Where Life Takes Us

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

W A D E

"You've got to be kidding me," I groaned out loud, my head leaning back into the passenger seat of Joey's car.

Joey, my younger sister, Audrey, and I were seated in Joey's car and pulled into a nearby mall's parking lot. It was merely a few days into the month of May, and I already knew why we were there at the mall in the first place.

I didn't realize that when Joey called me early in the morning — while I was still peacefully asleep until then — that I was signing myself up to be his personal fashion guru. I kept telling him that I knew nothing about that sort of stuff as much as I knew about hockey, but Joey persistently rambled on that he needed a new tuxedo, even though I knew why.

Only a couple days after a school day, Joey rushed over to my apartment and pleaded for my sisters and I with a last-minute prom proposal for Mel. He didn't have an idea on what his girlfriend would like, which wasn't all that surprising knowing Joey my entire life. Instead, he asked Mel for Avery's number because he thought she might've had an idea on what Joey could surprise her with, so that Mel would say yes to prom with Joey.

Long story short, Joey was able to get Mel to accept his prom proposal. I didn't have an idea to help him out because I never asked a girl to prom before at the time — let alone with a grand gesture, so I never thought that a girl like Avery would dream about the way if someone asked her to prom, unlike others who only wanted material things.

...

"Remember the flowers you're getting?" Joey's voice rang through my ear, from the speaker of my phone.

Avery and I were at a flower boutique because a bouquet of flowers was needed for Joey's plan to win Mel over. Since it was all a rushed preparation that was needed the same day, everyone had to split up.

Both my sisters went along with Joey; he convinced Audrey and Charlie to help find a humongous stuffed animal for Mel, but they were willing to accompany him anyways, as soon as Joey said "toy store." Avery and I were headed to get a bouquet of flowers and then to an arts and crafts store to get art supplies for Audrey and Charlie to create a homemade poster.

"I think so," I hazily replied, even though I had already forgotten what flowers Joey told me to get. "I'll call back later when we've got everything."

As I hung up, I walked over to Avery, who was observing the variety of flower bouquets on display. A smile lit up on her face once she noticed I was in front of her. I was a little embarrassed to tell her that I forgot the flowers we had to buy, but it was better than accidentally buying the wrong type.

"I know Joey already told us this, but do you remember the kind of flowers we were supposed to get?" I shyly questioned Avery, nervously rubbing the back of my neck.

Avery giggled, grabbing an elegant bouquet of red roses to show me. "Did you mean these?"

"Huh, classic red roses," I joked, leaning in to observe them. "Guessing your cousin likes more traditional approaches with material things?"

Avery smiled, glancing up at me. "Yeah, that's Mel for you. But I don't think material things should be the main reason why you always win someone over."