"All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt."
~Charles M. Schulz

Elsa

I chatted with my pack before first period, ignoring the fact the Stark pack stood a few feet away and how damn good Spencer looked. Why did he have to be a Stark?

My phone buzzed, and I pulled it out of my pocket. The message was from Spencer, reading: When does a brain get afraid?

I bit back a smile to prevent my family from suspecting anything. I'd given the Stark alpha my number a couple of weeks ago when we realized we were the only ones who could help each other with physiology homework.

I replied with 'when?' and barely ten seconds later, I got a reply: When it loses its nerve.

To Spencer: Do you look these up online or something?

From Spencer: Yes.

To Spencer: At least you're honest about it.

"Elsa, what are grinning about?" Thea queried.

"Oh, just a funny picture on Tumblr," I replied, trying not to sound guilty.

"Oh, okay. Anyway, I was saying that Riley is taking me to this super nice Italian place for Valentine's Day. Ember, Noah, Josie, and Hunter are going as well."

"I'm going to enjoy a nice day curled up in bed watching movies," Anna declared. "None that are romances."

"You need a boyfriend. So does Elsa. I'm tired of seeing you two all alone on Valentine's Day."

"I'm perfectly happy being single. Besides, I love everyone in my pack, but I'm not interested romantically in any of them," I said.

"Well, the only other people we can date are in the Stark pack, and we'd kill you before we let that happen."

"Thank you. Glad to know that you'd rather have me dead than dating a Stark."

Thea frowned. "Elsa, I'm j-"

"I'm going to head to class. Get my favorite seat before some human takes it. I'll see you at lunch." I walked off. Anna hurried next to me.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"You've just been kind of distant lately. I want to make sure nothing's wrong. I'm your twin. You know you can tell me anything."

"I'm fine. You know how I feel about our pack's feud with the Starks, and if that was the direction that conversation was going, I wanted nothing to do with it."

"Well, if you somehow ever did end up dating a Stark, I'd be on your side. As much as I'd hate it, I'd rather have you alive. Do you want to go out to lunch, get away from the others? Take Josie with us?"

I smiled, grateful for my twin. "That sounds good. How about Mexican food?"

"I can already taste the burritos. Okay, I'll see you later." Anna walked to her AP Environmental Science class while I entered physiology. I placed my things at my desk, sitting down. A few moments later, a familiar scent hit me- a very expensive, very intoxicating Giorgio Armani cologne.

"You know, one day, I'm not going to be able to lie my way out of why I'm laughing when I get one of your texts, and my pack is going to go ballistic when they find out I'm talking to you."

"I'll try and be more discreet," Spencer laughed. "But at least I know you found it funny."

"Seriously, where do you find these jokes?"

"A magical place called Google. So what are we doing today?"

"Looks like we're dissecting a heart in honor of Valentine's Day," I answered.

"Fitting. You have any plans for Valentine's, or are you going to join your sister in watching non-romantic movies?"

I narrowed my eyes. "Were you eavesdropping on us?" I raised my eyebrows at him.

"I was curious to see if you had any plans, although I'm going to go with no considering you're perfectly happy being single."

"Can I hit you?"

"Not in public."

"I'm holding you to that."

Spencer was about to respond when the teacher told us to get ready for the heart dissection. This time I went and got the safety goggles and gloves while Spencer got the instructions from the teacher. We met at our station, where my partner pulled the heart out and held it out to me, saying, "Be my Valentine?"

"Very funny," I replied with a grin, taking the organ from him.

"Seriously, though, no plans for tonight?" he prodded.

"No, no plans. My mom made each of us a massive cookie in the shape of a heart, so I'm probably just going to eat that while binge-watching movies with Anna. Thank god it's a Friday too because if I start a series, I can just stay up all night finishing it. Wait, no, I have patrol tomorrow morning... damn it."

"Mmm, cookies sound good," Spencer mused.

"Okay, Cookie Monster, focus. What's the first step?"

Spencer stuck his finger in the superior vena cava and waved the heart back and forth. "It says to examine it before we cut it open. I wonder if my finger would go all the way through..."

"How about we examine the heart first, and then you try it when we're done? I'd rather you not destroy our specimen less than five minutes into the dissection."

"Okay, we're meant to find the aorta, the superior vena cava- which is what I and my finger discovered- the inferior vena cava and the pulmonary artery."

The two of us got to work. Naturally, Spencer made horrible heart jokes and puns during the dissection, and while we were working on the questions post-dissection. Still, as terrible as they were, the jokes were somehow funny. My stomach hurt from laughing by the end of class.

As the bell rang to let us out, Spencer inquired, "What are you doing for lunch?"

I raised my brows in surprise. "What, you didn't eavesdrop on that too?"

"When were you talking about it?"

"Never mind. I'm going out with Anna and Josie. Why?"

"No reason. I'm just nosy."

"That you are. I'll see you in English, Stark."

He threw his backpack over his shoulders. "See you later, Elsa."

It was only when he'd left the classroom that it hit me.

He used my actual name instead of calling me 'Laroche.'

It's not like I had any problem with it. After all, Elsa is my name, but it was weird that after almost six weeks of talking to each other and calling each other by our last names that he'd suddenly start calling me by my first.

Shaking my head, I went to my next class: AP Psychology. Josie waited for me at our desks.

"Hey, how was physiology?" she asked, giving me a cheerful smile.

"It was fine. How was Calc?"

"Calc was calc. I'm so glad we're seniors. I can't wait to graduate and be done with that class."

"Amen." The bell rang once more, alerting any stragglers in the hallway that if they weren't in class, they were undoubtedly late. Mrs. Bentley began her lecture but only got halfway through her first sentence when two people came into the room, one carrying a bunch of roses, obscuring his face.

"Val-o-grams," the guy said, his voice muffled by the flora.

"Is there a Melissa Jameson in the class?" the girl called out.

"Here!" a classmate answered, raising her hand.

"Here's your Val-o-gram and a rose from your mystery suitor. Okay, next- Kelly O'Neil?" The girl proceeded to call out a list of names. Near the end, there were only three bouquets left, each with a dozen roses. I knew one was for Josie because Hunter asked Anna and me to make sure she got a Val-o-gram from him. I also knew one of them was for me because Caleb and Hunter never wanted me and Anna to feel left out when all the other girls in our pack got flowers on Valentine's Day from their significant others. Akira was the only exception, being single as well. I wondered who the third one was for because the dozen roses option wasn't exactly cheap.

"Josilyn McKay, these are from Hunter Laroche," the girl said sweetly, handing one of the bouquets to my best friend.

"Did you help him with this?" Josie whispered.

"Nope, not at all," I replied, barely suppressing my smile.

"Liar," she laughed. "Thank you."

"And the last two bouquets are for Elsa Laroche," the girl announced. "You go, Elsa Laroche."

Every single head turned in my direction. I tried to hide my complete and utter shock, but it was impossible. A crazy thought flashed through my head that maybe Spencer sent the second bouquet, but I threw the idea out as quickly as it had come. He was a Stark; I was a Laroche. There was no way I would start a relationship with him, and he wouldn't either.

... Right?