[Music Recommendation: "Little by Little" by CHEEZE (It's Okay Not To Be Okay OST) - available in Youtube or Spotify] ~ Please listen to it in loop while you read this part to experience the utmost beauty of this scene ~

I excused myself in the midst of so many girls just to be able to pass through. My eardrums hurt from all the screaming. Seriously, these girls. I could still remember the first day of school where they got punished by Kaiden for bullying me. And now, they're back to fangirling over him. Such a quick transition! It seemed that their fangirling was stronger than fear of punishment from him.

It probably took me a couple of minutes just to be able to pass through all of them. They shouldn't be blocking the door at least. Oh well, it was Kaiden's fault for standing in front of the doorway in the first place. Though I appreciate the gesture of him fetching me from class—me, along with my classmates, since they seemed to be enjoying the view.

At last, there I was, standing in front of the crowd. Raising my head, I saw Kaiden handsomely standing in front of me, playing with a… rose on his hands? I narrowed my eyes, thinking what it was. A plastic rose? Where did he get that?

Yup, a single piece of rose but not an actual rose. It had a golden stem and it's petals and leaves were like thin sheets of iridescent crystals. I didn't know where he bought it but just WOW! It's so beautiful! The petals and leaves glimmered in the reflection of light, bouncing light colors of blue, pink, lilac, and yellow.

"Woah," I couldn't help but gasp upon seeing it.

Kaiden smirked, seeing my reaction. Then, he walked towards me and handed the iridescent rose to me.

"For you," he said, smiling towards me.

The moment I heard that, I was dumbfounded. My mouth was probably left open for a whole minute and my eyes widened. Along with it, my heart hammered in my chest.

"Kyaaaaaaaa!" my classmates screamed from behind me. I totally don't blame them. I might be stuck in my position but internally, I was screaming louder than them.

'KYAAAAAAAAAAA!!! OH MY GOODNESS!!! Kaiden gave me a flower! And a very unique one! AAAAAAHHHHH!!! He said it's for me! OMG! He sounded so cool my heart can't handle it. Yeah. I think I'm having a heart attack.'

"T-thank you," were the only words I was able to say.

I took the flower from his hand and gazed at it in awe. Seeing it closer, it was really so magnificent! This texture… OMG! Wait a minute!

"Kaiden, is this… real gold?" I asked, tilting my head in my curiosity. Then—only noticing it up close—at the very center of the petal was a large crystal! "I-is this a diamond? A real one?"

Yes. I observed it carefully and the diamond at the very middle sparkled gray and white on the inside, while the outside reflected a rainbow of colors. The golden stem, I had no way to check, but judging by Kaiden's nonchalant expression on my question, I probably guessed it right. Damn these rich kids! It was big, too! As big as the nail of my thumb!

"Huh? Yeah. It is real. I didn't know a fake one existed," he answered me so smugly. "And even if it does, why would I give you a fake one when I can give the real one?"

"Awwww… Thank you," I smiled at him and gave my utmost appreciation.

I gotta admit, that was sweet. Not just because the flower was insanely expensive for sure but… the gesture itself. My heart skipped again and I couldn't help but grin. So this was the one he picked from the list—giving surprise gifts even without occasions. Either that, or the 'giving a flower' part. And I gotta say, he put in a lot of effort in this, huh? I'd never seen one like it anywhere.

Curious again, I asked him, "Where did you buy this?"

Kaiden chuckled. "You won't see that anywhere. It's custom made."

My eyes widened again. "What?! Since when? And why would you—"

"Since… last week. And stop asking. Just accept it."

Last week? I calculated the days in my mind. It was Monday and we were just talking about my list on Saturday. And the Sunday before that was the sly fox Verrill's birthday. So he thought it up since then? Or before that? But why?

'Hmm… Oh right! Mrs. Ma came back home the night before that sly fox's birthday! In that case, was it her idea?'

But I kept my questions in my head since Kaiden told me to stop asking. I'm very curious but he's right. I should just be grateful for the gift and stop thinking too much into it. Settling on that fact, I grinned to myself once again. Then, we walked together towards the cafeteria for lunch.

I felt envious stares poke at me as we walked. Thankfully, Kaiden noticed them, too, so he glared at them with that devilish look of his' and they all scrammed. His grumpy attitude really helps on times such as that. Ha-ha-ha!

After a few minutes of walking, we finally arrived at the cafeteria. Hora and that sly fox still wasn't there so we sat on our usual spot and waited for them. Lucky! I could still bombard him with questions.

"So Kaiden, what should I call this flower? An iridescent rose? Crystal Rose? Galaxy rose? But wait, it's not a dark shade like the galaxy. Hmm…"

Kaiden leaned over and rested his chin on his right palm. He looked straight into my eyes and gave me the cute box he had been carrying earlier—probably a box for the crystal rose. It was white with an aurora glow, and tied with a white ribbon.

I took the box and opened it. Inside was a glass dome with a wooden base. There was a small intricate hole in the middle, big enough for the stem of the rose to stand. And at the side of the wooden base were the words "Verus Amor".

"Oooooh. So it's called Verus Amor. Wow! What a beautiful name." Then, looking back at him, I asked, "What does it mean?"

With his eyes still fixed on mine, and his lips in a gentle smile, he answered me.

"It means... True Love."