+chapter.ten+

Jenn smiled at me and I returned it. “Do you want to get something to drink before we start dancing?” I asked.

“Uhm, yea, I guess,” Jenn replied. I caught her eyeing up the dance floor where a few dozen pairs of eyes were on us.

“I love you,” I whispered and pulled her into a close hug.

“I love you too,” she replied, hugging back. We approached the bar and took a seat, waiting to be waited on.

After a minute or two, a bartender walked up to us. “What’s it gonna be?” he asked.

“A Sprite for the lady and I’ll take a Pepsi,” I replied.

“Coming right up,” he said.

Jenn and I started to talk until a woman who seemed a little older than Jenn walked up to us.

“Excuse me, are you Isaac Hanson?” she asked.

“Yes, I am,” I replied.

“Oh, is this your girlfriend?”

In the corner of my eye, I saw Jenn give her a dirty look. “No, actually, she’s my fiancée,” I replied proudly.

The woman’s face fell. “Oh. Are Taylor or Zac here?”

“No, this is kind of a date we’re on here,” I said, hoping the woman would take the hint.

“Oh, I’m sorry to intrude.”

“That’s quite alright,” Jenn answered before I could. She had that, “Now leave us alone” tone in her voice.

Taking her hint, the woman replied, “Bye.”

“Bye,” Jenn answered sweetly.

I smiled at her. She smiled back. “What?” she asked.

“Nothing,” I said as our drinks were served to us. “Let’s go get down.”

Jenn smiled. “Okay.”

We walked to the dance floor. Just as we started to get into the ever-famous electric slide, a song we had heard long ago started up. Brian McKnight's "Back At One" rang through the hall. I pulled Jennifer closer to me and started to slow dance with her.

“Ike?” Jenn asked.

“Yea?” I replied.

“What do you think of this as our wedding song?”

I smiled at her. “I think it’s a great song.”

Jenn smiled back. “Me too.”

I continued to slow dance closely with Jennifer.

And so we continued to dance the night away. We only stopped a few times to get a cold drink. After a few hours, we decided to leave for the park. It was in walking distance of the dance hall.

So we walked, Jenn’s head on my shoulder, my head on hers, my arm around her waist and hers around mine.

“Jenn, I really, really love you,” I spoke.

“I really, really love you too, Ike,” Jenn replied.

I smiled at her and she smiled back. We sat down on a bench and looked up at the stars. Jenn casually looked down at her watch. “Wow, it’s almost midnight already.”

“Wow. Maybe we should be getting home,” I said.

“Okay,” Jenn tiredly agreed.

We got up and began to walk back to the car. “Jenn, you do want to do this, right?” I asked suddenly. ‘Whoa, where’d THAT come from?’

Jenn looked at me, bewildered. “What, the wedding?”

“Yea.”

“Of course! Isaac, I want to do this more than anything in the world! I love you so much…it’s beyond comprehension,” she exclaimed. “Don’t you?”

“Yea! More than anything! I mean, I love you so much, I don’t want to push you into anything. I was, I dunno, afraid that I was rushing you into this. I mean, you’re still so young.”

She smiled at me. That smile held so much, it sent chills down my spine. “Ike, you’re still ‘so young’ too.”

“Not as young as you. You’re four years younger than I am,” I replied. “Hell, you’re not even of legal age to drink! You have so many decisions to be making.” I took her small hands in mine. “I just want you to be sure you’re making the right one.”

She looked at me, her eyes soft and gentle. “Ike, this is what I want. I want you. You have the same decisions in front of you. Do you want to go to college? You could major in—“ “Jenn, no,” I hushed her. “I want you too.” We embraced for a short while before continuing our two-foot walk to the car.