This entire week, I've been getting more notes. All on colored construction paper. All in the beautiful, flourished handwriting with the black inking pen. All with the little heart stickers. And all signed "Secret admirer" Part of me gets a little happy when I see it now. I'm growing used to it and it makes me feel special. I keep wondering if it's Gerard or not. I know that him acting weird means something, I just don't know which something. He...may be jealous. If he's jealous though, that would mean he likes me. I doubt he'd be jealous that he isn't getting anything, it would be very unlike him. So if he's jealous, does he like me? I want to believe that. I really want to believe that. But it's been all year and nothing's really happened between us. If he liked me, wouldn't he have done something by now? Granted, I haven't done anything either. It's not from a lack of effort. There were times where I was tempted to kiss him and had the moment lasted a second or two longer, I probably would have. It's not like we haven't kissed at all though. Twice. But one was a stupid dare. And another was freaking mistletoe. Where was I going with this?

Okay, if he's not jealous, then why is he acting weird? He's...guilty. As in...he's sending them to me. But it doesn't seem like he would be responsible. Yesterday, I had one in math again and I know for a fact that I didn't have it in English because it was in my front pouch where my pencils are. I hadn't seen him between that time. Unless...I missed it somehow. Maybe at lunch, he did something without me realizing. No, I would have seen it in English...would I?

But if he's guilty, that means he did it...or...he knows who did. Is it someone else? That wouldn't really make sense. Well, out of the friend group. It couldn't be anyone else. Hayley isn't the romantic. Jenna and Lynn are together, and Lynn is gay so that wouldn't make a difference. Amelia is with Cody. There's Brendon but I'm pretty sure he and Sarah are unofficially a thing. Cody and Patrick are straight, again no. None of them would do this and there's no way they'd prank me like this. But if it was someone else. I don't really hang out with others... there are the people from the ski trip. Maybe one of them sent it? I mean, Aiden was...he's cute. And there's also Jared. Again, he's attractive but not my type. Well, Aiden could probably be my type and in an alternate universe, I could see myself dating him. But I don't really want to, I'm in love with stupid Gerard.

I doubt it's either of them. Or any of the girls. I haven't really talked to any of them since. I follow Lia and Aiden on Instagram but the others, mostly a thanks for the memories type of thing. They wouldn't be doing this to me. Plus, they're all seniors. They know they're leaving and aren't going to start making new ties.

Well, either way, this doesn't solve my problem. The note I got on Wednesday was the same. It was rosy purple construction paper and it said I will admit, it did make me smile reading it. The others asked and of course, they got all excited about it. The conversation died down quickly though since there's no new information with this so there's nothing else to talk about. I still don't know who it is or how they're managing to give them to me.

Yesterday's was a little different. Not really but it was a little more elaborate than the previous ones. The construction paper was a pastel blue and inside was a blue crayon taped to it. It said Part of me wishes this wasn't happening. It's really cute but it's giving me empty hope. I don't know where this is going to lead to but if it's not going where I want it to go, I'm just going to get disappointed.

When we get to school, the five of us walk in. It's colder than usual outside but it's not as windy. I'm sick of this winter nonsense. Granted, this is nowhere as cold as it got in Jersey. But still. I miss the sun. The five of us walk into the commons and run into Patrick and Sarah. "Hey, guys," Jenna says, walking over to them.

"Hey, what's up?" Sarah asks.

"Tired," Amelia and Cody say in unison. They exchange glances and smile. Cody takes his hand out of his pocket and intertwines his fingers with hers.

"Same, but I'm glad it's Friday," Patrick says. His eyes light up and he snaps his fingers together. Cody glances at him with a half grin. "Yo, next week, it's Friday the 13th. We should hang out and watch a movie together or something."

"Hey, we totally should," Cody says. He looks at Jenna. "You're dad's going to be out of town so he won't care."

"Yeah, that's true. You guys should come over and we'll watch something. Wait..." she trails off, looking at Amelia. "Are you going away again next weekend?"

Amelia pauses, thinking back. "Um, I don't think so. We're leaving today when right after school and I won't be back until halfway through Tuesday."

"Going skiing again?" Patrick asks.

"Yeah," she says. "See, we were going to go next weekend since it's an extended weekend but it's my grandmother's birthday so it's going to be a little surprise thing. And I don't really mind missing two days of school."

"Damn, that sucks, we won't see you for a few days," Cody says. "You can text us, right?"

"Actually, no. We're not going to the usual one. It's my grandmother's resort. And as cool as this place is, there's no cell service," she says. "So I'll get to hear from you all after school on Tuesday." Cody makes a pouty face at her and she kisses him on the cheek for comfort.

"Damn that sucks," Jenna says.

"Wait, hold up. Next weekend is extended?" Sarah asks.

Cody glances at her. "Yeah, we have Martin Luther-"

I interrupt Cody. "Dude, Martin Luther King's birthday was last month. We have President's day off now."

"Ohh, right right." He nods along.

"Sweet," Jenna says. It falls quiet as the lot of us stand around. "Where's Lynn?" Jenna asks.

"I don't know, I haven't seen here yet," Patrick says. "She's usually here before us." He shrugs.

Ahead, I see Hayley and Brendon walking in, taking their hoods off as they step inside. "Hey, I'll see you guys in a bit," I say, waving to them. Warning bell will ring shortly so I should head with them to study hall to check in. "Hey, guys," I say, walking with them.

"Frank, I have a very important question," Brendon says, putting a heavy hand on my shoulder.

I glance between the two of them. "Okay, what's up?" I ask.

Before Brendon can get a word out, Hayley cuts him off. "When you shower, do you face the shower head or is your back to it?"

The two of them stare at me exasperated, waiting to answer. "I face it...so like I have the water in my face and nothing drips down in my eyes."

"Ha! Told you!" Hayley cries out. "And it proves that it's not just a girl thing." The three of us start heading up the stairs to the second floor.

"Seriously, Frank?" Brendon asks me. "You're going to just-wow, that's a lot of stairs-you're just going to stand in the shower with water streaming in your face?" There's a bunch of students in the hallway by their lockers talking with their friends.

"Well, it's not like it's a high voltage thing," I say. "It's just gently raining down."

"But when you wash your hair, how is it you do that?" he asks.

"I...turn around?"

"Yeah, but then you got to keep going back and forth," he says.

"Oh, please. It's not rocket surgery," Hayley says, "You just turn around."

Brendon's face becomes seldom. "Turn around," he sings. "Every now and then I get a little bit lonely and you're never coming round..." Hayley wacks his shoulder and he stops. "Hey!"

"Leave the music to after 1st period," she says.

"You guys are..." I trail off when I notice my locker and I stop walking.

Hayley and Brendon double take and look at me. I go to my locker periodically through the day. This couldn't be old., could it? When did..."Frank, you good?" Hayley asks.

"Y-yeah, hold on." I walk through the locker banks. There's a rose taped to my locker. I slowly peel it off. The thorns have been removed but all its leaves are still there. It's in really good condition. The petals still together and all intact.

"A rose?" Brendon asks.

"By any other name it would still smell as sweet," Hayley says dramatically.

Brendon turns at her. "Oh, so you can quote Shakespeare but I can't quote Bonnie Tyler?" he asks.

"You were singing," she mumbles. They glance back at me. "Open your locker, Frank."

"Why?" I ask, turning toward my locker anyway.

"I don't know. Maybe something's inside?" she says. I spin the dial, flipping it the numbers then open it. It has my textbooks, extra folders. A maroon note tumbles out. "Oh my god," she whispers.

"Dude, another one? What's it say?" Brendon asks.

Warning bell rings. "I think we should get to class and not be tardy," I say. We head in the room and I take out my pass.

"Wait, you can't just leave without showing us," Hayley says, glancing at my pass.

I hand Brendon the rose as I unseal the little heart sticker. My cheeks flush and I fold the piece of paper back up.

"What was it?" Hayley asks intrigued.

After showing them the note and freaking out with them, I go up to the front and sign out of study hall. Before I get to art, I stop at my locker and put the rose back inside but I do hold onto the note. I won't bring it up but if they ask, which as this week has been going, they probably will, then I'll show them. I place the rose gently on the second shelf, resting it between a few of my books. I'll come back to get it after math class. It's in fairly good condition surprisingly. It's not damaged at all. The petals and leaves aren't tattered and it was just taped on my locker. Surprised nobody damaged it or anything when walking past my locker.

I get to art ten minutes later than I usually do. "Wow, what took you so long?" Gerard asks, walking back over to the table with Lynn. The two of them have glue and colored construction paper in their hands for their college projects. Lynn is spinning scissors around her finger. Gerard glances at her concerned. "Can you not?"

She cracks a grin. "What's the matter?" she asks teasingly.

"I'd like to...oh, not die?" Lynn keeps smiling, continuing to spin them around. "Well, I don't care about the death thing but scissors is not the way I want to go."

Lynn stops and holds them in her hand. "Don't feel like getting stabbed?" she asks.

"Yeah, not today," he says. The three of us walk back to the table.

"Ah, Frank, you're here," Cody says, folding a piece of paper. "What took you so long?"

"I was just talking to Hayley and Brendon for a little bit," I say, taking out my English binder. "Did you guys get started on that English packet?" I ask.

"No," Lynn and Jenna in unison. I laugh at them, flipping through the packet.

"See, it's just really long and that makes it completely motivating," Jenna says.

"Plus, it's absolutely the worst book," Lynn adds on.

"Which book are you guys on?" Cody asks.

"We started Lord of the Flies," I groan. "And it's just these pubescent boys being all angsty and obnoxious."

"Oh, how enthralling," Gerard says. "We're probably starting that soon then."

"Yeah, probably," I say. "But we got this obscene packet and it's like 15 pages long."

"I know. But it's due at the end of the month," Lynn says. "So I'm probably going to procrastinate on it until then-" A blue paper airplane flies into her face and she swats at it. "What the?" Cody bursts out laughing, extremely proud of himself. "Really? Why?" She throws it back at him and he puts his hands up at defense.

"Wow, great aim," he says as it falls behind him.

"Do your work," she says, returning to cutting paper.

"Hey, Frank?" Jenna asks with a smirk on her face. And...here we go again. "Did you get anything from someone special?"

"It's kind of early," Cody says.

"Wait, he's not saying anything," Lynn points out with a grin. The others stop and glance at me and I smile back. "What is it?"

"They...taped a rose to my locker," I whisper.

"They what?" Gerard asks. "What? Like a real rose?"

"Yeah," I say softly.

"Like on the outside of your locker?" Cody asks. I nod. "Was it damaged?"

"Surprisingly no," I say. "And they had a little note." I hand it to Jenna and she and Lynn leans close to read it.

"Awe, that's really cute," Jenna says, then reading it out loud to the table. "A single rose can be my garden...a single person can be my world." Gerard glances at her when she finishes looking pensive. "Still no idea?" she asks.

"Nope," I say.

"Where's the rose?" Lynn asks.

"Well, I put it in my locker to keep it safe."

"Safe?" Gerard asks.

I look at him with a nervous smile. "Well, yeah. I didn't want to risk getting it damaged holding it out and I don't want to crush it in my bag. It's...pretty." He nods along to what I say but doesn't continue.

"Maybe one of my buddies in forensic science can lift a fingerprint off the note," Cody says.

Lynn laughs at him. "Yeah, they totally can do that," she says sarcastically.

"What? No, they actually can. They have crime scenes as tests and they have DNA matches. It's actually really cool. They've done fingerprints already."

Lynn looks at him skeptically. "Yeah...but like they have to dust it for prints and they then have to pull it off and how many people have touched the paper? Jenna, Frank, the person, who knows who else."

"Don't you also have to have the fingerprints on the database to confirm a match?" I add on.

"Well, I clearly didn't think this plan through but it's more of a plan on figuring this person out than any of you guys have offered," he says.

"It's fine," I say. "Obviously whoever is sending this, assuming this isn't a joke, wants to achieve something. Like...they wouldn't go through all this trouble and not take credit, right?"

"That depends on the person," Lynn mutters.

I glance her wary. "What do you mean?" I ask.

He looks up at me. "Well...if it's someone who's scared to admit it, they probably won't," she says.

"Yeah, I got that, but you said that weird," I point out.

"I told you before. I am weird."

Music consists of Hayley and Amelia talking about the note and Brendon staring a duet with Patrick singing Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler. Patrick sings the backing vocals and playing the melody while Brendon sings the main lyrics while harmonizing his guitar with Patrick. Later, Hayley brings up the shower question. Jenna and Patrick side with me and Hayley but Amelia and Lynn side with Brendon, facing away. It turns out to be a debate for the rest of the period as we start play fighting and arguing with each other.

I get to History, still laughing and how heated Jenna was, screaming that "her best friend and girlfriend are traitors". I sit down in history. "Hey," I say, playfully tapping Gerard's foot.

He's sketching in the margin of his history notes. "Hey, you," he says with a smile. "How was music?" he asks.

"Eventful. Brendon and Patrick performed for us. And then we got into a discussion if you should face the shower head or turn away that lasted like the rest of the period."

"Uh, you face away like a normal person," Gerard says.

"What?"

He crinkles his face at me. "What? And I just going to stand there and let the water spray my face the whole time?"

"Oh no..." I whisper, looking at him.

Gerard realizes my reaction. "You face the shower head? What's wrong with you?"

"Wrong with me?" I ask. "What's wrong with you? You're back is to everything."

He scoffs at me. "Nothing is wrong with me. You are the one facing the wrong way."

"Says you."

"Wh-uh, yeah, says me!" he cries out. I start giggling and he pauses to smile. "Ah, what gives. It's not like it matters between the two of us since we don't like shower together," he jokes.

"Yeah. But we'd be facing each other if we did," I mumble. He chuckles at my comment, brushing it off as I thought he would. Good.

The rest of the day goes by rather quickly as my friends spend it mostly arguing about how we shower. In English, Lynn and Jenna keep bickering about it. During math, Amelia and I work on our homework together. "Frank, this doesn't make any sense-"

"5+7=12. Not 13," I point out. She sighs, erasing her whole problem and starting over. "You did it all right. Just a small error."

"I hate math," she groans, retyping in the equation in her calculator. "You're already done," she points out.

"Yeah, but I did this stuff last year so I have an advantage."

"Why'd you take the same math class then?" she asks.

I pause, shrugging. "I mean, I didn't really want to take a harder math class where I would have to struggle and stuff. I'm going into music later so this isn't really important."

Amelia smiles. "I hope you remember us when you're rich and famous," she says.

"Oh, please. Like I could ever forget you guys," I say. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"It honestly blows my mind we haven't even known you for a year," she says. "Like it's weird to think last year, you weren't with us and we didn't even know who you are."

"Yeah, it's crazy how much changes in time," I say.

She finishes up, packing it away in her folder. "Yeah, but I'm glad how things turned out," she says, putting her pencil in her bag and zipping it closed. She glances at the clock and sighs. "5 more minutes until the weekend," she says.

"Thank the lord," I reply.

"Hey, you think you're going to get any love notes tomorrow?" she asks jokingly.

I roll my eyes at her. "I doubt it. If they come in my mailbox, that would be slightly creepy since they would know where I live," I say.

"What if you found it in your bag or in your room?" she asks.

I pause, my eyes wide. "Well, then I'm calling the police." She giggles amused, leaning back in her seat. "Wouldn't you be a little concerned?"