Play Pretend | ✓

28 | premiere

(dedicated to @imafangirlyas for leaving such sweet comments which make my day)

I stared at Ty in awe.

Had he just said what I thought he'd said?

"Wh-what do you mean?"

He grinned, his lips curving in a lopsided fashion.

"I've arranged a treasure hunt for you. You'll need to find some slips of paper I've hidden for you in this area, and all that leads to the treasure. I know it's pretty childish, but hey, I don't think you're complaining, judging by the look in your face."

And indeed, I wasn't. I grinned widely at him, my cheeks hurting from smiling so much. My anticipation and excitement was heightening like that of a child.

"Ty, I can't believe you thought this all out! Oh my god! Oh my--this is amazing! I love it! Thank you! Oh god, I love you!"

Ty's ears turned a bright pink, which could be made out even in the dark, and I smiled to myself. He really had gone all out for our first date. I wish I could've done something for him too.

I reached up and we shared a long, happy kiss.

*********
"So I have a chit of paper with me. I'll give it to you. It has a clue in it, and that clue will lead you to one of the polaroid pictures hung on the tree. The picture will have something written at the back. You have to guess the correct one, because not all of them have something written on them. Now that clue at the back will lead you to another polaroid, and another, and so on. The last polaroid in the group will lead you to the treasure."

I stared at him. "And you planned all this out?"

He smiled proudly. "Yup. I'm awesome, I know. Now get going. Here's your first clue."

He handed me a small blue piece of paper. I opened it fast, not being able to wait.

Remember where we first met? And the picture my mom took on that day?

I grinned. This was easy. We'd first met in kindergarten, and after developing a bond over our mutual dislike for Rapunzel, we'd started a very heated discussion regarding the negative qualities of the princess. As heated as two five year olds' discussion can be, that is.

And then, Ty's mom had clicked a picture of us which Ty had always laughed at and kept with himself. I'm guessing that's the one he was talking about.

I started wandering around the tree, trying to spot the picture. Finally I did. There it was, hanging from a low branch, illuminated with a golden glow. Our first memory together.

I gently took it and turned it around. There, behind the photo, were scribbled some words.

The day you laughed at my peril for the first time and I swore I'd take revenge.

I frowned. When was the day I'd laughed at his peril? It was hard to remember each and every moment spent together, even harder to recall this, because I'd laughed at him for countless number of times.

I decided to go chronologically, because that was how he seemed to be progressing with this treasure hunt. I began to think, think back to all those beautiful times, those happy, carefree days spent with each other.

And suddenly, it hit me like a lightning bolt.

Of course! Tyler was all of six when he'd tried to imitate some action sequence he'd watched on TV, and of course he'd royally messed it up by tripping over his own feet and falling face first into the sand pit of the park. When he'd emerged with his face covered in sand and a bit of mud, I'd laughed manically at him. And yes, he did take revenge on me. A week later. By tripping me in class and embarrassing me in front of the Principal. I hadn't talked to him for two days, I remembered.

A picture of Tyler's sand-covered face was one of the few photos I was proud of clicking, and I was guessing this was the location of the next clue.

I roamed around the tree, and sure enough, that picture was hanging from it. Tyler started laughing from behind me, and I couldn't help but join in. We were so naïve back then.

I turned the picture around.

I had to pay such a huge price for taking revenge on you.

I grinned. Of course this was the next picture. After I'd refused to talk to Tyler for two days straight, he'd come to my house after school with a big packet of gummy bears as recompensation. At least, that was what he'd told my mom, who'd passed on the information to me, and I'd come running down the stairs, unable to resist my temptation for gummy bears. I'd hugged Tyler and forgiven him, and then demanded my gummy bears. He'd given me the packet and on opening it, I'd found nothing but empty wrappers. Tyler had come ready with a camera and on seeing my face, he'd clicked about five pictures of it in glee. That devil.

I mock-glared at Tyler after reading that clue, and he raised his hands in surrender. I walked over to where that picture was, and cringed at my stupid face in the picture. On turning it around, my lips tugged up in a slow smile.

I do.

These words were exchanged in weddings, and what did Tyler and I have in common with weddings?

Yup, our mock wedding held when we were children, in our backyard.

That picture, that memorable picture. That picture worth a thousand emotions.

I reached over and carefully turned it around.

Sorry, I'm running out of clues to write. So this is the last clue of your hunt:
You know where to find me.

I frowned. Those were the last words Ty had said to me before leaving for California. You know where to find me. At that time, I'd thought he was being dumb, because how was I supposed to keep up with his location changes and claim to fame?

But now, I viewed things differently. Maybe he'd meant he'd always be in my heart, right with me, always and forever. Okay, that sounded sappy, but you get the drift.

You know where to find me.

Which polaroid was supposed to be the answer to this clue?

I just stood there and thought. And thought and thought, until...

This is the last clue of your hunt.

If this was the last clue, then it couldn't lead to a polaroid, unless that photo was the treasure, which I highly doubted. It would lead me to the actual treasure. You know where to find me.

Of course I knew where to find him. He was standing right behind m--

Oh.

Oh!

My eyes widened. The answer was Tyler! Tyler himself! I had to go to him! How could I be so stupid? I'd be damned if I wasn't correct this time.

I practically ran over to him.

"You're the treasure, aren't you?"

Ty started laughing. "No, Liz, I'm not the treasure. But yes, I have the treasure."

And then suddenly, in an instant, before I could even open my mouth, he took out something from his jean pocket and slipped it onto my left ring finger.

(A/N: after a long wait, I know. Sorry for that but I really can't help it. But I hope you liked the chapter! Please vote and comment if you did! And OMG! 1.03K reads! This is epic! Thank you! xx)