Just a Memory

A Proposition for Proposal

15

Reece and I teased Kyle for half the summer. We tormented him up until Reece's birthday. We threatened to reveal the tape to his parents, or leak it on YouTube. At first, it was fun. Kyle freaked out and we managed to squeeze five hundred bucks from him.

Then Reece left an empty DVD on Kyle's doorstep, and he freaked out and smashed it into a million pieces. His mother had witnessed that whole scene, and Reece and I had a good laugh at his expense.

But a month into it, Kyle got sick of it. "I don't even care anymore," he said, throwing money at Reece and I. "It's the last of your Fantasy money anyway."

Reece laughed, but I stared at the bills in my hand. I had wasted so much cash on Fantasy Football over the years. I was mortified.

"Fine, then I guess you won't care if we gave the tape to your mother," Reece said, twirling the disc on her index finger. Kyle shrugged. "Go ahead. See if I give a damn."

She stood up and made her way to the door of Kyle's bedroom. Then, at the speed of a cheetah, Kyle tackled Reece to the ground and snatched the DVD from her. By the time she got up from the floor, Kyle had snapped the disc in half.

"What the hell was that for?" Reece asked, rubbing the feeling back into her arm. I put my arm around her. "You can't just tackle my girlfriend, you asshole," I said.

Kyle stepped on the broken remains of the DVD. "Finally, it's gone," he said, chucking the pieces at the wall. Reece smiled again. "Aw, you think that's the only copy," she said in a lighthearted voice.

Kyle didn't budge. "Shut up, Reece," he said. "I found the copy that was in your dresser."

"You were in my room?" she said, sounding more devastated that the disc was gone than the fact that her best friend had been sneaking around her house. "When?"

"When you and Brett were out to dinner," he said, with a conspicuous wink in my direction. I prayed that Reece didn't see it.

"How did you get the keys to my house?" she demanded.

"I didn't need them," he said. "Maverick let me in."

"No he didn't," she said. "He's been at the hospital all weekend with Paris. If you think my brother is going to miss the birth of his child to let you in my house to look for a sex tape, you're sadly mistaken."

Kyle sighed. "Fine, it was Desiree."

"That bitch," Reece mumbled. "Figures. Now my day is ruined."

"We still have dinner later," I reminded Reece, putting my arms around her. I kissed her cheek. Reece stiffened. "Shit."

"What?" I asked.

"I, wait, is this my birthday or our anniversary?" she asked, thinking hard.

I paused. "Uhm, I don't know. Both?" I said, hoping that she would decide. "Didn't you say that you were going down to UCLA on our anniversary?"

Reece nodded slowly. "Yah, and your parents are making a whole family road trip out of it," she said. "So neither one of us gets to celebrate our own anniversary."

My heart started beating. I was planning on proposing on our anniversary. If we were celebrating tonight, then I would have to propose tonight. I sat on the bed, feeling like I was going to collapse.

Reece sat next to me, noticing my rushed breathing. "Brett, are you okay?" she asked, sounding genuinely worried. I nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine," I said, forcing my voice not to crack or increase three octaves.

Kyle shot me a look. He knew exactly what was going through my mind right now. "Didn't you have to go shopping with your mom today?" Kyle asked. I nodded. "Oh yah, for my dorm," I said, catching on and thanking Kyle for the opportunity to breathe.