I Wanna Be Free, I Wanna Be Loved

Ch. 17: Let's Kill Tonight

I put the plan into motion on Friday night. Rachel and I were hanging out in our room just having girl time when we got bored. Ryan was over at Brendon's house and I texted him to ask if we could borrow his car to go out. He told me yes and to be careful; I had been an only child back in Idaho so it was nice to have "siblings" looking out for me.

"Come on, we're going out" I said to Rachel.

"Anything specific?" she asked as we rolled off her bed.

"I don't know. What isn't there to do on a Friday night? We're two young hot girls with a car and the city at our mercy" I said.

"If you like amusement parks there's a little one downtown with great rides and decent food"

"I'm in!"

We got in the car and Rachel gave me directions on how to get downtown. I loved finally living in a big city but at the same time it really intimidated me when I wanted to go somewhere; so many cars and roads and people everywhere. Rachel excitedly got out of the car; it was nice to see her happy abut something. She certainly had changed in the short amount of time that I'd known her and it was nice that she didn't want to kill me anymore. She pulled me to the front of the park where she paid my entrance fee and hers, along with buying us ride tickets so we could go on the roller coaster, the bumper cars, and whatever else looked like a good time. We decided to start off with the carousel where she chose a plain black horse while I hopped on the green hippopotamus next to it.

"So...got a date for Winter Formal?" I asked casually.

"Is this you're way of asking me?" she joked "Dances aren't really my thing, but I'd go if Br--never mind"

"OOOOOH. Does somebody have a crush?" I poked her side.

"No! And even if I did, I still wouldn't go" she said stubbornly.

"Oh come on, Rach. You can tell me who it is. It's not like I have anyone to blab to, I've made like six friends in this town"

"I guess you're right" she took a deep breath beforecontinuing "Truth is, I have feelings for Brendon"

"Awww I knew it!" I squealed "He really really REALLY likes you too"

"Really?" she asked, using the word that was quckly becoming overused.

"Yes, really. So if he asked you, you'd say yes right?"

"Yeah but I don't want him to just straight up ask me. I want something out of a fairytale. I want him to stand there with a dozen roses and just look at me like I am the only girl he's ever seen in his entire life. Then he'll walk up to me and simply say 'Rachel Ross, will you go out with me?"

There were tears forming in my eyes when she finished her story. I had to call Brendon and tell him all of this. When we got off the ride, I snuck away and told him everything. He wanted to do this tonight and I told him where we were, he said he'd be there. Ryan was coming too since they'd been hanging out and if I was lucky, he'd ask me to the dance too. Rachel found me and dragged me off to do more rides.

BRENDON'S POV

"RYAN! WE GOTTA GO!" I yelled.

"Why?"

"I'm going to ask your sister to formal! Hannah just told me everything. We. Have. To. Go!"

"Okay, okay" he said, emerging from the kitchen with a bag of chips. "What's our first stop?"

"Roses then the amusement park. Let's go!" I dragged him to my car and we sped off to the flower shop where I quickly picked out some deep red roses and paid. Ryan was eyeing some purple tullips and I knew he wanted to ask Hannah but tonight was about Rachel and I.

We got back in the car, he held the flowers while I drove. I could barely keep my hands on the wheel, I was so nervous. I tried to get my mind off it by talking to Ryan.

"So how are things with Hannah?" I asked.

"You know my answer" he stated.

"You need to tell her how you feel, you really do. There are tons of guys at school every day asking her to the dance and she turns down every single one because they aren't you"

"What?"

"Just promise me you'll grow a pair and do it soon. I don't want to have to listen to you whine about her dating some other guy"

"I promise" he said.

I parked the car and got the girls location from Hannah. She said they just sat down to eat and that his would be the perfect time to do it. Ryan and I paid our way into the park and found the girls. I made sure Rachel didn't see me until Hannah whispered for her to turn around. I stood there looking at her with nothing on my mind but the question at hand. I clutched the roses, walked up to her, and uttered the words:

"Rachel Ross, will you go to the Winter Formal dance with me?"