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Chapter 22
Danielle's View
"I can't believe this! He can't be serious!" I exclaimed.
"I don't think he's joking Dani," Elizabeth said.
"He's gotta be! This is just too unreal! What am I supposed to say to him!?"
"Here's a little hint, how about 'yes' or 'no'?" Brian joked. I smacked his arm and picked up the letter again. I read it over and then turned it over to see if there was anymore writing. There was.
"He wrote more...I don't even want to read it," I said putting my head in my hands and dropping the letter. Elizabeth picked it up and said, "I'll read it then."
OK, I know what you're doing right about now. You're probably going 'OMG, he can't be serious! He's joking!' I'm not Danielle. I'm dead serious with this. It's not like I want to get married right off the bat. The ring is like a promise ring kind of. It tells us that we'll be together forever and someday we will get married. It's not a total engagement ring so please don't panic on me. I just thought it would be nice to have, you know? It just promises that we'll be together. Anyway, I'll talk to you later all right? Happy Valentine's Day and Happy Anniversary Sweetie. I love you!
Love always
and forever,
Jason
"So...it's not an engagement ring?" I asked.
"It's like half engagement ring, half promise ring. To be honest, I think this is a great idea. It's very sweet too," Elizabeth said setting down the letter and picking up the ring.
"Yeah, fabulous idea!" Brian said. I looked at him and he seemed pale.
"Are you OK Bri?" I asked.
"Huh? Oh yeah, yeah I'm fine," he said.
"I think I'm gonna go to my room and watch some TV. Wanna come?" I asked.
"Nah, I'm kinda tired from wrestling with you over that candy bar earlier," Brian said.
"All right, I'll see you tomorrow night at dinner then?" I asked.
"Yup," he smiled. He then took Elizabeth's hand and pulled her into the hotel room. She set down the ring and waved to me before the door closed. I smiled, sighed, and packed everything back in the box. I then got up and made my way to my room. When I got inside the room, I closed the door behind me and then made my way over to the bed. I turned on the TV and plopped on the bed opening the box once more. I took out the pillow and the stuffed animal and looked at them.
"I don't know what to do," I said softly to myself. I sat up and hugged the teddy bear to myself. I looked out the window to the gloomy sky above and sighed heavily. Normally I would be thrilled out of my mind to receive something like this but Brian wouldn't move out of my mind. I wanted to tell him how I felt about him but I was too afraid to.
"Love sucks," I mumbled and then laid down on the bed and closed my eyes. I needed to take a nap.
Brian's View
"I think Danielle and Jason are moving too quickly," I said as I sat on the end of the bed.
"Really? I don't think so. They've been going out for a long time and I think what he did was sweet! It's not like their engaged Brian," Elizabeth said putting her hair up in a pony tail.
"They're close to it!" I said. I wasn't happy about this at all.
"Honey, why are you acting like this? It's not the end of the world. She's one of your good friends and you should be happy for her," she said sitting next to me on the bed. I looked at her and took her hand.
"I am happy for her, I just don't want her to make a bad decision," I said quietly. She slightly smiled at me and kissed my cheek.
"Don't worry about it. She's a smart girl and she wouldn't do something stupid. You know that."
"Yeah," I sighed. She kissed my cheek once more and then got up and went to the bathroom. I laid back on the bed and closed my eyes. Today started out terrific. Danielle and I had so much fun together but when that package came everything just totally crashed down and started to burn. I really thought something was going to happen. Or it was just wishful thinking. Now things are ruined and I don't know what to do. I wanted to tell Danielle how I felt...I was going to tomorrow but now I can't. There's no way I can. If I do, I'll ruin everything! and for what? Nothing. Maybe not nothing because she'll finally know how I feel but...I would be risking a lot of stuff. I didn't want to risk anything but when it comes to love you sometimes have to. I'm just going to talk to AJ and Howie about this and see what they think. I'm not going to yet, I will after Valentine's Day.
I decided to sleep on it. Maybe if I get some sleep I'll actually know what to do. At least, I'm hoping.
The Next Night
"This is one nice restaurant," Colleen said sitting down in a chair.
"Yeah it is! Why exactly did we come here?" Darlene asked taking a seat next to her.
"Cause we like the food and they know us here and they serve us well," I said pulling back a chair for Elizabeth. She sat down and I pushed her in. Danielle was about to sit down next to Nick when I rushed over and held the chair. She smiled and laughed lightly and said, "Thanks."
"Welcome Sis," I smiled. I then went over and sat next the Elizabeth. We were seated around a round table. It was me, Elizabeth, Howie, AJ, Sophia, Darlene, Colleen, Danielle, Nick, and then Kevin.
We talked for a little while and ordered our food. Our food just came a few minutes ago and we were all beginning to eat.
"Brian, what were you going to announce tonight?" Kevin asked looking at me. I looked up at him and then around the table. All the guys seemed to know about the announcement but the girls looked confused. Danielle set down her fork and looked at me questionably.
"Um," I coughed and then began again, "I have an announcement to make...kind of."
AJ looked at me and shook his head. Howie just looked down at his food. Nick just starred at me with the look of saying 'Don't do it.' I sighed and stood up. Elizabeth just starred at me confused.
"So what is it?" Kevin asked. He was the only one that didn't know what it was...well him and all the girls besides Sophia. She was there with AJ when I told him what I was going to do.
"Elizabeth, can you come here for a moment?" I asked. She put her napkin on the table and then got up out of her chair. I nervously reached in my pant pocket and pulled out a velvet box. I then looked up into Elizabeth's eyes. She smiled at me as I got down on one of my knees.
"Elizabeth, I've been thinking about this for a while and I've finally decided to do it. We've been together for quite awhile and I've fallen in love with you. Will you be my wife and marry me?" I asked opening up the box and looking up at her. She squealed and exclaimed, "Yes!"
I smiled at her and stood up wrapping her in a hug. Applause was going off around the table and I looked over to see their reaction. The guys were clapping but with not much enthusiasm, Kevin just sat there shocked, Colleen and Darlene were clapping lightly with smiles on their faces, and Danielle...she just sat there, her face looking pale.
"Excuse me," she said and then got up heading over to the restrooms. Darlene and Colleen looked after her concerned and then got up going after her. The clapping stopped and everything went silent.
"What just happened?" I asked. All the guys shrugged and looked down or looked around the restaurant.
"It's probably lady trouble," AJ said.
"Ohhhh, all right," I said. "Should I go check up on her?"
"No, she'll be fine," Sophia said.
"OK," I said and then sat back down. Elizabeth sat down also. I was hoping she was OK. I'm guessing it had something to do with my proposal to Elizabeth. I'm not sure though...I was kind of hoping it did have something to do with it because then I could finally see if she felt the same way about me as I did her. I was wishing so much she did feel the same way but I knew she didn't. She just couldn't. We're friends...nothing more. I was happy with Elizabeth but I still couldn't get rid of the feeling that I just made the worst mistake of my life.
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