In Fate's Hands

“So, Girlfriend, when are you going to move back in with me?” asked Jesse as they walked down the hallway a few minutes later hand-in-hand.

“Actually, I don’t really think that’s such a good idea just yet. If I moved back to your house, then it would be way too easy for us to go too fast with this relationship and I don’t think your parents will really like having your girlfriend live with you under their roof,” responded Elizabeth.

“That’s true. I’m still going to miss you over there though.”

“Well then I’ll just have to come over a lot, won’t I?” Elizabeth smiled and gave his hand a squeeze.

“Yes, you definitely will! I have a question for you.”

“What?”

“Are you busy Friday night?”

“Nope. Why?”

“Now that we are officially a couple again, I thought maybe it would be cool if we went on a date. What do you think?”

“And what kind of date would this be?”

“I don’t know yet, but something romantic. What are your thoughts?”

“I think a date sounds absolutely perfect. What should we do?”

“How about I think of something romantic and surprise you?”

“Ok.”

RRRRRRIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNGGGGGG!!!!! The bell went off, signaling the beginning of the school day.

“See you later, Boyfriend,” said Elizabeth. She gave Jesse a quick kiss goodbye and went into her homeroom.

Four days later, Elizabeth studied herself in front of the mirror. She was wearing a white v-neck dress that went down to her knees and had silver jeweled straps that crossed in the back. Some of the white material gathered to form an X over the stomach. She wore white sandals with 2-inch heals on her feet. Jayden had helped her do her hair and makeup. She had washed and straightened her hair so that it gleamed in the light. She wore light blue eye shadow, brown eyeliner, black mascara, a little bit of pink blush and shiny lip-gloss. Her tiny white purse was the finishing touch to an already perfect look. She nodded and gave herself a satisfied smile.

“How do I look?” she asked, turning around to face Jayden.

“For the millionth time, you look absolutely gorgeous.”

“Sorry, I’m just a little nervous about this. I don’t really know what to expect, but I want it to be as perfect as it can be. He’s driving me crazy though! No matter what, he refuses to tell me where we are going; he only said to get dressed up, so I did.”

DING DONG! The doorbell went off downstairs. Elizabeth made her way to the door, but Jayden stopped her.

“Wait! Let me go get it and then I can let him in and he can see you walk down the stairs. You can have a ‘She’s All That’ moment without the part where she trips.”

Elizabeth laughed and said, “Ok. You’re such a goofball for thinking of that, but I love that idea.”

“Thanks,” Jayden said as she walked past Elizabeth and out the door. Elizabeth heard her feet as she ran down the stairs to answer the door for Jesse. A second later, she heard the front door close and Jayden say, “Damn, Jesse! You look pretty spiffy.”

“Thanks. Where’s Elizabeth?”

“She’s coming,” she responded and then screamed up the stairs, “ELIZABETH! JESSE IS HERE, SO GET YOUR GORGEOUS SELF DOWN HERE!”

Elizabeth walked to the top of the staircase and slowly made her way down. She smiled as she saw Jesse’s jaw drop.

“Hi,” Elizabeth said almost shyly as she got to the bottom of the steps and Jesse came towards her.

“Hi! You look—wow—you look absolutely beautiful. There isn’t a word I can use that would sum up just how good you look right now. This is for you.” He handed her a single red rose.

“Aw, thank you, Sweetie! You look pretty damn good yourself. Jayden, can you put this in some water for me?” She handed the rose to Jayden.

“Sure. You two lovebirds have a great time now! And, Liz, you’d better tell me everything later!”

“Count on it,” responded Elizabeth. Jesse slipped his hand into hers and they made their way out to his car.

“So when are you going to tell me where we’re going?” Elizabeth asked excitedly once they were on their way. “I’m dying to know.”

“You’ll find out when we get there,” Jesse responded mischievously.

“Ugh you are mean! You’re enjoying this way too much.” She folded her arms and moved farther away from him huffily.

“Maybe I am, but I can’t wait to see your expression once we get there. I think you really will enjoy what I have planned.”

“Yeah well after all this secrecy, it had better be good.”

About half an hour later, Jesse pulled into a parking lot and parked the car. Then, like the true gentleman he was (at least for the night), he walked around the car, opened the door for Elizabeth, and helped her out of the car.

“Where are we?” she wondered aloud as she stepped out into the clear, cool night air. The parking lot they were in was almost filled to capacity, but everything around it was pretty much dark.

“You’ll see,” he said as he took her hand and they began walking. Pretty soon, water from the Hudson River came into view and they walked right beside it.

“So I guess this means that we are going someplace near the water?” Elizabeth asked.

“I guess you could say that.”

About five minutes later, he led her onto a dock. They saw a huge, lit-up dinner cruise called the Spirit of New York docked in one of the ports.

“It’s so beautiful,” Elizabeth commented as she looked at the ship. “I’ve always wanted to go on a dinner cruise.”

“Good,” Jesse said as they continued to walk. They walked up to a man dressed in a sailor outfit standing right in front of the ship and Jesse took two tickets out of his pocket and gave them to the man. The man took the tickets, examined them, and nodded. Jesse escorted Elizabeth up the plank and onto the ship.

“Wait, this is the surprise?”

“Bingo. What do you think?”

“I love it! Jesse, this is beautiful! I can’t believe you did this! It must have cost you so much money, though!”

“Don’t you worry about that. This night is about us, so lets just forget about everything and have fun.”

The ship had about 3 different levels to it. The first floor was where they cooked the food and where the bathrooms were. Not many people stayed on the first floor because it was cold and windy, but there was a deck to walk on if you didn’t want to stay with the crowds. Most people stayed on the second floor where the dinner and dancing was. Most of the ship was outside, so you could see the beautiful view of the New York City harbor as you were dancing and eating. The dance floor was on the tip of the deck and all the tables were surrounding it on three sides. It felt like you were at a formal party or restaurant with dancing, except it was on the water. The third floor was for private parties, so you couldn’t get up there unless you were invited.

The ship was crowded, but not to the point where every table was taken, so Jesse and Elizabeth easily got a table near the side of the ship, so they had a great view of the harbor. The hostess came over, welcomed them to the ship, and handed them menus.

“I still can’t believe you did this! This ship is just so beautiful and romantic,” Elizabeth said as she studied her menu.

“I was hoping you would like it. I wanted to do something special for us. Besides, you definitely deserve it after everything you’ve been through and the crappy way I have treated you.”

“That’s true; I do deserve it since you used to be such a jerk to me,” joked Elizabeth.

“Hey! Those days are over. I am a changed man now.”

“I know you are and I am so proud of you for it. You’ve really come a long way.”

“So have you. We have both changed so much since I asked you to start tutoring me. As it turns out, that was probably the best idea I’ve ever had.”

“Yeah. If it weren’t for you, I would still be at Anthony’s mercy or maybe even dead by now.”

“Do you really think he would have killed you?”

“If he was drunk enough and pissed off enough then definitely. I pray to God that he will never make it out of jail because, if he does, I know that he will come after me.”

“If he does, he’ll have to go through me first.”

“Thanks, Jess.”

“Good evening. I’m Haley and I will be serving you tonight,” said the waitress when she reached the table. “Can I start you off with some drinks?”

Jesse and Elizabeth ordered drinks and food and the waitress went to put in their order.

“Anyway, when will the State Championship be?” asked Elizabeth after the waitress left.

“It’s this Friday. My dad has already started pressuring me about it.”

“How?”

“He doesn’t think I should be spending any time with you right now because I have to work on my game. Whenever I eat in front of him, I have to pretend to be on a certain diet and make it seem like I go to bed at a certain time so that I can be in the best possible shape for the game. He constantly puts me down for the way I play and boasts about how I’ll never be able to beat his scoring record.”

“He’s wrong. You and I both know that you have the potential to beat him and that scares him to death. You have a real future in basketball and he’s jealous of that because he didn’t get drafted into the NBA.”

“You are probably right. I’m just so sick of the way he treats me. My mom has done everything she could to make him stop, but nothing has worked. Their marriage isn’t going so well right now. If I’m lucky, she’ll divorce him and I’ll get to stay with her.”

“I’m glad your mom is finally seeing the real man she married.”

“Me too. It’s gotten to the point where I really don’t want to live with him anymore.”

“I’m sorry. Both of us have so many issues with our parents. I refuse to become like my mother one day when I have kids.”

“And I will never, ever be like my dad.”

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the Spirit of New York,” came the DJ’s enthusiastic voice through the speaker. “I will be playing songs all through the night, so feel free to get up and dance. I will also be taking requests. Right now, I’d like the start off the night with a little bit of ‘’Break the Ice” by Britney Spears.”

“Oh I love this song! It has such a good beat to dance to.”

“Want to dance?”

“I thought you would never ask.”

Jesse took Elizabeth’s hand and led her to the dance floor. After that, they danced to “Boom Boom, Pow” by the Black-Eyed Peas, “The Anthem” by Good Charlotte, and they did the Electric Slide, Cotton-Eyed Joe, and the Cha-Cha Slide. By the time they went back to their table, their food was already waiting for them. They gulped down their water because they were each red-faced and out of breath.

“That…was so…much fun,” said Elizabeth as she tried to regain her breath and began to eat.

“It definitely was. We should definitely go dancing more often because we are pretty good out there.”

“I love to dance and I’m so glad that we get to do it tonight because I haven’t done it in so long. I’m having such a good time with you.”

“Ditto.”

“After growing up without anyone to trust, it feels good to finally have a best friend and a boyfriend and hopefully become somewhat normal. I’m so glad I have you to enjoy this with me.”

“Again, ditto. I just wish I had made the effort to get to know you sooner.”

“Better late than never, right? Besides, there’s no reason to dwell on the past; we should live for the here and now.”

They continued to eat in silence; they didn’t need to use words to express the euphoria that they both felt at that very moment.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I wanted to let you know that in a few minutes, we are now approaching the Statue of Liberty,” said the DJ.

Elizabeth and Jesse got up, walked over to the deck, and peered at the historic statue standing proudly in the distance.

“This has to be one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen,” Elizabeth said as she looked out at the view.

“I know it is.”

Elizabeth turned toward him and noticed that he wasn’t looking at the New York skyline, but rather at her.

“Jesse, stop it.”

“It’s true. You look so beautiful tonight, better than even I could have imagined.”

His head moved closer to hers and they kissed in front of the Statue of Liberty under the clear moonlit sky.

After the ship passed the statue, the DJ started to play “My Everything” by 98 Degrees. Jesse again took Elizabeth’s hand and led her to the dance floor. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he put his hands on her waist. He bent over and started to sing the song in her ear and she smiled as she felt her stomach start to flutter. She knew she was falling in love with him. They kissed in the middle of the dance floor as the song ended. Neither of them had ever felt happier.

However, that happiness was short-lived once again. As they were walking back to their table, two people kissing caught their eyes. Once they broke apart and Jesse and Elizabeth saw who these people were, they stopped short in their tracks.

“Mom?!” said Elizabeth incredulously.

“Dad?!” said Jesse in the same tone.

There, sitting right in front of them, was Susan Rodriguez holding hands with John McCartney.