Guarded

||sixteen||

"Hey, Cassidy." Marie locks arms with me. "Let's take a walk."

"Um, okay?" I go along with it.

"How have you been?" Emme asks.

"I've been okay. My mum isn't getting any better, though. Niall always tries to do things with me to keep my mind off of it, but he also helps around the house," I reply.

"That's good." Marie smiles.

"Where are we going?" I ask, curious and slightly creeped out.

"You'll see." Emme smirks.

We walk a bit more and end up in the middle of the courtyard. There seems to be a bit more people here than usual, which I find kind of odd. I brush off the feeling as Marie sits me down on a bench.

"What's going on?" I ask her. She simply smiles and places a finger to her lips, telling me not to question any further.

Suddenly, loud, upbeat music starts playing. People, along with Emme and Marie, come out and start dancing an intricate routine right in front of me.

I'm immediately in awe and feel a large smile appear on my face. What is this for?

It lasts for several long minutes until Niall steps out from the crowd wearing a white suit with his hair done very nicely. The music quiets down and changes to something a little more...romantic.

Niall steps in front of me and we lock eyes. He smiles at me and I return the gesture.

"Cassidy," he says and I nod.

"Niall," I reply. His smile widens as he takes a step back so he's more in the middle of the circular courtyard.

"I wrote this myself and I agree it's not the best, but I tried my hardest." He chuckles nervously. "Cassidy, on our first 'date,' when we were just friends, you said you thought boys who recite poetry for their girlfriends are cute. Well, I'm not a poet, so this took me quite a while to write."

I don't even remember telling him that. He really remembered that? Wow.

"Okay," he sighs anxiously. He beautifully recites:

I'm not sure why the grass is green.

I'm not sure how many things exist that I haven't seen.

I'm not sure how many people are in this world.

I'm not sure who invented the chocolate-vanilla swirl.

I'm not sure how many inches are in a mile.

I'm not sure why stupid little things make me smile.

I'm not sure why it's the scarecrow's job to frighten the crow.

I'm not sure how tall the plants will grow.

I'm not sure why the sky is blue.

But I am sure of one thing.

And it's that I love you.

"I love you, too," I say, almost on the verge of tears. No one has ever done anything like that for me before. It was beautiful.

"Cassidy Billoway, will you go to prom with me?" Niall asks.

"Yes, yes, of course." I run up and embrace him in a hug and he kisses my lips.

Everybody cheers and claps and I feel more happy than I ever have before.

-

"I'm going to prom, mum. My senior prom. It's really happening. I'm really going," I say, sitting on the edge of my mother's bed.