Part 34 (1/2)

”Well, I could teach you to slow dance and then after that, maybe you could just speed it up for the fast dances. Besides,” she continued, as she moved closer to stand in front of him, ”we don't really have any music, so we'd just be swaying from side to side. What could be easier than that?”

Jonathan held his ground, looking down into her eyes at the invitation that was definitely being issued from them. ”If we were back home, would you go to the prom with me?”

Candi held her breath as she waited for Sarah's answer.

”Yes. In a second.”

And Candi could tell she meant it.

Jonathan smiled. ”I wish I could believe that.”

”Believe it,” said Sarah, just before she reached up on tiptoe and gently kissed him on the lips.

Jonathan moved his hands to rest them on her hips. ”Do you have any idea what my friends back home would do if I walked into the prom with you as my date?” The idea made him nearly glow with happiness.

”Well, I don't know about your friends, but my friends would be jealous.”

That comment made Candi smile. She could totally see it. Jonathan had changed, as had Sarah.

Jonathan chucked. ”That's funny. Your friends would probably refuse to eat lunch with you ever again and you'd be banned to the chess club table with me for life.”

”You underestimate your charms, Jonathan.” She ran her hands up and down his upper arms, which by now had become quite well-muscled and very tan. ”I'd have to work, I think, to keep my old friends from trying to steal you away from me.”

Jonathan pulled her closer. ”So, will you go to the Peanut Island prom with me, then?”

Sarah put her arms up around his neck, ”Yes, I would love to.”

They leaned in and gave each other a hot, wet kiss that threatened to turn into more until they started hearing catcalls from across the clearing.

”Woo hoo, get a room, you two!” they heard Kevin yell.

”Wow, hey ... rated G, please, guys,” from Candi.

Jonathan and Sarah instantly broke apart, both of them acting a little embarra.s.sed.

Everyone moved away and began picking up their dinner mess, avoiding the awkward moment that threatened to overwhelm them.

Sarah was the first to speak. ”Jonathan and I were talking, and we think we should have a prom on the island.”

”A prom?” asked Candi, pretending she hadn't just listened in on their entire conversation.

”Yes, a prom. The Peanut Island Prom. We can have a dinner, some dancing, and then whatever. We'll have to get creative.”

Kevin looked at Candi; she shrugged her shoulders.

”I'll go to the prom on one condition,” said Kevin.

”What?” said Sarah.

”That I can get a date.” He looked at Candi and raised an eyebrow.

”Hey, that's not fair, you're putting me on the spot.”

”All's fair in love and prom dating, Gumdrop. So what do you say?” He walked over to her and took her hand in his. Then he started going down on one knee.

”Oh, my G.o.d, what are you doing?! Get up! Stop!”

”Candi? Candace Buckley? Will you go to prom with me?”

Candi felt her eyes start to water. Her heart was in her throat. Kevin had no idea what this meant to her. She hadn't even thought of dreaming about this, even in her wildest fantasies about him. The furthest she ever got in her make-believe world was hoping that he'd like her back ... even just a little bit would have satisfied her. But now he was offering more.

She cleared her throat. ”Fine. Yes, I'll go to the prom with you.”

Kevin stood up and pulled her to him for a hug. ”A wise choice,” he said in her hair, leaning down to kiss her head. ”I was ready to start begging and that would have been embarra.s.sing for all of us.”

Candi laughed. ”You're a dork.”

”Don't tell anyone.”

All of them were exhausted. It had been a long night, filled with confessions of guilt and love and future intentions. They climbed up the treehouse ladder and went to their rooms, each of them thinking of the upcoming event and what they were going to do to make it as much like the real thing as possible.

In all of their planning, none of them thought to consider the possible consequences of bringing the outside world's version of the prom to their protected, isolated Eden.

CHAPTER ELEVEN.

Prom Night Prom preparations took over their activity schedule, ahead of the completion of the treehouse and the building of platforms. The girls put themselves in charge of food and the guys were managing the entertainment and setup. They all decided as a group to hold the prom on the beach where they first arrived on the island. The guys had checked it out and reported back that the lifeboat was still there, but now mostly buried in the sand at the water's edge.

They kept their planning and efforts secret from one another. The girls spent time making skirts out of palm frond strips that they secured around their waists with rope. They planned to use island flowers to add decoration, but had to wait until the afternoon of the prom to pick them.

”What are you making?” asked Sarah, frowning as she tried to figure out Candi's design.

”I'm making a second skirt that's going to be shorter and thinner than the first, to wear as a type of gra.s.s tube top. I'm just not sure yet how I'm going to keep from exposing myself, since I don't want to wear my dingy-white bra underneath.”

”Huh,” responded Sarah. ”You could always do what I'm doing ... the cla.s.sic Hawaiian hula-girl style. I just need to work out the mechanics of securing these two coconuts over my b.o.o.bs. I was going to use a plant rope surrounded by flowers, but so far I'm having a hard time getting holes in the coconut halves that didn't split the entire sh.e.l.l.” She threw down her latest failures. ”Oh well. I have two more days to get it done. If I don't figure it out by then, I'll just go topless.”

Candi looked up in alarm. ”I hope you're kidding.”

Sarah just winked and said nothing.

The day of the prom arrived. Sarah was putting the finis.h.i.+ng touches on the coconut top she had finally managed to put holes in. It wasn't the most comfortable prom dress she'd ever worn, but it was island chic for sure. She had picked about a hundred tropical flowers in whites and pinks and was in the process of sticking their little stems into s.p.a.ces in the plant rope part of the halter-top. She had already secretly made a flowered head wreath for Candi.

She reached up to the bamboo shelf to take a sip of water from her cup that was resting there. She had her eyes on her project and didn't notice that she grabbed the wrong one. She took a big gulp of what she thought was water, gagging and spitting it out when she realized it was something entirely different.