Timeless Thoughts: Wooden Roses

Timeless Thoughts is a monthly linkup hosted by Georgie and Tara, where bloggers write about something from their past – it could be an item, a place, an event – anything that evokes a trip down memory lane. Timeless Thoughts is held on the first Saturday of the month and runs for two weeks.


With Valentines Day just around the corner, I wanted to join in with hundreds of other bloggers I’ve seen writing posts about valentines day. Apart from of course, the fact that I’m a hopeless romantic and have spent the previous Valentines Days playing video games (I was there when League of Legends experienced a lot of lag on February 14th, 2016 🙄) so I don’t have any “what to get for your other half on Valentines Day” (in short though: love, appreciation and support 💖) posts lined up – unfortunately.

What I am going share with you today is an old, funny, pretty embarrassing Valentines Day story that I will probably never forget. Also, my friends won’t let me live it down so, here is goes… 🤣

A new addition to my minimal-DIsney themed room, I promise you I’m 20 😂

When I was around 14/15, I had a huge crush on a boy in my English class – I’m not ashamed to even say that at the time I thought it was love (my burning question nowadays is: what is love? 🤔) I remember talking about him to my friends all the time and trying to talk to him myself whenever I had the chance to.

What about? You know, about Shakespeare’s sonnets, what his interpretation of  And my heart’s right, thine inward love of heart.”  and wishing he, like Shakespeare, would compare me to a summer’s day and you know say I’m more lovely and more temperate. 😂

Valentines Day was coming up and one of my friends was part of a group that was selling DIY wooden roses from their Design and Technology class to celebrate the day. If I remember correctly, you could either buy them for yourself or buy them for someone else. Being the real-life cupids that they were, they also delivered the roses to whoever you bought them for.

So naturallllllly, I force a friend to buy me one. TYSM, ILYSM.

OK, now we’ve got that out of the way…

Being very silly, young and having no shame in declaring my love for this guy, I buy one for him. Writing a message that I can’t even remember now but probably an extract from Shakespeare’s sonnets who knows? I mean, younger me would probably – most likely –  had done that. I signed it off with a different name, one from a TV show I was watching at the time and I knew he was aware of too.

I tell my one of my cupid friends to deliver it to him PERSONALLY after their form time, she agrees and I agree to wait around his form room before the next class (which was English, actually)

So the day comes around quicker than expected, I was super nervous but excited to watch his reaction and then admit to him that I gave him that rose which was my way of saying “hey, I really really really like you!” It all played out well in my head but reality hits…

My friend comes out of form first and gives me a quick nod and weird look.

I shortly see him come out, looking very annoyed and laughing with his group of friends, loudly ranting, “What the hell is this. Who the hell would do this? Ugh. I don’t get it, this is so f*cking stupid.”

He then continues to walk towards the direction of the nearest bin, rips the little message into pieces and throws it in the bin, with the wooden DIY rose. IN SLOW MOTION I’D LIKE TO ADD.

It’s funny looking back at it, but at the time I was so upset – I almost skipped English class. But instead sat behind him for 1 painful hour brutally interpreting Shakespeare’s Sonnet 139 😅 I can tell you now that the experience has actually helped me be a lot bolder and all cold hard rejections have brought me to greater things (and people) so keep them coming! 👊🏼

Happy valentines day to those who celebrate it! I hope y’all feel appreciated (you deserve it!!)

I’ll see the rest of you (who aren’t doing anything major) on V-day on Steam/Xbox Live, ya know? 👀

#relationshipgoals

24 responses to “Timeless Thoughts: Wooden Roses”

  1. Fuck LOLLLLL Pauline I can’t believe you are laughing about this now. I had a similar thing when I was pretty much the same age, also 14, going on 15… I was with my first boyfriend and things were swell, but I had a best friend who was a guy. They didn’t have wooden roses at school but they had real ones, and the white ones were supposed to signify friendship.

    I gave one to my friend and it was delivered to him, of course I spoiled my then-boyfriend with his own flowers too. But my friend didn’t seem to think we were great friends, even though I wrote a nice thank you on the card.

    He threw it back in my face, and said, “I never wanted this”. I was gutted to the max. I was upset. I cried and begged him to take it back until his friends teased him and said he was being mean and asked him what was wrong with taking it. I should probably just look back and laugh at this. Sadly I have had more painful rejections since… but these things are hella trivial as a fourteen-year-old!

    1. LOL I’m sure that a lot of people have had a similar experience, I’m certainly glad that you know how it feels. But girl, getting it thrown back in your face? NO THANK YOU. Ha. He didn’t know it was me at the time so it didn’t make me – that – sad but seriously, that dude sounds awful!

      But then again, look at you now! Hot fire, hot fire 🔥 🔥

  2. I’m glad you find it funny now . . . because I actually think the guy’s a total arse and doesn’t deserve your love period. Wow! The way he ripped your message up and ranted about how it was effed up? Oiiii *sighs* Gahhhhh! He’s steaming me up! But yes, kudos to you for getting over him and find this experience funny now ^^;; Thank you for sharing this V-day story!

    You have a good V-day XD I’m just going to be too busy working to do anything, but I may treat myself to a manicure or something this upcoming Friday since I don’t have work, and it’d be a start of a four-day weekend! 😀

    1. Wow, have an awesome V-day! 4 day weekends are always the best 👌🏻

  3. Aww, that’s so sad! What a jerk to do that! *hug* But I’m glad it made you stronger!

  4. Ew, V-day. JK! It’s not all bad. RE: What is love? Girl, I been asking this question since I discovered my heart beat faster when I looked at pictures of Leonardo DiCaprio.

    Dude, that guy is an arsehole and missed out on the best looking girl in the entire school. I know exactly how you must of felt, though – did it feel like your heart was going to drop out of your bottom? Or it was a mini heart attack? Or that feeling when you miss the last step at the bottom of the stairs? Cause, boy, I’ve had plenty of those feelings. I remember confessing my feelings to this guy over MSN (ugh, I’m so old) knowing that he liked my friend instead, and his reply being “I know”. I also knew that he knew that I liked him. FML, 16 year old self. My world ended right then and there. Boys. Boys are the devil.

    At the end of the day, it’s these things that shape us and lead us to become who we are and you are awesome, amazing, beautiful. <3

  5. Hahah this is a cute story, although I can imagine it probably seemed like the worst thing at the time! People in my school would always give out secret roses on Valentine’s Day and the girls who got one would walk around with them sticking out of their bag, I ofcourse never got one! The first time a guy even wanted to hang out with me on Valentine’s Day he forgot and spent the whole day sleeping, not answering texts. And let’s not even get started on a guy I was seeing for a few months that told me that I wasn’t special enough to take out on Valentine’s Day lmao.

    So many tragedies. Thanks for this trip down memory lane!

  6. Hehe, there’s nothing wrong with playing video games on Valentine’s Day! As long as you’re happy, it’s all good ;). No one is a loser or anything if they don’t follow whatever is the trend for V-Day!

    Haha, my high school had the same thing where we can buy Valentine Grams to send to someone else. One of my close friends bought me a rose once so I don’t seem *alone*. Memories :’)…

    Oh man, I would think it’s better that you saw what happened rather than him going home and tossing out the wooden rose- which ultimately leaves you hanging. I would be crying on the inside for weeks if this happened to me in high school @___@. At the same time, I didn’t have the same mindset as I do now and holy crap, rejection hurts a lot!!!

    But you know what? That guy missed out on a great soul. You’re bossing and it’s ultimately his loss!!

  7. Oh my gosh I would have been balling my eyes out if any boy had given me that reaction. But I’m really glad you’re laughing about this now.

    Sadly I had little luck when I was 14 and 15. I had a crush on someone who did reciprocate the feelings and one of my guy friends had a crush on me (which I ended up returning the feelings but I missed my chance. 😭 Long story).

    But I can’t believe how insensitive he was. I’m sorry he couldn’t see how much of an awesome person you were/are.

    Love is hard when you’re young.

  8. Hahaha, thank you for sharing this memory. Honestly, that guy sounds like such a jerk (or he was trying to impress his friends). It would have been so awful at the time. At least you can now look back on it and laugh! 😀

  9. Awww, his reaction is so inappropriate, but he was a teenager, not exactly known for their consideration towards others. It’s great you can have a laugh about this. xx

  10. Aww I’m glad you can see the funny side of this now. Knowing what I’m like I’d still be heart broken to this day. Anyway, his loss!

    When I was about 13 I really liked this guy at school and all my friends knew about it. So they got a Valentine’s card and signed it from him and gave it to me a few weeks before Valentine’s Day (that should have made me suspicious), but of course, I was completely unaware that it was from my “friends”.

    I was devastated when they told me if was from them not him. Anyway, as it happened, I did eventually go out with him and it lasted a few months. But he was jerk and he kissed another girl while we were dating so I’m glad that came to an end.

  11. haha i love how you make it sound like video games is very important and much prioritized. to me, video games is way more important than v-day too. plus, i don’t really care about valentine’s day, even when i was still single. the whole hearts everywhere, pinks everywhere, chocolates everywhere vibe makes me ill. lol maybe it’s because i’m not a sentimental person and i dislike really cheesy, obvious sentimental things. like, i’d rather someone treasures the little things instead of doing all this grand gestures of throwing heart shaped balloons everywhere, blergh 😛 (i think it’s obvious i’m not a hopeless romantic haha)

    HAHAHA oh my god, i’m sorry but i’m laughing at your story. back in my elementary school days, there were people selling plastic fake roses too and you could ask them to help delivery roses to your crush. definitely something like what you described there. i was never a sentimental person and like i said, i hate cheesy sentimental stuff like this since i find them gross but i remember seeing some guys in my school receiving these “mysterious roses” and i remember scoffing and snorting and laughing at them, lol. idk, i’ve always found such things silly. i don’t think i was never that kid who grew up thinking about love. like alright yea, one or two crushes (tbh, i only ever had…2 crushes – i think? – in my lifetime) but i never thought about love or my crush as someone i “love” hahaha

    boy was i glad i never had boyfriend until i’m in my 20s. tbh, i every time i see 14 year olds groaning about their single life, i just don’t… i cannot compute that LOL no offense, just reminiscing how some girls in my school used to be. it was so foolishly hilarious now that i’m recalling it back.

    my current boyfriend has always said about me being cold and maybe he’s right. (pfft, bitch dats right #flipshair)

  12. I’m glad you can look back on this and laugh. 14 yr boys are not great at being gentle with someone’s feelings. I can’t believe your school did something as fancy as make wooden roses!!! (Also, I love your Beauty and the Beast rose!!! I must now make myself one and add it to my B&B shelf. XD ) My school just did chocolate strawberries. And I never got any but I was too lazy to get them for myself so I just went home and tried making them myself. Not hard, just messy, but mine came out ugly. Not a wizard with melted chocolate.
    Valentine’s Day is cute, but I think people put way too much pressure on it. I’m making Valentines for my friends and coworkers, and figuring out something for the boyfriend. But it doesn’t have to be extravagant or anything and it’s not just a day for romantic love, and I think sometimes people make it out to be for only one type of love.

  13. That was hell of a story. It’s good that you learned from the rejection and it made you stronger. I don’t really celebrate Valentine’s Day because unfortunately I don’t have a Valentine :(. But it’s OK. Probably will celebrate with my imagination and we’ll have lots of fun <3. We are great together (unfortunately that's me trying to be funny XD )

    Have a great Valentine's day <3

  14. Omg… my heart feels for 14/15 year old Pauline. I haven’t had something like that happen to me but I did have those teenage crushes on boys who didn’t know you existed LOL And feeling like everything was the end of the world and over analyzing every interaction haha. I remember crushing on someone and he wore this trademark hat in school and I decided to wear one EXACTLY like his and it was so obvious I liked him lmao… I want to cringe just thinking about it >.>

    I’m glad we’re no longer at that age! haha

  15. Omg haha, what he did was such an immature, jerk-y thing to do, but I guess it’s expected from young, teenage boys. I’m glad you’re able to look back at this moment and laugh at it now 😛

  16. I’m glad you’re able to laugh at that story now because that sounds like it would have been an upsetting experience back then! Teenage boys can be so mean! I would have loved to get a wooden rose from someone. What a jerk move to rip up the message like that.

    Thanks for sharing though because it was a fun read 🙂 I hope you have a Happy Valentine’s Day! My husband and I normally just cook together and play video games, so I’ll likely be on Steam too 😉

  17. OMG, you got me! I never had that happen before and I am glad but I see it depicted in media a lot of the times and wonder how it got started. It’s weird, and interesting. I am so sorry that it happened 🙁 But you have a great attitude about it now and OMG that Adventure Time Finn is great! XD

  18. OH MY GOSH. Pauline you are so brave!! I could never have done something like that! I was terrified of rejection, so his response would have had me in tears! What a jerk, though. I thought it was the cutest thing with the Shakespeare quote and the rose! Ugh boys. Who needs ‘em? 😉

    It’s funny to look back now on the little crushes we had over some boy back in middle school and to think then that we thought we were in love. Haha, I had so many boy crushes where I was just totally and completely infatuated. But to actually confess my feelings was terrifying, so I never acted on them.

    I love your optimism at the end. 🙂 You are clearly better off without the jerk, and you definitely had (and still have) bigger and better things coming. Happy Valentine’s Day Pauline! I’m a little jealous you’re spending it playing Xbox, I haven’t touched mine in a couple weeks! D:

  19. OMG it’s nice that you can look back on this now and laugh about it, but I can totally imagine how upset you must have been! What a jerk! -_- I’ve never experienced anything similar to this since I didn’t have crushes when I was a teenager (I know, weird right?) but I’ve been in the guy’s position and even though I don’t like the person who gave the gifts, I keep the gifts anyway and treasure them because I know how much effort it took to give those gifts. Lol.

    Thanks for sharing this story, it was so fun to read! 😛

  20. I enjoyed reading this and I am glad you can laugh over the memory now but at the time it must have been pretty awful. That 14/15 age is sometimes so painful to look back on haha! I remember having meaningless crushes on guys and analysing every single interaction with them, even eye contact. I am fairly sure I would sometimes write about them in my journal too (I cringe at the thought). And boys at that age can be so… insensitive, like your English class crush. In ways I wish I were carefree again in those years but I am glad I’ve passed my teens now! Thank you for sharing, Pauline!

  21. Please allow me to apologise on behalf of all teenage boys everywhere. I could talk about how hard it was to be a teenage boy (just as hard as being a girl, I’m sure), about hormones and peer pressure and emotions but what it boils down to is… What he did was cruel and I’m sorry. I’m glad you’re able to look back and laugh at it now but I can only imagine how heartbreaking it must have been at the time.

  22. LLOOLLLLLL. This is a well treasured share. It’s just too funny and I’m glad you’re able to look back and find the humor in it. And well, what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. XD

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