She pointed to the trail ahead of us.
Oliver, Mateo, and James stood in the middle of the trail next to one another, all of them grinning like they’d just gotten away with something.
“Wait, where’d they come from? What are they doing here?” I asked.
“Hey, Speedster,” Oliver said.
“What’s going on?” I took some deep breaths and tried to slow my breathing.
“Read the signs.” Mateo grinned as he picked a large piece of poster board off the ground. Oliver followed suit.
Mateo’s sign read, “Grace, I RELAY want to ask you something…”
Oliver stepped forward and held his sign up. “We definitely had a FALSE START.”
The signs went on to say, “And I know we’ve run into some HURDLES.”
“But I can’t be a POLE VAULTER stuck in the mud.”
“Or play it safe by STAYING IN MY LANE.”
“Grace, I want to go the LONG DISTANCE with you.”
“If you feel the same way, will you CROSS THE FINISH LINE and accept my promposal?”
Sam left my side and joined James. Together, they held out a red satin ribbon a few feet apart.
I arched an eyebrow in confusion. “Are all four of you asking me to prom?”
Just then, Preach came out from behind a tree and stood behind the ribbon. He smoothed out the fitted jacket of a three-piece tuxedo.
“Preach…” It was all I could get out as he stepped on to the path and held up a sign that simply read, “Yes or No.”
Oh my gosh…
He shifted his weight from one foot to another, a nervous smile filling his flushed face. From the cummerbund to his dress shoes, he was beyond handsome. But it was more than that. His expression said it all. He still cared about me. A lot. And not in a friends-only kind of way, but in the way that I was desperately hoping he still felt.
“Grace, will you be my date to prom?”
I raced down the pavement separating us, burst through the ribbon just as Sam and James let it go, and leaped at Preach. He dropped the sign and caught me.
I crashed my mouth against his and hugged him close. I didn’t even care that everyone was watching us. I was in Preach’s arms again. I was going to prom with him. And I was going to college.
“Before I give you my answer, I have to say something.” Everyone, including Preach, fell silent.
“Okay…”
“I owe you an apology. I was unfair. I lashed out at you, and you didn’t deserve it. Preach, I’m really sorry. Can you forgive me?”
“Of course!” He wrapped his arms around me even tighter.
After a few seconds, I pulled away. “And, to answer your question, yes. Definitely. Definitely yes!”
“She said yes!” Preach yelled.
Cheers erupted behind us, and I looked around, not releasing my hold on Preach in the slightest.
Both the ladies’ and guys’ 4x100 teams were there along with Willow, Brodie, and Pax. They were all clapping and whistling.