Forever Remember: The Rose Code

Chapter 21: Fireworks

"You're welcome." Dean bowed his head. "Umm. . . I may have told Tyler a few secrets about you."

"What?" I pulled out of Dean's embrace and stood there glaring at him, while the other couples danced around us.

"I didn't say anything bad!"

I marched off the dance floor and back to the library to find that lamp.

Dean raced ahead of me. He grabbed the lamp off the front of the desk before I could reach it, and then he ran behind the desk.

He looked at the window, at me, and then back at the window. He unlatched the lock, pushed up the window and the screen, and threw the lamp outside into the rose bushes.

"Why did you do that?" I yelled.

"If you try to get it, you'll rip your dress." He grinned, like a cat that caught a mouse.

"What did you tell Tyler? Tell me now, or I'm going to rip YOU!"

"Shhhhh. You don't want the Prince to hear Cinderella shouting," he whispered.

Nothing made me madder than someone telling me to hush. My temperature rose to the boiling point.

Dean knew he crossed the line. He swallowed. "Jasmine . . . I'm sorry?"

I did a visual sweep of the room, searching for weapons to throw at Dean. Besides hundreds of heavy books, there were a few bronze book ends on the shelves and a solid glass globe on the desk. But I couldn't risk getting blood on my dress.

I counted backwards from ten to calm my temper and noticed the music had stopped playing. I heard Mrs. Price announcing the names of award winners and people clapping.

The whole purpose of this evening was to confront Mrs. Price about murdering my father. Not to kill Dean. He always distracted me from my main objective.

"Do you swear you only told Tyler nice things about me?" I grilled Dean.

"Cross my heart and hope to die." He crossed his heart and slid a finger across his neck.

I stared into his eyes. He stared straight at me. He seemed to be telling the truth.

"Okay. Let's go see what's on the dessert buffet. All this arguing has made me hungry again."

At the buffet table, Dean grabbed an apple tart and I selected a slice of pumpkin pie, smothered in real whipped cream. While we nibbled on our scrumptious desserts, we watched Mrs. Price and Tyler hand out plaques to the deserving volunteers. 

Dean's mother, Diane, won a plaque for her generous donation of young adult books. Dean and I disposed of our plates and went to congratulate her.

"Congratulations, Mom!" Dean said, giving her a peck on the cheek.

"Thanks, dear, but please call me Diane in public," she scolded. "I look too young to have a teenage son. Isn't that right, Jasmine?"

"Yes. It's true," I agreed. "Congratulations on your award!"

"Thank you. I always say, 'You can never have too many books or too much money!'"

We all chuckled. That was definitely true.

"You look lovely, Jasmine. Are you having fun?" Diane asked.

"Yes. I am."

"Good. Well, I need to go mingle some more. Dean, could you put the plaque in my car?" She held the plaque out to Dean. 

"Sure, Mo-Diane." He took the plaque. "Jas, do you want to go outside and get some fresh air?"

"No. I think I'll just wait here for Tyler."