You'll Say Yes

by Tri Amutia

  "Abby, Joshua's here," my dad's voice brought me back to reality.

  "I'm coming," I replied.

  I looked in the mirror as I grabbed my purse, walked out of my room, and went downstairs.

  My jaw dropped when my eyes landed on a very handsome Joshua. He wore black trousers, a black coat, and a grey shirt. He smiled when he saw me.

  "Wow, Abby. You look beautiful, honey," my dad said.

  I blushed. "Thanks, Dad."

  "Shall we?" Joshua offered his arm.

  I grinned and took his arm. I turned to my dad. "No curfew, Dad?"

  My dad rolled his eyes. "You're not seventeen anymore, Abby. Just be careful, alright."

  I giggled while Joshua grinned. We walked out the house and to Josh’s car. He opened the passenger door and helped me in. He ran to the driver’s side and got in himself. He turned on the engine as soon as he sat in the seat and buckled the belt.

  He drove swiftly out of my dad’s driveway.

  I looked out the window. Long Beach didn't change much and I silently wondered if it ever change or stay that way for the next decades.

  We arrived at the school half an hour later. The gathering was held in the gym, very suitable for a high school reunion. Joshua parked his car in the parking lot and opened the passenger door and helped me to my feet. He held my hand as we walked to the gym. We approached the information desk and confirmed our names.

  "Joshua Walsh, M.D, huh?" I smirked.

  He grinned. "What? Do you have any other idea?"

  I shrugged. "I don't know. How about Jason Bourne?"

  Joshua raised his eyebrows and burst out laughing. I grinned and put my name tag on.

  Joshua held my hand as we entered the gym. Music blasted around the room and a banner ‘Happy Reunion’ hung in the middle of the gym.

  "Joshua Walsh? Oh God! It's you," A shriek voice attacked my ears and I saw a blond woman half running and hugged Joshua.

  Joshua seemed uncomfortable and pushed the woman lightly. "Linda, it's nice to see you, too." And then he gestured towards me. "You remember Abby, right?"

  Linda.

  She was one of Joshua's random girls in high school. I guessed, the night had just begun.

  I nodded. "Linda."

  She studied me and smirked. She turned back to Joshua and gently rubbed his arm. "So, are you still single or still waiting for me?"

  I rolled my eyes. Oh, please...

  Joshua snatched Linda's hand and grabbed my waist. My eyes widened, but quickly composed myself. "No, I'm here with Abby. She's my date."

  Linda raised her eyebrows and turned to me. "Hmm...so, Abby...still Bennett, heh?"

  "The one and only," I answered lightly.

  "How could that be possible? No man asked you to walk to the altar?" She snickered.

  Really? Are we going to continue this game? I looked at Joshua lovingly. Two could play at that game. "Actually, why don't you ask Joshua about that?"

  Joshua stared back at me and his eyes seemed unfocused. I gave him my sweetest smile and he cleared his throat. I chuckled internally. "Um...actually Abby and I are in a serious relationship." He smiled back at me. "Shall we, Abby?"

  "Of course."

  We walked away, leaving the dumbfounded Linda where she stood.

  "That was a good move back there," I whispered.

  "You too, Ms. Bennett," He whispered back.

  "Abby!" A high pitched voice called to me and I turned around to find Stella and Evan standing near the drink table.

  I smiled happily and grabbed Joshua's hand. Stella hugged me tightly and Joshua had to release her arm so I could breath.

  "I'm so glad you could make it, Abby. Hey, Joshua, how are you?" Stella asked. "You little sneak. You never told me we were childhood friends." Stella hit Joshua's shoulder playfully.

  Joshua smiled. "All in good time, Stella. Well, you remember me now, don’t you?" He shook Evan's hand. "Hey, man. It's nice to see you too."

  Evan shook Joshua's hand. "Same here, man." Evan was a tall guy and quite good looking, too.

  "Hey, Abby," A soft voice called to me and I turned to find Melinda with her fiancée, Brian Compton.

  "Melinda!" I said happily and hugged her. I leaned back and smiled. "So, Melinda Compton?"

  Melinda giggled. "Soon, though. I'll send you the invitation."

  I gestured to Joshua. "Melinda, you remember Joshua Walsh, don’t you?"

  She smiled and shook Joshua's hand. "Hi, Joshua. Long time no see. I heard you escaped to Harvard."

  Joshua chuckled. "Yes, that is right."

  A lot of women glanced in Joshua's direction and I knew instantly they were all his random girls. I sighed internally. Perhaps they wanted to see the girl who captured his heart. We continued to chat and talk in our private bubble until the DJ announced it was time to dance.

  Joshua offered his hand. "May I have this dance, Abby?"

  I looked back and forth from the dance floor to Joshua's hand. The dance floor was almost full. I grinned sheepishly. "I can't dance."

  Joshua chuckled. "Don't worry. I can take care of that."

  He took my hand before I could protest. He put his arm around my waist and held my hand. I recognized the song. It was ‘You and Me’ by Lifehouse. What a perfect song! We danced slowly and stared into each other’s eyes. His hazel eyes sparkled with love and devotion. I smiled and leaned my head into his chest. He tightened his hold while we swayed along to the music. From the corner of my eyes, I could see Linda dancing with Scott Baker, but she kept glaring at me.

  I sighed and looked at Joshua. "Someone’s jealous."

  Joshua looked at me curiously. "Who?"

  I motioned with my head and Joshua looked in the direction I indicated. Linda quickly turned back to Scott when Joshua glared at her.

  "She was the one, wasn't it?" I asked him.

  "What?"

  "The dare."

  He sighed. "Yes, Abby. I kissed her, but it was nothing."

  "Apparently she doesn't think it was."

  He closed his eyes then opened them again and look into my eyes. "I don't care what she thinks. I care about you and I love you."

  I looked back at Joshua and nodded.

  We danced to two more songs, ‘This I Promise You’ by N'Sync and ‘You Sang To Me’ by Marc Anthony, before I decided to grab a drink. I walked alone to the table and sipped on my drink when a voice greeted me.

  "Abby...Bennett..."

  I went rigid.

  I knew that voice.

  I turned to see Scott smirking at me. I didn’t remember what he looked like back in high school and it amazed me how he could have charmed any girls into his bed. He was not that good looking anyway. I narrowed my eyes.

  "Scott," I greeted swiftly.

  He approached me as I took a step back. "So, you're here with Joshua?"

  "Yes."

  He smirked and put his hands into his pocket. "He finally got you then?"

  I furrowed my eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

  "You see, Abby. I've been watching you from the first time you’ve moved here. You're different from the other girls I knew."

  I scoffed. "The girls you knew or the girls you slept with?"

  Scott's eyes widened and he chuckled. "My, my...Joshua really told you, didn't he? He was such a boy. Never taking the next level of physical relationships." And then he looked at me. "I could teach you some moves if you want."

  I chuckled. "Really, Scott? I'm not a high school girl anymore. Besides you have Linda."

  He grinned maliciously. "She's nothing to me. We came here together so I could find you and she could find Joshua."

  I scowled at him. "You are disgusting."

  He grinned and looked at me devilishly. "I knew what his intention was when he followed you around. It was a good move, I admitted. But, Scott Baker always gets what he wants. If I couldn't have you, then no one could."

  A shiver ran through my spine.

  I glared at him. "
What are you talking about?"

  He smirked and moved to touch my hair, but I flinched back. "I told him you prefer a cool guy and a good kisser. So, I gave him the access to all of those girls."

  My body shook with anger. "You what?"

  It was Scott who made Joshua turn so low in my eyes. It was him who told the lies about me.

  "You are so immature, Baker," I growled.

  He shrugged, acting like nothing happened. "It was a success, though. You hate him, right?" He grinned.

  My eyes full with hatred. "Get. Out. Of. My. Sight. You. Disgusting. Pig"

  Scott laughed and looked at me. "What, Abby? He's not man enough? I can show you what a real man is." He walked closer and I scooted away from him and then I felt a hand on my waist. My body relaxed immediately. It was strange, though, how I knew it was Joshua without physically seeing him.

  "Leave her alone, Baker. You’ve caused enough damage in high school," Joshua said with acid in his voice.

  Scott smiled and crossed his arms over his chest. "Oh, looky here. Finally, you got her, Joshy boy. So, did my lesson work?"

  Joshua's jaw clenched and his eyes turned dark. "Never speak about Abby like that, again."

  Scott titled his head. "She is special to you, isn’t she?"

  Joshua's eyes narrowed and a smirk appeared on his face. "Yes, Baker. But she's not just special."

  My eyes widened.

  Oh, no...he didn't.

  "She's my fiancée."

  Yeah, he did.

  Chapter 9

  The Hometown and The Old Friends (part III)

  The world seemed to stop when Joshua said those words. Scott looked at us in disbelief. Some couples turned their heads in our direction.

  Great, just great! The news was going to spread soon.

  Scott gave us a shaky laugh.

  "She's your fiancée?" He shook his head. "Since when? I never heard about this."

  Joshua smirked. "Try moving your ass out of Long Beach, then. There are a lot of things going on out there."

  I gaped at him. I never heard Josh use that language before.

  "Well, then, congratulations to you both. When is the happy occasion?" Scott asked, again. The smirk was no longer there.

  "Soon," Joshua answered immediately. And then he turned to me. "Let's go, Abby."

  I just nodded.

  Joshua held my hand as we walked out of the gym. There were several canopies decorated with small lights that looked like they were built specifically for this occasion. He escorted me to one of the empty canopies and we sat on the bench. We didn't talk much; we were just sitting there..

  "Finally, some fresh air," He exhaled.

  I sighed. "Yeah, finally."

  Silence.

  "What did Scott tell you?" Joshua asked.

  I put my chin in my hand. "About what he did when we were in high school."

  He narrowed his eyes. "What did he tell you, exactly?"

  I took deep breaths and looked at him. "I'm sorry."

  Joshua raised his eyebrows and chuckled. "I was late at saving you from Scott and you say you're sorry?"

  I looked at him deeply. "I'm sorry for everything, Joshua. I didn't know it was Scott all along who spread all those rumors about me. He lied to you, Josh. He told you I preferred cool guys or great kisser, but I didn’t. I just like you for who you are and the problem is...I don't know who you are anymore. I realize now that you weren't really who you portrayed to be back then. You were just...lost."

  Joshua didn't say anything. He just looked at me with an expression mixed with confusion, anger, and understanding.

  I sighed. "I remember that you were a good friend when we were children. I just want to know if the good kid is still there and now turn to be a good man." I looked back at him. "I'm sorry for misjudging you."

  Joshua sighed and wrapped his arm around me. I leaned into his embrace. "Abby...my lovely Abby, you don't know how much I wanted to hear those words from you for as long as I could remember. I really want you to give me a chance to love you and escort you as a man to a woman. The most important thing is we are engaged, although you still need time to accept it. It's all right. Please, there's nothing to forgive."

  He paused. I shuddered internally with my new nickname.

  "Apparently, when Scott tried to get his claws on you, Linda did the same to me."

  I nodded. "I know. Scott told me that, too."

  He chuckled darkly. "Can you imagine she’s still trying to seduce me? I don't have much choice but to tell her about our engagement."

  I stayed silent. I guessed that explained the smirk on his face when he told Scott earlier. He is good! He really should become a lawyer.

  He sighed again. "I owe you an apology too, Abby. I trusted Scott so easily back then when he said that you'll like me if I were that kind of guy. I felt confident when I asked you to the dance. But, then you rejected me. I felt betrayed and hurt. And that was when all this started. The rumors, my inappropriate behavior..."

  I closed my eyes.

  God, how could one man turn both of our worlds upside down? I owed him a lot of my time too, then. For not remembering our childhood moments, for not trying to get to know him better, for not trying to like him…

  "Abby, please say something. Will you forgive me?" He asked in a low voice.

  I opened my eyes and leaned away from his embrace to look into his eyes. His eyes were guarded and worried.

  I smiled weakly. "There's nothing to forgive, Joshua. I think we both had our mistakes."

  He exhaled and chuckled. "Thank you, Abby," He kissed my forehead and wrapped his arm back around me.

  We stayed like that for a moment, savoring our closeness. Soft music could be heard in the background. His scent, once again, made me dizzy, but in a good way. I inhaled softly and my mind drifted to last night’s memory when he slept next to me. I blushed.

  "Um...Joshua?"

  "Yes?"

  "Last night..." I could feel Josh tensed next to me. "If you don't mind me asking, why were you sleeping next to me?"

  He didn't answer me immediately. I could only hear his breathing, but then he took a deep breath and chuckled lightly. "I couldn't sleep last night, so I decided to check on you. You looked so peaceful. I didn't mean to sleep next to you, but I think I fell asleep when I laid beside you."

  Well, here comes the dreadful part.

  "Did I say anything in my sleep?" I grimaced.

  Joshua chuckled. "Just one or two things."

  I went rigid.

  "You said that my legs are longer, so you can't catch me."

  I groaned.

  "And you said that you like the way I smell."

  Alright, that was it! Busted! "Oh, no!"

  Joshua laughed lightly and kissed the top of my head. "Don't be ashamed. I love it when you dream of me, because I'm always dreaming of you."

  "That is embarrassing," I muttered.

  Joshua titled his head and smiled at me. "No, it's not. It's adorable, I must say." He whispered in my ear, "I love the way you smell, too."

  I blushed and then frowned. "Uh-huh...you need to tell all the student body about that."

  He pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm sorry, really."

  Actually, that was not a thing that bothered me. "How did you know I'm talking in my sleep?"

  Joshua grimaced. "Sorry, can't answer that."

  "Joshua!"

  "So, do you want to have our last dance?"

  I rolled my eyes and rose from my seat. He would force me, nonetheless, if I refused. Joshua grinned and took my hand. We walked back to the gym. When we entered the huge building I could feel all eyes us

  "I think they already heard about us," I whispered to him.

  Joshua looked around and kissed my temple. "Well, that's good."

  "Abby, you never told me you're engaged!" Stella's voice surprised me. She stood in front of us with her hands on her hips. Evan was standing next to her with a guilty expression.
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