On Valentine’s Day, a group of fifth grade girls wave at her in the library. Even though she’s new to Wellington, she knows these are not her friends. “I heard you sent William Schum a white flower,” one says. She had paid the dollar, wrote her name on the white crush rose. Her family moves frequently, so, this flower matters, and it doesn’t. “I did,” she says. The girls titter. “Everyone knows. Everyone’s talking.”As if that was supposed to scare her. She pictures him blushing in class and smiles. Understands that they’ll never know what it’s like: to be brave.
Fall Contest 2024 “Flirt” Finalist! Salena Casha's work has appeared in over 100 publications in the last decade. Subscribe to her substack at salenacasha.substack.com. Of “With Love,” Contest Readers said: “there's a duality of hindsight and presence in the moment that's working really well” and “wonderful sense of composure and control.”