"Not that I'm not thrilled but...why is Justin here?"
Justin scoffed as he got into the back seat of Ophelia's car. "Geez, thanks Marisa."
"It's a girl's trip," Marisa said, defending herself. "I'm allowing to wonder."
The 'trip' wasn't really a trip. It was just an outing to the mall. The goal behind this shopping spree: finding prom dresses, for all three ladies in the car. Ophelia, Marisa, and Estella.
"We need a boy there," Ophelia told Marisa, defending Justin for tagging along. "He can, you know, tells us what a man would think of our clothes." Ophelia realized how unfeminist that sentence sounded, so she looked at Estella and said, "Don't tell any HO club girls that I said that."
"Why do you care what a boy thinks of your clothes?" Marisa asked her. "You've got no one to impress. Scott's gonna like anything you wear."
"I still want to look nice," Ophelia insisted. "I want him to want to show me off, you know?"
"You look pretty in everything," Estella offered with a smile.
Ophelia smiled back at the girl. "So do you." She then asked, "Do you have any boys you're trying to impress, Estella?"
The younger girl rolled her eyes. "No. I thought Diego was gonna ask me to prom. He's going with Jessica."
Justin looked over, a tinge of hurt in his eyes. He tried to mask it by looking away again.
"Who are you going with, then?" Ophelia asked, realizing she hadn't even thought about how Estella was getting in without a date. "You're not an upperclassman. You need an invite."
"I'll find one," Estella said. She crossed her arms, pouting. "Even if it isn't stupid Diego." She shook her head. "You know, he's a flirt. He flirts with me, but goes with Jessica? It's rude to flirt without intention."
"Oh, Estella," Marisa sighed. "You'll understand one day."
"Can I just say that I'm not the only boy here?" Justin brought up. He nodded to back passenger seat, where JT's car seat was. Estella sat in the back middle, next to JT and Justin, tending to the baby.
"But JT's allowed everywhere," Estella exclaimed. She raised her voice excitedly for the baby. "Aren't you, JT? Yes, you are. We'd take you over Justin any day, wouldn't we?"
"Hey," Justin complained.
"Be nice," Ophelia told them.
They pulled up to the parking lot of the mall.
"Oh, shit!" Justin yelled, leaning forward between Ophelia and Marisa. "You can park right in the front, look!"
They saw a parking spot. There was a sign at it that read, 'Family Parking.' Then under 'Families with Strollers Only'.
"Family parking!" Justin yelled. "We have a stroller!"
"Nice!" Estella said.
Ophelia hesitated. "I didn't know, maybe we should leave it for someone else-"
"Just park!" "You have a family!" "It's your spot!"
"Fine!" Ophelia said, with a laughed. She parked in the spot. "Let's get the stroller then."
They helped her set up stroller, pulling JT out of the car seat and placing him in
"At least if JT is crying we have someone to go outside with him," Ophelia joked, glancing at Justin. Estella agreed, saying, "Oh yeah, he's like an on call babysitter."
The high schoolers headed inside, Justin insisting he took the stroller. "Since I'm on call," he put in.
Ophelia appreciated him, and was beyond grateful he agreed to come. Because the girls were able to take their time looking through dresses. Every time they found one they liked, they added it to a pile Justin would hold.
"You guys know I'm in recovery? Right?" he asked as the pile grew so large he could barely hold it. "My strength isn't what it used to be." The items were heavy in his hand.
"You're lucky we're not looking at shoes yet," Marisa told him.
Estella laughed. "Oh, I can just image stacking boxes in his arms until he falls."
Justin asked, "Until 'he' falls? I'll fall? Not the shoes, but me?"
Marisa said to Estella, "He's lucky I have my underwear picked out, or else he'd have to walk around Victoria Secret for an hour too."
"Underwear picked out?" Estella turned to Ophelia. "Is that a thing? Picking out underwear?"
"For us," Ophelia told her. "Not for you."
Estella crossed her arms. She glanced at Justin, making sure she couldn't hear. "Not for me? What do you mean?"
Marisa explained, "It means you don't need nice underwear because you're going home after the dance, but we have boyfriend's that we're fucking-"
"Marisa," Ophelia hissed. "Don't be...crude."
"I'm crude? You're the one who sent me a photo of you in your lingerie last night to 'approve' it."
Apparently, Justin could hear the conversation, because he suddenly broke in, "If either of you ladies need more approval, you can always text me-"
"Stop," Ophelia told him. Turning to Marisa, she said, with an embarrassed stammer, "And-And I only did that because it felt small. I didn't know if it'd show under my dress."
"It won't," Marisa said. "Trust me, Scott'll love it."
"Stop," she blushed deeper. "Let's go try on these dresses. Come on, we've got a million."
"But there's this whole rack we haven't looked at yet!" Estella pointed out. She grabbed onto a strapless dress near the wall. "Hey, O, do you have this one? It looks familiar."
Ophelia went to her. "I might. Which one-" She stopped abruptly. Estella was holding a floor length, strapless dress. One that Ophelia recognized immediately.
It was the dress she wore to winter ball.
The dress she wore the night Montgomery broke her nose.
She was silent for a moment, staring at it.
"Yeah..." Ophelia finally said. "I do have that one."
"I like the ones you picked out today more," Marisa said. "That ones too plain."
Of course it was. When she went shopping for winter ball, she tried to find something as plain as possible, knowing how much her boyfriend would get jealous if she didn't. She wanted the opposite of sex appeal, she tried to be modest. Montgomery made her be modest.
It wasn't until this instant that she realized just how much things had changed.
She was about to go into the fitting room and try on every dress she wanted to. And she got to pick any dress. Anyone she wanted. For whatever reason.
She wouldn't have to cover up. She wouldn't have to worry about cleavage. She was going to prom, with a date, and she had absolute control over what she wore.
Ophelia realized this was the bare minimum. Obviously she should control what she wore, it wasn't special that Scott wasn't controlling.
But...it felt special to her.
Ophelia nodded. "Yeah, let's try on the other ones."
*****
Scott stopped by the Jensen's house since he was alone for the day, both Justin and Ophelia gone prom dress shopping.
Apparently, Scott wasn't invited. It had to be a 'surprise' for him.
When he arrived at the house, he knocked on the door. He saw Clay sitting at the kitchen table through the window. But the boy didn't answer the door. He had to wait about five minutes for Mrs. Jensen to finally notice he was there. She opened the door with a smile. "Hey, Scott! You're here for the last box?"
"Yeah," Scott said. "Justin said he took one to the bathroom and forgot it in there?"
"Found it sitting in the shower floor," she told him. "I don't even want to know why it wasn't wet at all. It's been in there for days, obviously that shower is unused."
Scott laughed.
Taking ahold of the last box, Scott asked, "So everything with Ophelia's trial...it's gonna go through, right?"
Mrs. Jensen grinned widely, nodding. "It's gonna go through."
"And...all that stuff they threatened to say about me?" Scott asked, nervously.
"If they say anything negative, we can sue them for defamation," Mrs. Jensen assured him. "Since they settled, the school basically admitted they did something wrong. They can't get mad at you for calling them out in it."
Scott nodded. "I never really cared what they said. I don't think anyone that mattered would believe it. I was just worried for my parents, you know? If the school made it seem like I was some creep that preyed on a student, it'd get to my mom's friend group. I really didn't want her dealing with that."
Mrs. Jensen smiled, placing a hand on Scott's shoulder. "You're a good son, Scott."
He laughed. "Thank you."
"Has your mom met Ophelia?"
"Just once, a while ago, not since we're been dating," he explained. "I know my mom would love her. But my mom can be really talkative. I was thinking I could reintroduce them during a party or something, that way Ophelia wouldn't be overwhelmed because my mom would have other company to be talking to."
Mrs. Jensen smiled at the thoughtful consideration.
"Well, you're a good son and a good boyfriend," she told him. "From what I've seen, at least. I'm very glad Ophelia has someone like you in her life. And...I'm glad Justin has someone like you too."
Scott shrugged, with a laugh. "Justin's my boy."
Mrs. Jensen stepped back. "Yeah...mine too." She let a sigh. "Take care of him for me, alright?"
Scott grinned. "I'll keep him in tip top shape, Mrs. Jensen. You've got nothing to worry about."
*****
"Oh, I just love it," Marisa gasped.
Estella beamed, "Ophelia, you look so beautiful."
Ophelia gazed at the prom dress in the mirror. A royal blue floor length dress, with sheer straps and tight fitting.
"It matches your lingerie," Marisa commented.
Ophelia blushed more. "Marisa..." She looked in the mirror again. "You don't think it's too tight?"
"It's perfect!" Estella said.
"The only way it'd be too tight is if Scott can't get it off-"
"Marisaaaa," Ophelia complained. Her face kept turning red.
Marisa just laughed.
Estella stepped forward in her burgundy dress. "I like this one."
"I think that ones perfect," Ophelia beamed. "You look so beautiful!" She let out a a deep breath. "You look like..." Another breath. "You look a woman. All grown up."
"Oh my god," Marisa complained. "Why are you getting emotional over this?"
"O, you look like you're gonna cry," Estella mentioned, with a laugh.
"You're just all grown up," Ophelia repeated, her voice wavering.
She looked so old now, Ophelia realized. Not like the middle schooler she was when Ophelia first met her.
"Okay, I'm gonna assume that's still the pregnancy hormones," Marisa told her.
When they finished with the dresses, Marisa suggested going to look for shoes.
"Okay!" Ophelia said, enthusiastic. "I need some flats."
"You're not wearing heels?" Marisa asked.
Ophelia blushed again. "I don't know if I should make myself that much taller...I'd be the same height as Scott."
Marisa let out a laugh. "Okay. Flats for you. Until you get a taller boyfriend." Ophelia rolled her eyes and shoved Marisa playfully.
Ophelia and Marisa looked at the flats. Estella, a smaller height, was at the front of the store, in the wedges section. Justin came up beside her with JT in the stroller. "You think that girl's checking me out?" Justin asked.
Estella looked over. "The old woman?"
Justin frowned. "Obviously I don't mean the old woman. I'm talking about the girl by the door."
Estella glanced her way. "Oh. Maybe. Maybe she's trying to figure out which one of us is your baby momma."
"You're probably right." Justin glanced over. "Should I shout over that it's not my baby?"
"No, because you'll get arrested for kidnapping," Estella snapped. "Leave JT with me. You go talk to her. Maybe she'll go to prom with you."
"I don't need a prom date," Justin told her.
She rolled her eyes. "Well, I do."
Justin rolled the stroller back and forth. "Who are you thinking about going with anyway?"
"I might get Luke to take me," Estella sighed.
"Luke? Why Luke?"
"Because I know he would," she said, with a shrug. "No one else is going to."
Justin pulled the stroller to a stop. "Well...why don't you just go with me?"
Estella paused. "You?"
"Yeah, I mean...why not? We'll be with Marisa and Ophelia anyway."
Estella smiled a bit. "Oh...Yeah. Yeah, okay."
"That's your dress?" he asked, nodding to the one in her arms.
"Yeah."
Justin said. "I'll go find a tie that matches."
She smiled wider. "Okay. Cool." She added, "Thank you, Justin."
He laughed, joking, "What kind of friend would I be making you go with Luke?"
*****
The girls spent two and a half hours in total picking up all their items for Prom. Estella didn't tell Ophelia that Justin was taking her yet, knowing Ophelia would be skeptical of any senior boy taking her, even him.
Ophelia dropped Justin off at the Jensen's house, and dropped Estella off at Tony's, where she'd still been staying, and she dropped Marisa off at Paul's house.
Ophelia then went home herself, only her sister at her house when she arrive. She couldn't help but marvel at her purchases.
Ophelia smiled, clasping her hands together. She hummed to herself, relishing in the fact she found the perfect jewelry set to match the dress.
It looked darling. Oh, she was so excited.
"Isn't it so pretty?" Ophelia asked aloud to JT. She turned to look at his crib. "Yes, thank you, it is."
Ophelia grabbed her dress, which was on a hanger. She held it to her body, spinning around once.
She was interrupted when Honor barged in.
"Lia," she called.
Ophelia hung the dress back up. "What?"
Honor noticed the gown. "That's pretty."
Ophelia smiled. "Oh, thank you." She smoothed it down and then repeated, "What's up?"
"That boy's outside for you."
She rolled her eyes. "That boy?" Did that mean Zach?
"Sorry," Honor said, now speaking in a teasing tone. "Your boyfriend."
"Oh!" She clapped her hands together again. Scott. "Watch JT for a moment?"
Honor sighed. "I guess." She acted bored with the idea, but Ophelia knew was excited to do it. Honor picked up JT, holding him in her arms right away.
Ophelia hurried to the door. She took a deep breath, then opened it. There was no one there.
"Scott?" she called out, taking a step onto the porch.
Then, from far away, "Over here!"
She smiled widely. His voice was around the house, in front of the garage. She walked down the steps of her house, rounding the corner.
She stopped, abruptly, a gasp leaving her mouth.
Scott stood in front of her, a bouquet of roses in his hand. He also held a white poster board, turned so she couldn't see the front. A small wrapped box was on the ground in front of him, as well as a giant stuffed badger just at his feet.
"Oh my god!" She squealed. She covered her mouth with her hands. "Oh, Scott!"
"Ophelia," he greeted, with a smile. A large, large smile that showed his handsome white teeth. "How you doing?"
"Oh, Scott!" she repeated. She was hit with emotion, and heavy excitement. "Oh my god!"
"Why are you so excited?" he teased. "You don't even know what this is yet."
"Scott," she drawled, sounded even more happy, clasping her hands together.
"You don't even know it's for you-"
"Scoooott," she said again, ready for him to hurry up and ask what he obviously came to ask.
He kept smiling.
She seemed so humorously impatient. And it would be so cruel to make her wait longer, wouldn't it? How could he ignore her excited smile?
He couldn't.
So he finally asked, "Ophelia, will you go to prom with me?"
Ophelia giggled again, excited.
He looked down at the sign. "Wait, wait, wait. If you need more motivation..." He turned the poster around. It was painted yellow with black letters. He read them. "10 points to Hufflepuff if Ophelia says 'yes' to prom."
"Oh, Scott," she laughed. She moved closer, and stopped to catch her breath as the excitement picked up her head rate. She managed to say, "Only ten points?"
"A hundred points," he said. Then, "A thousand! A. Thousand if you say 'yes'."
"This is so cute," she told him, looking at the sign he had made.
He pressed, "Answer?"
"Yes!" she giggled. "Of course, Scott!! Of course!"
He joked, "It didn't seem like 'of course' when you weren't answering-"
She cut him off by rushing forward, and kissing him. He lowered the poster, meeting her lips with just as much passion. Pulling away, she looked at the stuffed animal. "Where did you get this?!"
"Online," he said. She lit up like a kid getting a present. "I found it for you."
"And you remembered my house!" she exclaimed.
He remembered everything about her.
Scott laughed, and joked, "Yeah, I was here at your house yesterday."
"My Hogwarts house," she corrected. She kneeled down, admiring the giant stuffed badger. "I'm putting him on my bed! Oh it's so cute. I'm gonna cuddle with it and pretend it's you at night."
"It's a stuffed animal, let's not get inappropriate," he said to her.
Ophelia hit him. "Don't be thinking dirty like that."
Scott just laughed.
"You remembered because of my necklace, didn't you?" Ophelia asked, smiling. "The one Zach gave me? With the crystal and beaver?"
His smile dropped slowly. Now, his expression was more nervous. "Yeah, I remember that one. Why don't you..." His eyes trailed to the gift in the ground. But at the last moment, his nerves took hold of him. Instead, he said, "I actually knew before you got the neckalce."
"Oh, really?" she asked. She stood up. "How?"
Scott's face turned red slightly. "Really wanna know?"
She nodded. "I really wanna know." She laughed and admitted, "I was surprised that even Zach knew I was a Hufflepuff."
"I knew," he insisted.
"How?" she repeated, and smiled.
"I took a couple 'what house are you' quizzes."
"You took them?"
"I took them and put in the answers you would," he admitted.
Ophelia laughed. "How could you know how I would answer?"
Scott smiled at her, and shrugged. "I just knew."
"You just knew?" she teased.
"Picked the nicest answers," he explained. "The things I thought would match the nicest girl I've ever know."
She blushed. "Oh gosh, Scott."
"And it worked, didn't it?"
Ophelia threw her arms around his neck, pulling him close and kissing him on the cheek about a dozen times. She pulled away smiling. "Thank you, baby."
His heart skipped a beat at the praise.
She looked at the gift box. Picking it up, she asked, "And what is this?" She still had on a large smile.
His eyes fell to it. "I ordered it for you a couple weeks back."
"Oh?" She took off the wrapping, seeing a pretty jewlry box now.
"I know it's...technically regifting," he told her, "But I figured you'd like it."
"Regifting?" she laughed. "What does that mean? Are you giving me a something that someone gave you?"
"No, it's just..." Nerves hit him again. "Open it. You'll like it."
Excited, she opened the box.
Her eyes widened.
"Oh my god!" she said again, squealing. "You found one?!" She pulled out the necklace. The yellow crystal, the small badger. It was the same type of necklace she'd been given at the Spring Fling the year before. The one she cherished for so long until Zach had abruptly thrown it away. "Did you have to ask Zach where he got it?"
He swallowed. "...No."
This necklace looked nicer. It was new, and didn't have the same small scratches that got on her last one during cheer.
"This is so nice," she praised. She looked over it. "Oh my god, I loved this neckalce, and Zach just threw it away. I was so mad at him."
"He's a fucking asshole," Scott mumbled.
Looking at Scott, she said, "I'm actually glad he threw the other one away. Because I liked it, but it was from him. This one's from you. And I'll love it so much more." She kissed him half a dozen more times on the cheek.
He watched her, his heart warm from her appreciation.
She pulled the necklace out. "God, how'd you manage to find the exact same one?"
He took a deep breath. Then, "...I just got it where I did last time."
A moment passed.
She nearly dropped it.
Her reaction worried Scott. Her smile disappeared. Her shoulders slumped. He swore she paled.
"Last time?" She finally looked back up at him. "What does that mean?"
Scott didn't know what to do. He just kind of shrugged. "But I'm glad you like it-"
She didn't let him finish. She just repeated, "What does 'last time' time mean?"
Again, he didn't know what to say. So he didn't answer.
Ophelia's hands held a gentle tremor as adreline hit her. "Oh my god..." Her hand flew over her mouth. "Oh my god, Scott...I'm so fucking stupid-"
He immediately cut in, "O, don't-"
"I'm so stupid," she repeated, staring at the necklace. "He never...liked me wearing it. He never liked it. He never...He never got it for me, did he?"
Scott idled, unsure what to do or say.
Ophelia was silent for a long moment. Then she eventually whispered, "...You got it for me last time...not Zach."
Scott let out a sigh. "I never meant for it to be such a big thing-"
"Oh my god!"
It was true.
So painfully true.
And now so painfully obvious.
She stepped back. "You..." She gripped the box, worried she'd drop it. "You were going to give it to me? When-When you said you were gonna ask me to the spring fling, you are going to give it to me?"
"...Yeah-"
"What happened?!" she demanded. "Did Zach take it?!"
"No." He gulped. "I...I gave it to him."
Her face paled even more. "Why?"
"You two were getting back together," Scott tried to say. "And I was...I was trying to get over you. Because I thought you were better with him-"
"I wasn't!"
"I know!" he said. "Well-I know now! But back then I-I thought you were! You guys were so excited to get back together-"
"We weren't going to get back together!" Ophelia suddenly screamed at him. She had no idea where her own attitude came from. "Not until he gave me this!" She clutched the necklce. "We-We wouldn't have! But then I thought he knew me and...He didn't know me, Scott!" She inhaled sharply. "It was from you?! The whole time it was from you?!"
Scott gulped. He hadn't realized how much this had effected her until this moment. "I didn't mean to-"
"You lied!" she accused, now with even more of an attitude. "You lied about so much!"
"I-"
"You lied about turning in my statement! You lied about Zach getting me this! Why would you do that?!"
"I told you the other day, O, I just wanted you happy."
Her breathing was even more erratic. She took a deep breath, then told him, "I was happy with you."
"I didn't know that-"
"You shouldn't have done that!" she yelled at him. "I-I forgave Zach. I got back with him. I-I-I convinced myself I still loved him because I thought he knew me. But he didn't!" Ophelia took a deep breath, and looked at Scott. "...You did."
It seemed he had all along.
Ophelia felt like she wanted to cry.
"I'm so sorry, Ophelia," he told her. "You just seemed so happy."
"You were happy," she told him. "After the dance, you were the one with the girlfriend, the one you were actually happy with. Me?...I was faking."
Scott looked over her. "So was I."
Ophelia looked at the neckalce. Humiliation flooded her, because she couldn't control the fact that she suddenly started weeping.
Scott dropped the sign. "Ophelia, I'm sorry-"
"It was you the whole time," she cried. The tear s were fast to fall. Her whole face was red. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I-I just wanted to-"
"I was miserable, Scott." Everything that happened while he was gone by all at once hit all at once.
She had missed him. She didn't realize how much she had missed him after the Spring Fling.
"I didn't know," Scott whispered. His heart ached, regret filled his eyes.
Ophelia wiped her face.
Scott moved closer, touching her face, trying to wipe away her tears. "I didn't know it was that bad, Ophelia."
She looked up at him.
The truth was, neither did she.
Ophelia didn't know how miserable she was with Zach, until she realized how happy she was with Scott.
She loved him. In a way that made her realize her last relationship wasn't the kind of love she thought it was.
God, she was so happy with Scott.
She loved him.
She loved him so much that she suddenly shoved him away. "How could you do that, Scott?!"
"I'm sorry!" he repeated.
She sniffed loudly, trying to wipe her eyes again.
"O-"
"How could you have left me alone for so long?" she asked him, his voice falling to a pitiful whimper.
He had no excuse other than, "I thought it was what you wanted."
She shook her head. Again and again. She covered her face with her hands.
Scott shuffled forward, repeating, "I'm sorry, O..." He felt so stupid for not knowing what else to say.
She started crying, deeper. "I feel like the worse person in the world."
Scott pulled her in for a hug. "I swear it'll never happen again. Okay?"
She cried, harder now. He didn't know what to do for her. He just held her.
He kept repeating, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
But she wasn't crying because she was mad. She wasn't even sad after a while. Regret boiled over, and fizzled out until she felt something else.
Until she felt her love for him running deeper, hitting every inch of her mind and body.
She cried because she loved him, and she never wanted to let go of him, and because she realized how much time they had lost together because of her own foolishness.
Ophelia was emotional, all from a silly promposal, one with paint and glitter. What a small thing to cause such a big reaction.
Though, to her, it might as well have been an actual proposal.
Because that was the day Ophelia Tristano knew she was going to marry Scott Reed.