Rose 2-10: Word travels fast

Donovan

    All A's!

      I go downstairs to find Clark eating his breakfast.
      "So..." he asks in a comedic way, "Shauna, huh?"
     I turn to look at him. "If you let her know you were awake for any of that I'll," I think for a moment, "sic my little sister on you." I can't help but laugh at how that sounded, but he hasn't met Giselle. The only witch scarier than her is Tiffany.
     He needs to take a shower.
     Clark laughs a little and says, "Chill. I wouldn't do that to you."
     "I thought you were fast asleep. I can't imagine that all these nights you've slept elsewhere" Of course, last night you would have to finally show up again "that you've gotten much sleep."
     "Who needs sleep?" He laughs a little at himself.

    "Oh, I've been meaning to tell you, my little brother is a freshman next year, and I want to know if it's okay that he house with us as well."
     "Yeah, of course. This just means that rent is a little less. My dad will love the idea." he answers.
     "Good." I say, and we're silent for a minute or two.

    "Oh, Holly told me a rumor that Willow got engaged." Clark says out of the blue.
    My fork stops halfway to my mouth. I just lost my appetite. I put my plate on the table and turn to him to ask in a whisper, "What?" I can't get enough air in my lungs. "To Josue?"
      "No. Someone named Denis Stanley." he turns to look at me, concerned.
      "I don't know a Denis Stanley." How can this be happening?
      "Are you okay? You're paler than normal." he points out. "I thought you were casual about her anyway. I thought you were casual period."
        "That doesn't mean..." I pause and decide not to finish my sentence. "I have to call her." I immediately jump up to throw my plate in the dishwasher.

    I call twice. She doesn't answer either time, so I decide to text her. This can't be happening! Willow?! The free spirit? Engaged?! To be married?! I stare desperately at my phone, waiting for something to happen. I don't know where she could be.
     My flight isn't until early, early tomorrow morning. Moonlight Falls isn't far away. Surely she wouldn't have left campus yet? Who is this Denis?
      Maybe Holly was wrong.
      I finally decide that standing in the kitchen and staring at my phone isn't going to get me anywhere, so I head upstairs to take a shower. Right before I get ready to step in, my phone buzzes.

      Tiffany? She's invited me to an end-of-term party that her party-crazy roommates are throwing tonight. I don't know what I'll be doing tonight... hopefully, it will have something to do with Willow. I text her an "IDK". She texts back an "IDC".
      You don't care? Then why bother sending the invite?!
      Women!!! I sigh exasperatedly, stash my phone in that magical place where everything goes, and take a shower.
      When I'm out of the shower, I pace back and forth in my room, staring at my phone and wondering if I should dash around campus asking everyone if they'd seen her. Then, my phone rings. Willow!

     "Willow!" I say loudly into my phone. "Is it true?"
     "Word travels fast, I see. I keep forgetting Holly lives in your building." she says, and my heart plummets into my stomach.
      "Why?! Why are you doing this?" I ask desperately into the phone.
      "He was my high school sweetheart, and then he went and joined the navy. Well, he's back for a long while, and he looked me up."
      "And so you decide to marry him?!"
      "Well, I'm engaged at any rate." she answers, and she doesn't sound like someone head over heels in love and excited to get married.
       "Is this what you really want?" I ask, realizing I can't hang onto her if she really wants to get married. The very thought of her marrying someone feels like huge claws raking across my chest.
       "Listen, I have to pack, but I'll come by when I'm all finished and before I leave to go home." she says, sounding resigned.
      "I'll be waiting." I say, and we hang up. Face-to-face is always better. I will not relax about this unless I can see that she's ecstatically happy.
       I try to imagine life without Willow. It's not easy; she's been such a big part of my entire college life. However, I can do it if I have to. I realize that if I'm not going to commit to anyone then this is going to happen to me a lot.
       Thinking about this makes me think of Shauna and the good time I had last night. I decide to give her a ring to pass the time until Willow gets here.
      "Donovan! Hi." she breaths into the phone. She has an incredibly sexy voice.
      "Ciao, bella. Have you finished packing?"
      "No. In fact, I'm packing right now as we speak. Can I put you on speaker?"
       This might make anyone listening in get a little more than they bargained for, I think, remembering all of our previous phone conversations.
       "Are you alone?" I ask seductively.
       "Yes, but I'm busy. I don't want to blow you off though."
       I've come to realize I have a dirty mind.
       "Then, put me on speaker. I'll try to behave." I say with a small laugh, and she does so. We chat for a little while about plans for next term, and an idea occurs to me.

     "Perhaps next time you can model for me." I suggest. "Nude." I finish bravely.

     "Well, I'd only trust my nude body to your hands."
     "Then these hands will certainly look forward to the job." I say, and I can't help but have a happy laugh escape me. She's so much more confident on the phone.
      Sadly, the phone conversation ends not long after we strike that promising deal, and she asks me to call her first thing at the start of next term so we can set it all up.
       "As soon as I'm able, you had better believe I will." I promise. Then I sigh and tell her I'll talk to her when I get home.
      The minutes tick slowly by until Willow finally arrives.

     She walks in the door, and I immediately run up to her, throw my arms around her waist, and beg her to explain what's happened.
     "I told you. We were a couple in high school..."
     "So what?" I ask. "Is that why you chose to marry him?"
     "I'm not married; I'm engaged." she contradicts me.
     "To be married." I clarify, stating what I think is obvious.
     She looks up at me and tries to brush my hair out of my face. I like my hair in my face. It's convenient when I wish to hide my expression. After an endless moment, she finally asks, "What was I supposed to say? No?"
      "If you're not positive you want to get married then yes! You should've said no." I let out a huff. "Why do that to him?" And to me?!
      "I got caught up in the moment, and then he was so happy ... that I couldn't go back on what I said." she explains slowly, looking a little sad and worried.

     "Willow, I'm not going to tell you what to do, but I don't think you should marry him unless you're positive that's what you want."
     "That sure sounded to me like you were telling me what to do." she says almost angrily, but then she smiles a small smile before looking at the floor. Then, she looks up and asks, "Is there another reason you don't want me to get married? Or, even engaged?"
      She's put me on the spot on purpose. Fine. "Yes. I would miss you terribly." I say with loads of emotion in my voice that she'd better appreciate.
      "You would miss me terribly, but you wouldn't stop me." she wishes for me to clarify.
      "That is correct." I tell her. "You're special to me. You more than anyone else." It's the truth.
      All of a sudden, she throws her arms around my neck in a tight hug. Hoping that this is a good sign, I wrap my arms tightly around her waist.

     She pulls back and smiles up at me while my hand slowly makes its way to the back of her neck. I want to kiss her, but she resists me.
     I feel so confused, and I wish I knew what she was thinking.
     "I am still technically engaged." she explains.
     "So, then I want to kiss someone's fiancee." I stubbornly maintain before I nearly attack her. I don't care that we're standing in the entryway to my dorm.
     She wilts in my arms while my lips devour hers, and I ponder how far I would go to keep her. I imagine myself a toddler yelling 'mine! mine!' over an over again because someone is trying to take my favorite toy. Not that Willow is a toy, but part of me does want to start yelling 'mine! mine!'. Selfish. Yes, but that is what I'm thinking.
     "Donovan." she breathes to get my attention. She hasn't called me by my name in a while. "I promise; I'll talk to him. But only because you're right. I'm not absolutely certain I want to marry him. How can I when I have feelings for you too?"
      I trail my nose against the base of her throat, again marveling at how much I love her perfume. I seriously consider asking her to go steady, but then I think of how that might hurt Shauna, making me pause.
      Instead of telling her where my thoughts went a moment ago, I move to kiss her again.
      "No." she says outright, and I stop, surprised. "I need to talk to Denis first."

    She takes a step back, and I drop my arms.
    "I'm sorry." she apologizes. "I want to get this sorted out."
    She wants to give Denis another chance too, I suspect.
     "I've delayed packing." I offer up as an excuse to leave. "I probably should get to it."
     She nods. "I'll call you." she says before tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

    I turn to leave, and Willow gets distracted by two guys that live in my dorm. One complains loudly about a professor in a shared class they had and his ridiculous final. Willow laughs, delightedly sharing in the professor-bashing. Her whole posture is displayed in a flirty way. She's toying with him.
     She said she has feelings for me, yet look at how freely she almost-flirts with those two men! I'm glad I didn't ask her to go steady. However, I don't want her to get married.