The next morning, I woke up to hear Lacy shouting in the hallway. "What the hell Jesse?!". "Sorry Lace… I'll clean it up" said Jesse. I put on my white robe and walked out of my room. "What's- going on?" I said between yawns. "This moron decided to walk in the kitchen and scare me while I was making breakfast, making me spill it everywhere" said Lacy, covered in pancake batter. "Here, I'll help," I said, walking over to the cabinet to get a towel.
~
I couldn't think. I wanted to talk to Jenny, but I didn't know what to say. "What the hell Jesse?!" shouted Lacy. I must have scared her by accident. There was pancake batter everywhere. "Sorry Lace… I'll clean it up" I said. Then I saw her. Jenny walked in, wearing only her white robe. Her hair was in a messy bun, but I liked it that way. We clearly woke her up because she was yawning between her words. She looked beautiful. Not just her normal beauty, but something about her in the morning made her exceptional.
~
"This is a mess," I said, wiping up the batter. "I didn't mean to scare her," said Jesse, getting on the floor to help me. "I'm sure it was an accident," I said. We were able to clean the kitchen without too much of a hassle. Just then, Andi walked in. "Jesse, can you come outside for a minute?" she asked, nervously. "Yeah, sure" said Jesse, washing his hands. Andi and Jesse walked outside. I decided to make myself a cup of coffee and sit at the table with Lacy.
I was reading the newspaper and drinking my coffee when I heard the door open. "Jenny, can you come here please?" said Andi. "Sure, is everything okay?" I said, getting up. "Yes, we just need to talk to you for a minute," she said. I walked out the door, to see Jesse standing there, holding a giant box. "What's that?" I asked, eyeing it. "Open it" he said, handing it to me. "There isn't a bomb or anything inside of it… right?" I said, laughing. "No, I promise," said Jesse. I opened the box, revealing an absolutely gorgeous pink dress. The top of the dress was encrusted with diamonds, and the bottom had beautiful lace patterns. "Jesse, this is gorgeous," I said. "Do you want to go to the party with me J?" asked Jesse.
I didn't know what to say. I was in awe of the dress, and more amazed at the fact Jesse even wanted to go. "Of course, I want to go!" I said, jumping on him, hugging him. He effortlessly held me above the ground and started to kiss me. "Jesse, are you sure you want to go?" I said. "You don't have to go if you don't want to". "I'll only go if you go with me J" he said. We walked back inside and were met by everyone standing in the doorway. "She said yes!" said Jesse, boasting. "I knew she would," said Elena, elbowing Luka. "Hell ya'!" said Andi, hugging me. "When did you have time to get the dress?" I asked Jesse. "Elena actually went to pick it up. Although, I picked it out" he said proudly. "I love it" I smiled.
Jesse walked me back to my room and hung the dress on my door. "The party is coming up J" said Jesse. "I know, I've been counting down the days," I said, winking. "Hey Jesse," said Luka, walking in. "You want to grab a beer?". "Sure man give me a second" said Jesse. "I'll see you later J," said Jesse, kissing me, then walking out with Luka. As Jesse walked out, Becca, Lacy, Elena and Andi walked in. Shortly thereafter so did Claire.
"Let's go," said Andi, grabbing my arm. "Girls day!!" said Elena. As we walked through the house to the front door, I could hear Luka and Conner screaming "Shots!!" in the basement. "It's tradition before we have or go to a party, the girls have a pampering day and the guys get wasted" said Claire. "So suck it up". Lacy pulled her car around and we all got in. "Where exactly are we going?" I asked. "That's for us to know and you not to know" said Andi, laughing at me. "Even I was filled in J" said Becca, winking at me. "Are you serious?" I said, laughing. "You're gonna love it," said Becca, turning back around.
Lacy put the hood down on her convertible and blared music. We drove for what seemed like forever, until we finally pulled into a shopping plaza. "Where are we?" I asked. "It's a surprise, deal with it," said Claire. We all got out of the car and walked into one of the stores. Inside, I realized it was a nail salon. "Okay, this is definitely needed," I said. "That's exactly why we decided to come here," said Andi. "Appointments for Marinos," said Andi, talking to the cashier. "Right this way" said the cashier. When we were done picking out colors the woman took us to six different chairs. I definitely needed this, not only to stay sane, but to feel semi-normal.
Once we were done with our nail appointments, we walked into several different stores and bought enough clothes to last the rest of our lives. "I'm starving, where do we want to eat?" said Elena. "I could care less, but let's just get something" said Lacy. We walked into a fast-food restaurant. The man inside was clearly annoyed with all of us entering, since the place was completely empty. "What do you want?" he said, in an angry tone. "Can I please have a cheeseburger?" I asked. "Yep" said the man. "That'll be eight dollars" he said, reaching out his hand. "Woah woah woah," said Andi. "The menu says it's four". "Look lady, I think I know what my menu says" he said, getting in Andi's face. "If you don't like it get the hell out". Infuriated, Andi pointed at the menu and shouted at the man.
"Andi, it's really no big deal" I said, attempting to calm her down. "Shut it J" said Andi, walking around the counter. "Lady what are you-" started to man. Andi reached behind the man's neck and squeezed it. She pushed the man's face down on the counter, showing him the menu. "Look right there, four dollars. What do you know?" said Andi. "Okay I got it!" shouted the man. "Now, I would also like a cheeseburger," said Andi, smiling at the man. Everyone else ordered, and we got our food. The man, still cowering behind the counter, stared at us as we ate.
After we ate, we went to several more stores and continued shopping. Finally, it started to get dark out, and we decided to head back to the house. As we pulled in the driveway, I could hear the sound of loudspeakers coming from inside. "I've got Luka" said Lacy. "I've got Conner," said Elena. "You guys suck" said Andi. "I get Jesse every time". "He is your brother anyway" laughed Lacy. "What's that mean?" I asked. "We have to be the ones to tell the guys to cut it off," said Claire. "I'll tell Jesse" I said, not knowing what I was in for. "Good luck" said Andi, "you're gonna need it".
We walked into the house, and immediately Elena, Lacy, Andi, and I walked down to the basement. "Oh no it's the police" said Luka, clearly drunk. Conner started shouting police siren noises, while Jesse sat on the couch and laughed. "Jenny… baby… come here" said Jesse. I walked over to Jesse, and without hesitating he grabbed my arm and pulled me on his lap. "Did you have a good day?" he said, kissing my neck. "Jesse, how many drinks have you-" I started. "Shhhh" said Jesse, putting a finger to my mouth. "You're talking so loud". "Alright losers, it's time to come upstairs" shouted Andi. "Fat chance," said Conner, taking a drink. "So, we want to do this the hard way?" asked Lacy. "You guys really want to be assholes in the morning?". "Shut up sis, no need to go mom mode" said Luka.
Lacy grabbed Luka behind the ear and Elena grabbed Conner behind his ear. They pulled them up the stairs, despite their protests. "J you need some help?" said Andi. "I think I'll manage," I said. "If you need me, shout. I'm going upstairs" said Andi. "Jesse let's go upstairs" I said. "Will you be happy if I go upstairs?" said Jesse. "Yes I would," I said. Jesse stood up, only to lose his balance right away. Before he could hit the ground, I put myself underneath his shoulder and helped him go upstairs. On the way up the stairs he turned and whispered to me, "Jenny you're gorgeous". "Thank you, Jesse" I said, exasperated from the weight bearing over me. "Are you going to stay with me forever?" he asked. "We'll see Jesse," I said, smiling at him.
We made it upstairs and I walked him to his bedroom. "Come on Jesse" I said, trying to get him to move. He plopped down on his bed, refusing to get up. "Jesse, that can't be comfortable," I said. Jesse sat up and put his head against my stomach. "Jesse," I said, laughing. I pulled off his shirt, made him lay down, and pulled back the covers. "Goodnight Jesse," I said, kissing him on the cheek. "Goodnight Baby" he whispered just loud enough for me to hear as I walked out the door.
I walked into the kitchen to be met by all of the girls. "How the hell did you do that so fast?" said Andi, opening a bottle of champagne. "I don't know, it was easy," I said. "Of course, cause he's in love with you" said Elena, winking at me. "I'm surprised… he's never settled. But with you Jenny, I think he's considering it," said Andi. We all had a tall glass of champagne and sat around the table. "So, what's going to happen tomorrow?" I asked. "We wake up, get around, and pray like hell Jesse behaves," said Andi.
We finally decided to call it a night after a few glasses of champagne. Becca and I walked to our room and got around for bed. "I really hope tomorrow goes well," I said, putting on my pajamas. "It'll be fine J. I wouldn't worry about it" said Becca. I shut off the light, and we went to bed. I was thrilled Jesse had agreed to going, but I also felt like I pushed him too hard. I'm sure everything will go fine, and that Jesse can just forgive his brother for a night. That doesn't seem so hard. Right?
"Wake up J!" shouted Becca, tearing back the curtain. "Five more minutes," I said, groggily. "My last glass of champagne last night was a mistake… my head is pounding". "Believe me, that's nothing compared to how the guys feel" said Andi, walking in. "I knew you wouldn't want to get up, so I called for backup," said Becca. Just then, Claire, Elena, and Lacy walked in carrying bags of clothes. "What is everyone doing in here?" I said, rubbing my eyes and yawning. "Tradition that the guys don't see us till it's time to go. So instead of going into Andi's room, we came into yours so you were forced to get up." said Lacy. "And so Jesse couldn't see you, he's been hawking this door since seven" said Elena.
"Okay, well I'm going to get in the shower" I said, pulling back the covers. "I brought bagels and cream cheese for breakfast, subs for lunch, and bottles of pop" said Lacy, "just something to tide us over until it's time to go". "Man, you guys have it all figured out" I said, walking to the bathroom, yawning. I got in the shower and suddenly heard Becca's speaker blaring in the room. "Hurry up J, I have to shower!" shouted Becca from the doorway. "I'm almost done!" I shouted back. I wrapped up in a towel and walked out. "Put on some comfy clothes girl, we're trapped in here all day" said Elena. "The guys always cheat, so that's why we need to stay isolated so they can't see us" said Lacy.
I threw on a sports bra and a pair of shorts and sat down on my bed. Andi had the TV on and a bagel in her hand. "What are we watching?" I asked. "There isn't anything good on," said Andi, flipping through channels. "Turns out, I have clear nail polish, Andi" said Lacy, pulling a bottle out of her bag. "Thank God, I totally forgot and Jesse would have killed me," said Andi. "We have to put on another coat of polish J, the poison detector kind". "Okay," I said, reaching out my hand. Andi quickly applied some to my finger nails. "It dries really fast J, don't worry about it" said Lacy. "It's fine," I said, smiling.
It came around two, when we decided to start putting on makeup and fixing our hair. Lacy was doing hair, while Claire and Elena were doing makeup. "How about we don't burn me this time Lace" I said, laughing. "Girl don't worry I wasn't planning on it" said Lacy. Lacy put thick, giant curls in my hair, straightened Andi's hair, put Becca's hair in a giant bun, and curled Claire and Elena's hair. To my own surprise, Lacy was able to curl her own hair. "Thanks Lace, it looks beautiful," I said. "Don't worry about it J," she said, turning off her iron.
Claire and Elena were able to put makeup on everyone effortlessly. It took a maximum of ten minutes for each person. Then we finally got the dresses out. My pink dress was absolutely gorgeous, easily the most beautiful dress I'd ever seen. Andi had a long black dress, with hints of dark red in it. Becca had a long, yellow cream-like dress with a sash across the stomach. Claire had a long, black turtleneck dress with a floral pattern at the bottom. Elena wore a long, silky mauve dress that had slits in the sides. Lacy wore a long, puffy red dress.
By the time we had finished getting dressed and got our hair and makeup done, it was already five o'clock. "The party is in an hour," I said, nervous. "How do we know if they are done yet?". "Jenny, they've been done for hours" said Claire, opening the door. We walked towards the kitchen when I saw Jesse, Luka, and Conner all standing there. All of them had matching, navy blue suits on. "Ready to go," said Andi, grabbing Jesse's keys. "Finally, you guys took forever!" said Conner, laughing.
Grabbing his keys back from Andi, Jesse said "Oh no, if we are going to this party, we are going to travel in style. We are going to show off". Suddenly, I heard a car horn outside. "Let's go, J" said Jesse, extending his elbow. We walked outside to the giant limousine parked in the driveway. Jesse got the door for me and allowed me to get inside. We all got inside the car and started driving to the party.