I'm Pretty Sure You're Gonna Miss Me Ronin McKinsey

by M. J. Padgett

  “Sure, where to my lady?” Old Daniel was in there somewhere, and I wanted him back more than I could ever explain. I’d have to do what I did best, just as Ronin said. Go big, or go home, Hazel. He followed me down the beach to the rocks. I slipped my shoes off so I could climb the rocks better, all the while Daniel watched.

  “Is that a good idea? You’re fairly uncoordinated for a cheer captain,” he teased.

  “I’ve got it. I’m all good. Let’s go, Daniel, before... Oh, wow.” Even I hadn’t seen the finished product. I had some incredible friends, and I’d have to work hard to show them how much I appreciated them, but at that moment, all I could do was take in the scene.

  “What the...” Daniel stood beside me on the rocks, gazing out over the private area my friends had made for us. The girls went overboard with the candles, but it was beautiful. Easily a hundred flickered in the darkness, illuminating a pathway to the picnic. There were cushions and pillows, a comfortable little space for eating, and watching an eclipse for hours.

  I hopped down to the sand, turning to see if he would follow. Daniel’s eyes were locked on something, so he barely paid any attention to me. I followed his gaze, settling on the words I’d written in the sand.

  “Is this for me? Did you do all this for me?” he asked.

  I nodded, then remembered he wasn’t paying any attention to me. “Yes,” I whispered, unable to vocalize anything louder. I was terrified, shaking in the sand, waiting for his response.

  He hopped down and walked over to the message, the giant letters carved out in the sand that said I love you, yet didn’t feel like enough to relay the way I felt about him.

  “You love me?” he asked, skeptical at best, as he pointed to the message.

  “I do,” I said.

  “Oh.”

  I waited for more, but all he did was walk closer to my declaration written in the sand where anyone could see. He walked around it, staring at the words as if he’d never seen them written before.

  “So... What does this mean? Are you... are we on the same page?” he asked, looking back up at me. I could see the worry in his face, illuminated by the flickering candles. I walked over to him and took his hand.

  I slid mine comfortably into his. “If that’s what you want, yes. I meant what I wrote here, Daniel. I love you, and I hope you can forgive me because I want very much to be your girlfriend.”

  “I love you, too,” he said, allowing me to relax a little. “I love you, and I want that more than anything.”

  “I’m a lot of work, Daniel. I do a lot of crazy things, and you say it’s fine, but I can promise I will embarrass you one day,” I reminded him.

  “You’re worth it, and you’re crazy if you don’t know that by now.” He pulled me closer, wrapped his arms around my shoulders, and tucked me against his chest.

  “I love you, Daniel.”

  “I love you, too, Peaches.” I sighed, finally feeling whole again.

  “So, is this it? We’re really doing this? Is this day one of Hazel and Daniel take over the world?” I asked, just to be sure before I did my happy dance.

  “Yeah, I think it is,” he smiled. “But... That whole balloon thing you did for Ronin on your first anniversary, can we not do that?”

  “You mean recreating how we got together? You said it wasn’t a big deal, and he was an idiot for getting mad about it,” I said.

  “Don’t get me wrong, I think it was a sweet thing you did, but I don’t want to get hit by a car every year.”

  I laughed so hard I shook, then laughed more when he tried to laugh through busted ribs and snorted. “How about this, why don’t we skip the whole getting hit by the car part, and just call this moment right now our moment?” I asked.

  “I don’t know, Peaches. It doesn’t feel all that epic.”

  “Are you kidding me? It took forever to plan this and—”

  “I’m just trying to get you to kiss me, Peaches,” he said. He leaned down and did just that, creating a puddle of Hazel again. I knew, at that moment, that I would be mopping myself up for the rest of my life. I couldn’t imagine being any happier with anyone else. He broke the kiss, a little short for my taste, but he had something to say.

  “I need to tell you something, then I’m going to ask you a really, really selfish question, Peaches. Is that okay?” he asked.

  “You don’t have a selfish bone in your body, Daniel, but go ahead,” I said, pulling him over to the picnic area so I could give him his other surprise once he was finished.

  He licked his lips and took a breath. He was nervous, and it was adorable. “I love you, Hazel Simmons. I love you so much, I can’t breathe when I think about leaving you behind after summer. I want you to come with me if you can. Please come with me, Peaches.”

  My eyeballs nearly bugged out of my head, but I found my heart screamed at me to just say yes! However, my parents had grounded me for all eternity, so I decided to be somewhat reasonable and get the details first. “You want me to go with you to... Wait, where are you going?”

  “The program is in D.C., but after that, I’m not sure. It all depends on how that goes, but maybe anywhere, depending on college. So, you see, it really is a selfish request, but—”

  “Okay.” I was sure of it. It was what I wanted, and there were plenty of colleges in the D.C. area I could apply to.

  “Okay, you understand the question, and you’ll think about it, or okay, you’ll go?” he asked, giving me a skeptical look again.

  “Okay, I’ll go with you. I have a good idea of what I want to do with my life now, and I feel certain I can find a school that will fit my needs. Yeah... Yes, Daniel. I want to go to D.C. with you.”

  “I can’t believe you said yes.” He sighed and fell back onto the pillows. “I thought for sure... I’m so happy right now.”

  “Look, Daniel,” I said, pointing up at the moon. “It’s starting.”

  He sat up and looked at the moon. “I love watching a lunar eclipse, especially with you here, but I have a question.”

  “What’s that?” I asked, watching as the first bit of shadow cast over the moon.

  “Why is there a telescope? We don’t need it for the eclipse, Peaches.”

  “Oh!” I said. “I almost forgot.” I pulled the rolled-up sheet of paper from my purse and handed it to him. “We don’t need it for the eclipse, but we do need it for this.”

  He unrolled the paper and read it. “You named a star for me, Peaches? You literally named it Daniel’s Peach. I love it, really. It’s the best gift I’ve ever gotten,” he said, leaning in to kiss me again.

  It was the best moment of my life—and cue the fireworks. Literal, real fireworks. It turned out I’d taught my friends a thing or two about over the top gestures, and they gave me a magical evening in return. Gorgeous colors exploded in the air as the shadow continued its passing over the moon.

  I snuggled in next to Daniel to watch the show. I chuckled a little, thinking of our situation.

  “What’s so funny, Peaches?”

  “I can’t believe my best friend is my boyfriend,” I said.

  “Aw, see baby, we’re a walking cliché category after all,” he teased, hugging me tightly as we shut out the rest of the world.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “SO, THIS ISN’T STRANGE at all,” Daniel said, looking between Ronin and me.

  “You have nothing to worry about, Daniel. I love you, remember?” I told him. I hadn’t put much thought into how prom would go, but I believed Daniel was adult enough to put aside his differences with Ronin just as I was.

  “Still super weird,” Daniel said, giving Ronin one last once over.

  “It’s like I told Hazel, it doesn’t have to be weird. We’ve all moved on, and she’s happy with you,” Ronin said.

  “What are you talking about?” Daniel asked.

  Ronin tilted his head to the side, the thing he always did when he was thoroughly confused. “All of us sharing a limo to prom? You’re feel
ing awkward about it, right?”

  “No, I was talking about the tux. It’s super weird, like, how the heck does it go on? There are so many pieces!” Daniel said, holding up the jacket to inspect the pockets.

  I breathed a sigh of relief. When Rose first broached the subject of sharing a limo to prom, I was hesitant to agree because I didn’t want Daniel to feel, well, weird. With Tee taking Rose and him being Ronin’s best friend, I didn’t want our history to determine how much fun we could have at prom. Ronin and I were still connected in so many ways, and it didn’t seem fair to make anyone choose who they wanted to spend time with.

  “I told you both, I don’t care if you’re friends. I trust my Peaches, and I’ll still kill you if you hurt her. As long as you know those two things, we’re good. Now, someone tell me how to tie this thing,” Daniel groaned, tossing the tie at me.

  “I don’t know how to do it. Don’t look at me!” I said, earning a groan from my mother.

  “Honestly, you children know nothing. Give it to me.” She took the tie and quickly tied it into a neat bow with deft fingers. Daniel’s eyes grew large and shocked.

  “Honey, you’re killing the boy. Let me do it,” my father said, taking over where my mother left off. “She used to tie mine so tight I couldn’t breathe, and I’d have to sneak away to loosen it.”

  “You never told me that!” Mom fussed.

  “Didn’t want to hurt your feelings or get myself killed. There we go, all set.” Dad patted Daniel’s shoulder, then my mother corralled us all in for pictures.

  Daniel draped his arm over me and pulled me close to whisper in my ear, “You have to tell them soon, Peaches.”

  I nodded, but I wasn’t about to tell my parents I was moving to D.C. an hour before my senior prom, especially when it would take that long to explain how I came to that decision in the first place. “Tomorrow, I promise.”

  Tee wrapped his arm around Rose as my mother snapped photo after photo. Ronin stood off to the side, a little lonely and sad without a date—that he knew of, anyway. Daniel noticed the same time I did, and said, “Hey, let’s get a group photo.”

  Ronin seemed pleased to be a part of the group, but I hoped he liked the girl I talked into going to prom with a boy she didn’t know, as a favor to me, another person she hardly knew. Dizzy, who decided prom wasn’t all that bad of an idea when the right person asked her to go, wandered into the room, finally finished with her make-up.

  It so happened, pink stripe girl who rescued me from Sara, sat behind Dizzy and Rose in one of their classes. She—Amelia—overheard quite a bit of juicy gossip. When Sara attacked me in the hall, Amelia felt compelled to stick up for me—that, and her brother was crazy head over heels for Dizzy. Through a series of complicated and comedic notes passed through Amelia, her brother—Aiden—convinced Dizzy to go to prom with him. A lot happened behind the scenes while I was spiraling, but it turned out spectacularly in the end.

  “This is so fun. Your parents are so funny,” Aiden said, glancing at Dizzy who blushed—blushed!

  “Don’t tell them that, or Dad will start telling you terrible doctor jokes,” I said, jumping when the doorbell rang.

  “Who could that be?” Mom asked.

  Daniel was the only other person who knew what I’d done since he’d been present through the entire ten minutes of begging I had to do to convince Natalie to go to prom—again. Been there, done that was her excuse. To Natalie, it was as good an excuse as any, but I wouldn’t have it. I convinced her that a nineteen-year-old most certainly could go to prom again, and no one would know her anyway. For some reason, the girl took pity on me and agreed—which meant I owed her for the slushy on Sara’s head and suffering through a prom she wasn’t keen on attending.

  “I got it!” I said, rushing to the door. Natalie looked beautiful, and I knew Ronin would like her. I already thought she was great, and she was the kind of girl I imagined Ronin would like in the long run. She spoke her mind, but she was subtle and understated. Fun and smart, and an avid soccer player—all of which I learned after she finally agreed to go.

  “You made it! I’m so glad you didn’t change your mind!” I said, ushering her in.

  “I made a promise, Hazel. I don’t go back on my word,” she said with a smile. “Besides, I guess it could be fun.”

  I escorted her into the living room where everyone else was patiently waiting, including her date for the night. Ronin’s eyes met hers, and his jaw dropped a little. “Hey, you’re slushy girl!”

  “And you’re the jerky ex-boyfriend with bad taste in rebounds!” she said, pointing at him.

  “And you’re each other’s date for prom! Yay!” I said. I clapped my hands and pretended the tension didn’t exist. “Ronin, this is Natalie. Natalie, Ronin, and just to clarify, we’re friends. Long story, but oh, look at the time! We need to go!”

  I grabbed Daniel’s arm and dragged him out the door where the limo was just pulling up. “Your girlfriend is insane, you know that, right?” Ronin said to Daniel.

  “Yep. And she’s all mine, no takesies backsies, sorry.” Daniel shrugged and opened the door for me.

  The ride to prom was very civil, and Natalie and Ronin got to know each other a little better on the way. I never would have expected my senior year to end the way it did, with a brand new boyfriend, plans to move to D.C., new friends, and back to being friends with Ronin, but it was a pretty cool way to end the year. And if we won regionals, it would only be icing on the cake—the non-ice cream kind.

  “You look really beautiful,” Daniel said for the tenth time.

  “Thank you. You clean up pretty nice yourself.”

  “I hate this tux,” he admitted like it was surprising news. “I feel like old man bear, stuck inside, screaming to get out.”

  “Well, you’ve got a few hours of torture ahead of you, sorry,” I said, sliding out of the seat once the driver had parked. Daniel wasted no time removing me from the company of our friends and pulled me along the walkway to the pond behind the event center.

  “What are you doing?” I asked. “We have to check-in at the front desk.”

  “I know, I just wanted to give you something.” He pulled a box from his pocket and handed it to me. “I wrapped it myself.”

  “I can tell,” I said, trying to find a place that didn’t have tape on it. I finally spied a tiny corner that was peelable and ripped it open. Inside was a pendant with an unusual looking stone.

  “It’s beautiful, Daniel. What is it?” I asked.

  “It’s a moonstone, so whenever you look at it, you’ll be reminded of our first official date,” he said, clasping the pendant around my neck.

  “You know, you’re kind of an amazing boyfriend, Daniel.”

  “Amazing enough that we can skip prom and hang at the bookstore?” he asked with a joking tone. I looked down at my dress, then back to him. I felt fine, but he was horribly uncomfortable. I knew he would suffer through it for me, but I was starting to feel like doing something else, something with fewer people and more Daniel.

  “I think so, come on!” I grabbed his hand and dragged him back toward the limo.

  “Hazel, we can’t skip prom. You’ve been looking forward to it for... I don’t know, forever,” he shouted but didn’t fight me all that much.

  “Hey, where are you guys going?” Rose shouted when I jerked open the limo door.

  “Cake, ice cream, and dusty old books!” I yelled. Daniel slid in beside me and told the driver where to take us. He drove away, leaving six confused people behind, but they would be just fine without us. The driver passed our place, and I started to speak up, but Daniel shushed me.

  “Patience grasshopper, for I have a surprise for thee,” he said.

  “You’re so weird,” I said, settling back in. The driver pulled into the school parking lot and parked beside the practice field.

  “Thank you. We won’t be long,” Daniel said, handing the driver extra cash for his trouble.

  “Wha
t are we doing here?” I asked.

  “I said I have a surprise, Peaches. Just wait for it.” He led me down the walkway to the field, just off the sideline in the middle. It was the place where I’d grabbed him and asked him to kiss me.

  He turned around and said, “Right here.”

  “Right here what?”

  “Right here is where you made me question everything I wanted for my future, Peaches. My plan was to finish high school and get out of here, on to bigger and better things. But you went and pulled that crazy stunt with the fire alarm—”

  “You saw that?”

  “I did. You’re not as sneaky as you think you are. Be glad Mr. Overton likes me, or you’d have been suspended.”

  “He saw too?”

  “Not the point here, Peaches. The point is, you did what you did, and I suddenly saw this second chance to get your attention. See, I had accepted that you were with someone better than me, and I moved on, so to speak. Then, of all the people you could have snatched up in that field, you chose me.”

  “I’m glad I chose you. Turned out to be the best accidental choice of my life,” I said.

  “Well, I wanted you to know it was this spot, this very spot that I realized I wanted more from life than just an awesome job. I want a wife and kids, a stupid minivan and a mortgage, and all the other things you get when you love someone. I mean, not right now, but in the future and all with you.”

  “Do we have to get a minivan? Maybe an SUV instead?” I teased.

  “Whatever you want, Peaches, as long as it’s parked in a garage next to mine,” he said.

  “Throw in a couple dogs, and you’ve got yourself a deal, Daniel,” I said.

  “Promise?” he asked with a tone of longing.

  “I promise. Why so sad?”

  “Because I’ve been thinking, and it was really unfair of me to ask you to walk away from everything and everyone you love to follow me to D.C. I think you should do what you want for school first. We can survive a long-distance relationship, I’m sure of it.”

  “Daniel—”

  “Let me finish, or I’ll back out. I don’t want you to look back and have doubts or wonder if you should have—”