The Question

He had a feeling of emptiness in his stomach, a certain queasiness that flowed through his veins like a virus.  About a month of planning went into this and the uncertainty of it all drove him mad, whether she'd say yes, whether she'd say no; hell maybe it'd flip a switch in her brain that might cause her to go on an arsonist rampage.  Every conceivable, ridiculous notion passed through his mind like a wave of insanity washing over him.  He worried whether he placed everything correctly, whether she would be willing to jump through all the hoops, whether she'd get all the way there and bestow upon him the ugliest word in the English language, "No".  All he could do was wait for his chance, he only had one more step. 

She woke up on a regular Saturday morning and begrudgingly walked down her long, winding driveway to grab the mail.  Shuffling through the usual pile of bills and catalogs for her parents she found herself holding a white envelope with an artfully drawn red heart.  She examined the envelope, lifting it towards the sun to see if she could see through it.  The red heart on the envelope induced a wide smile and she clawed it open, she began to read, "Good morning beautiful! you have begun your journey.  Go to the coffee shop at once!".  Confused and awfully zealous she got her keys and drove to the local coffee place where she went everyday before school.  She walked in the shop and was timorous for what awaited her; she was shocked to discover it empty.  Disappointed and morose, she walked to the counter to order, "I'll have a...", "A large coffee, two creams, one sugar and a sprinkle of cinnamon." the barista said with a smile.  "How did you know that?", "He's been making me practice all week to get it right.", he placed the cup down in front of her with an envelope placed on top.  Her eyes lit up when she saw the envelope resting there, the letter inside said "Now that you've gotten your daily caffeine, it's time to have a good read".  She rushed to the bench in the park near her house, where she sat and read on a daily basis, and once more an envelope awaited her perusal.

He saw his window of opportunity and acted quickly to get the finishing touches squared away.  She found herself on the bench carefully opening the envelope.  "I know how much stress you've been under lately; with schoolwork, your dad's health issues and the way your friends were treating you this school year. . .", she was flabbergasted, "how could this person know so much?" she thought to herself, she thought back to who she may have told and there were quite a few people, she couldn't pick out who it was.  ". . . you deserve a day of pampering, you should go visit your mother at work".  She quickly got into her car and drove across town to her mother's spa.  She arrived and saw that there were no lights on, but that a envelope was hanging inside the door.  She reached for the door handle and pulled it open cautiously.  Standing in the waiting room, she opened the envelope, "I worked with your mother to make this work, you have a spa treatment waiting for you in the backroom".  She opened the door and saw her mother smiling beautifully.  "Mom, what's going on? Who's doing this?", "I don't know what you mean honey.", her smile became devious.  "Oh come on! Tell me!", "That's not why your here, you're here to relax.", her mother gestured towards a masseuse's table with a robe and towel on it.  She begrudgingly changed and lied down on the table; she drifted away into the smell of the candles, the soothing tone of her mothers voice and she was finally relaxed.

"I'll be right back honey, i have to use the restroom" her mom scurried away for a moment and called him,  "You'd better hurry up, we're nearing the end over here.", "It's almost ready, give me a few more minutes and it will be perfect!".  He had gathered his closest friends and they were all working together at her house.  She dozed into slumber as her mother rubbed her shoulders.  She was awoken by the slam of a door, she quickly jerked up and looked to see what it was; "Mom?" she projected her voice throughout the room and got no response.  She quickly went for her clothes and found yet again, an envelope.  She got dressed and tore it open, "Now that you're relaxed and worry free, meet me at your favorite place, where it all began".  Her eyes welled up as she came to the realization of whose treasure hunt she was following.  It was her childhood neighbor that she grew up with, he moved away when they were thirteen and recently moved back this school year.

She rushed out of the spa and saw the sun setting over the trees while she unlocked her car.  She had a posted note on her steering wheel from her mother, "Hi honey, i had to rush out, park on the street tonight, we're having people over".  She parked on the street and walked along the tree line towards her drive way; she turned the corner and stopped in her tracks.  She stood in awe as she looked at her candle lined driveway, all the way up the winding drive way were lit white candles.  She slowly walked to the house while she admired the ornate driveway.  Up the three steps to the porch she saw him sitting on the swing where they used to talk when they were kids.  "I don't know if your favorite place changed while i was away, but i took a leap of faith", "Will you go to prom with me?" she blushed and looked away from him and down at her feet.  He stepped closer, lifted her chin with his finger and brushed her hair back behind her ear.  He placed his hand on her hip, she stood on the tips of her toes and leaned in and kissed him.  He wrapped both arms around her back and lifted her off the floor.  Their ethereal moment ended as she broke away, she smiled wide and tenderly let out "Yes".