New Life : A Second Chance

Sam was extremely busy during the days leading to Valentine's Day.

At night, he would be busy making the musical box.

If he was to purchase an 18 note musical mechanism with a winding key, it would be $15. That wouldn't do. So for a couple of hours during classtime, Sam would be researching on how to build his own musical mechanism.

However, he decided to upgrade it so that it wouldn't need winding up. He had many parts when making a robot so he devised a way so that the musical mechanism would wind itself up when it was in 'sleep' mode i.e. when the box was closed.

Of course, he would still add the musical key should the mechanism fail or if Betty wanted to listen to it again quickly.

Next, he had to decide on the music that would be played. There were so many to choose from. At first, he thought a lullaby would be good, but discarded it. Then, 'Twinkle twinkle litte star' came to mind but he threw that thought away.

Finally, he chose "Unchained Melody" by the Righteous Brothers.* It was an old song and he doubted Betty would know it so the nuances of the song would most likely be missed. Still, Sam felt that it was the best song for his first gift.

Though Sam had to admit, it may not actually be appropriate for it was a song depicting a guy missing his love as they were separated, and that the guy was worried whether the girl was still waiting for him.

Still, the lines that got to him were in the first verse, "Oh, my love, my darling - I've hungered for your touch. A long, lonely time" and the lines " I need your love, God speed your love to me".

Sam sighed.

He just hoped it wasn't a prelude to something ominous; that is, she leaves him and he has to wait for her.

Before that, however, he has to get her!

The music box was rectangular in shape, with two compartments. The compartment on the left side was 2/3 the size of the music box and was empty. This was where Betty could keep her hair ties.

The compartment on the right side was fully covered, and there was a small knob on its top. This compartment was actually two levels.

The lower level was completely sealed and housed the musical mechanism. The top level was just big enough to fit a winding key. If Betty wanted to wind up the music box, she just needed to lift the top off by pulling on the knob and the winding key is revealed.

At the bottom of the musical box, there was a panel on the right side that could be detached if needed. This was where the musical mechanism was screwed on. If there was a need to fix it, he could access the musical mechanism easily that way.

Sam took three weeks to make the box and another week to decorate it. He wasn't a painter, so he opted for something easy but classy. The age-old 'wooden' look. He hoped Betty didn't mind such a 'masculine' look.

Sam wasn't the only one that was preparing things for Valentine's Day.

?? Kay, Sarah, Sophia ??

Sophia was busy staring at the recipe book, wondering whether she was doing the right thing. This was the first time Valentine's Day was celebrated at Sakura Academy since she enrolled and she was quite excited about it.

Excited, but worried as well.

She looked over to the other two: Kay and Sarah, who were giggling as they were going through the list of ingredients to buy.

The three of them were here to test out several types of cookie recipes, to find the best one to make for Valentine's Day. Kay had wanted to make some for Sage Class members, as a gesture of thanks and friendship.

"I still feel it should be chocolate, not cookies," insisted Sophia as she flipped through the pages.

"We've gone through this, Sophia," said Kay, "It doesn't really feel personal enough when it's chocolate. I mean, it's just melting chocolate and putting it into a mold."

"Yeah, but cookies are just so ... meh ... I mean, isn't chocolate naturally associated with Valentine? That, and flowers. Cheesy confessions, too," said Sophia with a sigh.

"Is there someone you plan to confess to, Sophia?" asked Sarah.

"No, of course not," Sophia scoffed, "No one catches my interest."

"Not even Ali?" asked Kay softly, but loud enough for all of them to hear.

Sophia sighed and sat up straight, "You know as well as I do that that guy is 'off limits'. He has 10 wife candidates AND he's a Muslim. He can't marry a non-Muslim."

"He's a great friend and if he didn't have all that baggage, I certainly wouldn't mind the possibility," mused Sophia, "He's good looking, funny, caring and overall, a really nice guy. Too bad he's not in the market. Going after him is like going for a married man."

Kay nodded, understanding.

Sophia liked Ali. A lot.

So it really was a pity that it could never progress beyond the friendzone. She figured that Ali was comfortable enough with her for she knew her boundaries. At first, he had been worried that she might misunderstand but she assured him that she knew and understood.

"What about you, Sarah?" Sophia asked, "And Kay? Anyone you want to confess to?"

"Puh-lease," scoffed Kay, "When you have Kyle for a brother, it's hard to find a guy that can actually measure up now, right?"

Sophia laughed, "Ah, I can see how that can be a problem. He certainly makes it hard for you, huh?"

"A guy that would impress me enough," Kay admitted, "And if he can actually get through the Elite Five Knight Guards, then he's worth the second look."

"Elite Five Knight Guards? What do you mean?"

Sarah was quiet as she listened to the two talking. Kay was explaining about the Elite Five guys have taken it upon themselves to be her protector i.e. knights - which also included screening out 'unworthy' guys.

Sarah thought about the question Sophia had posed and was grateful that she didn't ask again since she was busy listening to Kay. At the end of it, before Sophia could ask again, Sarah said, "Maybe Sophia is right about the chocolates; but Kyle doesn't like chocolates, right?"

"Yeah," Kay confirmed.

"Is that the real reason why you wanted cookies instead?" Sophia asked.

"Partly," Kay said, "But I still feel cookies would be better than chocolates - it will be original and different as well."

"We're only giving this as a friendship thing so does it really have to be so personal? Cookies are harder to bake," Sophia said, "Though yes, I admit, it's not the effort that I'm looking at. I just can't shake the feeling that it should be chocolate."

"Well, we can do both then," Kay suggested as a compromise, "We do both cookies and chocolates. I'd rather distribute the cookies while you and Sarah can take the chocolates."

"How about chocolate nuts?" Sarah suggested suddenly, "It's not too chocolatey yet it is still considered chocolate, right?"

Kay and Sophia looked at Sarah, then at each other. They smiled.

"It has to be dark chocolate though," Kay stated.

"No problem," Sarah replied, holding up her phone, "This recipe is simple. 'Sea salt and dark chocolate nuts' and only requires four ingredients: chocolate bars, unsalted nuts, sea salt and sugar"

Kay took the phone excitedly, her eyes twinkling, "It's perfect!"

"Wait. Wouldn't this make the cost go up? The rules say that the gift is not to be more than $5," Sophia pointed out.

"That's only if you're buying something, not when you're making something," Kay explained, "Didn't the Class Rep explain this to you?"

Sophia thought back and said, "Perhaps she did but I was distracted at that moment. Luckily I have you guys here to make sure we follow the rules! hehehe"

Kay and Sarah laughed at how Sophia laughed sheepishly for admitting that. They quickly bought the ingredients and tried it out first.

First, the sea salt and coarse sugar were mixed together in a small bowl.

Kay carefully melted the dark chocolate bars in a double boiler, which was actually just two pots. The big pot was filled with water and a smaller pot was placed inside it. The chocolate bars were broken into pieces and placed in the smaller pot. It had to be stirred continuously so that it didn't burn.

Once it was all melted, Kay carefully took out the smaller pot from the bigger pot and placed it on the table. Sarah poured the mixed nuts into the chocolate mixture while Kay slowly stirred so that all of the nuts were fully covered.

After that, she carefully picked the nuts out one-by-one and placed them onto the cookie sheet that had been laid out earlier. Sophia sprinkled the sea salt and sugar mix over the nuts and they looked at their creation with a smile.

"Now, we just wait until the chocolate sets," Kay said.

"That really was simple and it looks so good," Sarah said, her mouth already watering.

They all looked at each other and without a word, each of them took one chocolate coated nut and popped it into their mouth.

"Okay, we really should wait until the chocolate sets," Kay said, fanning her mouth. It was hot. Also, they couldn't quite get the true taste of it, but even then, it was already delicious.

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