Chapter 21

    "Sarah, I just don't think they are gonna go for this."

    "Of course they are. Come on Alex, why wouldn’t they go for it? You've been really good lately."

    I rolled my eyes, "Maybe, but my parents know it's prom night. They know! I mean I did say I wasn't going with Mark after all, so I really think they expect me to stay home like the good little girl I have been lately."

    "Well, they'll just understand that it'll be you and I staying home together. Only it'll be at my place."

    I sighed hoping that once more, my parents would believe the newest plan Sarah and her 'bestest' girlfriend, Jonathan had come up with. Since I told my parents that I didn't want to go to the prom because I wasn't interested in it, they had finally let it slide. Mostly because I made it sound like I was more interested in making good grades than going out and partying with the crowd. While my father was still pushing me to marry Mark, he couldn't fault me for wanting to keep my grades up. It obviously wasn't just social status that my father cared about. He made sure nothing could smear the family name, so if his kids came home with bad grades, we would get it.

    So, for the last month I had been the good girl my father wanted me to be. I was also hoping that if I didn't mention Mark or the wedding in any way that my parents would drop the matter. No such luck, I still caught my mother having phone conversations with Mrs. O’Connor every now and then.

    I knew Jonathan was getting more worried. He was trying not to let me know just how worried he was becoming as the school year drew to a close, but I knew he was. I was also certain that a lot of that also had to do with the fact that we rarely got to see each other during all that time.

    Jonathan made it a point to spend every break I had at work together. Most of those times were spent in the back room, but there were a few times we ventured out into the mall too. Since I was being the good girl, I couldn't hang out with my 'older' friends like Jonathan and Darryl, which seriously limited my going out. If I did go somewhere, it was usually to Sarah's house or she came over to my house.

    It would have been an incredibly long month for me had it not been for the fact that I was truly studying hard and doing what I had to do to prepare for going to college. I had already applied to several colleges in and around the state and was now eagerly awaiting for any news.

    It was a long month for Jonathan. The one time I actually got to spend a long time with him was when Alishia and Danny invited Sarah, Samantha, and I to take a day trip to a nearby lake. The reason that had happened was once again courtesy of Sarah and Jonathan's minds. Of course, Alishia had been let in on the mission. See, my father adored his oldest son for obvious reasons, so when Danny asked to spend the day with his sisters, my father readily agreed. No one mentioned that Jonathan and Sarah made the plan, told it to Alishia, who then implanted the seeds in Danny's mind so that it ended up sounding like it had been Danny's idea all along.

    Once we got to the lake, Alishia and Danny got settled in at a picnic area and allowed the three of us to go do what we wanted. Alishia made certain her husband was too occupied with her to want his sisters interrupting them any time soon. So, the three of us walked along the lake until we were out of sight of them, then we followed a hiking trail that led to several secluded cabins. Jonathan had rented one of them for the day and Sarah knew which one to take us to.

    The moment he'd opened the door, he'd pulled me into his arms and kissed me like a starving man, completely ignoring the fact that Sarah and Samantha were standing there trying not to giggle. When we came up for air, he invited us in and the four of us enjoyed a game of scrabble. Sarah and Samantha then left to go explore the lake side so that Jonathan and I could have some time alone. Needless to say, Jonathan couldn't wait until they were halfway down the trail before he pounced. Not that I was complaining. Why would I when I had one of the hottest boyfriends around. But all too soon, I had to make my way down to the lake side to join Sarah and Samantha as we made our way back to Danny and Alishia.

    While I had loved being able to spend that time with Jonathan, I still felt guilty that all of us were in on the plan except for my older brother. Danny was a sharp, take charge kind of guy when he was in court, but when he wasn't working, he was the most laid back, easy going guy I knew. That was why I knew he wouldn't be worrying about me constantly while we were supposedly walking around the lake. He was perfectly content to spend that time with Alishia since it was rare for him to just relax with her.

    The Saturday night of the prom arrived and to my amazement, my parents had allowed me to spend all day Saturday and Sunday with Sarah. I was still stunned that my father even consented because I had believed Sarah was one of his least favorite people.

     Still, I was shocked when he'd answered, "Sure, why not. You've been studying really hard lately and haven't had any time to just relax with friends, so I don't see the harm in staying with Sarah for the weekend."

    So I had packed my bag and gone over to her house early Saturday afternoon so that we could relax a bit before we got ready for the prom. I had purchased a dress earlier that week.

    Actually, Jonathan had been the one to get the dress since he'd dragged me to several stores in the mall to look for one during my breaks. Luckily there had still been a good selection to choose from that late in game. Still, it had taken Jonathan and I almost all week to finally find a dress to both of our liking.

    Sarah had actually accompanied us on two occasions and had teased us both after she'd gotten an earful of listening to Jonathan and I argue over dress colors and styles. When she'd gotten our attention with her laughter, she'd commented, "Geez, you two argue like two of the harshest fashion critics ever! Jonathan, are you certain you’re not a woman in disguise? Cause I swear, your fashion sense is so savvy it’s almost scary, girlfriend!”

Jonathan frowned at Sarah’s comment and responded in a sarcastic tone, “Girlfriend, if I was a woman, do you think I’d be keeping your best friend so satisfied that she’s willing to dump her fiancé for me? I don’t think so!” He punctuated the last sentence with snaps of his fingers.

As Sarah pretended to gasp in mortification, I couldn’t help but laugh at Jonathan’s dead on imitation of a drag queen diva.

Sarah and I spent early Saturday afternoon doing our nails while watching DVDs and giggling about what we wanted to happen that night at the prom. She was going with Darryl who had asked her the moment he’d found out from Jonathan that her prom was coming up.

In true Parker fashion, Darryl hadn’t hesitated one bit to ask his girlfriend if she would go to the prom with him. Sarah had actually been shocked that Darryl had even asked her, thinking he wouldn’t want to go to something so childish as a high school prom. But Darryl felt the same way Jonathan did and had even said the same thing as his brother, senior prom only came along once in a lifetime.

Since the guys were picking us up at seven, Sarah and I started getting ready about five.  I started on her hair while she did her makeup, then we switched places. After that, we began our own rituals of making ourselves look good for the night ahead.

I was wearing an off the shoulder black satin gown. It zipped up at the back and was floor length. I wore black satin heels to match and had my hair pinned up in soft curls on top of my head. Several wisps were left to dangle down the back of my neck. Jonathan had gotten me a simple silver beaded necklace with matching earrings and a bracelet to go with it.

Sarah wore a strapless jade satin gown with hints of gold glittering throughout it. It had a slit up the left side and was also floor length. The dress really went well with her skin tone and brought out her eyes, making them more radiant. Her hair was softly crimped and fell loosely around her shoulders and down her back. She wore matching satin pumps and a gold necklace. In her ears were gold hoops.

Even though we would be taking separate cars, Jonathan and Darryl arrived at the same time. Sarah and I were still upstairs putting on the finishing touches when they arrived. The maid answered the door, since Sarah’s parents were out of town as usual.

Once we were ready, we walked down the stairs together. The guys were waiting in the living room for us and both of them stood up when we entered. My eyes immediately drank their fill of my gorgeous boyfriend.

Jonathan was wearing a suit by Armani and his long hair had been brushed back to frame his face in soft waves. Tailor made black pants, white silk shirt, and a suit jacket combined to make him look stunning. His eyes glowed as he watched me walk towards him. He smiled and leaned in to give me a kiss on my cheek before whispering in my ear, “You look gorgeous, beautiful.”

I blushed, “You look gorgeous too, handsome.”

He gave me his smirk and held up the box with my corsage in it, “For you. Although I think it will never do you justice.”

I giggled, “It’s lovely, Jonathan.”

He took out the corsage and slipped it on my wrist. The maid handed Sarah and I the flowers to pin on the guys lapels. Jonathan got a white rose to match the black and white theme Jonathan and I had going, while Darryl got a yellow rose to match the gold and green of Sarah’s dress.

Once I had fastened the rose to Jonathan’s jacket, he held his arm out to me, “Shall we go, my lady?”

I beamed, “Of course, my lord.”

I sat next to Jonathan in the back of the stretch limo leaning back and staring up at the starry sky in perfect contentment. Jonathan sat next to me holding my hand in his as he joined me in just sitting quietly stargazing.

Once we’d left the house, Jonathan had taken me to the hotel where the prom was being held so that we could take our pictures before I messed up any of my hard work. After that, we’d gotten back into the limo to go have dinner.

Jonathan had pulled out all of the stops to make this a night I’d never forget. He had managed to get a reservation at one of the most exclusive high rise restaurants in the city. Of course, it did help that his father was David Parker, multimillionaire estate owner. It also helped that Jonathan was Darryl’s brother, who tended to stop in often to practice being a chef. It had been a piece of cake for Jonathan.

At the restaurant, we were given a secluded table on the terrace, overlooking the entire city. Thankfully the breeze was light enough not to bother us, but strong enough to keep us from sweating. It ended up being one of the most romantic dinners I’d ever had with Jonathan to date.

Surrounded by sweet smelling flowering bushes and the city lights twinkling up at us, Jonathan and I had enjoyed a wonderful five course meal with wine to compliment it. Our conversation was light as we enjoyed the atmosphere, enhanced by the soft classical music pumped out by a hidden sound system.

Once we were finally done, we left the restaurant and took a drive to the city’s biggest and most well cared for park. Jonathan and I walked around for a while, letting our food digest and had finally stopped at one of the huge fountains. He brought us a cup of chocolate ice cream to share and we sat down on a bench together to enjoy it. I think Jonathan enjoyed it the most because he got to feed it to me, then kissed me to get the flavor of me and chocolate combined.

After our ice cream was finished, we walked back to the limo and drove out of the city limits to a reservoir where we parked and just sat in the back to stargaze. We’d been sitting there for quite a while just enjoying the time we had to be alone together.

I sighed and leaned into Jonathan’s side, prompting him to wrap his arm around my shoulders. Closing my eyes, I inhaled his scent mixed with the spicy cologne he was wearing. He smelled good and he felt so warm that I couldn’t help but turn my head up to nuzzle his neck.

He chuckled.

I smiled against his neck, “You smell really good.” I nipped at his skin, “Mm, you taste good too.”

I felt his laughter rumble in his chest beneath my hand, “Didn’t you just have a full meal and dessert?”

“Yes,” I breathed, “but you are a whole other nourishment for me.”

Jonathan groaned at my answer and tipped my chin with his hand before he bent down to take my lips in his. I sighed and leaned my weight into him as our kiss deepened. When his tongue swept against mine, I let out a soft moan and tried unsuccessfully to climb into his lap.

Jonathan pulled away and took my hands in his. “Come on, it’s getting late, we should head back and go to the prom. Sarah and Darryl are probably already there wondering what’s taking us so long.”

I pouted, “Can’t we just skip that and keep enjoying this night alone?”

“We can do that later. Right now, you should have a chance to experience the dance.”

“Jonathan, I’d rather just spend some time with you.”

“I know, but this is your prom.” He chuckled as I pouted once more. Caressing my cheek with his thumb, he whispered, “I promise, we’ll have time to spend together later.”

I sighed and sat back in the seat as Jonathan gave the instructions to the driver to take us back to the hotel for the prom.

It was a little past ten when we finally made it to the prom. Sarah and Darryl both tried to act like they’d been waiting hours for us, but Darryl had ruined it first by laughing and finally admitting that they’d only been there for about twenty minutes or so before we’d arrived.

The four of us found a table to sit at and while the guys went to get us some punch, Sarah and I traded stories of our night so far.

Darryl had taken Sarah to another of the city’s exclusive restaurants where he’d reserved a party room for the two of them. The room had an entire glass wall that gave them a view of the city and they’d enjoyed a five course meal too. After that, Darryl had taken her to the reservoir and they’d enjoyed a picnic in the limo with the pie Darryl had made for them to enjoy. From there, they had gone to an observatory and stargazed before riding around the city and acting like rock stars, hanging out of the sun roof and drinking champagne.

When Jonathan and Darryl returned with the punch, we sat at the table for a while laughing and enjoying each others company until one of Sarah’s favorite pop songs came on.

“Ooooh!” Sarah squealed as she grabbed Darryl’s hand, “We have to dance to this! Come on Darryl.”

Darryl chuckled, allowing Sarah to drag him to the dance floor.

Jonathan stood up and held his hand out to me, “Care to dance, beautiful?”

I smiled up at him, “ Love to, handsome.”

We joined Darryl and Sarah out on the dance floor for a few songs. Eventually, we began cutting up and making each other laugh with the funny dances we came up with. Darryl had us all laughing so hard we were crying and holding our stomachs when he did his imitation of Michael Jackson doing ‘Beat It’.

We took a break to cool down a bit before Jonathan and I went back out to dance to a slow number. We smiled at Darryl and Sarah when they came out for the next slow song as we continued to dance.

I wrapped my arms around Jonathan’s shoulders and leaned my head against his chest. He wrapped his arms around my waist and laid his cheek against my head. We just enjoyed the way it felt to hold each other like that while we slowly swayed to the song. I sighed as I thought to myself that I was glad I had allowed Jonathan to take me to my senior prom after all. He had managed to make it into a wonderful experience for me and I was extremely grateful to him for doing that.

I hugged him closer and lifted my head to gaze into his eyes. “I love you.”

He smiled, “I love you too, beautiful.”

“I want to tell you now, that I enjoyed tonight. Just in case I forget to later.”

He chuckled.

“Thank you, Jonathan. For a prom I’ll never forget.”

He leaned in and placed a kiss on my nose, “Welcome, Alex.”

“Well, well. Look what crawled in from the sewers! Gee, Alexandria, didn’t think this hotel allowed bums inside.”

As Jonathan stiffened in my arms, I turned my head to see Mark standing there with a look of disgust on his face. Hanging off his arm was Victoria, the girl who currently held my happily relented title of the most popular girl in the senior class.

I arched an eyebrow at her, “Hi Victoria, where’s Peter?”

As Mark narrowed his eyes at me, she answered, “Oh, his parents moved, so he got transferred over to Lowell High.”

I rolled my eyes. Lowell High School was the complete opposite of our high school, which meant that Peter’s parents must have lost their money since they moved to that neighborhood. Still, that shouldn’t be a reason why Victoria was no longer seeing him.

     “So, since you weren’t guaranteed to be pampered for the rest of your life, you thought to move on to someone who was more stable?”

Victoria shrugged, “Peter couldn’t afford to take me to the prom, and Mark asked so why should I say no?”

I turned to look at Jonathan who stood there exchanging glares with Mark. Sighing, I said, “Well, you are more than welcome to him.”

She frowned, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

As Mark motioned to me to be silent, I widened my eyes in mock innocence, “Oh, I’m sorry, he didn’t tell you? Well, I think you should know that Mark and I are engaged to be married. Our wedding is in June, as soon as we graduate.”

Victoria gasped, “That’s not true!”

I arched an eyebrow, “Really?” I turned to Mark and asked, “Is it a lie Mark? Have you, your family, and my parents called off the wedding finally? Am I allowed to finally have my freedom from you?”

Mark growled, “You know the answer to that!”

Victoria pulled away from him, “Oh my God! Are you telling me that you’re engaged to her, yet you asked me to the prom!” A look of horror passed over her face, “Oh God! And I did that with you in the back of the limo!”

I grinned as she suddenly slapped him, “You bastard! How could you!”

“Victoria, wait!” Mark called out as she stormed off in disgust. He whirled around to face me. Growling, he said, “That does it! You are coming with me right now!”

He reached out to grab my arm, but Jonathan intercepted. Glaring at Mark, he hissed, “Don’t you dare lay a hand on her!”

“Back off, scum! She’s my fiancé, so that means I can tell her what to do!”

Jonathan stepped towards Mark, his hands curling into fists. Jonathan was a full head taller than Mark, and that plus his broad shoulders and lean physique made him tower over Mark.

     “She’s not an object you can possess, O’Connor! She’s a human being. And I know for a fact that she doesn’t want you anywhere near her!”

Mark growled, “She will want me once you go crawling back to whatever sewer you crawled out of in the first place. So, when are you going to be done with her?”

Without any warning, Jonathan took a quick step back and swung hard, his fist instantly connecting with Mark’s jaw and sending him sprawling back into the crowd.

I grabbed Jonathan’s arm, pleading, “Jonathan! Don’t!”

Mark sat up, holding his sore jaw and glared at Jonathan, “You’ll pay for that scum!”

Jonathan took a step towards him, but I held on to his arm and pleaded once more, “Jonathan! Please! He’s not worth this!”

Frantically I looked around for Sarah and Darryl, wondering why they weren’t here helping me to control either one of them. They were no where in sight.

Jonathan had stepped back again at my words, but Mark once again opened his mouth. “That’s right, dimwit, listen to the girl. After all, your kind always lets the sluts lead them around by their dicks!”

I gasped as Jonathan jerked loose from my hold and launched himself at Mark. I cried out his name and pleaded with him to stop, but it was too late.

Despite the fact that Mark knew Jonathan would attack, he still couldn’t block the first punch that Jonathan landed against his side. I rushed to Jonathan’s side and called out for him to stop once more, but by this time, Jonathan had Mark on the floor and was leaning over him.

Mark was desperately using his arms to block the blows Jonathan was raining onto his body. I grimaced as the sound of solid punches echoed around us. Jonathan was relentless, never giving Mark the chance to do anything other than take a defensive position.

As I tugged at Jonathan’s arms and shoulders, trying to get him to stop beating up Mark, Darryl came in and shoved me to the side before wrapping his arms around Jonathan’s middle and yanking him off of Mark. Despite the fact that Darryl was a couple of inches shorter than Jonathan and didn’t have the same muscular build, he was still able to drag Jonathan off.

I quickly moved to stand in front of Jonathan, blocking him from Mark, who was still lying on the floor, unable to do anything but groan in pain.

Darryl spoke hastily, “Are you out of your mind bro? Trying to beat him to a pulp! This is a high school prom!”

Jonathan growled and continued to glower at Mark. I reached up to place my hands on either side of his face, making him look at me, “Jonathan! Look at me! You’ve got to get a hold of yourself! Darryl’s right. This isn’t the place.”

Jonathan blinked and the anger began to fade from his body, “What was I supposed to do, stand here and let him talk about you like that?” he hissed.

I gave him a grateful smile, “Thank you, for defending my honor, Jonathan. But fighting with him won’t solve anything.” I caressed his cheek, “Please, let it go.”

He stared into my eyes for a moment before he nodded. As Darryl let him go, he wrapped his arm around my shoulders, “Come on, beautiful, what do you say we ditch this place?”

I smiled, “That’s a great idea.”

Jonathan turned to Darryl and clapped him on the shoulder, “Thanks bro. You and Sarah have a good time okay?”

Darryl nodded, “Yeah, you too Jon. And please stay out of trouble!”

Jonathan grinned in response, just as Mark began to get up from the floor.

With a groan and holding his side, he glared up at us, “What? So now you get your reward for beating me up, huh? Hope she’s worth it.”

As Jonathan stiffened, I placed a hand against his chest, “No, baby. Please, let’s just go.”

As the music faded away, we all heard the sound of chaperones asking what the commotion was. I tugged on Jonathan’s arm, “Let’s go, before they get here.”

Nodding, Jonathan leaned over Mark and growled, “You ever come near my girl or talk about her like that again, I promise you I’ll make sure you live to regret it.”

With those last words, Jonathan wrapped his arm around my waist and escorted me out of the hotel.