It was a nice day out; the sun was still shining brightly, but not too hot, the breeze whizzing past me softly and making my hair sway lightly. Grace was cuddled snugly into my arm, while my other arm was carrying her carrier, and my backpack secured on my back. The school yard was still filled with a bunch of students, but it was no longer too crowded as it was almost four o'clock already.
Jonah told me to let Grace loose when I knew it was time. But how would I know when it was?
I cooed to Grace as she snuggled deeper into my arm. "Where should I let you loose, huh, love?"
She meowed in response, and I smiled back at her. God, she was so cute.
From the school entrance, there was this certain stone path that went along to the back side of the school building. Because I didn't know where else to go, I just followed the path, looking for something that could be the sign to drop Grace off.
Then suddenly, I saw a suspicious looking paper coffee cup sitting on the grass next to the stone path. I said suspicious because it just sat there without any reason, and also because it had the name of my family diner on it.
It was a paper cup from the diner.
I immediately crouched down, putting the carrier down on the ground and inspected the cup. Slipped under the cup, there was a small paper, the same kind of paper that I found on Grace. So I took it out without lifting the cup, and read what was written.
Don't let her out of your sight.
(You can leave your stuff here.)
So I carefully dropped my backpack next to the carrier while still holding Grace. Before I let her down onto the ground, I took the cup. It was still warm.
"Careful, Grace," I said. "Don't run too fast."
When she began sniffing and meowing at something, I realized that there, right beside the stone path, were pieces of dry cat food, spread into a long line that formed its own path. Grace munched on the piece of dry food, and once she finished swallowing, she lightly ran to the next piece of food about a man's step far, and it kept going on like that.
While following her, I took a sip of the drink and smile. Green tea latte; the first drink Jonah had ever made me. It was warm outside, but I drank the latte anyway.
Then Grace began to steer away from the stone path. I curiously followed, still sipping into my drink. Slowly, I began to recognize the surroundingâGrace and I were on our way to the little garden in the back of the school building. The last time I went here was last school year, for some biology assignment. I remembered that the garden was pretty; it had a bunch of different flowers and plants ranging from the small ones to human-sized.
The gate to the garden was closed, but not locked, so I pushed it open and let Grace lead me the way. The cat food was still spread, far into the garden. Finally, she stopped under the small water fountain in the middle of the garden, and I noticed that there was a bowl of cat food there where Grace was happily eating from.
My heartbeat began to speed up as I realized that this was the destination. This was it, and it was obvious now. It felt like a scene from a cheesy movie, but I couldn't help but feel the warmth that began to spread onto my cheeks. I hid the smile that I couldn't hold back by taking a long sip of my latte, before sighing.
I was here. So now what?
I glanced at Grace, still calmly eating, so I figured that it was alright if I left her to look around the garden.
I checked each one of the flowers to my sides, finding nothing on them, no more notes with Jonah's handwriting. I went over to the collections of daisies, hoping to find something there, but then I realized that he didn't even know that those were my favorite kind of flower, so he wouldn't put something (cough, a ring, cough) over here.
Once I went over to the collections of cactuses in small pots (cactuses? Cacti? How the hell do you call a bunch of cactus?), it was then that I found another folded paper peeking among the pots.
I hope you like cactus. I figured you do, since it matches your personality.
I snorted out loud before continuing to read the other lines.
Take your favorite flower since I don't know which one is yours. Pretend that it was me who gave it to you or whatever. Or don't at all, I don't really care. Go back to Grace.
I smirked in amusement, before standing up and going back to the daisies, taking one that was already picked out from the ground.
I went back to Grace, pausing to rub the back of her neck gently. Jonah must have put something around here, so I looked around Grace. I found another piece of paper under her bowl.
Stand up and turn around.
I felt like my heart had stopped and all the air in my lungs sucked out, leaving me breathless. I counted to ten inside my head before I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to calm the pounding inside my chest. Finally, I turned around.
Jonah stood there, a few meters away from where I stood, my bag and Grace's carrier in both of his hands. He dropped them next to his feet and then put both of his hands into his pocket.
He had been following me, I realized. That was why he told me to drop my stuff earlier.
I studied him without giving away anything from my face. His hair was messy as usual, and he was dressed in jeans and a simple black button-up shirt, with the first two buttons open, revealing the white shirt he had under. There wasn't a hint of smile on his face, which wasn't surprising, but at least his eyes weren't glaring. His whole face was neutral, and I hoped to god mine was as well.
I broke eye contact to turn around and put the cup I had been holding next to Grace, before standing up straight again. Once I stood up, Jonah was already a few steps closer to me, and my breath slightly hitched in surprise.
His eyes moved to the flower in my hand, and it was only then that a smirk formed on his lips. "Should've known."
I rolled my eyes. "I'm not an open book, Gibbs."
"Are too," he simply said, taking another two steps closer. I stood where I stood, trying not to snort. If I really was an open book, he would've known that I didn't actually dislike him. And then he cleared his throat, his cheeks slightly reddening. "Just so you know, I didn't skip school because of this whole thing," he clarified.
My lips turned into a smirk. "Mmhm."
He glowered at me. Ahh. There was the lovely glower I had started to miss. "I had something to do first before I got to school for this shâthing."
When he corrected himself from almost spitting out a cuss word, it was only that I realized that this was being recorded. Where the camera was, I had no idea. But it made me feel sort of self-conscious, and so I wrapped my arms around myself.
"So now what?" I asked, because the weight of his gaze on me was starting to make me feel uncomfortable.
He shrugged. "Have you finished your latte?"
I eyed him suspiciously and then shook my head. "No."
"You should," he said simply.
It wasn't an order, but I turned to take the cup anyway. Still eyeing him weirdly, I gulped down the rest of the drink, but it was completely empty. I had expected for a ring inside once he told me to finish the drink, but there was none. I give him a questioning look. He shrugged at me, but his eyes were staring pointedly at the empty cup.
I lifted the lid of the cup open, and looked inside. Sure enough, at the bottom of the cup, I saw something written.
Water.
"All these cryptic messages are driving me crazy," I muttered my thought out loud. Jonah only smirked.
Water, water, water. What the hell is up with water?
The only water I could see around me was the water from the small water fountain in front of me. So I gave Jonah one last glance before inspecting the fountain.
I reached into the shallow pool of water, feeling around for something. And then there was that, a small object shaped like a circle with a hole, and my whole body completely froze.
I took it out of the water, and a small gasp escaped from my lips.
It was a ring made from thin wires, silver and golden colored. The ends of the wires, I supposed, were twisted around to shape two small full circles, as the substitute diamond on top of the ring. It was simple, yet so beautiful. It wasn't the kind of ring that you could see in storesâit was the kind of ring that you would make by yourself.
Did Jonah made this by himself?
Before I could turn around, a voice spoke behind me, just a few inches away from my ear. "Does this top his proposal?"
A smile blossomed on my face, but as usual, I tried to hide it. "Hmm, I don't know. Are you even proposing to me?"
He tsked, and then I felt his presence gone. Confused, I turned around, only to see him kneeling down in front of me with a look of complete annoyance on his face. I burst out laughing as he rolled his eyes, gesturing for me to put the ring on his open palm.
"Hannah whatever-your-middle-name-is Taylors," he said sourly. "Will you fake-marry me and not ruin my senior project grades?"
I let the laughter out until it slowly subsided, and then nodded at him with a smirk. "Fake-marrying you would be a pleasure."
He looked pleased that I wasn't rejecting his proposal again, so I held out my left finger, and let him slip the ring. I held my breath as I felt his hands lightly holding mine so he could get the ring into my finger, but then his skin left mine shortly after.
I brought my left hand up so I could admire the ring on my finger, and I couldn't help but smile at him, who was slowly standing up. "Did you make it yourself?"
He shrugged.
"It's actually not bad, Gibbs. Where did you get the idea?"
He shrugged, brushing the dust off his jeans. "Here and there," he answered vaguely.
I grinned, before feeling something brushing against my feet, and I looked down to see Grace snuggling, her bowl empty. I lifted her up and held her in my arm. "Don't tell me she's mine," I said, though my voice held a tinge of hopefulness.
He snorted, taking Grace away from me and holding it against his chest gently. I almost swooned at the sight of him with Grace, but I tried to control myself. "She's my sister's."
I pouted, disappointment rushing through my body. "Aw. She's beautiful."
He looked down at Grace and she stared back at him, and then meowed. A ghost of a smile appeared on his face. "She is. But she's not yours."
"Can we possibly share her?"
He looked at me as if I was the weirdest thing on earth. "No."
"Come on! We're gonna be sharing a crying doll together anyway!"
He grimaced at the thought of the fake baby. "Still no."
"You're not cool," I huffed childishly, but he only scoffed before turning around.
"Never said I was," he said as he walked away. I rolled my eyes, watching as he grabbed a camera from behind a ceramic pot as well as Grace's carrier.
I let him walk away so I could be by myself in the small, beautiful garden. Once I was sure that he was already gone, I let the biggest smile spread wide on my face, and I squealed into my hands.
I was (fake) engaged to Jonah.
It finally happened!
I stared at the ring on my finger with great admiration, slowly brushing my thumb against the small circles at the top. I brought my hand to my chest and squealed again.
I grabbed the daisy and finally walked out of the garden, grabbing my bag on the ground along the way, with a noticeable bounce in my steps.
I was engaged!