Key'd

Chapter 17

The girls were so surprised they nearly dropped their bats. I just stood there with my mouth hanging open.

"One second please," I called out and the girls pulled me back from the door.

"I thought you said you protected it!" Cheri whisper yelled. I nodded, not being able to answer.

"I wonder if it only protects them from taking anyone away?" Sashay speculated.

"Should I let him in?" I asked. The girls looked at each other and then back at me.

"I'll do it," Sashay straightened and Cheri and I stood behind a corner peeking out.

"Hello," Sashay said coldly.

"Hi, Sashay. Is Amberlin around?" I heard Calimo ask. "I have some things I want to give to her."

"How do I know you're not going to hurt her?" Sashay asked, threateningly.

"I won't," Calimo said confidently. Anyone who could be confident with her glare on them, was brave. And I liked brave.

"Anyone with you?" She asked looking around outside. He must've shook his head because I heard him come in and she shut the door behind him and locked it. "She's in the living room around the corner." I scampered to the couch and tried to make my hair look better then it did. Calimo turned the corner and I could barely contain my gasp. He was even more handsome than I had originally thought; his nose was perfect size for his face, his green eyes standing out from a tan face, his lips soft and smooth. I never wanted to kiss anyone more than I wanted to kiss him then. He wore a black leather jacket over a black shirt and dark wash jeans. He looked like a bad-boy, but I knew the inside was not like that. I knew almost everything about him through our messages, other than who he was. His dreams, his favorite color, how much he loved his parents and his younger siblings, and how protective he was of his little sister, that he loved to paint and write and build stuff. I knew he wanted three children, two boys and a little girl. I knew he felt like he wasn't always true to himself like when he joined the soccer team just because his friends wanted him to. And having him stand right in front of me without a mask, dressed like he would on a regular day, was almost too overwhelming.

"Hi," I was able to get out.

"Hi," Calimo answered. We just stood there looking at each other and thinking until Cheri cleared her throat.

"Oh, Calimo, you already know them but that's Sashay and Cheri," I said pointing them out. The girls were watching Calimo intently as he pulled his eyes off of me and focused on my friends. He held out his hand to both of them and they shook it, Sashay shaking a little hard. I blushed at her protectiveness, but Calimo just smiled pulling his hand away.

"Can we go somewhere a little more private?" Calimo asked. I nodded my head and grabbed his hand pulling him up the stairs.

"He better not try anything," I heard Sashay grumble and I blushed again when Calimo looked at me an raised his eyebrow.

"Sorry about my friends," I said once we got into my room. He looked around and chose the window seat to sit on. I joined him but sat farther away. I could tell he was not to happy about that, but he dealt with it. He reached into his jacket and I stiffened. I've seen tv when the guy reaches in his jacket and brings out a gun a shoots the person. Instead of a gun, Calimo brought out two white boxes with purple ribbon completing them, one a little longer than the other. He held them out to me and smiled. Man I loved that smile. I gingerly picked up both and looked at him. He gestured to the packages, and I chose the longer one first. I untied the ribbon and pulled of the lid. I could feel Calimo watching me intently, and I gasped. Inside were a pair of glass slippers, just like Cinderella's, except these were purple. He stood up and picked one of the shoes and bent down, slipped off my fuzzy slippers and placed on the glass one. It felt so cheesy, yet it was so perfect. Calimo was watching me with a slight blush on his face.

"You're my Cinderella, so I thought you needed a pair of glass slippers to make it official," he straightened up and sat down on the bench again, this time closer to me. Not moving away, I reached for the next box. Before I could get it, Calimo grabbed my hand. He brought it to his lips and kissed it. "I want you to know that no matter what happens, I will always love you." I nodded, feeling happier than I ever had, and he untied the ribbon for me and opened the box. "Amberlin, will you marry me?"