I screech with joy as I dump the purple bag full of candy out on the coffee table. Bear and Bug automatically jump on the pile, picking out their favorite pieces amongst the litter as they start unwrapping them and shoving them into their mouths.
"When did he drop this off?" I ask Jazzy, wondering if I just missed him.
She shrugs nonchalantly as she grabs a starburst, a coy smile on her lips. "What's in the envelope?"
I look back down at the coffee table, almost missing the crisp white envelope that is tucked under a bag of Sour Patch Kids. As I start to open it Jazzy walks around behind me, peeking over my shoulder.
"If its money, you should give it to me to pay me back for all of the gas money I've had to give my friends to drive me home since you started dating Jude." I push her off of me playfully as I pull out the cream cardstock.
"I spent hours in the store struggling to find something as sweet as you, but sadly this is all I could come up with. I guess you're the only thing that can cure my sweet tooth."
I smile down at his messy scrawl, rereading his sweet words.
"That's so..." Jazzy draws my attention away from the note, "sickeningly corny."
I push her again, tucking the note back into the envelope and putting it in my back pocket along with all of the others. "You're just jealous you don't have a man like this."
"Sis you barely even have a man like that!" Jazzy dodges out of the way of my fist as she scoops up a handful of candy and escapes upstairs to her room.
"I'm going to get Chi so you're in charge!" I yell after her, grabbing some candy for myself.
I turn the TV onto Nickelodeon, which should occupy both Bear and Bug for a while until I get back to make dinner since both of my parents are working late. Once they're taken care of I leave, nervously driving over to Shills house as I try to think of what could be in store for me.
Maybe, rose petals all over the floors? Or candles? Or...well, he already got me Chi so it's not like he could get me another puppy.
My mind struggles to think of all of the different things he could do to ask me to Ball, but as I pull up to his house I still have no idea of what's waiting for me. I get out of my car and walk up to the front porch, wondering if I should ring the doorbell or just walk inside. But a crisp white envelope taped to the door gives me a hint of what I should do next. I pull out the note, my eyes glancing over the succinct question.
"The doors unlocked. What are you waiting for?"
I take this as an invitation to go right inside, carefully pressing down on the cold handle as I push open the heavy mahogany door. Sitting in the middle of the foyer is a sparkling gold box, just small enough to fit in the palm of my hand. I look around, wondering if there is anything else waiting for me, but the house is silent and empty. So I walk forward, crouching down once I'm right in front of the box to pick it up.
The smooth velvet material is soft in my hands, my fingers easily gliding over the top as I open it.
Inside is a silver necklace with my own name spelled out in cursive letters, and covered in diamonds. I suck in a surprised breath, immediately sensing how expensive this single piece of jewelry is. I mean, my name is pretty unique, so he couldn't just pick this up last minute at Kay Jewelers or something. He had to have had this made specially.
Maybe, he really has been planning this all along?
I stand up from my crouch and start to slowly make my way up to his bedroom, assuming that's where I'm supposed to be going next. There aren't any rose petals covering the floor or scented candles lighting my path, but I'm actually relieved that there aren't. I love the fact that everything Shills done for me has been thoughtful and personal, not just that cliché shit I kept seeing at school over the past month.
Once I'm at the top of the stairs I take the hallway on the left to head to his bedroom, but he's not inside like I expected. Instead Chi is laying on the bed, licking her little grey and white paw. She has an oversized, sparkly silver bow tied loosely around her neck, making her bright blue eyes pop even more.
"Well hello my little Chiyu!" I say excitedly, holding my arms out as I wait for her to jump off the bed and run up to me. And she does just that, barking happily as she jumps on my feet until I scoop her up.
"You look so cute in that bow, baby girl," I coo at her, looking around the room to see if Shills is hiding in a corner or something.
She barks again, trying to lick at my face as she wiggles excitedly. I can't help giggling at her happiness as I look at the spot on the bed she just lying on. I see another white envelope, this time slightly crumpled since Chi was lying on it. I walk up and grab it, pulling out the cardstock to read my next clue.
"Our happily ever after is almost here. Ask Chi to lead you to me."
I look from the note, down to Chi, and then back. Can she even do that? I shrug my shoulders at the request before I put her down on the ground, hoping Shills plan doesn't go to shit this close to the ending.
"Chi baby," I snap my fingers to get her attention. "Take me to Jude. Go to Papa!"
Surprisingly Chi hops into motion, taking off at a jog out the bedroom door and down the hallway. I jog to keep up with her, following her back down the stairs and down the main hallway that leads to the back of the house. Chi stops in front of the double doors that lead to the back yard, barking at me to open them. I scoop her up into my arms again before I open the doors, stepping outside and looking around.
My eyes lock on Shills immediately. He's standing about 10 feet away in a black suit, his hair slicked back away from his face and another bouquet of flowers in his hand. But the flowers don't stop there, because there are literally dozens of flower arrangements placed around the backyard, along with tiny candles flickering sporadically.
I laugh loudly at the scene, unable to hold onto Chi as she jumps from my arms and starts running around the large grass lawn. So this is where all the flowers and candles were hiding! The smile on my face is so wide it hurts my cheeks, but I don't try to contain it as I watch Shills gather his courage to start talking.
"Kene—" Shills voice cracks in the middle of the word, forcing him to start over, "Kenedi, I know this is kind of late, but will you go to Senior Ball with me?"
I can't contain my glee any longer, throwing myself across the space between us and into his arms. He just barely catches me, managing to stay on his own two feet as I bury my face into his neck.
"It took you long enough to ask me!" I murmur into his neck.
I lean back just far enough so I can press my lips lightly against his. He kisses me back hesitantly, trying to mumble apologies in the millimeter of space that appears between our lips every few seconds.
I finally pull back so we can hold an actual conversation. "Do you know how impossible it is to find a Ball gown the week before the fucking dance? You couldn't have dropped me a hint a couple weeks ago or something?"
"I'm sorry," he apologizes, sheepishly although his eyes flicker down and to the left.
I kiss him again quickly to sooth his worries. "It's okay. I'm just happy you asked me at all."
Shills nods nervously grabbing my hand and leading me over to sit on the patio set under the awning a few feet away. He pulls an extra-large gift bag from underneath the table and shoves it into my lap, encouraging me to open it. I look at him curiously as I struggle to reach inside, wondering what else he could have possibly gotten me. My hand connects with fabric and jewels, and my mouth drops open again.
"No, you didn't!" I gasp at him, standing up and placing the bag on the table so I can pull out my last gift.
I gather into my hands a floor length, gold, fit and flair dress. The top is mostly made of a nude colored mesh, with gold jewels covering the breasts. And the entire body is a sparkling yellowish-gold, the color already making my skin pop and I haven't even put the damn thing on yet.
"Ho—when di—what th—" My brain is incapaple of stringing together a complete sentence as I stare helplessly at the beautiful creation. "Just, how?"
"Do you like it?" Shills asks, looking at the dress instead of me. "I went to like 6 different stores showing the clerks pictures of you and asking them what dresses they think would look best on you. This is the one I liked the most, so I bought it, but I put all of the other ones on reserve so if you want, tomorrow you can go look at those ones and see if you want any of them instead."
I can barely stop my chin from trembling as I look up at him in sheer awe. "I love it," I whisper, a torrid of emotions clouding my voice.
"I hope this isn't too much!" Shills says awkwardly, looking around at the flowers and candles. "I wanted to do more, but I thought that you wouldn't want me to go too overboard."
"This is perfect," I whisper, looking back down at the dress. "All of this is perfect. Thank you so much Jude."
A small smile appears on his lips as he directs me to sit down again. I do so with the dress still cradled in my hands, since I'm unable to put it down. Shills sits across from me, his hand smoothing down his already perfectly styled hair as he takes a moment to think over his words.
"I wanted to do all of this for you to show you how much I really care about you. You really deserve the world and if you'll let me I want to be the one to give it to you. I know we've only been together for a month but I've known this for a while now..." he looks away, unable to meet my eyes, "I—I love you, Kenedi."
I freeze at that, all of my joy and happiness from the moment put on pause. He's not serious, is he?
I don't know what to say in response, so I don't say anything at all. I mean, sure, I really like spending time with Shills. And I'm really happy that I've gotten to see that he's a different person than he had been at school just a couple months ago.
But...love?
Are we really at that point now, or is this just lust talking?
The silence between us has stretched on for what is more than comfortable, so I lean forward and grab Shills hand, bringing it to my lips momentarily. "Thank you for telling me how you feel. I'm happy you trust me enough to let me know that."
I'm careful with my words knowing that even though I really do care about him a lot, I can't tell him that important phrase just yet. That's not something that we can just come back from. And besides, we need to sit down and talk about our future after graduation before I take that step with him.
Shills looks at me just as carefully, the vulnerability I saw just a minute ago carefully disguised as intrigue. He waits a few more moments for me to say it back, but I allow my sentences to continue unexpanded upon. He nods slightly, before he allows himself to smile again.
"I trust you with my world. And I'm going to work on making sure that you can do the same."
I stand up and step over to sit in his lap, running my hand over his hair as I kiss his forehead. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't trust you Shills."
He nods again, his forehead brushing my lips once more. "Well, then I'll just have to work on making you love me."
I smile at that, although I'm grateful I don't have to look into his eyes at this moment. "You don't make someone love you Shills. It just...happens over time, I guess."
"Well..." Shills thinks that over for a few seconds, his hand absentmindedly intertwining with mine before he brings it up to his lips and kisses it. "Then I'll just have to make sure we have all the time in the world for it to happen."
I laugh quietly, shaking my head at the simplicity of his idea. "Sounds like a plan."
A/N I met my deadline!!!! But what did y'all think??? Were y'all getting weepy too at that cute ass promposal?? I honestly wish I had a boo in high school that would have done that shit for me. Damn.....I missed out.
And what about Shills confession of love???? Were any of you expecting that? Do you think Kenedi's reaction was appropriate? Do you think he's really in love with her, or just in lust? Do you think Kenedi is really in love and she just doesn't want to admit it?
Comment and let me know what y'all think and what you want to happen next!
Well, until next time!
Much Love,
Naomi