I was ready with my camera in my hand, and the white roses Spencer had delivered earlier hidden behind Nat's counter.
When he and Tracey arrived, I had been reading one of John Green's novelsâAn Abundance of Katherinesâwhile drinking a glass of Frappuccino Jonah had made. When the bell jingled, I lifted my head up to immediately spy on them.
It had started exactly as Spencer had plannedâhe brought up a box of hershey's on the table and they both started to eat chocolate as they talked about their project. I didn't know what exactly they were talking about, because I was sitting a little bit too far to hear what they were saying. But my camera, already recording on the table, was angled toward them, and it captured Tracey's face perfectly.
It was about half an hour later until I saw Spencer noticeably stiffening when Tracey was touching something inside the box with her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. I immediately dropped the book I was reading distractedly and stood up, bringing the camera with me. Tracey hadn't noticed my presence, but I'd already signaled Nat to get the roses ready.
Tracey held up what could've looked like a normal plastic-wrapped chocolate, only it was weird-shaped. Understanding began to seep into her face as she poked the wrapped ring with her finger, and her face slowly lit up. But I could tell that she was holding back her excitement in case it wasn't what she was expecting.
When she finally unwrapped the plastic wrapper, though, a joyful gasp emitted from her lips, and she looked up at Spencer in amusement. Spencer then stood up and kneeled in front of Tracey, staring up at her playfully.
"Marry me?" he goofily drawled out, and the girl shoved him in the shoulder. Nat came over to give Spencer the roses, and then Spencer held them out toward Tracey. "It's a yes or a yes, baby."
He received a second hit in the arm, and I giggled.
"Of course yes. I'm supposed to say that," she replied with a grin, taking the roses and letting Spencer take the ring from her so he could slip it into her finger. "So yes, Spencer. I would very much like to get fake married with you."
"Good. Now we can show Herberg the video," he said with a grin before turning around. "Did you get it on the camera, Han?"
I nodded and held up my thumb. After that, I ended the recording and gave him the camera, and they both thanked me. I didn't miss the blush on Tracey's face, though, as she stared at the fake ring on her finger.
I smiled to myself before leaving them to themselves. I noticed that Jonah had been staring at Spencer and Tracey's table with a calculating look on his face, but when I caught him staring, he immediately turned away. So, of course, I walked toward him with one of the biggest smirks on my face.
I leaned against the counter, my elbows resting on the surface he had been wiping with a dry cloth. "That, my friend Jonah, is how you propose to a girl."
He didn't look up, but I couldn't miss his rolling eyes. "I'm not your friend, and that was a cheap attempt of proposing to a girl."
My jaw dropped as I stood up straighter and removed my elbows from the counter, completely offended. "I was the one who suggested the idea to Spencer!"
He snorted at me. "Well, no surprise there."
I snatched the dry cloth he was holding and threw it at his face. It caught him off guard, because he didn't get the chance to prevent the cloth from falling into his face, but he just rolled his eyes at me again. I said, "I suppose you have a better idea than that brilliantly romantic one?"
He looked at me and smirked, but he completely changed the topic. "Tell me, Hannah Taylors, do you like animals?"
My eyes narrowed suspiciously at him. "Yes. I love animals, indeed."
He nodded once, and then he turned to arrange the cups next to him. "Is there any specific species of animal that you harbor special affection for? Perhaps dogs? Cats? Goldfish? Snakes? Lizards?"
I was still eyeing him weirdly, especially at his bizarre choice of words (Jonah didn't talk like thisâbut he really didn't usually talk at all), and also the tone that he used in his voiceâit sounded suspiciously like amusement, but then again it was Jonah speaking, and no one really knew if he could ever be completely amused by anything. But I honestly answered, "I'm borderline obsessed with cats, any kind of breed of cats. Preferably kitten, but I don't discriminate."
He smirked again without looking up. "As predicted."
"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" I snapped. He didn't even flinch at my sharp voice. "What are you up to?"
"Nothing, Hannah Taylors," he mused. "Nothing at all."
I gave him a withering glare at his unexplainable amusement, which only made the smirk on his face look even smugger.
[]
Coming to the diner had started to become a habit.
Before Jonah started working, I rarely came over here. Maybe once a week, or maybe twice; but I came almost every day now, arriving an hour after school ends, and leaving half an hour after Jonah left.
Turned out there were a lot of things I could do here; I could do my homework, I could finish reading books without being interrupted by my brother, and I could even take a nap while listening to music. But mostly, I could creepily stare at Jonah while he worked.
It was Tuesday, one day after Spencer had successfully proposed in the diner. I was here as I continued reading An Abundance of Katherines, and I was so fully into the book that I even forgot that the actual reason I kept coming back here was to creep on my crush that I was pretending to loathe.
I was slouchingâmy back leaning on the back of the chair behind me and my feet propped onto the table. I was at the usual table for two in the corner that was right across the room from Jonah, but today I had my back turned to him, my body facing the wall in front of me.
Someone cleared their throat, and I looked up to see Natalie standing next to my chair. She had a sly grin on her face, and I furrowed my eyebrows, closing the book and putting it on the table. "What?"
She didn't say anything, only gesturing toward something on the table. I saw a small red cup but then I turned my attention toward Nat again. "I didn't order this."
She shrugged, before jabbing her thumb toward the general area of where Jonah was. I looked over my shoulder to see him making a drink for a guy who was yapping into his cellphone, and then I turned to Nat. "Huh?"
She rolled her eyes at me. "He told me to give this to you." Before I could ask her what that meant, she gave me a wink and turned around, leaving me with my own confusion.
So I glanced at the red cup on the table, and slowly slid it closer to me. Once I took in the latte art drawn on it, my face immediately broke into a grin, but then I pushed it back, turning my head to see Jonah already staring at me, one of his eyebrows raised expectantly.
"This is even cheaper than his proposal, Jonah," I called out. "It isn't even a real ring."
He shrugged at me, but didn't lift his gaze away.
"Say yes! Say yes! Say yes!"
I turned to see Nat recording the scene with her cellphone, and Wayne was also poking his head out to shout along with Nat.
"It doesn't even have anything to do with the story we've built," I said again, ignoring the pair of idiots. "This drawing of a ring doesn't make any sense, and I can't wear it on my finger anyway."
A slight smirk was his response.
"I appreciate the thoughtful effort, but I'm gonna have to say no," I calmly informed him, but he didn't even give a reaction I had expected. It was as if he didn't actually expect me to say yes, which was even weirder than the latte art itself, though it was a bit flattering. Wayne and Nat booed at me, but I still ignored them. "You'll have to try harder than this. I'm a tough girl to impress."
He rolled his eyes at me, the smirk still on his face.
I turned around, letting the grin break free on my face. "I'm not paying for this, you know!" I added.
But then I lifted the cup anyway, blushing at the sight of the sloppy drawing of a diamond ring, and then took a sip of it. I tasted a strange combination of peppermint, mocha, and caramel-like sweetness, and as usual, I decided to love yet another drink that Jonah had made.
I downed the drink in less than ten minutes, and true to my expectation, there was no ring inside the cup. But I smiled anyway, because that only meant that Jonah had something else planned out.
And I couldn't wait to see what it was.