Annie smiled. “Come on. I know this is from you! What did you do? Download a bunch of songs I used to like when I was little or something?”
“I plead innocent,” said Dad throwing up his hands in surrender. “Honest.”
“Right,” said Annie. “I’m guessing it’s The Best of the Teletubbies. Or maybe Mopatop Shop’s Greatest Hits.”
“Really, Annie...” Dad shook his head. “It wasn’t me. For one thing, I would never bring those Teletubbies back into our lives because they used to drive me crazy. And for another thing...” He trailed off, grinning.
“What? What other thing?”
“Annie, you’re a beautiful young lady. Do really think the only possible explanation for a mysterious valentine is that your old man sent it?”
“Wait...” Annie frowned. Truly, she hadn’t even thought the CD could be from anyone else. “You think it’s from, like ... a boy? Like, some kind of secret admirer?”
Dad rolled his eyes. “Like ... duh.”
“That’s ridiculous!”
“Is it?” Dad was smiling from ear to ear.
Could it really be? Annie felt a tiny tingle of excitement in her belly. Was it even possible? Maybe Tyler had come to his senses and this was his way of getting her back.
No. She was being delusional now. After that public hook-up with Kelsey in the cafeteria, Annie knew there was no way Tyler was going to come grovelling back to her.
So Dad was just pulling her leg. That was the only rational conclusion.
“Someone’s crushing on Annnn-ie,” Dad sang in a silly voice. “Someone’s crushing on—”
Annie sighed, pushing away from the table and leaving the kitchen. She knew Dad was just trying to have a little fun with her, and that he hadn’t meant any harm, but for a minute, all his talk about a secret admirer had got her hopes up.
She ran upstairs to grab her school things and tossed the CD unceremoniously on her desk.
Even if Dad’s attempts at Valentine’s Day humour were well-intentioned, she just wasn’t in the mood for jokes.
Because the truth of the matter was that no one was crushing on Annie.
* * *
Annie was feeling better by the time she got to school. Despite the fact that she didn’t have a Valentine’s date, she did have something just as good to look forward to: boot camp.
She also had a backpack full of heart-shaped cookies iced with pink and red swirls. Dad had baked them especially for her to hand out to her friends at school. She suspected he didn’t mind the fact that samples of his delicious baked goods circulating around Liberty Heights High also qualified as advertising for Rosie Lee’s, but Annie had no problem with that.
But as she walked the corridors towards her locker, she began to notice that people were giving her strange looks.
Maybe they could smell the freshly baked cookies she had with her?
Or maybe the fact that she’d worn a red sweater and tied her ponytail in a pink ribbon made her look silly and babyish?
But, no, that couldn’t be it. Plenty of the girls – even the cool ones – were decked out in Valentine’s-Day-themed outfits.
So why was everyone staring?
Annie received the very unpleasant answer the minute she reached her locker. A wave of humiliation crashed over her when she saw what was taped to the front: the Queen of Hearts advert from the Gazette, with Annie in her cartoonish gown and crown.
That alone would have been bad enough, but there was more.
Whoever had posted the advert on her locker had written the word “SKANK”, in big, red block letters right across Annie’s image.
Skank? she thought. Me?
Her mind whirled back to a time when she’d heard some girls referring to roller girls as “sluts on wheels”. That remark had been infuriating, but this insult seemed so much worse somehow, because this one was directed solely at Annie.
This one was personal.
She was vaguely aware that a small crowd had gathered around her, but all she could do was stand mutely, staring at her ruined photo.
Suddenly Lexie was there, pushing through the onlookers and tearing the picture down from the locker. She crumpled it fiercely and said, loud enough for everyone to hear: “Obviously somebody is jealous!” She put her arm around Annie and began to lead her away from the crowd. “And that’s because somebody knows she’s just a rebound!”
And just as she and Lexie ducked into the bathroom, Annie caught a glimpse of Kelsey strolling down the hallway, her arm around Tyler’s waist. On her pretty face was a smug, vindictive look, a look that confirmed all of Annie’s suspicions. She didn’t need a handwriting sample to know that Kelsey had written the nasty word that kept running through Annie’s head.
Skank.