unexpected love episode 21 & 22

??Unexpected ?
? Love ??

By: Worthy liBr@ry

Genre:R0m-nce

Tags: arrange marriage, betrayal, love, hate and revenge.

Chapter 21

: ?Prom Night?

:

i walk into the gymnasium with Connor on my arm and smile at our work. We chose an un-derwater theme and worked almost day and night to finish in time.

Even some of the teachers let us out of cl@$$early to decorate.

Of course, Kim and I were the heads of the committee. One thing I’ve learned from my parents is anything you can add to your college resume, you should do it.

“Wow, you guys did an amazing job,” Connor compliments.

I smile and lean on him as we walk up the stairs.

Technically, my doctor says i’m still supposed to be wearing my crutches but there was no way I’m using crutches at senior prom.

We stop just outside the “garden” (the fountain area) and pose for a picture. I sp-ot Kim dancing with Nikki and her date in the middle of the floor.

Sarah is in the midst of a large group of girls hanging around the punch bowl.

She sp-ots me and waves, then runs over. “Get ready,” I whisper.

“Hey! Oh my god, you two look so adorable! You’re going to be the best husband ever, Connor.” I shoot her a warning look and she shuts up.

“Where’s your date?” I ask.

She points toward the restrooms. “Over there somewhere.

I went with Miguel Carson, you know him? He’s in my History cl@$$, really tall, kinda cute. Actually, he’s more hot than cute, you know?

Not like Connor, he’s definitely cute, not hot. But he’s rich, too, who knows why he asked me out and-”

“Okay, well, I think I see him now… yes he’s looking for you! Better go find him!” Connor pulls me away quickly.

“Nicely done, thank you.” I glance toward NIkki. “Wanna dance?”

“Nah, we should save that for later, when they play the good songs so that you don’t hurt your foot again. Wouldn’t want to stab it again, would we?”

I glare at him jokingly. “Well, then, walk in the garden?”

“Sounds good.” He leads me to the garden and eases me onto a bench near the fountain, a few feet away from where I fell in just a week and a half ago. It seems like so much longer. “So,” he begins.

“So.” I repeat. I look throu-ghthe gl@$$doors to see all the happy couples dancing in the gym,

the mischievous couples making out in the corners away from the chaperones, and the angry couples crying into friend’s shoulders and shooting their partners angry looks.

I smile at how carefree they all seem and for once I don’t envy them.

“I’ve been thinking,” Connor continues.

“I’m so proud of you!”

He takes my hand and squee-zes ha-rd. “Can I finish?” I nod and pretend to zi-p my li-ps shut and throw away the key.

“Since we’ve been spending all this time together, I feel a lot better about our engagement.”

“Oh God, you’re not going to propose again, are you?” He laughs and ruffles my hair. “Hey, watch it!”

“Don’t worry, it’s not that. It’s just, maybe we should stop fighting our parents about this, you know? After all, it’s not like you’re going to find someone now.

The deadline is right on top of you, and you never even went out with those guys your friends picked out for you. We’re a couple now, and a happy one at that.

Maybe we should just get married and live happily ever after. I want to become a lawyer, you don’t, we both want a family, and we both hate our parents. We’re the perfect couple!”

“Uh-huh, thank you for that enlightenment, Dr. Freud. Now tell me how I feel about bu-tterflies!”

He sighs. “I knew you wouldn’t take it well.”

“I’d say you ba-rely know me, but you do now. And I’d say you don’t know what’s best for me, but you do.

You are the dominant half in this relationship, and what you say goes. That’s how it would be in our marriage, you calling the shots. You okay with that? Always p-ulling my weight, all the time?”

He pauses and looks back at the blue-and-green-lighted fountain. After a moment he says, “For you? Yeah, I guess I am.”

I feel the heat rise to my face and I’m grateful for the darkness. “You don’t mean that.”

Quietly, he says: “Yeah, I do.” Then he does something that I never expected.

He reaches over and gently tilts up my chin with his thumb. He leans in and gently presses his li-ps against mine. After a minute or so, he pulls away.

I smile at him and stand with difficulty. I silently take his hand and lead him back to the dance floor. We get some strange looks from girls in low cut dresses.

I stare straight ahead and pull Connor into my arms for a slow dance. I lean into his shoulder and feel a tear fall down my face.

I glance up at him and his eyes are closed. I lean my head back on his shoulder and whisper: “Okay.”

I feel him relax and kizz the top of my head. I relax too and let my protesting mind fade away into the music.

I’m not going to be depressed at my senior prom. I deserve better than that. I deserve happiness.

I deserve Connor. And I deserve to have a good, worry-free time, even if it’s just for one night.

??Unexpected ?
? Love ??

By: Worthy liBr@ry

Genre:R0m-nce

Tags: arrange marriage, betrayal, love, hate and revenge.

Chapter 22

: ?Party Plans and Phone Calls?

“Do you like the red or the green? There will be plenty of both, and the gold accents both, but I just can’t choose.”

It is December 1. 23 days left to make a decision that will change my life. Fun, right?

“I like the red one. The Christmas Tree nee-ds to go up soon anyway, why don’t I go do that. I really hate choosing these things.”

“That’s fine dear.”

I hold my breath as I travel past my dad’s study and walk downstairs. Lately he’s been organizing his books that have been untou-ched in fifty years and boy does it stink.

But it was my mom’s way of getting him out of the party planning and out of the way. I smile at his dedication to a project- there’s nearly one hundred stacked into unorganized piles and shelves are currently being dusted.

I hop down the stairs one at a time to buy my time and open the basement door.

Our vast cement-walled basement area is used for storing things. It’s just off another large room, our exercise room and 70’s-inspired basement area.

There, in the far corner, sits the Christmas tree, untou-ched for nearly a year. I shake it before throwing it over my shoulder.

Lately I’ve been spending a lot of time in the exercise room to get in shape for prom, and it’s only been six days since that fun night.

I lug it up the stairs and stand in front of the study. “Hey, Dad,” I say loudly. He’s blaring cl@$$ical music, Beethoven I think.

He looks up after mimicking a violin solo. “Hey, pumpkin. What’s up?”

“Could you put the Christmas tree in the corner for me? Mom doesn’t want me scratching the walls,” I lie easily. Years of practice.

“Sure. Watch these books for me and I’ll be right back.” I smile at him as he walks from the room, dragging the heavy tree behind him.

I make sure he’s gone and I quickly get to work. I’m looking for a particular book that I noticed recently when I was helping him clean.

It was called: “Engagement Advice” by some author whose name I don’t remember.

And of course, all the books that he and my mom sto-red in the study are now in piles resting precariously on chairs or the desk,

some even on the floor in no discernible organizational system known to man.

I sigh and bend down to pick one up. Law and You? No. Lawyers for Dummies? No.

That was a birthday present for me when I was seven. I puked on it a week later. Of course, they bought a new copy.

Banking? Cooking? Medical? How many kinds of books do theses people own?

In a few minutes, I hear my dad shuffling down the hallway. I panic and quickly hide un-der his desk. “Pumpkin?” He calls, but I remain silent. “Well, she’s gone. Back to work.”

He walks over and stands right in front of me: I stifle a sneeze.

“What was that?” He sighs and leaves his question unanswered.

He picks up a few books off a pile and places them onto the floor. He stops suddenly and opens a book.

I can hear the pages turning. “Huh,” he mutters softly. “Engagement Advice. I remember when a friend gave this to us… we never did read it…

maybe Allison would like it… no, she’s still mad about the whole engagement anyway.” I cringe. “Maybe this isn’t a good idea.”

“Yes it is, dear!” My mother calls from the living room. She walks into the room and I hold my breath. If I get caught now, I’m dead meat. “It’s in her best interest, you know that.”

“Right, but what if we were to… extend the deadline? I know they’re dating, but she hasn’t really gotten to know him! Did you know he got a B in Chemistry this semester?”

I can picture my mother rolling her eyes and crossing her arms, a habit of hers when she gets annoyed.

“You don’t know him dear, but Allison does. You have to trust her judgement.

Any day now she’ll come to me and admit that she loves Connor. I told you he was the right pick.”

“You’ve been saying that for a week and she hasn’t said a word. As far as I can tell they don’t even like each other.”

“One thing is for certain: He loves her, whether she likes it or not. I’ll bet she doesn’t even know that he asked us if he could date her before this whole thing happened.”

My heart stops and I can’t hear my mother’s voice anymore. What? He was going to ask me out before this even happened?

Me? But then I realized… this wasn’t just a plan they conjured up. He was a co-conspiritor. And the old Allison would have freaked out, made a threatening phone call to him and not spoken to him for weeks.

But now that I”m his girlfriend, I kind of think that it was sweet. A weird sweet, but sweet. He liked me enough to be willing to marry me? Wow, now that’s some dedication.

After a moment of silence between my parents, my mother leaves. My dad sighs and picks up another book. I quickly grab the “Engagement Advice” and hide it un-der my sweatshirt.

I glance up and see that he’s holding a photograph of me when I was seven.

I was riding horseback before I fell and cracked my head open and became afraid of horses.

I’m smiling- showing my missing front tooth- and holding a carrot just out of the horse’s reach.

I remember when my dad took this picture: we were at my cousin’s small birthday party. It was one of the only happy memories I had.

“Poor Allie,” He says and leaves the room. I quickly jump up and dash to my room, my head swirling with thoughts.

TBC