The Secret Ingredient to Falling in Love

Chapter 41. All I Ever Needed.

"This is huge, okay? Huge! Are you sure you want to do this right now?"

I roll my eyes and glare at the floor, "Yes, I'm sure," I grab a bag of skittles off my desk and start chewing away, "Besides, it's better now than never, right?"

"Right," He sighs softly on the other line of the phone, "I don't even know if he'll remember." He scoffs bitterly and mutters something else under his breath.

"If he does or doesn't, either way it's going to happen." I plop down on my bed, throwing a skittle up into the air and trying to catch it in my mouth. I fail miserably when it hits the side of my mouth and bounces across the floor. Dang it, it was an orange one too.

"Yeah, you're right." He shuffles around a bit then the sound of a car ignition starting pushes through the phone, "Alright well, I'm on my way now, Cupcake."

I smile at the nickname and sit up straight, jumping off my bed and picking up the skittle, "Okay, see you soon fruit loop." I giggle when I hear him snort then hang up, my heart warming happily in excitement. I wander over to my closet to look at my shoe choices. Hmm, converse or vans today?

Definitely vans.

My phone rings loudly in my hand, scaring me half to death. I look at the caller I.D. and frown in confusion at the unknown number. Who could this be? I quickly swipe the answer button and bring it up to my ear.

"Hello?"

"Sweetie!" My Dad's excited voice answers back, "It's Dad, how're you?"

I can't help but smile softly, but my brows furrow in worry. "I'm fine, Dad, but what's this all about? Why're you calling on an unknown number?"

He laughs brightly and seems to speak away from the phone. I press the phone closer to my ear to try to understand what's being said, my mom's laugh floating through the speakers as she continues to talk with dad. He finally returns, his laughter barely controlled while he speaks. "Your dear mother decided it'd be hilarious to chuck my phone into a nearby pond, so I had to get a new one."

My mouth drops open in shock, "She what?!"

He laughs again, "Yeah, she did that. Anyways, save this number. We'll be home soon - " He stops midway and mumbles something to mom, "Your mother wants to know how things are going between you and Zander, something about making sure the ship is still afloat?" There's loud shuffling then Mom's voice is shouting near the phone,

"ZARAH ALL THE WAY!"

I snort back a laugh and cover my mouth, a wide smile making it's way across my face while I listen to my parents bicker about how 'insufferably annoying' Mom is. A loud honk sounds outside my window. I pull the phone slightly away from my ear and walk over to look out to find Zander waving up at me. I wave back and quickly turn around, bounding down the steps then out the door.

"Hey, Cupcake." Zander meets me halfway across the driveway, leaning down to kiss my cheek. I blush slightly and point towards the phone, indicating we're definitely not alone and being listened to. His eye brows furrow for a minute before his mouth forms an 'Oh' shape.
I put my phone on speaker, rolling my eyes slightly when their bickering continues.

"Mom, dad, shut up for a second would ya?" I grin down at the screen with victory when they both stop talking immediately. "Things are fine, great actually. Zander is even here now," I glance up at him quickly, motioning my phone towards him so he'll get the point.

"Hi Mr. and Mrs. Jones." He says politely, a soft smile on his lips. I can't help but stare up at him happily, my heart doing little summersaults in my chest.