Truth or Deal.

The night of prom came quicker than I expected it to. Before I knew it I was standing in my bedroom in my beautiful dress, feeling like a princess. My dress was a yellow floor length chiffon skirt with a lacy flower embellished bodice separating into petal panels at the waist, the back was see through with buttons down my spine.

“You look beautiful,” Whitney said, smiling at me. I had asked her to fly down and help me get ready since I didn’t really have any female friends around to help me get ready and my mother was out of town seeing my dad, again.

“Thank you, Whitney.” I had to agree with her. Butterflies flew around in my stomach; I hated how nervous I was. “I wish I would have thought and bought you a ticket to go,” I told her.
She shook her head, “Nah, this is your night, go enjoy it.”

I turned to tell her how nervous I was when the doorbell rang. “Oh, that’s him.” I groaned.
She walked to my bedroom door and smiled at me one last time. “I’ll talk to him and keep him busy while you calm your nerves. I wanted to meet him anyways, but don’t keep the boy waiting too long!” And then she disappeared.

I turned back to the mirror and studied my reflection. I couldn’t tell if I was nervous because this was my first outing with Zack as a real no-deal-attached couple, or if it was because everyone was going to know I was dating Zack Baker after tonight. I stared at my reflection for several minutes before gathering the strength to go down stairs.

Zack and Whitney were talking quietly on the couch, but I caught Zack’s attention and he stood up immediately. Whitney followed Zack’s movements and then grabbed her camera and began snapping photos. I tried my best to ignore her.

“Evelyn…” he began but stopped. He started at me for a few moments and then said, “I can’t even find the words to describe how beautiful you are.”

I felt my cheeks getting hot and smiled, “Thank you.” Zack looked pretty spiffy himself. His tuxedo jacket, dress shirt and slacks were black while his vest and bowtie were yellow like my dress. I smiled softly when I noticed he was wearing black Chuck Taylor’s instead of dress shoes. Typical.

“I know we decided on no corsage and boutonniere, so I decided to get you something else.” Zack smiled, pulling a box out of his pocket.

“Oh, Zack…” I began but he cut me off.

“I know, I know,” he cleared his throat and mimicked me, “‘Oh, Zack, you shouldn’t have!’ Well, I did, so deal with it.”

I laughed and he opened the box to reveal a white gold necklace with a single pear shaped diamond hanging from it. “Oh, it’s beautiful. And this wasn’t cheap, Zack you really shouldn’t have.”

Zack rolled his eyes and kissed me on my lips, “Just say ‘thank you’ and turn around so I can put it on you, woman.”

I turned around and pulled my hair up so Zack could put the necklace around my neck. When he was done his lips brushed the nape of my neck and sent chills down my spine. I turned to face him and touched the necklace with the tips of my fingers.

“I love it,” I told him and kissed him again, “And I love you.”

“I love you too.” He told me.

Whitney, forgotten about but still snapping pictures every chance she could, clapped her hands together and we both jumped. “Okay, love birds, off you go or else you’re going to miss the whole thing!”

Zack grabbed my hand and kissed it. “It was nice meeting you, Whitney!”

“Have her back by dawn,” Whitney winked and closed the door behind us as we left.

**

We arrived at the building where the prom was being held and I was amazed by the amount of people there. I was starting to wonder if we really had this many people that went to our school or if there were a lot of crashers when Zack got out of the car and opened the door for me to get out.

“You ready?” He asked me with his hand extended.

Truth was, I didn’t know if I was ready or not. I loved Zack; there was no doubt about it in my mind. I just didn’t know if I was ready for the entire school to know I loved him. But what was I going to do? Tell Zack I changed my mind, I didn’t want to go to prom and we could just tell everyone that we dated at my funeral?

“Of course,” I smiled up at him and took his hand.

Zack pulled me out of the car and I laced my fingers with his. There was no reason to be ashamed of Zack, he was ten times better than any guy here and he loved me. We walked through the entrance and I gripped Zack’s hand a little tighter when I saw Aaron, Toni, Mercedes and Dakota on the other side of the building.

“Let’s go over here and get our picture taken before I get all sweaty and look ugly.” I laughed and pulled him over to the line of people waiting to get their picture taken.

As we waited in line, I kept feeling like people were staring at Zack and me. I was trying to tell myself that was just my paranoid ego talking, but I didn’t buy it. Zack and I walked up to the background in front of the photographer.

“Okay, put your hand on his chest, and put your hand on her waist,” The photographer directed us totally unenthused.

“Do you trust me?” Zack whispered in my ear, I nodded.

“Okay, on the count of three,” The photographer sighed, “One…two…”

Zack suddenly grabbed my waist with both hands and bent over, my free arm immediately attached itself around his neck while the other stayed on his chest. By the photographers count of three, Zack had me in a full dip, with my leg sticking out.

“Fucking high schoolers can’t ever keep it simple,” the photographer grumbled before calling the next couple in line.

Zack gave me a kiss before lifting me up and we walked out of the area.

“I think we pissed him off,” Zack laughed.

“We? I didn’t do anything, Zachary!” I bumped into him.

Zack shrugged, “Yeah, but in ten years, would you rather look back and see some lame pose you were directed to do or something spontaneous?”

I nodded, “you’re right.” The song switched and a slow song came on. “Please?” I begged.

Zack laughed and nodded. He laced his fingers with mine and brought me to the middle of the dancefloor. He placed his hands around my waist, and I wrapped my arms around his neck. We danced in silence for a minute or so and then he broke it.

“Evelyn, I lied to you a while back.” He said quietly.

I got nervous. “About what?”

“When you asked me if I thought about post-graduation much.” Zack said, he pulled me in closer and I laid my head on his chest. “I told you I didn’t but the truth is I think about it all the time. We’re from two different worlds; we’re on two separate paths. It scares me because I’ve fallen so hard for you. I don’t know what I’m going to do if there comes a day when I can’t just drive to your house if I wanted to see you. I guess what I’m saying is, I’ll follow you anywhere you want to go; I can practice my music anywhere so that’s not a big deal. I just don’t want to live without you, and maybe that’s me crossing a line but it’s the honest truth.”

I looked up at Zack and pulled him into a kiss. At this point in time I didn’t care who was staring or what anyone thought. I just knew I loved this man and he was willing to sacrifice everything for me. We broke apart when the song ended but didn’t move. “You want to get out of here?” I asked him, suddenly feeling the urge to be alone with him again.

“Okay,” Zack said, “but first I have to find Brian, he was supposed to get something for me.”
I nodded and gave him a kiss, “Okay, I’m going to get some punch so just come get me when you’re ready.” Zack nodded and walked away.

I walked over to the punch bowl and poured me some in a cup. I had just taken my first gulp when I saw Aaron, Toni and Mercedes walking up to me.

“So first you hug him, and then you kiss him, have you screwed him yet?” Aaron asked me.
“What’s going on with you, Evelyn? You don’t return out calls or hang out with us anymore. And now you show up at prom with him?” Toni asked me.

“I’ve just been busy,” I told them but they didn’t buy it.

“Spill,” Mercedes demanded.

Toni nodded in agreement with Mercedes, “Yeah, are you, like, dating him now?”

Yes. “No,” I said.

Aaron laughed, “Yes you are, that’s why you took up for him when I kicked his ass!”

I sighed. “I just feel really bad for him, you know? He’s had this huge ass crush on me since I moved here so I figured I’d try to be his friend or something, he doesn’t have very many.”

“Oh, so he’s like a charity case.” Toni nodded, “that makes sense.”

“No it doesn’t,” Aaron rolled his eyes.

I saw Zack approaching and wanted to get away from this trio as soon as possible. “I have to go, but I’ll explain it all later, okay?” I walked away before they could argue.

Zack smiled when he saw me, “You ready to go baby?”

I nodded, took his hand into mine, and without a glance back to the others walked away.

**

I hated myself for how I treated Zack behind his back. He deserved so much better than and yet I was too selfish to let him go. I thought about graduation, it was only a few weeks away. If I could just avoid Aaron and his friend’s until then things would be okay, right? No, not right. Things would not be okay until everyone moved away for college and that will just bring up a completely new set of problems for Zack and me. A couple of days ago I got my letter from New York University and it sat at home on my dresser, unopened because I was terrified it was an acceptance letter. I was also terrified it was a rejection letter. New York University was my dream school. My father went there before me and his father attended before him, I had to go or else I was going to be a huge disappointment to my family. I was sick to my stomach at the thought of it being a rejection letter. However, an acceptance letter meant leaving Zack and that thought left me uneasy as well. I did not want to leave him, but I refused to ask him to come with me. Why was everything always so complicated?

“What’s wrong?” Zack asked me.

I shook my head and smiled reassuringly. “Where are we going?” I asked him, looking around at my surroundings. I had been so deep in thought I hadn’t noticed that Zack wasn’t heading in the direction of his house or mine.

“I have a surprise,” he winked and we passed a sign that said ‘Los Angeles: 20 Miles’.

“What kind of surprise?” I asked him attempting to hide my excitement.

He chuckled, “Let’s just say we won’t be going home tonight.” I opened my mouth to speak, but he shook his head. “Don’t worry; this has been planned for weeks. I’ve had help from Brian and your brother. Oh, and Whitney!”

I gave him a funny look, “Whitney?”

He nodded, a smile forming on his face. “Yeah, she’s been in on this little adventure since I came up with the idea. Your brother helped steal her number; I called her a few days after you got back from New York.” He looked behind us and changed lanes, “I introduced myself and explained my idea and she said she would love to help. You inviting her down here this weekend really helped me out a lot, thanks for that.” He laughed.

I laughed too, “I can’t believe you’ve been keeping a secret from me with my best friend!”

“Nah, not a secret!” Zack cheesed, “just a surprise, there’s a thin line between the two!”

I shook my head and teased him until we got to our destination which turned out to be a hotel called Hotel Bel-Air.

Zack pulled up to the valet and we got out. Zack popped the trunk and I saw the valet service pull out my suitcase, and another that I assumed was Zack’s. Zack and the gentleman exchanged a few words before Zack handed the gentleman my car keys and turned to me and the other gentleman who was loading our bags onto a luggage rack.

“Right this way, sir.” The man smiled at Zack and then me, “Ma’am.”

Zack laced his fingers in with mine and I couldn’t help but look around, taking in my surroundings. This place was expensive and so the volcano of guilt rumbled inside me. The man carrying out luggage took us up to the front desk and Zack spoke to the lady behind the counter while I looked around the lobby, which was huge.

Before I knew it, Zack placed his hand on the small of my back and whispered, “Ready?” in my ear, I nodded and we followed the man to the elevator. There wasn’t more than a couple of floors, so we exited the elevator soon enough and the man showed us to our room.

The man walked up to the door and stuck a key inside the keyhole, he turned it with ease and then grabbed the handle, “The Loft Room of the Hotel Bel-Air,” he announced as he opened the door.

I walked in and Zack followed behind me, I felt weak in the knees as I looked around, I had never in my life seen such a beautiful room. The floors were made of limestone, and there were real-wood ceilings. There was a king sized bed on the right of me, and directly in from of it was a huge fireplace surrounded my glass. Behind the fireplace were the living room area and the mini bar. I walked further in and into the bathroom, which had limestone floors as well but I noticed a switch on the wall that allowed you to heat the floors. There was a huge, walk in shower on my left with His and Hers bathrobes and a spa bathtub on the other side of the bathroom. I walked out of the bathroom and saw Zack walking out onto the balcony, I followed him.

“Well, what do you think?” Zack asked me, throwing his arm around my shoulders.

I stood beside him for a moment, taking in the view and then wrapped my arm around his waist. “This is amazing Zack, and so beautiful…”

“I’m sensing a ‘but,’” Zack said, turning to me.

I sighed. “You don’t have to spend all this money on me, Zack. I know this room was probably way more than you could afford, and plus you got me this necklace.”

Zack smiled and kissed me, “I pulled in a few favours, and so did my friend Brian, he owed me anyways. So, it didn’t cost me nearly as much as you’re imagining.”

I bit my lip and looked up at him, “Okay,” I said. I already had so much to worry about; I didn’t want to worry about anything else.

Zack pulled me into his arms, “I love you. I want to do this for you. I know you’ve been stressing about the future lately, and I just want you to enjoy night without worrying.”

I pulled his lips down to mine and kissed him, “Thank you.”

“There is just one more thing, though. We need to get it out of the way before our night gets started.” He told me and walked back into the room and opened his suitcase. I followed him and sat on the bed, he sat next to me a moment later with an envelope in his hand.

“Why haven’t you opened this?” Zack asked me, handing me my letter from NYU.

I took it and stared at it for a few minutes and then sighed, “I’m just scared.”

“Of what? You’re super smart, they would be stupid to not accept you.”

Except I can’t pass calculus without Matt’s help.

“I’m scared of rejection, but I’m also scared of being accepted.” I admitted.

Zack smiled, “Scared of being accepted? Is that even a thing?”

I laughed, “Shut up! I’m just scared of leaving. I know it’s going to mess things up with us. And I know you said you would come with me, but I can’t let you do that, Zack. I won’t let you.”

Zack took a deep breath as I turned the envelope in my hands. “Open it.”

With shaking hands and much reluctance, I began to tear the envelope open. I took deep breaths as I unfolded the parchment and began to read, “Dear Ms. Evelyn J. Sanders, It is a great pleasure to inform you that you have been selected for admission to New York University for the fall semester.”

“You got in,” Zack said quietly and then jolted up from the bed. “Evelyn! You got in!”

“I got in!” I exclaimed, jumping up and into his arms! “I got in, I got in!”

Zack kissed me hard on the mouth and hugged me tightly. “I’m so happy for you!”

I didn’t realize I was crying until I instinctively wiped a tear from my face, I read the letter again checking for a mistake and continued jumping up and down in excitement. “I got in!” I kept repeating over and over, and then it dawned on me. “Zack,” I stopped jumping up and down and looked at him, “I got in.” My tone was sad, and suddenly my heart broke.

“Hey, don’t do that. I told you, we will figure it out. Be happy.” He kissed me, “I’m so proud of you.”

“Thank you,” I smiled and he kissed me again.

“What do you want to do tonight to celebrate?” Zack asked me.

I thought about it for a few moments and then asked, “Would you be mad at me if I just said I wanted to stay in and spend time alone with you?”

Zack shook his head, “No, that just means I can change out of these clothes!” He laughed and pulled out a pair of basketball shorts and practically ran into the bathroom.

I laughed too. I almost forgot we were in our prom clothes. I reached around to my back and realized there was no way I was getting this dress off without Zack’s help.

“Yes!” Zack exclaimed as he walked out of the bathroom, with only his basketball shorts on. “I feel so much better, who invented tuxedos anyways?”

I laughed at him, “Will you come unbutton me, please?”

“Yeah,” Zack said and walked up behind me. I lifted my hair and he began to unbutton the first button.

Zack unbuttoned the top half of buttons before his lips landed on the back of my neck, and then again a few inches lower onto my back. He unbuttoned a few more buttons, and kissed my neck again. The cool air hit my skin as he unbuttoned the rest of the buttons and I shivered. Zack smiled against my skin, and pushed down the sleeve of my dress, revealing my bare shoulder and he left a trail of kisses from my neck down to my shoulder. I turned around and brought my lips to his. Zack grabbed my waist and pulled me closer to him. I placed my lips on his bare collar bone and shrugged my dress off my shoulders when I felt Zack tug at it.

Zack picked me up and pulled me out of the pile of dress on the floor. I wrapped my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist and pulled him into a kiss while he walked us around the fireplace and towards the bed. Zack playfully tossed me onto the bed and then crawled on top of me, greedily kissing my thighs, stomach, chest, neck and finally my lips again. He laced his fingers with mine and pushed my hands into the bed.

“I love you,” he whispered.

“I love you too,” I whispered back. Zack’s hand reached behind my back and he unclasped my bra with ease, and tossed it to the side of the room.

And suddenly I wondered about how many people Zack had been with.

I pushed the thought from my mind as Zack began to slip my panties off my hips. He reached into the side compartment of his suitcase that was beside the bed and pulled out a condom and
placed it on the nightstand beside us.

“How many people have you been with?” I blurted out.

Zack stopped what he was doing and looked up at me, “What?”

“How many people have you had sex with?” I asked him, sitting up.

Zack crawled up to the bed beside me and collapsed next to me, propping his head up with his hand. “I don’t know…a few?”

“You don’t know?” I ask, suddenly feeling exposed. I brought my knees up to my chest to help shield my naked body.

Zack shook his head, “I haven’t really kept count, but it’s been a handful or so.” I didn’t say anything and Zack began to rub my knee. “If you don’t want to do this, tell me. I’m not going to force you to do something you don’t feel comfortable doing.”

“I don’t want to just be another number to you,” I confessed, “this is a big deal for me, Zack. I’m a virgin.”

“I know that,” he said, “I’m not taking this lightly. I’ve never had sex with someone I was in love with so this is a big deal for me too.”

“Really?” I asked him.

He nodded and sat up next to me, “Really.”

I studied his emerald eyes for a moment and then kissed him. I pulled him back on top of me and began to tug at his shorts.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” He asked me and I nodded.

I’ve never wanted anything more.

Notes

Next chapter is the last! I'm working hard at the sequel but it's tough because I'm unsure how i want to go about it. I'm thinking about doing a POV change every chapter? Like it'll switch between Zack's and Evelyns. How do you guys feel about that? I hate reading stories like that, personally, but I understand why it's done. So let me know how you guys feel. Last chapter for this will be up Friday or Saturday. Any final chapter predictions?

Thank you guys so so much for the love and support! Please don't stop!
Incase you missed it:
Evelyn's dress
The Loft Room of the Hotel Bel-Air

Title credit: Avenged Sevenfold "A Little Piece of Heaven"