Misunderstandings

I've been walking around Charlotte's neighborhood for six minutes and I think it's safe to say that I'm lost.

I'm also very, very cold.

I can't move my fingers and my body is shaking as I walk down the cement sidewalk.

I hear a car drive up beside me which causes me to freak out.

Oh no.

They slow down before stopping the car and hopping out.

Jesus Christ, I've never been a bad child.

Except for the time when I spilled my milk on Suzy Plunker in grade school.

But I swear it was an accident!

Anyway, just please let me live!

I'll change, I won't have sex ever again!

"What the hell, Aspen!" I hear Charlotte yell as she suddenly appears in front of me

I look at her in relief.

Thank goodness she's here.

Oh, and I didn't really mean it about the whole sex thing.

"I've been looking for you everywhere. Are you okay?" She asks as she walks up to me

"I-I-I-" I stutter out but don't get far since my lips are chapped and the pain I feel in my throat increases

"Shit, sorry" she says with wide eyes and takes her coat off. She carefully places the coat over my shoulders before helping me into the passenger seat.

The ride back to her house is awkward, mainly for me.

I don't know how to break it to her that I don't want to marry her.

Do I love her? Of course.

Am I happy with our relationship? Most definitely.

Am I ready to be married? Not at all.

-

Charlotte forced me to take a hot bath so that I could warm up.

It burned for a couple of minutes but I was slowly able to tolerate it.

When I got out and changed into a pair of her sweatsuits she handed me a mug of hot chocolate.

We're currently sitting in the living room so that I have a quick exit if things go south.

I'm sitting on the couch opposite of her so she can't trap me from the door.

"Why did you try to run away?" She asks as I take a sip of the cocoa

I set the mug back down in my lap as I take a deep breath.

"I overheard you in the kitchen with Carolina" I say

She gives me a look of confusion before it quickly changes to one of remembrance.

"Seriously?! I wanted it to be a surprise" she says with an adorable pout

Calm down heart, you're beating too fast.

"Really?" I ask quietly

"Yeah, I had this big grand gesture too" she says with a smile

"You're mom really wanted to be apart of it, so did Kayden and Carolina" she continued with bright eyes

Oh, shit.

My mom approves of this proposal?!

My life really is coming to an end.

"They did?" I say as my voice starts to get squeakier

"Yeah, they said that they couldn't miss this moment in our relat-" she says but I cut her off

I quickly stand up and set my mug of hot cocoa on the coffee table.

"I'm sorry, Charlotte, I can't" I blurt out with a terrified expression

"Babe, What are you talking about?" She asks with a confused tone as she stands up and walks towards me

She goes to grab my hand but I move it before she gets the chance.

I see a hurt look pass through her eyes which makes me want to give her a hug but I hold myself back.

"I can't marry you" I say which causes her to look at me in complete confusion

"What are you talking about?" She says with a more serious tone

"The ring that you had, I can't marry you" I say

A look of realization passes through her face. She's about to say something but I cut her off.

"I'm only sixteen, I'm not ready to get married, heck I haven't even taken my drivers test!" I exclaim

"Aspen" she says but I ignore her and continue my rant

"I love you so fucking much but I don't want to get married, yet" I say hurriedly

"Aspen" she says again which causes me to shut up

"I don't want to marry you" she says as she starts laughing

I take a gulp of air as she continues to laugh lightly.

"You don't?" I ask as the embarrassment starts to hit me

"No, at least not yet. I'd like to get through school first" she says with a smile as she stops laughing

"Oh," I say and blush from embarrassment

"What about the ring you had?" I question

"Oh, you mean this ring?" She asks as she picks up a shiny gold box from the entertainment center

She gently grabs my hand and places the box on it.

"Open it" she says calmly

I look down at the gold box before looking up into her eyes.

"Charlotte" I say with sad eyes but a warning tone

"Shh, just open it" she says

I sigh before pulling the top off of the box.

I immediately see a note written in perfect cursive.

"Every princess needs her crown at Prom!" It read

I pick up the note and see a silver ring in the shape of a crown.

Oh my goodness.

I look up at her with tears in my eyes.

"You're asking me to prom?" I ask her with a wide smile as tears start to pour out of my eyes

"Yes, I am, so do you accept it?" She questions kind of nervously

"Of course, I do" I say

She lets out a breath of relief before grabbing the ring and placing it on my ring finger.

I look down at it in admiration which causes my tears to fall faster as I start to ugly cry.

"Oh, baby" Charlotte coos as she brings her thumbs up to my face and wipes my tears away

I wrap my arms around her waist as she wraps hers around my back.

"What's with all the noise?" Carolina complains as she walks down the stairs

"I asked her and she said yes" Charlotte says as she continues to hold me tight

"She said yes to the proposal?!" Carolina says with obvious excitement as she run over to us

"For the last time, it's a promposal, not proposal" Charlotte says with an annoyed tone

"I'm so happy for you guys" she says completely ignoring Charlotte

Wait a minute.

Prom is in two weeks.

Oh god.

"Prom is in two weeks" I say with wide eyes

"Yeah, I know" Charlotte says

"Carolina, you're helping me shop for dresses tomorrow" I say which causes her to nod her head with an excited facial expression

"We have school tomorrow, Aspen" Charlotte says with an eye roll at my randomness

"School can wait" I say with a wave of my hand. I walk out of her arms and towards the kitchen.

"Aspen, that's not how this works" she yells after me but I continue to make my way into the kitchen.

-

After school, Carolina took me to the mall immediately after dropping Charlotte and Kayden off at home.

Funnily enough Kayden asked her to our prom too.

So we decided to shop for dresses together.

"None of these dresses fit me right" I say as I throw the lilac one I tried on over the dressing room door

Some of them are too tight in the chest area but too big everywhere else.

Some of them are too loose in the chest area but too tight everywhere else.

Some of them are just too big or small in general.

I'll never find a dress.

Carolina catches the dress before sighing.

"Don't lose hope, there's still one more" she says before handing me a white dress over the door.

I grab the dress and carefully take it off the hanger. I unzip the back of it before sliding it up my body.

I use one of the hangers to help me zip the dress back up.

I take a deep breath and turn around so that I see my reflection in the mirror.

"Wow" I say as I stare at the dress on my body

The chest area is comfortable but not too loose. The rest of the dress is made to help you appear curvier than you actually are.

It's at a comfortable length, above my knees, which is perfect because I can't trip over it.

"Can I see?" Carolina questions from behind the door

I instantly open the dressing room door and reveal to her what might possibly be my perfect prom dress.

"That's cute, you should wear it" she says with a big smile

"I don't know if I'll be able to find a mask this color though" I say as I look down at the dress

"Leave that to me," Carolina says with a smile

"Go pay for that dress so we can find mine" she says as she closes the door

I roll my eyes at her. She's so pushy when it comes to certain things.

-

After shopping for our dresses we both screamed in happiness when we were all done.

Well we didn't literally scream in happiness but you get the point.

It's currently nine at night.

We've been shopping for five hours!

"Do you want to go to the food court? I'm starving" she asks as we walk out of the dress shop

"I don't know" I say nervously since I haven't seen Charlotte in five hours

I miss her presence.

Plus I have a lot of homework to do.

"Please, I'll pay for your food, plus there's no food at home" she says

"Okay" I reply

She happily grabs my wrist and drags me over to the crowded food court. I look around the crowd before quickly spotting a Chinese counter.

"I want Chinese food" I say

"Same" she says as she leads us over to it

As we walk up to the counter a happy man walks up to us.

"Hi, what can I get you?" He says with a thick accent

"I would like some sesame chicken and chicken fried rice" I say

"And I would like some chicken fried rice with beef and pepper steak" Carolina says as he quickly scribbles on his notepad

"Your food will be ready soon" he says before grabbing to go boxes and scooping food into them

I can't wait to eat this food.

-

"I'm so full" I groan out as I hold my stomach with discomfort

"Aspen, you've been saying that since we left the mall" Carolina says with an annoyed tone as she stops at a red light

We've been driving for five minutes but it feels like forever.

I was so hungry that I practically shoved my food down my throat which resulted in the horrible stomachache that I have now.

"Maybe you shouldn't have scarfed down your food so quickly" she says as we pull into Charlotte's driveway

"But it was so good" I complain as I unbuckle my seatbelt

She rolls her eyes at me as we grab our dresses and get out of the car.

As we walk through the door Charlotte immediately runs up to me and hugs me tight.

"Ouch" I squeak out which makes her pull away

"Are you okay?" She asks with a concerned facial expression

"I have a terrible stomachache" I say as I look over to Carolina who winks at me and walks away

"You should've stopped eating when your stomach started hurting" Charlotte says with a smile as she takes my shopping bag

"I know, but the food was so good" I say as I imagine the food

The flavorful rice and sweet chicken.

"Babe, you're drooling" she comments which causes me to reach up to my lips, where I am in fact drooling

I blush in embarrassment and turn away from her before I make my way towards the stairs.

As I enter Charlotte's room I kick off my sneakers before laying on her bed.

Charlotte walks in not too long after me and sets my wrapped dress in her closet. She closes her door before walking over to me and maneuvering me so that I'm sitting in between her legs.

My back is against her stomach and pelvis while my head is on her chest.

She starts to massage my shoulders which makes me hum in appreciation.

My girlfriend is the best.