Chapter 5: Be There.

Chapter 5: Be there.

"Do I look like I want to get married? Mother, you have to butt out of my life." I scream.

"Look here young lady, I only want what's best for you. And I think that Ashton's best for you." She says, touching my arm.

"Who are you to decide what's best for me?" I ask her, slightly annoyed.

"I am your mother and remember, mother knows best." She says, touching my cheek.

"I don't like Ashton, mother. I never will and if you can't understand that then I'm sorry." I tell her, standing up from the bed.

"Look, I want you to have a good life and the only way to secure that is by having a good man by your side. And I know for a fact, that Ashton is that man." She says calmly.

"Ashton is an over privileged boy, mother." I point out.

"But he's rich. Valarie, I want you to have a comfortable life. Don't you want to live in a fancy house just like this one?" She asks me, standing up to touch my back.

"And sell myself short like you did. No, thanks." I reply before leaving the room.

The audacity.

My mother is as superficial as they come.

I rush down the marble steps and swing the door open. I sit on the white bench that's on the front porch.

My mother's crazy, I can't possibly marry Ashton, he's so bleh.

Ashton comes out of my house and sits beside me on the bench.

"Are you ready?" He asks.

He is dressed in a snazzy electric blue suit and a black tie.

"Do I look ready? And besides, I'm not going." I snap at him.

"Look, I know you don't want me here, but I have to be. My parents are unreasonable. They want me to date you so that I can gain your father's favor." Ashton says, looking down.

"What for?" I ask him, puzzled.

"My dad wants to work with Stone construction, but your father has been dodging the deal for weeks. My dad thought it was a good idea to win you over so that you can talk to your father on my family's behalf." Ashton says and my mouth falls wide open.

"Are you for real right now?" I ask him.

"Yes, and I mean you're a nice girl and all, but I'm more into Courtney anyway." He says, smirking.

"Yeah, thanks." I say, sarcastically.

"I'll be leaving now. See you around school." He says, standing up from the bench.

"Yeah, bye." I reply.

He gets into his G-Wagon and drives out of the driveway.

"Our parents are crazy." I mutter to myself.

My phone rings in my hand.

I pick it up to look at the name of the caller, it's Zachary whose name is saved as "Trouble."

"What do you want?" I ask him as I answer the phone.

"I was wondering, white or yellow?" He asks and I stare at the phone, looking confused.

"What?" I ask him. "White or yellow what?" I continue.

"Roses." He replies, as if I'm supposed to know what he's talking about.

"Roses for who?" I ask him.

"It doesn't matter, just tell me which color is better." He says.

"Yellow. White roses are so clichè." I tell him.

"Thank you, Miss Stone." He says and I roll my eyes.

"Glad I could be of service, Mr. Henderson." I tell him before we both laugh.

"I miss you." He says, out of the blue.

Where did that even come from?

"Um, I have to go, I'm really busy." I tell him, before hanging up the phone.

***

Thirty minutes later, my doorbell rings. I sink deeper into my chair, not wanting to check who was on the other side. Jeremy, my house manager, answers the door. Muffled voices are all I hear as he converses with whoever is on the other side. Jeremy holds a basket in his hands but I can't really see its contents, since he is so far away.

He closes the door and approaches the living room with the basket in his hands.

"For you, Miss." He says, handing the basket over to me.

I collect the basket and put it on my lap.

It contains yellow roses and a note sits on top of the flowers. I open the note and it reads;

"Roses are red

Violets are blue

These roses are yellow

Because I love you" - Zachary.

I laugh at how cheesy the note is. This boy is something else. I pick up my phone and dial his number, he answers on the second ring.

"The roses were for me, huh? I ask him, smiling.

"I didn't know what you'd like so I had to ask first. Did you like them?" He asks.

"Yeah, and the note is so cheesy." I point out.

"I had to make it romantic." He says before we both burst into laughter.

"Yellow is also for friendship, so does this mean we're friends at least." He asks.

"Yeah." I reply, smiling.

"Great. Well, I'm throwing a party for my birthday. I'd love for you to be in attendance." He says.

Oh, that's true Hannah told me earlier this morning and I totally forgot.

"Um, I'm not sure if I can come. You know my mother will never agree." I tell him.

"Then tell her you're going to Hannah's." He suggests.

"She barely accepts Hannah as my friend." I tell him. Then an idea hits me.

Light bulb.

"I can come with Ashton." I tell him.

"Wait Ashton, as in Ashton McCain?" He asks.

"Yeah, what's wrong?" I ask him, knowing exactly what the problem is.

He's jealous.

"Oh, nothing, I'll be expecting you." He says before hanging up.

I have to figure out what I'm going to wear because I have to look gorgeous for that party.

Oh, I still have to call Ashton.

I decide not to call him but to send him a text instead.

He tells me that he'll be here to pick me up by 8, which was after I practically begged him and bribed him with the thought that Courtney would also be at the party.