The Art of Life (91 page)

               
“Well
then, buy it,” Jeremy states easily.

               
“There
is a problem,” I mumble.

               
“What’s
that?”

               
Biting
my lip, I say, “Its 600 dollars.”

               
“For a dress!?”
Jeremy exclaims.

               
With
a heavy sigh, I answer, “Yeah,
it’s
fine.
 
I will find something cheaper.”

               
“I
didn’t know dresses cost that much, but if you want it, get it Isabelle.
 
You only get to do this once, well other than
prom.”

               
“This
is much more formal than prom,” I reply.
 
“But it’s 600 dollars!”

               
Jeremy
just laughs.
 
“You have a 5 million
dollar spending limit.
 
Don’t go over
that.”

               
“JEREMY!”
I hiss.
 
“You can’t say stuff like that!”

               
“Why not?
 
Who is
going to take that seriously?
 
Just buy
the dress.
 
I bet it is beautiful.”

               
Sighing
happily, I say, “It is.”

               
“Well,
I had better get back into the bar.
 
There is a bunch of girls around and I need to keep Josh in check,
before he gets into trouble,” Jeremy states.

               
A bunch of girls, oh,
hmmmm
.
 
“Okay,” I whisper.
 
“See you later.”

               
“Bye
toots,” and he hangs up.

               
“Jeremy
thinks he is so funny,” Cassandra groans.
 
“I almost had a heart attack.
 
So,
what did he say?”

               
I
hand her the credit card.
 
“Let’s buy
it.”

               
A
few hours later, Cassandra has left and I have my jammies on.
 
I am sitting on the couch, flipping through a
bridal magazine.
 
There is the sound of
keys in the lock and then the door opens.
 
“Hey,” I say, without even looking up.

               
Jeremy
comes up behind me, leans over and kisses me on the cheek.
 
“How you doing babe?”

               
“Good,
did you have a nice time?” I
ask,
kind of not wanting
to hear about the girls.

               
“Yeah,
we schooled these guys in pool and then we went to a bar and just
chilled.”
 
Jeremy comes over and plops
down next to me.
 
“What
ya
doing?”

               
Holding
up the magazine, I say, “Looking through this.”

               
“Planning
your dream wedding?” Jeremy chirps.

               
“I
don’t know,” I mumble.
 
“There is a lot
in here.”

               
He
bends over and picks up another one of the bridal magazines.
 
“This thing is like a book.
 
How much can there be about weddings?”

               
“You
would be surprised how much goes into weddings and stuff.
 
It’s crazy.”
 
Jeremy just shakes his head and flips through the magazine.
 
Suddenly, he comes to a page.
 
I say, “Hey, stop.”

               
“What?”
Jeremy asks.

               
I
take the magazine away from him.
 
“That
is so pretty.”

               
“The ring?”

               
“No,
the hand, YES, the ring, you bone head.
 
It’s
beautiful.”

               
“That
it is,” Jeremy replies.
 
I sit there and
stare at it for a bit.
 
“Is that what you
would like when a guy proposes?”

               
Scoffing,
I say, “Yeah, if the guy was a millionaire.”
 
Then there is dead silence.
 
“That
did not come out how I wanted it to,” I state, closing my eyes.

               
“I
don’t consider myself a millionaire,” Jeremy retorts, “So no worries.
 
You can marry a rich old man with a heart
condition.”

               
“
Eww
, Jeremy, that is nasty,” I giggle.
 
Sighing, I whisper, “No, it doesn’t matter
what he proposes with, as long as he will love me forever.”

               
Jeremy
turns and looks at me.
 
“I don’t think it
would take much for a guy to love you forever.”

               
My
eyes drift over to him.
 
“That’s sweet.”

               
“He
better ask my permission first,” Jeremy articulates.

               
“Oh really?”
I laugh.
 
“Why’s that?”

               
His
eyes get a twinkle to them.
 
“Why do you
think?”

               
I
shake my head and look back at the magazine.
 
“It is pretty though.”

               
“Do
you want a big wedding?” Jeremy asks.

               
“I
don’t have anyone to invite to a wedding, so that would be a no,” I answer.

               
He
puts his arm around me.
 
“By the time you
get married, you will have loads of people to invite.
 
You aren’t getting married tomorrow.”

               
“True,”
I sigh.

               
“So,
small wedding then,” Jeremy states.

               
Looking
up at him, I say, “No, big wedding.”

               
“Really?”
He retorts, looking a little shocked.

               
That
makes me grin.
 
“Surprised, huh?”

               
“A
little,” Jeremy replies.
 
“Tell me.”

               
“I
want it to be in a big, white church, with beautiful stained glass
windows.
 
I want hundreds of flowers, all
white.
 
Tulips in my
bouquet.
 
I want my groomsmen to
be in tuxes with tails.
 
My bridesmaids
will be in elegant floor length dresses.
 
I want the fairy tale dress and decorations.
 
I want it to be perfect.”

               
There
is a soft chuckle from Jeremy.
 
“I would
never have guessed any of that.
 
You will
have a gorgeous wedding, and be a stunning bride.”

               
 
“Will you be there?” I whisper, putting my
head on his shoulder.

               
There
is a sudden tension in his muscles, but it quickly goes away.
 
“Of course, I will be wherever you need me to
be.”

               
We
are just quiet for a little bit.
 
Finally, I say, “I should go to sleep.
 
It’s late and I am tired.”

               
“Want
some company?” Jeremy whispers.

               
I
turn my face to his.
 
“Are you going to
have nightmares tonight?”

               
“Maybe,”
he murmurs back, with a grin.

               
“
Mmmhmmm
, I bet,” I retort.
 
“Yeah, come on stud.
 
Go get ready
for bed.”
 
Jeremy smiles and bends down
to kiss me on my nose.

               
The
next two weeks are kind of funny.
 
All
the girls talk nonstop about the dance.
 
They ask me what my dress looks like, and I tell them they will
see.
 
I kind of want it to be a surprise
to Eric.
 
He does buy my ticket and keeps
mentioning that we need to dance together.
 
I tell Jack that he is going to be driving my car, because I don’t think
my dress is going to work for that.
 
That
seems to make his week.

               
Then comes the Saturday of the dance.
  
I wake up in an awesome mood.
 
Practically skipping, I go into the kitchen
to make coffee.
 
I am pleasantly
surprised to find Jeremy there.
 
“Do you
know what today is?” I chirp.

               
“How
could I forget?” Jeremy says.
 
“What time
is Cassandra picking you up?”

               
“One,”
I reply.
 
“What’s wrong?”

               
Jeremy
looks at me and doesn’t really give a facial expression.
 
“Nothing’s wrong.”

               
“Okay,”
I articulate hesitantly.
 
“Are you coming
to see me before we go to the dance?
 
Of
course you
are,
stupid question.”

               
“No,
actually I am not.
 
I have a date.”

               
My
heart couldn’t drop any farther into my stomach. “Oh,” I squeak.
 
“Okay, well then………”

               
“Take
a picture and send it to me,” he says.
 

               
I
turn and look away.
 
I don’t want him to
see the tears welling up in my eyes.
 
“Sure.”

               
There
is just silence for a minute.
 
“You don’t
need me there anyway.
 
This is a girl
thing and you will have Cassandra.”

               
“Yeah,
totally, I hope you have fun on your date.”
 
I stand there for a second and then walk away.

               
“Where
are you going?” Jeremy yells.

               
Not
turning around, I say, “Shower.”

               
Of
course, I cry my heart out in the shower.
 
I shouldn’t be this affected by him not being there.
 
The hot water calms me, and I just let it
fall on me.
 
I go into my room afterwards
and stay there.
 
Jeremy knocks on my door
later and asks, “Are you okay?”

               
“Yup,”
I reply.
“Just doing girly stuff.”

               
“Okay,”
he sighs.
 
When one o’clock rolls around,
I finally leave my room.
 
Jeremy is
standing in the living room.
 
“Do you
have everything?”

               
“Cassandra
has it all,” I whisper.
 
We had the dress
sent to her house.
 
That way nothing
happened to it.
 
My closet isn’t big
enough here.

               
“Here,”
Jeremy says, thrusting his hand out.
 
“This is for you.”

               
I
reach over and take it.
 
It’s a credit
card.
 
“What’s this for?”

               
“It’s
a prepaid credit card, since you had such a coronary about having a debit card
to my account.
 
This is how you will have
money.
 
You can get cash off of it or use
it as a credit card.
 
There is 500
dollars on it.
 
So, you can pay for your
hair and stuff with that.”

               
“Thanks,”
I murmur.

               
He
comes over and puts his hands on my arms.
 
“What’s wrong?”

               
Forcing
a smile on my face, I answer, “Nothing.
 
Just nervous, I guess.
 
I haven’t
done this before.”