Play 004

My Valentine

Riverra International School

Singapore

19 January 2020

Arche recovered surprisingly fast for a teenager; from only lying in bed a few hours ago to being discharged from the hospital, although still in bandages.

The first thing he saw when he came out of the hospital: two lovers confessing their love for each other in the form of a deep, passionate kiss. Catherine, who was with Arche at the time of his discharge, went as red as a strawberry in front of that awkward scene.

The two lovers finally realised that someone was watching them, and they broke their kiss. “Umm… would you mind?” the guy said, shooing them away with a gentle smile. Now that they were not facing each other, Arche and Catherine now had a clear look of the couple; the guy was a handsome, if not girlish-looking young man with unusually feminine long brown hair. The girl was a princess-looking like young lady with awe-striking feminine features, and shiny green eyes.

Arche and Catherine left the scene; after all, they did not exactly want to bother the couple. Just before the couple started to kiss again, they saw another person, with the exactly same shade of hair as the girl, rushed forward, and held the guy in a fierce chokehold. As the guy’s face turned blue, his girlfriend tackled both him and he girl onto the grass, breaking the chokehold. Then, without warning, all three of them burst into hearty laughter, rolling in mirth on the grass.

At that point, both Arche and Catherine are stunned; in front of this scene, they did not know whether to laugh or cry. Confused, they left the scene, and the trio to their own joke.

Unexpectedly, they saw the trio again in school; they were transfer students, and introduced themselves on stage. The strangled boyfriend was Valentine Rose, the ‘princess’ was actually the twin of the other girl, Artemis and Apollo Starr respectively.

“It was you!” Arche and Valentine cried out simultaneously, as they faced each other in one of the many corridors of the school.

“You two know each other?” Ventus, who had the same class as Arche for the previous lesson, looked befuddled at their reaction with each other. Being Valentine’s first day in school, it was highly unusual for them to know each other.

“This guy got protected by his girlfriend!” Arche told Ventus, but it was loud enough for Valentine to hear. “Hey! I never hit girls!” Valentine pouted, looking more like a female now. Once again, Artemis came to his rescue by asking Arche ,”You forming a basketball team?” “Count me in as well!” the tomboy, Apollo, came into the scene, slinging an arm over Valentine.

“Word certainly spreads fast around here, doesn't it?” Arche sighed, Artemis’ attempt to divert his attention seemingly worked. “And yes, if you are the fabled Nike twins of lightning speed from Greece, you’re in. As well as the feminine sharpshooter of England, Valentine Ripcage. Rose is a comparably nice name, right?” Arche seemed to have a comprehensive database of knowledge on basketball and its players.

All of them were shocked by Arche; much like a dictionary, he looked to be always correct. “Now we have seven members for the guys, and six for the girls… I think one more girl would do for this year…”

That same day, all thirteen current members gathered in the newly constructed basketball court, with Arche wearing a shirt “What? Doesn't this shirt look good?” and just before he started, a girl, with a very obvious tattoo on her left shoulder, barged into the silent basketball court. “Hey, can I still sign up?”

“Perfect timing. Can I have your particulars?” Arche happily asked, his wish coming true so quickly. “Stephanie Castor, 169 cm, weight’s a secret, and best as a shooting guard.” she grinned impishly at the team. “Cheers for the new Riverra Foxes!”

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