First off: THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH FOR 6K READS!!! LIKE HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE, SOMEONE EXPLAIN PLS. Next up: The story just got ranked #900 in the Teen Fiction HOW THE FUCK DID THAT HAPPEN?! anyway imma quit screaming lol thank you to every single one of you lovely faces, enjoy this long ass chapter that took me forever to write and I actually had to break it down into two chapters, here you go people, enjoy xx . . .
Standing in front of the mirror, dressed in my Great Gatsby tux, trying to sort out my bow tie whilst half smirking after I see Josh creeping up behind me, "Looks like you need some help with that, bro" he says, leaning on the door-frame, watching me fiddle with my black bow tie.
"I'm glad you find this amusing" I sarcastically say. He walks up to me, wanting to fix my bow tie, no one knows how to do a bow tie better than Josh, the real gentleman.
"My hands are shaking" he says in a slightly lower tone.
"You nervous?" I ask him. So I am to be honest, I've never liked a girl as much as I like Melanie and me going to prom with her just makes everything official, everyone will know that we're going out for sure, which I'm kinda glad about because it takes the weight off of my shoulders, knowing that guys won't look at her twice because she's with me, but being a guy myself, I know it's tricky having a girlfriend as hot as Melanie, and not just hot, but smart as well.
Before when she was still part of the geeky squad, nobody really noticed her, that's including myself, but knowing what guys are like, they'll probably provoke me by wanting to steal my girl and that's not gonna happen any time soon.
"Yeah. I mean, I've never really had a proper girlfriend before and now that I'm dating a girl that I'm genuinely interested in, I'm getting these bad vibes that people will want us to break up because I'm on the football team and she's in a Mathematics club. Two different worlds" As if he took the words right outta my mouth, it's true though, nobody would have predicted we'd end up dating the smart girls.
"I feel you" I sigh.
"You look sexy" he jokes around and walks up to my bed to sit on it, I let out a laugh as I look into the big mirror once again, thinking that the bow tie is just about perfect, "Well don't know I that already?" I respond, cocking my eyebrows at him.
"We good to go for the girls then?" he asks me being impatient, "Whoa calm down dude, you'll see her in 20 minutes" I tease him and I see a tiny bit of red colour coming through his skin on his cheeks, to which I laugh at.
"Come on then, you impatient dick" I clap on his back, leading him downstairs.
We grab the flowers from the kitchen table that we bought for our dates and head straight towards the car that I rented out, a black Rolls Royce Ghost 6.6L, year 2013. I bought 24 red roses for Melanie because I read on the internet that it means; you're always on my mind, it stands for the twenty-four hours of the day, and says that the loved one is thought of during every hour of the day. I just hope she likes them and knows what they actually mean too. She's a smart girl though, she'll figure it out. Josh on the other hand, bought 50 roses in total, 40 white roses and 10 lavender roses which are shaped in a love heart, apparently lavender roses mean love at first sight, which is a true statement in his situation.
We get in the car, feeling like bosses as we put our shades on and fasten our seatbelts, I start the engine and it makes a really loud growling noise, making my grin wider than Grinch's. Before we drive off, I put the radio on, turning it up to the maximum, ready to pick my girl up.
3 months earlier
We were in the P.E. changing rooms, putting our football uniforms on as we heard principal Lane speaking through the school's speakers, "Good morning students of Oakland High, this message is to all the seniors, we are finally allowed to give out information about this year's prom. The prom committee decided that this year's theme is going to be in the style of The Great Gatsby, all of you must wear formal clothing. You can get the tickets at the box office during lunch time, up until all of the tickets are sold. It is going to be located in the local Art Museum that you all went to for a school trip recently."
As soon as the principal gave us the information we've all been waiting for, oh my god's, finally's and yes' echoed throughout the whole changing room.
"And I forgot to mention that we are joining this year's prom with Merlyn Hill High because of our amazing football team being this years best, top charted football team out of all the high schools in California"
Before she said another word, all of the boys in this changing room, including me, started excitedly shouting and patting each others backs, everyone being proud of what we achieved, we all came together and got into one massive group hug. Separating from everyone else, the football team stood around in a smaller circle as I put my hand in first and all of the football members repeated me, on the count of three we all raised our hands up, exclaiming 'Go sharks!' before everyone started chanting 'Oakland High'.
"-For those of you who'd like to know more about what's happening, please come to the main hall during your first break, we'll also be selling the first tickets. Thank you" Principal Lane continued speaking. When she finished, we all went back to getting changed because the our P.E. teacher Mr. O'Connor, who's also our coach, won't be happy if we're late.
"Oh my god, dude, I can't believe we're going to have our prom with Merlyn Hill High!" Michael excitedly shouted right into my ear-drums, clutching onto my red and white football shirt, making me cover my ears up with my hands, "Mind warning me when you wanna scream right into my ear next time? Anyway, what's the big deal?" I've never seen Michael so excited before, he's like a girl who just received the most expensive shoes on the planet.
"Bro, that's where Melanie's cousin goes to" Oh yeah, Eve. He says as if it was so obvious.
"Gotta ask her out before anyone else does then" I raise one of my eyebrows at him, a smile playing at the corners of my mouth. "Don't worry, Dylan, I'm already buying her a ticket, I've got this" he confidently says and I shake my head because his statement is true, he has got it.
Unlike all the other guys, I've got one less job to do because I already asked Melanie, all that's left now is buying two tickets, which I'll do right after this lesson, buy myself a classy tux in the great gatsby theme of course, book a limousine and buy a wrist corsage for Melanie, seems cool.
After our P.E. lesson with coach O'Connor, we went back to the changing rooms, the lesson was very tiring, he's a massive fan of New York Mets, so he made us play two rounds of baseball.
I take a very quick shower in the football changing rooms, and so does the rest of the team, I guess the others will just have to use a deodorant because they're not permitted to the football team changing rooms, which is where the showers are.
Because it's break time, me and Michael go straight to the main hall to buy the prom tickets, I heard that the first ones are cheaper, but when we open the door to the main hall we already see people crowding around the little desk with a girl sitting in front of it, she's probably the one who got asked to sell the tickets, she has to keep records of who exactly bought them, so and so on.
"How do you even know that Eve will go with you? Someone might have already asked her, you never know" I ask Michael while we're standing in the line for the tickets.
"After how I'm going to ask her to prom, she won't hesitate to say yeah" he confidently says while smirking, I just shake my head and smile as well. We get to the front, finally, and I pay for two tickets and so does Michael.
"So when are we buying our tuxes?" I ask him as soon as we headed out towards the canteen to meet the others, "We can go in like two weeks time or something like that, we've still got more than three months to get everything sorted." I just nod in agreement.
2 months earlier
4 weeks after getting the tickets, I find myself in the mall with the other guys, picking out the right tuxedo for prom. Not that I need to have a perfect tuxedo because I'm the main attraction and all the attention goes to me anyway, besides that, anything I put on looks sexy on me, not to brag.
We go to this french boutique selling mens wear only and through the shop's window, we can see that they sell many suits, tuxes and other formal clothing. We go inside, greeting the girl behind the counter, that looks like she's in the same age range as us. From the corner of my eyes, I see her staring me up and down while biting her lip. Sorry kid, I'm taken.
Since Alex already has his tux at home because he was a smart ass and order it online, which we didn't want to do because we were too fussy about trying it on, thinking that the tux won't fit us, or the chances of receiving a completely different tux than ordered. I don't trust online shopping, especially for occasions like this one. Luckily, Alex's tux came bang on time, fits him and looks exactly like it was shown on the website too, it's a very classy looking tuxedo I must say.
"Yo, Dylan, whatcha think?" Johnny held up a dirty brown-ish suit, looking at me with the please-tell-me-it-looks-good-because-I'm-tired-of-looking-for-more-suits expression on his face, I lightly chuckle and shrug my shoulders, "I don't know, ask Michael or your bro, they're the experts". He sighed from annoyance and walked up to his brother because Michael was busy in the fitting rooms, trying all sorts of different suits.
After three and a half hours of shopping, Michael gave me a lift home. I decided with to go with a classic black suit with a slightly lighter off black waistcoat that has silvery-purple kinda stripes going down, to match that, I chose a classic white shirt and a jet black bow tie, with a white pocket handkerchief to contrast it with the black blazer, with that I chose to go with some classic black patent tuxedo shoes.
Johnny went with a grey suit, which looks really boss on him, he combined it with some black shoes and a black top hat, he also bought a long grey coat and a white scarf as an accessory. It looked pretty stylish when he tried it on. Michael on the other hand decided to screw the prom theme and went with whatever he thought he looks best in, all black, even the shirt and of course a jet black bow tie. Josh took the theme to the extreme, he bought a brown tweed suit, a maroon tie to go with it and a maroon handkerchief, it looked pretty cool though.
I never wanna go to the mall ever again, I don't want to see shops with clothes for a very long period of time. I open the front door to my house with bags in my hands and then close it behind me, walking straight into the living room without taking my shoes off, when I find my mom sitting on the sofa, crying.
I instantly rush over to sit next to her and take her hands into mine. "What's wrong mom? Where's dad?" I burst out, wanting to know the answers as to why my mother is alone in the house, crying.
"He's in work, Dylan, it's not that" she says in between her sobs, "What is it then?" I ask trying to look her in the eyes but her eyes are fixed on the corner of our white rug that's underneath the living room table.
"You know you can tell me, right mom?" I ask wanting her to open up to me, she just nods as more tears start falling to her cheeks, she then parts her lips to speak but nothing comes out.
I pull her into a side hug, squeezing her in my arms tightly as I place my chin on top of her head. Only seconds later I feel her tears drop onto my arm, so I bring my hand up to her face to wipe her tears away with the back of my hand.
She then takes a deep breath in and slowly exhales, calming herself down a bit, "I've lost the ba- I've lost the baby, Dylan" she closes her eyes in sorrow, wrapping her own arms around my waist to get comfort, her tears instantly drench my t shirt when she turned her head around and buried her head into my chest, I don't know what to say, so I just start caressing her arm with my hand in an up and down motion.
"It's not your fault mom" I whisper and she tries catching her breath from the weeping, not much longer till her room fills up with a lot more whimpers and snivels.
"I- I... They also" She tried speaking but it was too hard for her right now, I can understand why though, "It's okay mom" I try calming her down, still caressing her arm up and down.
She then took a tissue out from her pocket and blew her nose, then opened her mouth ready to continue speaking, "The- They said it was a miracle I got p-p- pregnant"
I think it was the right time to let her speak. To let her say what's bothering her because my mom is the kind of person who doesn't say anything until she can't keep in inside anymore. So I let her talk.
"I got diagnosed with cancer a...after I had- that mild hear- heart attack"
At this point I didn't know what to do. I froze on the spot. I stopped caressing her arm immediately. Stopped blinking, my eyes were wide open and I stopped breathing for a while. It was like someone just stuck a knife in my chest 18 times and the longer I didn't blink, the more watery my eyes went.
"M-mom?..." I faintly said, almost unable for anyone to hear me, "Does... Does dad know?" I continued, not knowing what else to expect. She wrapped her arms around my waist tighter, rubbing my back, like she did when I was little and used to be afraid of things.
"D-Dylan, I-I'm. . . so sorry" she apologises sincerely, but really it should be me who should be apologising for not being there for her, leaving her all alone in the house by herself at nights while I used to go to parties, not caring whether I hurt someone else because I thought I was hurt, or because I was sick and tired of hearing mum and dad arguing every night. Well now I know what it's like to be mistaken by feeling hurt, because hurt isn't a strong enough word to describe what I'm feeling right now.
I softly close my eyes, processing everything that's going on right now, my cheeks soaking up the warm tears that are strolling down like waterfalls.
"Were you ever planning on telling me?" I say, collecting the courage to ask. She just shakes her head and averts her eyes away from me, probably feeling guilt, at least that's what I'm feeling right now. I'm in such a shock that I didn't even realise my mom started crying once again but started biting her tears back because she saw me crying too, which is very unusual.
I'm not a crier, so when I do cry, you know I'm really hurt. I got diagnosed with cancer. I got diagnosed with cancer. The words kept ringing inside my head, making me ignore what was going on right now, it was like my heart shattered into pieces each time that sentence rang throughout my mind.
"I'm sorry, Dylan. . . I'm so sorry"
"It's okay mom, it's not your fault. We'll get through this, together" I assured her, using the same sentence Melanie once told me. I kissed the top of her head and wiped the rest of her tears that came out, "We'll get through this, okay?" I started swaying from side to side, until she fell asleep.
1 week later - Eve's POV
My last lesson finally finished and I can go home now, I had Maths, someone just shoot me right now. I make my way towards my locker with my friend Amanda. I open my locker and a piece of paper falls out, I crouch to the ground to pick it up and see that it has something written all over it in red.
CLUE ONE
I read out and impatiently unfolded the paper.
Wanna play a game?
Come find me in your back yard at exactly 3.25pm,
Good luck!
"Looks like you got a secret admirer" Amanda smirks at me and I'm lost for words, all I can do now is just let my wide smile take over my face.
With that I hurriedly close my locker and make my way home, I love playing games like this, I find it attractive. I wonder who the person in my back yard is, first off, it definitely has to be someone who knows me very well to know that I like playing adventures and second, it's definitely someone from school.
I get to my back yard, but see no one there. Then it strikes me to look inside my dads tool shed where he always works on his wooden furniture, majority of the furniture in our house is hand-made by my dad, he's got a talent as he likes to say.
I walk into the shed and hear an alarm clock ringing throughout the whole shed, I sharply turn my head into the direction of the sound. I soon spot the red and white alarm clock on top of a wooden box, so I make my way towards it to open it up.
This time there's a white envelope with bold red writing on it -CLUE TWO- Â I then open the envelope that has another folded piece of paper in it, so I take it out and read it to myself -
Just like Mickey needs Minnie and Tiger needs Pooh, I need ...
I read it over and over in my head and then realise it rhymes. Then it clicks in my head. The answer is you.
I start searching through the wooden box to find some more clues but I don't, so I start looking around the shed. I look underneath the worktop, in my dad's drawers, closets and even in his tools, but I can't find anything. I sit down in frustration and just when I thought I lost, I see a picture hanged beside the window.
I make my way towards the picture that I'm pretty sure was never even up here, I take the picture down revealing another white envelope with the letter U written in bold red writing again. Smart move.
I open the envelope and began to read
CLUE THREE
Riddle me this:
What do singers use during concerts?
I'll give you a hint: it starts with the letter M and finishes with the letter E
Say your answer out loud in 3. . . 2. . . 1
"That's easy, microphone" I say out loud, thinking am an idiot for actually playing along.
"Wrong."
I instantly turn towards the person who just spoke up, seeing Michael standing only a few feet away from me, dressed in a black suit, holding a single red rose in his hand and another white piece of paper with PROM? written in red bold writing in his other hand.
"The answer is Mike" he says stepping closer to me, his signature smirk spread across his face. I give off a light chuckle coming closer to him myself, I bring my hands up to his neck and interlock my fingers behind him. Standing on my tip toes, I get closer to his face than ever, "All this effort just to ask me to prom?"
"Is that a yes?" he whispers into my lips, looking straight at them while I'm looking into his eyes that are burning with fire.
I smile into his lips, stepping onto my tip toes even more so I could reach his lips. My hands that are wrapped around his neck pull him lower, until his lips connect with mine and he lowers his head even more making me stand straight on my feet again.
My hands find a way into his hair as we progress our kiss into a more heated and passionate making out session. He slides his hands from my neck down to my waist and pulls me closer to him by interlinking his fingers together and I can feel the stem of the red rose on my lower back.
We pull away, both breathing heavily as I take in his strong fresh cologne and smile to myself as he brings the rose up to my nose and I lightly sniff it, taking in the smell.
"I take that as a yes" he says before winking at me.
"You little cocky dick" I insult him and he starts laughing, exposing his perfect white teeth that I sometimes, just sometimes want to punch. "It means yes" I then finish the sentence, smelling on my red rose further more.
"How did you know I like red roses?" I ask as we're walking out from the shed.
"I didn't." he chuckles.
"And how did you put the note into my locker... and got here?" I shoot more questions at him.
"Let's just say I have a few connections" he smirks. "Oh, one more surprise..." he says as he goes behind my back while taking his black tie off. I sigh because I hate surprises. Games, yes, but surprises, no.
He then ties my eyes with his black tie and his hand slips into mine. He leads me somewhere by my hand and I can't believe I'm actually excited to see this surprise of his. He then lets go of my hand scaring me a bit, "Okay, open your eyes!" he commands and I do as being told, which is hardly ever that I do.
I take the tie off of my eyes, being slightly blinded by the sunlight but then seconds later my eyes adjust to the light. I see Michael sitting on a blanket that's laid on our perfectly green grass in our back garden, food placed all over the blanket, including pizza.
I smile and walk up to him, taking my shoes off while I sit on the blanket with him, "I didn't know you were such a romantic" I state and he just giggles, which I find ah-dorable.
I open the pizza box to see a 16inch margherita shaped in a love heart and notice a yellow sticky note that says Please? stuck to the cardboard box. I give him a look of confusion and he immediately takes the note and scrunches it up, "That was in case you would have said no".
I laugh and then look at him in the eyes, he's too cute, "Why did you think I would say no?" I ask, "I knew you were gonna say yes, I mean how can you not? But it was just in case, you never know. Always have a back up plan" he explains.
We continue eating the pizza in my back garden until it's gone and all that's left is the crusts. We then decide to play some music on my iPod, "You know I can't dance?" he states as if it was a crime, but actually it is because how the hell am I going to dance with him during prom?
With that single sentence I get up and extend an arm for him to reach, I can see he hesitates to take it, but he does it anyway. "It's easy, just follow my lead" I assure him and he nods in agreement.
I wrap my arms around his neck before placing his hands on my waist, I then start swaying from side to side and he does the same, only he pulls me a little closer to him making me smile.
Girl you know I want your love,
Your love was handmade for somebody like me,
Come on now follow my lead,
I may be crazy, don't mind me.
He then takes a step forwards making me take a step backwards and then repeats his moves, taking me by surprise when he spins me around and places his hands on my hips again, "I thought you said you can't dance" I say to him, raising my eyebrow.
"I lied." he winks at me with a full smirk written all over his face.
Say boy, let's not talk to much,
Grab on my waist and put that body on me.
Come on now follow my lead,
Come, come on now follow my lead.
At this point I started quietly singing the song with Ed Sheeran, while Michael's eyes were fixed on me.
I'm in love with the shape of you,
We push and pull like a magnet do.
Although my heart is falling too,
I'm in love with your body.
We continued dancing to the song until it finished. This might just be my favourite day of all time.