"Are you sure she doesn't expect anything? She's very curious." Today's the day I ask Veronica to prom. Alison has been helping me come up with ideas on how to ask for the past two weeks. After our cabin trip, Alison told me how Veronica was telling her about prom. I remember Veronica talking to me about it saying how she didn't wanna go but she told Alison otherwise.

"She doesn't suspect a thing, I told her Mom to keep her busy while we get everything ready," Alison says as she finishes laying everything out. I rented us a small house just thirty minutes away from everyone else. I wanted us to spend the weekend here and have some time for ourselves. "Let's go over the plan one more time."

"I'll go pick up Veronica in two hours, she'll have a blindfold on so she won't see where we're going. When we get here, I'll take the blindfold off and she'll see everything that we've set up. Then I hold up the flowers behind her. That's the plan." Alison claps her hand and picks up her bag.

"Everything is perfect! If only I could be here to take pictures but I'm sure Vero will tell me everything after." I'm very grateful for Alison, she helped me a lot with this. I honestly think I wouldn't be able to do this on my own. Alison said to go "all out" for this, so she gave me some ideas and we made it happen.

We put rose petals on the floor that lead up all the way to the room we're staying in. In the room, there are a bunch of pictures of us and of her, I set them up so they spell out prom on the bed. Alison placed some candles on the night stands, obviously fake ones. And lastly, I made her a basket with all of her favorite snacks. I can't wait for her to see all of this.

"Okay well I should go get ready, Thank you so much Alison." She pats my arm and smiles.

"I'll do anything for my bestie, as long as you don't break her heart." Her smile fades and her eyes narrow at me. I chuckle nervously and nod my head. Alison is kind of scary when she's serious or mad. Well I haven't seen her mad before but Alejandro says it's scary.

"I won't ever break her heart."

~

Knocking on the front door at Veronica's house, my nerves are getting to me. I'm not nervous about prom, I'm nervous about seeing her Dad again. We get along great but I'm not gonna lie, he is a scary man. He always has a serious face whenever I come over, he does talk to me, he always asks how my family is doing and other things.

The door opens and it's her Dad just like I thought.

"Mateo," he nods his head towards me and opens the door more so I can step in. He closes the door once I'm in. He extends his hand out and I take it, he pats my back twice and pulls back. "Why don't we have a seat while Veronica finishes getting ready."

I follow him into the living room and take a seat. It's quiet for a few minutes until he breaks the silence.

"So do you have a plan for after graduation?" He asks.

"Oh umm yeah. I'm taking a year off and then going to school. I'm gonna work with my Dad at the shop throughout that time and save up money. That way by the time school comes around I can have my own apartment. Veronica and I have already talked about it."

"It seems like you have everything planned out. And if you move out, are you gonna take Veronica with you?" I knew this was gonna come soon. I've told Veronica that when I move out I want her by my side. She's my person and I feel like moving in together is the first step of our new lives.

"That's the plan Mr. Ramirez, but of course I would talk to you and Mrs. Ramirez. I don't want to do anything without talking to you and my parents." Even if Veronica told me not to tell her parents, I don't think I would hide it from them. This is something big that isn't just gonna affect us, it's gonna affect our families. I mean I'm gonna move out of the house I've lived in for eighteen years. It's gonna be different.

"You're a good guy Mateo. There's no one else I would accept for her. Even though she's grown already, she's still my baby. And I want you to know that Sarai and I are happy for both you and Veronica."

It's good to hear that. I know there's some people who don't accept their child's boyfriend or girlfriend. But I'm glad her parents accepted me. I'm in love with Veronica, and I don't think I would be able to leave her. Ever.

Our conversation stops once we hear footsteps coming down the stairs. We both stand up and walk towards the front door, and that's when I see her. Veronica walks down the steps wearing a light pink sundress, her hair is straightened and she has two small braids connected at the back of her head. She looks at me and a smile takes place on her lips. Beautiful.

"I'm finally ready," she grabs my hand and holds it tightly. I turn to face her Dad and he smiles at the both of us.

"Have fun and be careful," he tells Veronica and she nods. He turns to me and that serious expression is back to normal. "Take care of her."

I nod my head at him and shake his hand just like I did when I entered. Veronica gives him a side hug and we leave the house. We both get situated inside the truck and she immediately turns to me. "So where are we going on this lovely night? I didn't dress up for no reason," she tilts her head and I laugh lightly.

"Trust me," is all I say and we drive off from her house.

~

When we're five minutes from the house, I pull over to the side of the road. Veronica looks at me with a confused expression. I pull out the blindfold from the center console and her eyes widen.

"A blindfold?" She exclaims.

"We're almost there. Once we get there I'll take it off." Her lips form into a tight line and she squints her eyes at me. She releases a sigh after staring at me for a couple of seconds.

"Fine," she tries not to smile as she says that. "Only because...nevermind I don't have anything to say." I laugh at her comment and proceed to tie the blindfold, I make sure it isn't too tight. Once she tells me she's ready, we drive the five minutes to the house.

We arrive at the house and I tell Veronica to wait for me. I quickly get off and walk towards the passenger side, when I open the door, Beronica is extending her hands trying to find me.

I grab her arm gently and help her off the truck. Her arms are still stretched out in front of her and I laugh at the sight. "Okay we're gonna walk slowly. Hold onto my arms." I stand in front of her and her hands grab my forearms. I start to walk backwards slowly making sure I don't fall or Veronica doesn't either.

"There's a step right here so be careful." She slowly makes it up the step and we are at the front door. I remove her hand from my right arm and unlock the door, everything is just like how Alison and I left it.

"Okay are you ready?"

"Yes I am." She says with nervousness laced in her voice. I stand in front of her and take off the blindfold, she blinks a few times adjusting to the light and looks up at me through her lashes. I caress her cheek softly while leaning down to lightly press my lips against her sweet lips.

"I love you," I say against her lips and I feel her smile.

"I love you," she says back. I move beside her and watch her face as she takes in everything that was set up. She grabs my hand and starts walking in following the rose pedals. We get closer to the room and my nerves are back. Here it goes.

She opens the door more and it reveals the pictures that spell out prom. "Mateo," she breathes out and walks to the bed. Just watching her take everything in makes my heart flip.

She picks up one of the pictures from the letter "p" and laughs at it lightly. It was a picture we took on Valentine's day. We were both standing in front of all the rollercoasters where we almost had our first kiss. My arm was around her waist, we were both laughing at something I had said and the stranger we asked took the picture.

It was the best picture we took that day.

When she turns around, I hand her the flower bouquet I got her. It's an assortment of roses and chrysanthemums, her favorite. "I wanna go to prom with you," she says and hugs me. I wrap my arms around her and kiss the top of her head. "I know I had said I didn't want to before, but I do, I wanna go with you Mateo."

She moves back and looks up at me. I lean down and kiss her lips. Her hands move up to wrap around my neck and mine hold her waist. Eventually, we both need to catch our breaths so we pull away, our foreheads are touching and I smile down at her.

"Let's go to prom together sweetheart."