I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings Chapter 20

Maya is at a large picnic and barbecue in summer. She wanders off by herself, sitting down against a tree. Suddenly a girl who Maya knows from school (and thinks is beautiful) Louise Kendricks, appears. Louise is curious and interested in Maya. They play together, spinning around and getting dizzy. She and Louise become friends, and make up a secret language. Maya begins, for the first time in years, to have fun and be silly.

One day in school Maya gets a note from a boy, asking her to be his valentine. She finally, after agonizing over it, decides it is not a cruel joke. Maya is afraid. She thinks this will be the way it was with Mr. Freeman. She and Louise tear up the valentine. Soon after, their teacher announces it is Valentine's Day tomorrow and begins to read the valentines out loud. The boy has sent another one, saying she will always be his valentine, even if she tears up his cards. Maya likes the letter and decides to be more friendly with the boy, but she is so embarrassed she can't talk to him, and eventually he forgets her.