Winning Skylinn

68

What interrupted my thoughts that night was a call from Denver himself.

"Hey, Sky," he said into the phone. He sounded excited but tired, if that made any sense.

"Hey," I said, trying not to sound like I'd just been comparing him to my best friend for the past hour and half.

"What's up?"

"Oh, nothing. Just thinking."

"Good, good. I've actually been doing some thinking too," he said.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. And I had an idea. Meet me tomorrow at the high school."

"What?"

"You know, the place we went for 9-12th grade?"

"Yeah, I know that. I just meant...why?" It was such a strange request.

"You'll see."

"But-"

"Meet me there at 4pm, and don't be late! Goodnight."

Before I could protest, he hung up and I was left staring at my phone. What was that all about? Why were we going back to the high school?

I guess I'd find out tomorrow at four.

- - -

Denver seemed especially excited to see me. "I got the janitor's help on this," he told me, smiling.

"What for?"

"Here, come inside." He took my hand and pushed open the double doors of the school.

Being that it was the middle of May, school had just ended for the summer. I suppose the janitor had unlocked the doors for us. But why?

"Where are we going?" I asked, feeling like I'd said the same thing a million times.

"We're almost there." He pulled me along until we were walking down an old familiar hallway. I couldn't count the times I'd walked this same hallway as a young teenager. It was definitely a bittersweet moment.

Finally, we reached our destination. "Shh," Denver whispered, even though I hadn't spoken. He pushed open a door and I followed him inside. It was dark, considering all the lights were off in the room.

I pushed the thought of an axe murderer hiding in here out of my head.

"Can we, um, turn on the lights?" I asked.

"Just a second." I heard some shuffling and then he said, "Go ahead."

I flicked on the lights and there was Denver, down on one knee with an open ring box in his hands.

My hands flew to my mouth in shock, and I think I screamed because Denver held his ear and laughed.

"Skylinn, it's been a very bumpy road these past couple of months, and I know it's extremely hard not seeing each other...but I think this is the right thing to do. It's not going to be easy, and we'll probably still be apart most days; but when I get the chance to see you, I'll always choose you. You're the only thing that can keep me here. If you say yes, I'll give it all up for you. Please...marry me."

I was speechless. I wanted to say yes, but this was so sudden and unexpected that I didn't really know what to say.

"Are you...gonna say something?" he asked, a worried expression on his face.

"Just a second." I took a look around the room and realized exactly where we were: Mrs. Williams' English class. He'd brought me here to propose. And on the chalkboard, in his prettiest cursive, were the words, 'Will you marry me?'