Chapter Nineteen

The next morning, I woke up in an enthusiastic mood, as I was looking forward to spending the day with Carey and Chad. I still wondered what we could all be doing together. What could Chad have planned? Getting out of bed, my mind was entirely preoccupied with suspense as I ran downstairs to eat some breakfast.

Before I made it completely down, I ran into Liam. My heart dropped at the sight of him. His black hair was unkempt, and his face was strained. It looks like he has been up most of the night. But for what? I decided not to utter a word to him, walking right past him like he wasn’t even there. What would be the point in trying? I know if he had something to say it would just ruin my good mood.

“Where were you yesterday?” He asks after I walk past him.

I stop. The sound of his voice made me unwillingly stop in my tracks as my heart started racing.

“You’ve been gone an awful lot here recently…” Liam continued.

“Why does it matter to you?” I respond before turning to face him. “I figured you liked it better when I am gone.”

“I do,” He replied quietly.

“So… Enjoy the silence,” I retort, walking away from him as I make my way into the kitchen. “Good morning,” I announced merrily to everyone at the table.

“Good morning,” all of the parents' reply.

“Bree, I heard you went on a date yesterday…” My dad begins.

“I did,” I respond with a smile.

“With who?” he questions protectively. “Do I know him?”

“Chad,” I say while shaking my head.

He stares at me blankly for a moment. “Chad?”

“Yeah…” My face contorts, confused by my dad’s reaction.

“Blonde hair, blue-eyed, Chad who has followed you around for years?” He continues, awestruck.

“Y-yeah… Is there a problem?” I start with concern.

“Oh…” He proceeds in bafflement. “Well… that’s… that’s good… Did you have fun?”

“Yeah…” I state, my mood instantly dropped from my father’s reaction to the news. “ He’s taking me out again today.”

“Where to?” My dad asks with curiosity.

“I’m not sure…” I shrug. “He said it was a surprise.”

“Well… As long as you have fun, and he is nice to you.” He finally states. “And as long as you are happy, then I am happy for you.”

“Thanks, Dad,” I reply with a smile.

“Who is Chad?” Mr. Hall asks on the sidelines.

“I don’t think you’ve met him…” I start.

“He’s a boy that has been chasing after Bree since they were about nine years old.” My dad explains.

“Oh!” Mr. Hall exclaims.

“Yeah…” My dad retorts. “If nothing else, at least he is good-looking.”

***

At noon, I was ready to go. I had my hair done, curled, and my makeup. I dressed in some black leggings with a light green mini dress. I started to go downstairs, when I heard Mr. and Mrs. Hall’s voices coming from the kitchen, catching my attention.

“Bree is such a wonderful girl! Why couldn’t Liam fall for her?” Mrs. Hall says, her voice filled with disappointment.

“Honey, you can’t force people together,” Mr. Hall tells his wife.

Mrs. Hall sighs. “I know… but… I’ve grown so close to her. I don’t want someone else having her.”

“I love Bree, too. She is a wonderful person, but if Liam can’t see her beauty, if he can’t see how unique of a person she is, then that is his loss,” He continues.

“The house is just so much livelier with her around. She makes this place feel more like a home…” Mrs. Hall confides in her husband.

My heart began to feel heavy after eavesdropping on their conversation. Why did I have to do that? How am I supposed to even consider moving out now? I think to myself, tiptoeing to the front door. I call out, “I’m heading out!” as I pretend that I didn’t hear their conversation.

“Have fun!” Mrs. Hall yells.

“Bye! Have a great time,” Mr. Hall hollers.

Once I was outside, I see Chad just walking up to the gate at the end of the driveway. I became excited seeing him, but I still felt a little blue after the conversation I just listened to.

He smiles at me as I try to return one, but of course, he sees right through it.

“What’s wrong?” He asks with his voice filled with concern.

“Nothing,” I lied. How would I tell him the truth about what I just heard? Fearing that he may become angry if I admit that I now am having doubts about moving out. “So, what are we going to do today?” I respond, trying to make myself feel more excited, while also trying to forget what weighed on my heart.

“You’ll see,” Chad declares with a sly smile.

Taking my hand, we walk together towards Carey’s house. When we got there, Carey comes running out eagerly but stops cold in her tracks once she sees my forehead.

“What happened?” She asked, appearing scared and concerned.

“I just hit my head,” I reply as if it was no big deal. “I’m fine. Anyway, how have you been? I’ve missed you much!” I continued, hugging her.

“I’ve been sad…” She says, pouting at me.

“Why?” I question, puzzled.

“I’ve missed you too!” She replied, hugging me tightly.

I smile. “I’m sorry if I worried you… I was having some problems and needed time to recover.”

“What kind of problems?” She asked innocently.

“Adult problems,” I say with a weak smile. “But I’m all better now.”

“Good!” Her face grows angry, “Don’t ever do that to me again!” She yells, scolding me.

I giggle, “I’m sorry!”

Her eyes pried away from me, to see Chad standing awkwardly beside me. “Who is he?” Her voice quieted as she started to become shy.

“Oh, this is Chad, my boyfriend,” I tell her, introducing them.

“Oh…” Disappointment tinting her voice.

“He has something fun planned for us today!” I tell her excitedly.

“What is it?” She returned, skeptical.

“I don’t know, he won’t tell me.” I say, putting my hand up to her ear, I begin to whisper, ”Why don’t you ask?”

She shakes her head no.

“Oh, come on, please? You never know, maybe that will make him say.”

Glaring at me, she turns toward Chad, making her adorable pouting face, “Where are we going?”

Chad glares at me, before smiling at Carey. “We are going to the amusement park!”

“Yay!” Carey shouted, getting over her shyness. “Let’s go!”

“The amusement park?” I respond quietly, dumbfounded.

He looks at me questioningly.

“Are you sure? That can get pretty expensive quickly,” I state warily.

He stares at me, “I’ve got it covered. Don’t worry about it.”

“Well, let me at least help pay for the fare to get there.” I continue, feeling guilty.

“No!” Chad responded. “I have it covered. If I didn’t think I could afford it, I wouldn’t have planned it.”

Letting out a defeated sigh, I began, “Okay…”

An hour later, we made it to the amusement park. Once we were there, Chad went up to the entrance to wait in line to purchase tickets while Carey and I waited at a bench for him.

“Wasn’t Chad one of your friends?” Carey started.

“Yeah. He’s been my friend since we were about your age.” I smile at her.

“Now he’s your boyfriend?”

“Yep.”

“But what will happen if you two break up?” She asks inquisitively.

“What?” I reply, dumbfounded.

“Will you two still be friends or will you both stop seeing each other?” Carey continued.

“Um… I’m not sure…” I stated admittingly.

“Oh…Okay…” She replied, curiously. “Where’s Liam?”

“I don’t know. He’s probably at home. Why are you asking me so many questions?”

She shrugs. “I just have a lot of questions I need answers to.”

“Well, do you like Chad?” I ask, wondering what her opinion of him is.

“I guess…” She replies honestly. “He doesn’t say much to me…”

I laugh. “Maybe he is just nervous. He doesn’t have much experience with younger kids.”

“He is nice and pays attention to you a lot.” She continued, ignoring my statement. “But I liked Liam more.”

My heart sank at her confession. “Really?” Surprise filled my voice.

“Yeah. He was nice to me. And the day we spent at the zoo is still one of my favorite days!”

“Oh…” I replied, sadness painting my voice.

“Okay, are we all ready?” Chad asks, walking up to us, waving the tickets in his hand.

“Yeah!” Carey shouted jumping to her feet.

I could tell that Chad was trying his best to impress Carey, and me, but it didn’t appear to work too well. He did try to get on Carey’s good side, which I know is important to him because he knows how special she is to me. She was enjoying her time at the amusement park, who wouldn’t? But I could tell that she didn’t care for Chad and wasn’t having as much fun as she did when we went to the zoo with Liam.

While at the amusement park, we rode on all of the kid's rides because Carey couldn’t get on the bigger, dangerous ones just yet. After spending most of our time on rides, we all started to get hungry, so Chad bought Carey and me each a corn dog. Later, he even gets us a couple of funnel cakes and Carey some cotton candy. He even played some of the mini-games and won Carey a big pink and magenta stuffed pig and me a big green and purple stuffed frog wearing a crown. The stuffed animals were so big that they both were almost as big as Carey! After staying for two hours, we needed to leave so we could get Carey back home in time.

By the time we got back to Carey’s house, she was exhausted. Chad gave her a piggyback ride while she fell asleep, and I held both of our stuffed animals. He carried her from the bus stop a few blocks away to her house. Getting to her house, I hand the stuffed animal to her foster mom and grab Carey off of Chad’s back, hugging her tightly.

“Bye, Carey,” I say quietly, handing her over to her foster dad. “I’ll see you Wednesday.”

“Bye, Bree. Bye, Chad,” She replied sleepily, waving her little hand.

After dropping Carey off, Chad and I walked around town for a little while. I wasn’t ready to go home, and it seemed Chad wasn’t either.

“Today was a lot of fun,” I begin, as I hold on to the big stuffed frog he won for me. “But were you nervous?”

“A little,” He starts to explain, “I don’t have much experience with kids, so I feel awkward, not knowing what to say.”

I smile. “You can say whatever, as long as it is age-appropriate. They are people too. Kids are just more excitable than the rest of us. They are just so full of energy and so innocent.”

Chad smiles at me.

“What?” I stare at him quizzically.

“Nothing… I just enjoy seeing how passionate you are when it comes to kids. You love to see them smile and will do anything to help them. I admire that about you.” He responds happily. “You’re going to make a wonderful mother one day.”

I smile. “Thanks.”

“And I believe you are going to be even better than my old kindergarten teacher.” He replies with a traumatic look on his face. “I think that old bitty hated children.”

Laughing, I reply, “Was she really that bad?”

“Yes!” He yells. “I can still feel the pinch she gave my ear when she was dragging me behind her.”

“Oh my gosh… What did you do?” I question in humorous shock.

“Just some stuff with the class pet…”

“What?”

“The hamster got out of his cage and somehow found his way to the cafeteria…”

“Did you let him loose?” I question accusingly.

“… I wanted to see how fast he could run!”

“Oh my God!” I start laughing.

“It wasn’t funny! I had to clean the kitchens for a week!”

I couldn’t respond because I was laughing so hard that I became teary-eyed, and my sides hurt.

Chad starts to chuckle. “Well, I’m glad you enjoy my misery.”

We were on the other side of town, which was the older part of town and featured old buildings constructed in the 1900s. This part of town seems a bit more active than the newer parts of town because the storefronts were along the riverbank.

Night had fallen by the time we walked to the riverfront, enjoying the twinkling lights and sounds of the rushing water. The scene was beautiful. After walking around for a while, we both started to get a little peckish, while I also caught a chill from the cool night breeze which mixed with the water.

“Do you want to get some coffee?” I question, trying to suppress the shivers.

“Sure,” Chad replies. “Why don’t we go to that café right there.” He points at a small three-story building with a balcony on the second floor with tables and chairs, looking out over the riverfront.

“Sounds good!” I say happily, excited to get away from the cold air.

The café was a great spot for a couple to spend a romantic night out together. I was kind of put off by this notion at first, but I felt like I was about to jump out of my skin, I was so cold!

The entire time I had been with Chad, I had enjoyed myself. I was even able to forget about the conversation I heard this morning between Mr. and Mrs. Hall. Forgetting about everyone’s comments, I allowed myself to let go, have fun, and stop worrying about the troubles I have been experiencing.

As soon as Chad and I enter the café, I immediately hear Ember’s voice call my name.

“Bree!” Ember shouts, rushing up to me. “Oh my gosh, it is you!” She was wearing a silver-colored sequined dress that stopped six inches above her knees and had a V-neck that dropped down to her belly button.

Why even wear anything at all? I think to myself, annoyed by her presence and ready to leave. Just as I was about to tell Chad that I would like to leave, Liam suddenly appeared beside her.

“Oh, are you two on a date?” Ember questions with a fake smile.

Chad wraps his arm around me, pulling me closer to him. “Yes, we are,” He responded proudly after Liam showed up beside Ember.

I soled up. Instantly everything came crashing down on me as I felt stupid standing there, tightly clutching onto a huge stuffed animal. Looking down, I try to avoid looking at Liam.

Ember’s face lit up from Chad’s answer. “Really? My gosh, you two look so cute together!”

Liam’s voice then cut through the thickened air, calling my attention while tearing my heart into pieces as if it were made from tissue paper. “Yeah… You two make a great couple.” He states as he glared coldly at me. His face showed no emotion, but his eyes looked irate. “Two desperate people have found each other. The only problem is that only one has settled while the other got exactly what they wanted…”

My heart dropped to my stomach, causing me to feel nauseated. But I tried sucking up enough courage to fake a smile. “You know what, Chad? I think I would much rather go down to the river and look at the water.” Turning away from all of them, I head out the door with Chad closely following behind.

“Bye!” Ember shouts from behind.

Chad and I walk along the river again. The beautiful scenery completely lost on me. It was a clear night, with no clouds in the sky. Only a few stars were peeking through the heavily lit riverbank while the moon reflected off the water. It was truly magnificent and romantic.

Sitting on the walk, close to the water, I listen to the water rushing past. The cool breeze made me cold again. But I couldn’t feel or hear anything as I was absorbed in my thoughts once again. How could Liam say that? Why did he act so cold to me as soon as he saw me? What is up with him anyway? He never looked at me with so much anger before…

“How can you frown on such a stunning night like this?” Chad questions, trying to get me out of the bad mood I was currently in.

“I’m sorry,” I apologize, feeling guilty.

Chad sits down next to me. “You shouldn’t be,” he continues, pulling me close. “Liam should be the one apologizing to us.”

I flinch at the sound of Liam’s name.

He kisses me before standing up in front of me. “Bree, I have loved you since the first time I saw you in middle school,” He grabs my hands as he continues his confession. “From the time we met, I wanted you to look at me, see me the way I see you. In high school, I wanted you to look at me the way you looked at Liam. The way you watch him when he enters the room is the way I gaze at you whenever I see your beautiful face.

“When I’m feeling down, just seeing you for one second instantly brightens my day. But seeing you sad just because of Liam makes my chest ache.” He pauses, caressing my cheek.

I stay transfixed in Chad’s blue eyes, unable to speak a word.

“My blood begins to boil every time he is cruel to you. Anything he does to make you cry makes me angry. I want to make you smile. I want to make you forget about him. But to sit back and watch you waste all of your love and affection on someone who does not see just how wonderful you are, cuts me deeply,” His face grows closer to mine.

“You are beautiful, inside and out. You make my heart race just by smiling.” He pauses, gathering his thoughts. “I love you, Bree… With everything that I am. I promise I will always be there for you. My every waking breath will always and only be to make sure you are happy and healthy. I promise to protect you. You will never worry about anything ever again in this world. Your days will always be filled with happiness and joy.”

Unexpectedly, Chad gets down on one knee.

“What are you doing?” I asked in a surprised whisper.

“I may not be the person you expected to be with, and I may never be able to compare to the other person you hold in your heart. But I know that I can give you the life you deserve. I will do everything in my power to make sure that you always have what you want.” He begins, his blue eyes filled with sincerity. “Bree Adams, will you marry me?”