Forever Remember: The Rose Code

Chapter 17: The Proposition

The minute Tyler walked into the school store on Friday morning, Melaney slipped him my note. Here are some ideas for new inventory. Let me know what you think a.s.a.p.

To confuse Mimi's spies, Melaney had also written INVENTORY IDEAS on the outside of the folded note. On the inside, I had listed several miscellaneous items and the secret message: The order is due: Thursday, September 10th at 4:00. Translated, it meant that was the date I could sneak to Tyler's house. 

Tyler grinned as he read the note. "These are great! Everyone will buy the cartoon-character flash drives to store their research papers. I want a Speedy Gonzales." He gazed into my eyes for several seconds and then said, "I can't wait to place this order."

Me either!

The rest of the morning was pretty much a blur. I couldn't stop smiling. Every time I saw Tyler, my heart raced in anticipation of Thursday.

In celebration of my future meeting with the one and only Tyler Price, I did cartwheels across the football field during gym class, not caring who saw me.

The weather was perfect: the sun shining, a cool breeze blowing. What more could a girl ask for? I ran around the track faster than Speedy Gonzales. Nothing could stop me. Not even Mimi, who must've been absent. I hadn't seen her all morning.

At lunch, I was too happy to eat. I kept staring at Tyler out of the corner of my eye, trying not to be too obvious.

"Jasmine!" Melaney shouted.

"Huh?" I tore my gaze off of Tyler and tried to focus on Melaney's words.

"I've called your name like ten times."

I tugged on my ear lobe. "Sorry. What was the question?"

"Are your chicken nuggets okay? Emily says they taste funny."

I took a bite. "They taste the same to me."

"Yuck! How can you eat these things every day?" Emily asked, disgust evident in her tone. 

"I guess I've built up an immunity," I explained, dipping a nugget in barbeque sauce. "The sauce helps disguise the actual taste of the chicken."

Emily and Melaney stood up to throw away their uneaten food and return their trays. I disposed of mine too. 

On our way to our lockers, we saw Mimi hanging all over a tall, blond-haired, blue-eyed boy in the hallway. Mimi finally found new prey to sink her claws into, and Tyler was free at last! 

September 10th couldn't come fast enough.

* * *

I didn't have butterflies in my stomach. I had bumper cars! Way beyond nervous about stepping foot into the Price mansion for the first time, I stared in awe at the two-story fortress with stone-covered walls, white-trimmed windows, and four white pillars surrounding the impressive front doors in a semi-circle. I'd been dreaming about this day for so long.

Taking deep breaths, I trekked up the hill. The rich scent of the rose bushes on each side of the lane helped calm my nerves. I knocked on the less intimidating side door, which Tyler soon opened. "You made it."

"I was able to escape from The Rents, but I can't stay very long. You said you had something to show me."

"Yes. It's in my father's study."

He led me down a portrait-covered hallway to a large room filled floor to ceiling with book shelves on three walls and windows on the fourth. A large, polished cherry desk stood in front of the windows and held a white tri-fold poster board with a map of the western United States taped to it. Tiny red pins marked the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, and the other places I told Tyler I wanted to visit. Brochures for each destination were beside the map. I was impressed. Tyler had remembered every one I had mentioned on our first date.