My Prince Next Door & Seven Reasons Why Not - #OnceUponNow

Chapter 5 - The Plan

Blair smoothes my mass of thick dark waves and adds a touch of pink lip gloss before she steps back and admires her handiwork. I am a ball of nerves. My fluttering heart has multiplied and my stomach is full of butterflies that flap and dance with each other.

"I've outdone myself." Blair's gaze sweeps to my feet and she scrunches up her nose.

"I draw the line at my shoes. I'm wearing the Chucks." I allowed her to dress me in a pair of snug skinny jeans and lavender top that showed a sliver of my midriff. But heels? No way. "Now what?"

"We sneak you out."

"That's it? That's your brilliant plan?" I'm so majorly screwed.

"Hey," Blair says with her hands on her hips. "I said I had a plan. Never did I say it was brilliant. Those are your words."

I groan and throw up my arms in defeat. "Just tell me what to do."

Blair grins. "Follow me." She peeks her head out my door and looks both ways down the hallway like she's Ethan Hunt of Mission Impossible.

I'd roll my eyes if this wasn't typical Blair flair fashion. She waves me to follow her as she steps into the hall and molds her body against the wall. I sigh. Does she seriously think she's going to sneak through a house of guys undetected?

The upstairs is eerily quiet—the sounds of videogames and teenage boys rough-housing unheard. Something's off. We tiptoe down the stairs, and Blair puts her finger to her lips to shush me like I'm being loud or have an inkling of desire to get caught.

One of the boys' bedroom doors opens upstairs followed by a series of sneezes. "Gwen? Is that you?" Michael.

Blair's eyes bug out of her head then she grabs my hand and practically drags me down the stairs into the front foyer. We just have to make it out the front door—until the doorknob jiggles. No, someone's home. Please be Mom. Please be Mo—"

Both our eyes make silent pleas at the door when Elijah nudges it open, back to us with an armload of books. Our gazes snap to each other, and then to the open door in the hall leading to the living room.

"Bathroom," Blair loud whispers as she shoves me in with the lights off before slamming the door in my face. I flick on the light switch and press my ear to the door. Blair speaks louder than necessary on the other side. I bet Elijah thinks she's a total spaz.

"Hi, Elijah." Muffled talking from my brother. "Nope, I'm good. You're an excellent teacher. Great. The best even."

I glance at my watch—how long is she going to take? I have to get to Parker's house before he gives up and decides he needs to pick me up. A few minutes pass with muffled voices on the other side when the door handle clicks open and Blair eyes me through a sliver of open door.

"Come on." Blair's gaze focuses on the hallway leading to the back of the house. "All clear—" She gasps and slams the door back in my face.

Really? At this rate I'll be in here until I graduate high school.

Blair laughs on the other side of the door. It's so over the top she snorts. I wrinkle my nose and frown. She's back at it with the loud voice. "Oh, you so don't want to go in there. I think that pizza we ate last night did not agree with Gwen."

I drop my face into my palm and shake my head. That's the best she could come up with?

"Well, next time she should use her own bathroom." That has to be Sebastian—he's never in a good mood. It's like he's got the boy version of PMS. All the time.

"Gross, Blair. Well I hope she feels better." I recognize the squeak in that voice. The youngest Diaz, George, is a late bloomer, and the sweetest of all my brothers.

"I will."

Quiet fills the air then the front door closes and within the second, Blair flings open the bathroom door and yanks me through it. "Hurry, let's get you out of here. I swear it's like they're everywhere."

Welcome to my life.

We pass through the hall, into the kitchen, and skid to a halt. Slouched in a chair with his checkered Van feet propped on the kitchen table is Nicholas taking a snooze. Man, if Mom catches him with his dirty shoes on the table—he's so busted. He'll have dish duty for a month. And the Diaz family dirties up enough dishes we should buy one of those industrial washers they have at restaurants. Normally, I'd wake him up because no one needs to feel Mom's wrath, but summer romance hangs in the balance.

This time I hold my finger to my lips and Blair nods. We sneak across the tiled floor and slide the back porch door open. On the back deck with the door closed behind us, we breathe in the last of the day's heat and a lung full of victory. We made it.

"Do I deliver, or what?" Blair beams.

I grin back. "I can't believe this is happening." The butterflies in my stomach flutter so hard that there's a chance I might rise off the ground and float away.

Blair checks her watch. "Okay, Cinderella, we better get you to the ball." We both giggle—I'm so light I don't even care about her corny references. Down the deck steps, we bound across the yard and to the long stretch of grass off to the side of the house.

We turn the corner and crash into Alex who's running backwards at full speed to catch a football spiraling towards our heads. The next second is a flash of screams, limbs, and grass. If I could slow our tumbling bodies down, I'm certain it'd look like a scene out of Peanuts where Charlie Brown is duped again.

I'd normally laugh at the ridiculousness of our bodies tangled in a heap if I didn't know my date with Parker was over before it began. I scramble off the ground while Alex helps Blair up, a light blush to his cheeks.

"Blair Bear, are you okay?" David calls, jogging over. I glare at him—my eyeball could be hanging out of my head and he wouldn't bat an eye.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," she says dusting herself off. Blair's gaze meets mine then to each of my brothers and back to me. This is unlike her, she's usually all confidence and snark. If we don't do more than stare at each other, David and Alex will figure out something isn't right.

I stare hard at Blair and her shoulders slump. Do something. Anything. She is a deer in the headlights.

"Maybe you should sit down," David says, placing a hand on Blair's arm. Then he turns to me and says, "Gwen, don't you think..." His brow crinkles when his gaze lands on me. David frowns as he takes in my appearance. In that moment my breath catches and I swear the next few seconds move in slow motion.

David opens his mouth to say something, his brows turning down in the middle so they transform his face into a scowl. I don't know what else to do but stand there while the wheels in my brother's head turns. Then Blair grabs the front of David's shirt and pulls him towards her until their lips touch. I think everyone is in shock including her. When David wraps his arms around my best friend, I snap back into reality. Gross.

I turn to Alex but I don't think the shock has worn off. That's my cue to exit. I bolt for the front lawn without a glance back. If I don't kiss Parker tonight, Blair will never let me live this down.

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