You'll Be Okay

Chapter 32

"You're awake," said a familiar voice. "I brought you Tyler's hangover remedy – kale, pickle juice, French salted butter and ginger."

I groaned and turned to see Reid. He was leaning against the door frame of the bedroom that I must've been delivered to after passing out in the early hours of the morning.

He gestured for me to take the glass and I did, taking a sip. It tasted overwhelmingly like ginger, which made my eyes water. Quickly, I downed the rest of the concoction and Reid almost laughed at my expression of disgust.

"Feeling better?"

I blinked and frowned. "A little, actually."

"Good." There was a pause and Reid seemed to struggle with himself for a moment. "You know, I admire the people who take the time to make grand, romantic gestures. I don't think it can ever be me - but I do admire them."

I swung my legs out of bed, wondering where this was going. "Right."

"This girl wrote me a love letter every day from third grade onwards," he continued. "She mailed them all to me last week along with rose petals frozen in ice, asking me to prom. My brother, Will, accidentally let them melt in the foyer. It took hours to clean up."

"Okay," I said slowly, uncertain.

"Sorry." He sighed, cursing under his breath and I raised an eyebrow in confusion. He looked at me for a moment and then changed course. "I - will you go to prom with me?"

For a moment, I considered asking him to repeat himself but saw Reid grimace and knew I heard him correctly. It took a few seconds for the words to register in my brain and as it did, a giddy disbelief took over me. Seeing the heat rise to my cheeks, Reid quickly regained his cocky demeanour. Even so, he looked like he was holding back a smile.

Reid Castellan, a member of America's royalty, had just asked me to prom.

"Any day now, Lex. The offer will expire..."

"Okay," I said quickly before I could dwell on it further. "I'll go to prom with you."

This time he did smile and nodded before backing out of the room and closing the door.

Once his footsteps faded and I heard Tyler's distant shouting, I placed my head in my hands and laughed incredulously. I wasn't sure how long I sat there, on the edge of the bed in the master bedroom of the rented apartment, not quite believing life as it was.

The world must be ending because I was going to prom with Reid.

"There she is!" Tyler paused halfway through his argument with Dennis about the vomit on the Persian rug, grinning broadly when I walked into the room. "Happy birthday!"

There was a bang as Dennis tried to get up too quickly and hit his head on the table. He had been sweeping up the broken glass with a dustpan and Tyler chortled with glee.

"Fuck," Dennis groaned, massaging the back of his head. "Happy birthday, Lex. And can someone tell Reid that his phone is going off like crazy? It's in the cake."

"Why didn't you say so?" Reid stalked out from the bathroom and dumped an unconscious Jarred onto the floor. "I've been looking everywhere."

Dennis plucked the phone out of the frosting. "Incoming call from Kade."

Reid sighed, walking over and answering it. "Hey, what do you –?"

He fell silent, the colour draining away from his face. There were a few beats of silence, where Tyler and Dennis looked at each other with worry and Reid's expression made my heart grow cold.