Heartbreaker

[Frankie Beckett]

Frankie had originally been looking forward to meeting up with Jake this afternoon to go over more of his homework with him, but after the heart-a-gram she had received that morning, she was more angry and embarrassed than anything else. She had actually been having a good time with him during their little study sessions, and she had hoped that his niceness toward her was genuine and not out of necessity. She felt used.

Why else would he send her a heart-a-gram if not to make fun of her? He must know that she didn't have many friends. She was thankful that Candace and Terryn hadn't been the ones to deliver it this morning otherwise she wouldn't have heard the end of it. Frankie knew she should have been suspicious of his invitation to the dance on Friday, too - she knew Jake said it was a good place for him to teach her some of his Texan manners, but she wondered if those manners actually existed at all or if this had just been one big setup from the beginning.

Her heart was pounding as she entered the library that afternoon. She knew she would have to turn him down for the dance now, too, and secretly she had been really excited about going. She had been planning on asking Madison to help her with her dress and her hair and now instead of the nervous excited energy she should be feeling, all she felt was angry, embarrassed, and disappointed. She tossed her backpack onto her usual table, pulling out her potions textbook and hoping Jake would show up soon so she could get it over with.

[Jake Robertson]

Jake sauntered over the library, packing his homework and glad for the help from Frankie. He hoped she had received the flowers and liked them. He'd thought of sending her a whole bouquet, but they hadn't been friends long enough for that. He opened the library door and gave Frankie a slow, warm smile that spread clear to his eyes. He did a quick double check and didn't see any flowers with her. Maybe she hadn't received them . . . his face fell. He hurried to her side and sat down. "Didn't you get something today?" He had chosen the flowers carefully. The florist said a pink carnation meant gratitude, and daisies meant innocence. He was grateful and she was innocent. Perfect. Only looking at her right now, he wasn't so sure.

[Frankie Beckett]

Her head snapped up each time the library doors opened, mostly in anticipation of Jake arriving so she could tell him off. She was getting more jittery with each passing second, and when he finally entered the library, she felt like her heart had stopped with the smile he gave her. "Damn it," she muttered to herself, gripping her pencil tightly in her hand.

Frankie gave him an offended look and scoffed as Jake sat down next to her. "Oh yeah, I definitely got something today," she said, slamming her herbology book closed. "So you're not even going to deny that you sent those flowers to me?" Her brow furrowed and she pressed her lips together in a thin line. "Nice joke," she said, her tone full of sarcasm.

[Jake Robertson]

"I don't understand . . . are you allergic to flowers? Is that the problem? I sent them to you because you're my date to the dance and I appreciate what you're doing for me. But if you're allergic, then I won't get you a corsage." Maybe she was just allergic to carnations, or daisies . . . or this had nothing to do with allergies. Honestly, while he wasn't much of a reader, he'd always been pretty good at reading ladies. And she was pissed at him. "What did I do?"

[Frankie Beckett]

Frankie shook her head. "No, I'm not allergic," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. She could feel the angry blush making her cheeks hot. "I don't appreciate you trying to make fun of me," she said in a small voice. The corners of her eyes prickled with angry tears and she willed herself to not let them spill over. She was not going to cry in front of him even though she wanted him to know just how embarrassed and angry he had made her. "Nobody gives me stuff like that unless they're trying to make fun of me."

[Jake Robertson]

How could she think that of him? Did she misunderstand him deliberately? "I'd never make fun of you. I sent you flowers because it's the right thing to do for the lady you are taking to the Valentine's dance, and because I like you. If nobody's ever sent them except to make fun of you, then you have been done an injustice, but it wasn't by me."

[Frankie Beckett]

She looked over at Jake, her chin quivering slightly. It was hard for her to tell if he was really being serious or if he was too deeply invested in this joke to let it go - her sisters had pulled this sort of stunt before, acted all innocent and sweet and then as soon as Frankie let herself believe they were being honest, they would do something even worse and laugh at her. It was because of them that Frankie had a hard time believing Jake now.

Although... "You like me?" she asked, the blush on her cheeks deepening. Was he saying he liked her or that he liked her liked her? In either case, no one had ever said that to her outright. Even though her gut was telling her to be careful and she had a bad feeling about the whole thing, she couldn't help but give him a small smile.

[Jake Robertson]

"I thought I'd made that pretty obvious by now, Frankie. Of course I like you." He hoped she liked him a little too. He looked at her blushing cheeks. Surely it meant she at least liked having him like her. Now there was that little smile of hers . . . "I asked the florist what everything meant before I chose which flowers for you. Pink Carnations mean gratitude, and white daisies mean innocence. I feel grateful to you for helping me, and innocent just seemed to fit you. Innocent and smart at the same time . . . someone I'd never want to hurt."

[Frankie Beckett]

Frankie furrowed her brow - Jake was saying he liked her, but did he actually mean it? She had been tricked too many times to want to be able to believe him straightaway. Her head was telling her that he was just joking, and that this was all some sort of elaborate setup where he would humiliate her in front of everyone at the Valentine's dance, but her heart was telling her to give him a chance. This was all very confusing.

"You don't know me," she said, shaking her head. "I'm not innocent. Just because you took me out on your horse and bought me a butterbeer does not mean that you know who I am." She bit her bottom lip, her brow still creased. She wanted to tell her brain to shut up and just let her have this moment where a cute guy had sent her flowers on Valentine's day. "I like helping you," she said, after a moment. "I like that you stick around even when I'm mean to you - sorry about that." Frankie gave him a sheepish shrug and looked down at the table. "But nobody has ever sent me flowers without having some sort of ulterior motive or a prank up their sleeve."

[Jake Robertson]

"No motive I didn't just state. I'm straight up, Frankie. I don't play tricks on people and I don't lie to them neither. You know darn well that if I was proud and in it for myself, I wouldn't be going 'round telling people I'm stupid. I sent you flowers because you're my date and my tutor and I like you." He did his best not to sigh. "I s'pose you put them in the trash then?"

[Frankie Beckett]

There it was again - he liked her. He was doing a really good job of making her feel embarrassed, but at the way she was acting rather than the fact that he had given her flowers. Frankie groaned, covering her reddening face with her hands. “No,” she said quietly. “I didn’t throw them away.” In all honesty, she hadn’t even thought about tossing them. “They’re in my room."

[Jake Robertson]

"So, you liked them?" he asked cautiously. But not wanting to press the point when she was obviously so unhappy, he pulled out his backpack and started putting his homework on the table.

[Frankie Beckett]

Frankie shrugged, peering out at him from behind her hands. She supposed that in hindsight they were actually really pretty - she didn't know people got anything other than roses for Valentine's day, and it was nice that he had researched the meanings behind the flowers before he picked them out. "Yeah, they're pretty," she said quietly, glancing over at the homework he had pulled out. Desperate to change the subject, she bit her lip. "So... what did you want to work on today?"

[Jake Robertson]

This girl had a knack for smashing all his pre-conceived notions about women. "This book--The Temporary Science of Magic. I was assigned to read it and evaluate it for both facts and flaws," he explained, pulling out the thin volume. It may have been thin, but it had bright white pages and two columns of small print on each page--and no illustrations.

[Frankie Beckett]

She reached out to take the small book from him, genuinely interested in its contents. "Sounds lengthy," she said, flipping through the pages. "I don't think we have enough time for me to read you the entire book today." Frankie thought she could probably get through the book in a few hours if she was just reading it to herself, but the speed at which she read to herself and the speed at which she read aloud were two different things. "I mean, I could read it all today, but I'm pretty sure Dewsnip would have had us kicked out of the library before we even got halfway through."

Frankie wondered if Jake thought she was some sort of weirdo for freaking out on him like she had - he hadn't run off, so she took it as a good sign. And he had said he liked her twice, but she still wasn't sure if that was like in a friends way or like in the way she thought she might be beginning to like him.