The Cliche Gone Wrong

Chapter Fifty-five

I screech with joy as I dump the purple bag full of candy out on the coffee table. Bear and Bug automatically jump on the pile, picking out their favorite pieces amongst the litter as they start unwrapping them and shoving them into their mouths.

"When did he drop this off?" I ask Jazzy, wondering if I just missed him.

She shrugs nonchalantly as she grabs a starburst, a coy smile on her lips. "What's in the envelope?"

I look back down at the coffee table, almost missing the crisp white envelope that is tucked under a bag of Sour Patch Kids. As I start to open it Jazzy walks around behind me, peeking over my shoulder.

"If its money, you should give it to me to pay me back for all of the gas money I've had to give my friends to drive me home since you started dating Jude." I push her off of me playfully as I pull out the cream cardstock.

"I spent hours in the store struggling to find something as sweet as you, but sadly this is all I could come up with. I guess you're the only thing that can cure my sweet tooth."

I smile down at his messy scrawl, rereading his sweet words.

"That's so..." Jazzy draws my attention away from the note, "sickeningly corny."

I push her again, tucking the note back into the envelope and putting it in my back pocket along with all of the others. "You're just jealous you don't have a man like this."

"Sis you barely even have a man like that!" Jazzy dodges out of the way of my fist as she scoops up a handful of candy and escapes upstairs to her room.

"I'm going to get Chi so you're in charge!" I yell after her, grabbing some candy for myself.

I turn the TV onto Nickelodeon, which should occupy both Bear and Bug for a while until I get back to make dinner since both of my parents are working late. Once they're taken care of I leave, nervously driving over to Shills house as I try to think of what could be in store for me.

Maybe, rose petals all over the floors? Or candles? Or...well, he already got me Chi so it's not like he could get me another puppy.

My mind struggles to think of all of the different things he could do to ask me to Ball, but as I pull up to his house I still have no idea of what's waiting for me. I get out of my car and walk up to the front porch, wondering if I should ring the doorbell or just walk inside. But a crisp white envelope taped to the door gives me a hint of what I should do next. I pull out the note, my eyes glancing over the succinct question.

"The doors unlocked. What are you waiting for?"

I take this as an invitation to go right inside, carefully pressing down on the cold handle as I push open the heavy mahogany door. Sitting in the middle of the foyer is a sparkling gold box, just small enough to fit in the palm of my hand. I look around, wondering if there is anything else waiting for me, but the house is silent and empty. So I walk forward, crouching down once I'm right in front of the box to pick it up.

The smooth velvet material is soft in my hands, my fingers easily gliding over the top as I open it.

Inside is a silver necklace with my own name spelled out in cursive letters, and covered in diamonds. I suck in a surprised breath, immediately sensing how expensive this single piece of jewelry is. I mean, my name is pretty unique, so he couldn't just pick this up last minute at Kay Jewelers or something. He had to have had this made specially.

Maybe, he really has been planning this all along?

I stand up from my crouch and start to slowly make my way up to his bedroom, assuming that's where I'm supposed to be going next. There aren't any rose petals covering the floor or scented candles lighting my path, but I'm actually relieved that there aren't. I love the fact that everything Shills done for me has been thoughtful and personal, not just that cliché shit I kept seeing at school over the past month.