Saved Me

✨ c h a p t e r n i n e t e e n ✨

Today was Roman's birthday. We managed to keep his party a secret. I'm supposed to go to Roman's to pick him up so he could take me to the mall. I still needed to think of bullshit excuses to keep him away from his house until I got Maggie's signal.

I quickly changed into a strapless red – which I found out was Roman's favorite color – dress that ended just a couple inches above my knees. I tried to make myself look more appealing. I had a white cardigan over to my dress and added sandals onto my feet. My hair was let loose in its naturally curly state. I added just a bit of hairspray to keep it looking decent. After the final touches, I went downstairs to the kitchen.

I had "moved" back in a couple days after living with Roman and the others. We spent most of our time causing havoc everywhere we went. Tony and Asher both decided to make a bet on who could get kicked out of the most places by the end of the week; Asher won by a landslide, crushing Tony's ego and surprising the hell out of us. If anything, we had assumed Tony would have won considering he was the most troublesome. Sometimes Roman and I would slip out to just go for a walk or go on the swings at the playground we went to a few weeks back.

"You look nice," my aunt commented as I grabbed a bowl from the cabinet.

"Today's Operation Distraction," I reminded her. She chuckled. I had told my aunt the whole plan Asher and Maggie created. She was completely okay with it, despite the fact that my uncle was absolutely against it. He wasn't going to loosen up anytime soon.

"Well, good luck sweetheart. Tell him we said happy birthday," she said, kissing the top of my head. "I'll see you tomorrow." Since the party will most likely end early tomorrow morning, we decided to stay the night at Roman's. That way we could also help him clean up.

"Bye Aunty," I said. Once she left, I was finished with my breakfast. I tossed the plates into the dishwasher and grabbed my keys.

After locking my door, I all but jogged to Roman's house. I was trying to convince myself that I was nearly running to his house so the others had plenty of time to do the decorations and set up; I wasn't doing a very good job at that.

I rang the doorbell and waited patiently. No more than four seconds later, the door swung open. He was wearing a red and black plaid flannel with a white v-neck shirt underneath along with a dark pair of jeans. I faintly remember telling him that that was my favorite outfit on a boy. Whether he did that on purpose or not, I didn't question him.

"Hey," he said, pressing his lips to my temple. "Ready to go?" I simply nodded. Words were, yet again, failing me. Roman and I had yet to talk about the kiss he gave me the first night I stayed with him. Neither of us brought it up but I assumed it was something we needed to discuss.

He led me to his car – a Ford Mustang V6 to be exact (Roman told me, speaking car is not my forte) – and opened the door for me. I slid inside, mumbling a thank you to him. He got into the opposite side and began driving. I sent a quick text to Maggie, giving her the okay. I also made sure she took my gift for him and hid it in his closet. I wanted to give him my present when we're alone.

We drove in a comfortable silence, letting the music play freely. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, one hand resting on the space pad in between our two seats. I don't know who grabbed who, but soon enough, our fingers were laced together.

"What are we shopping for?" He asked once we stepped out of the car. His hand immediately held onto mine as we entered the mall.

"Um, my friend, Jay, from New York is coming back from his volunteer trip in India and his birthday passed a couple weeks ago," I answered. It was technically true anyways. However, the last time I spoke to him was when I told him I was moving to New Jersey. He didn't quite take the news well but he understood. He promised to come visit me after his trip. I haven't heard for him, nor have I tried to contact him ever since. But then again, I hadn't talked to any of my friends from New York since I left.