Uncharted Territory

Grace

I glanced in the mirror as I finished putting on my make-up and gave a forced smile to myself. John was taking me out on a date and had told me to dress nice because it was a fancy place. I was excited to go on a date with him because we hadn’t been able to hang out in over a week but my conscience kept saying I needed to tell John about what happened in Chicago. There was no way I could tell him that I had almost slept with his best friend though. I’d broken John’s heart too many times already and I wasn’t going to do it again. Anyway, I figured lying was better than telling the truth if the truth was just going to hurt people.

The doorbell rang and I heard my mom answer it as I once again thought about how much I needed to get my own place. I’d been back in Arizona for almost nine months and was desperate to get out of my parent’s house but at the moment there were other, more important things to take care of, like figuring out what my feelings were for Kennedy.

“Honey, John’s here,” my mother called up to me.

“Coming,” I called before looking in the mirror one last time. I smoothed my dress down and gave a sigh before flipping off the light and walking down the stairs.

I smiled as I saw John standing in the doorway in dress pants and a nice shirt. I gave him a big hug as I told myself his arms were the ones I belonged in.

“You guys have a great time,” My mom said with a huge smile on her face. I thought she was acting a bit weird but shook off the feeling and followed John out to his car.

John refused to tell me where we were going so I sat back and listened to the radio while begging him to at least give me a hint every few seconds. John wouldn’t budge though on not telling me so I finally shut up and occupied myself with watching him. As he drove he tapped his fingers on the steering wheel which was a normal occurrence for him but he seemed to be doing it more than usual.

“You’re really fidgety tonight,” I commented.

“What? Oh,” John said as he looked at me and then down at his tapping fingers. “I uh… I had an extra cup of coffee this morning so that’s probably it.”

I gave John a quizzical look but dropped the subject and changed the topic. “So how was Massachusetts? I heard Reagan won her case.”

“It was good. I had to refrain myself a few times from punching that bastard that hurt Rae but other than that it was good. So how was Chicago?”

I stiffened at the question but acted as if everything was fine. “It was fine. Evan was rude to me the entire time but Kennedy stood up for me.”

“Good I’m glad that Kennedy was there for you,” John smiled.

“Umm…yeah…me too,” I mumbled.

A few minutes later we pulled up to the restaurant and were soon seated at a table. John still seemed jittery throughout the meal as we made small talk but I didn’t question it anymore.

“I’m glad everything is back to normal,” John said while we waited on the waitress to come back with the check. “This is been a crazy past few weeks.”

“Yeah, it has been. I’m glad it’s back to normal too,” I agreed but knew I was lying. Normal would mean that I was 100% certain John was the one for me instead of wondering if I should be with Kennedy. I needed some kind of sign to show me which guy I should be with.

“Do you want to take a walk before we head back?” John asked as we exited the restaurant.

“Sure.”

We walked for a few minutes in silence until John stopped us and began speaking. “Grace, I just wanted to let you know I love you and how happy I am we’re a couple again. I know our relationship hasn’t always been easy and we’ve had some rough patches but it’s just made us stronger. What I’m trying to say is will you marry me?”

I gasped as I looked at John down on bended knee looking up at me. This had to be it; this had to be the sign I was looking for. At least I was telling myself this was the sign. I was still hesitant about whether John was the one I was supposed to be with but I wasn’t going to break his heart so I said, “Yes. Yes, I would love to marry you.”

John smiled as he slipped the ring on my finger and I couldn’t help but think this entire thing felt anti-climactic. Little girls dreamed of the day they became engaged, myself included, but this was nothing like I imagined. I wasn’t expecting fireworks or a dancing number like in the movies but I thought I’d feel more than what I was feeling. Sure, I was happy but that was it. I was happy, almost content. I always thought I’d be ecstatic but I guess I’d known since high school that John and I would probably end up together so it didn’t really come as a surprise.

John and I walked back to his car as I kept glancing at the ring.

“I’m kind of surprised you didn’t cry,” John commented.

“I almost did but I guess I was kind of expecting it. Everyone’s been saying that we’ll get married since we were sixteen.”

“You’re right about that one,” John chuckled. “That’s why I figured it was time for us to get engaged. I was tired of everyone bugging me about it.”

I rolled my eyes at John and grasped his hand as we made my way up towards my house. I knew I’d better tell my mother about mine and John’s engagement immediately.

There was no reason to tell my mother though because as soon as we walked in the door my mother, father, Ashley, Colin, and Ryder were standing there yelling “congratulations”.

“How did you guys know?” I asked, a bit shocked from the scene in front of me.

“John told us so we decided to have a many celebration,” my dad said as he carried a cake with the words “congrats John and Grace” on it towards me.

“Wow, thanks everyone,” I managed to get out.

“Oh Gracie, I’m just so happy,” my mom said as she began to cry. “I know these past few words went differently than expected but they’re over and now everything’s perfect.”

“Yeah, everything is,” I smiled but deep down I knew I was lying.