CHAPTER 18: SAY YES TO THE DRESS PART 1

Eva's POV

As soon as we pulled up to Gabriel's house, I noticed Casey's black BMW in the driveway.

She honked twice and I waved.

I turned to Gabriel and he smiled.

"Be careful and have fun" he said and I smiled. Before I jumped out of the car I kissed his cheek and he grinned like the Cheshire Cat.

I quickly made my way to Casey's car. She grinned at me and wiggled her eyebrows. I laughed.

"Just drive you pervert" I said and she raised her hands in surrender.

"I didn't say anything" she defended.

"You may not have said anything but your expression says it all" I countered. She laughed and then shrugged.

"Anyway, let's go shopping!!" she squealed and I groaned.

"Yippee!" I said sarcastically. "This should be good"

➰➰➰➰➰

3 Hours Later

"CASEY! I'm tired. Let's go home. We've been to numerous shops and I still haven't found a dress yet" It was true. I still haven't found a dress. Casey found her dress,mask, and shoes at the first shop we visited.

"Okay, let's take a break" she suggested. I nodded and we made our way into Starbucks.

She ordered a Green tea with a scone and I ordered a Carmel frappé with a coffee cake. We made our way to a table in the back and ate our food quietly. I was just about to break the silence when Casey spoke up.

"How much do you like Gabriel?" She asked and I choked on my cake.

"What?" I asked her with wide eyes. She smiled at me.

"I don't mean to pry Eva. I just want to know if your as serious as Gabriel is" she paused and then took a drink of her tea. "May I tell you a story?" She asked and I nodded my head.

"Eva, I care for Gabriel. A lot. I love him like a brother. Gabriel has been there for us whenever we needed him. I remember when I first met him. You see, back then I was quite different, I was a very shy, nerdy, overweight little girl. I used to get teased a lot back then. Especially by Sebastian" she said and my eyes widened.

"I know. It's hard to believe. The person who bullied me ultimately became my boyfriend"she rolled her eyes and laughed. "But anyway, long story short Gabriel helped me. He stood up for me when no one else would. I remember it like it was yesterday"

Casey's Flashback

I was sitting under a oak tree by the playground. All the kids were laughing and playing while I was reading my new Dr. Seuss book. I was about to turn the page, when a shadow blocked my light.

I looked up and scowled immediately.

"Hi Casey!" Said the boy with wild curly blonde hair and bright blue eyes.

"What do you want Gabriel?" I asked before looking at my book again.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to play with me?" He asked, never once losing his smile.



I looked into his face to see if he was joking. I never talked to Gabriel before and couldn't stand his best friend, Sebastian.

"I'm okay Gabriel. Thank you though" I said quietly and he frowned.

"Why? You look lonely?" He asked and I was about to answer when a annoying voice called his name.

"GABRIEL! LET'S GO!" Sebastian yelled "STOP TRYING TO TALK TO THAT UGLY NERD AND GET YOU BUTT OVER HERE!" I heard everyone snicker and giggle.

My eyes started to water and I tried to blink away the tears. I looked up and saw a red faced Gabriel. His normally playful eyes were blazing with anger.

I watched in horror as Gabriel marched over to Sebastian and punched him straight in the face. Everyone gasped in shock.

Then Gabriel grabbed Sebastian by the collar of his shirt and brought him over to me. Sebastian's nose was bleeding and the blood was running down his whole face.

"Apologize" Gabriel demanded and Sebastian flinched.

"I'm...sor...sorry...Casey" he stuttered and I looked at him in shock. One thing about Sebastian Cortez was that he never apologized.

EVER.

"Say you'll never hurt her feelings again" Gabriel demanded. Sebastian repeated everything that Gabriel said and then some.

Gabriel then turned to the crowd of kids that were watching us with wide eyes.

"IF I SEE ANYONE BOTHERING CASEY AGAIN, I'LL DO THE EXACT SAME THING TO YOU. I DON'T CARE IF YOU'RE A BOY OR GIRL. IF I SEE OR HEAR ANYTHING ABOUT CASEY, YOU'RE DEAD" He yelled and I smiled slightly.

"Come on Casey, let's go play on the swings" he said excitedly. The happy glint in his eyes were back.

End of Flashback.

"You see Eva. That's why I care so much about him. He became my best friend and gave me a new beginning. He gave me confidence. If he never would have beat up Sebastian, than I would have never known that he was only teasing me just to get my attention. If he wasn't in our lives than Sebastian would have never had the guts to ask me out and we would have never discovered our love for one another." She paused and then looked me in the eye. "I love Gabriel with all my heart and I don't want to see him get his heart broken. That's why I'm telling you this Eva. I want to make sure you're serious about this and not going to break my best friends heart"

I processed all the information before looking at her and smiling.

"Casey, I can promise you that I will NEVER break his heart. I don't think my heart would let me. I already care about him way too much to hurt him. Just thinking about hurting him makes my heart hurt" I said honestly and she smiled.

"Thank you Eva. That's all I ask for" she said and I nodded.

"So, let me guess. You had this talk with everyone of Gabriel's past girlfriends huh?" I joked. Even though I trying to make light of the situation, my heart hurt just thinking about Gabriel being with someone else other than me.

Casey grinned and shook her head. I looked at her in confusion.

"Nope, you're the only one I had this conversation with. Gabriel has never had a girlfriend" she said and I choked again.

"What?" I asked stupidly and she laughed.

"Gabriel has never had a girlfriend. Actually Gabriel never really took a particular interest of the girls in town. And trust me, when I say that girls took interest in Gabriel. They would throw themselves at him left and right and he would do absolutely nothing. Sebastian and I thought it was odd because, as you know, Gabriel is a good looking teenaged boy. Normal boys would jump at the chance to have girls throw themselves at them. But not Gabriel. When we asked him why he never went on a date or showed any interest in girls he laughed at us. Literally laughed at us. He said and I quote 'I'm waiting for the One. The person who will have my heart forever. There's no point in wasting my time with girls I don't even love'. And I swear Eva. When he said that, I melted and pinched his cheeks until they were red"she said and I laughed.

Casey handed me a napkin with a small smile. I looked at her quizzically and she nodded towards my face. Instinctively I raised my hand to my face and was surprised with tears. I didn't even realize I was crying.

"Thank you for telling me that Casey. It really means a lot to me that you care about him so much" I said and she nodded before standing up.

"Now come on, we better get going before Gabriel has a heart attack. He texted me at least a dozen times" she said before dumping her trash. I giggled.



We were walking towards her car when a little shop caught my eye.

It was nestled between the local pharmacy and furniture store. It had a rustic look and read 'Myrtle's Antiques' on the rickety sign.

"Casey, what's that?" I asked while pointing to the store. She followed where I was pointing to and grimaced.

"That's old lady Myrtle's store. Trust me Eva. You do not want to go in there. It's nothing but junk" she said but I shrugged my shoulders and started walking towards the store. Casey groaned behind me.

"Eva, don't go in there. It's like a episode of Hoarders in that shop" she said but I didn't listen. I pulled opened the door and a little bell when off.

She wasn't kidding when she said everything was junk. The tiny store was piled high with old antique desk,chairs,couches,rugs,and clothing. The shelves had stuff from different eras too.

"Eva, let's go. There's nothing in here for us" Casey reasoned.

"Patience young grasshopper, what's one man junk is another man's treasure" I countered and she laughed.

Suddenly a old woman with wild gray hair came out of the back. She eyed us wearily.

"What can I do for you lassies?" She asked in a heavy Irish accent.

"Oh, no. We're just looking Ma'am" I said kindly and she nodded her head.

"Well just tell me if you need my assistance"

"Will do" I said with a smile and then began looking around. Casey was standing by the door texting on her phone. I rolled my eyes. The girl couldn't go two minutes without talking to Sebastian.

I went up and down the narrow aisles a few times before my eye caught a glass counter towards the back of the shop.

I walked closer and found the most beautiful masks in the world. They ranged from full face to half masks and were all in different colors and styles.

I scanned the masks and my eyes immediately fell on a unique gold one. It was different from the others and the only gold one in the glass case. Somehow, it spoke to me. It was like the mask was made specifically for me.

"Ma'am, how much is this one?" I asked pointing to the mask.

She put on her thick glasses and squinted at the mask.

"That right there lass is about $100" she spoke and my face fell.

Mom only gave me $60 because she hadn't went to the bank yet. I couldn't let this beautiful mask slip from my grasp.

"Could I maybe give you $60 today and come back tomorrow to pay you the rest?" I asked and she shook her head.

"I'm sorry sweetie. I'm leaving tomorrow to visit my grand kids in Ireland" she said apologetically and I gave her a sad smile.

"Thank you though, ma'am" I said and was about to walk away when Casey pulled a crisp hundred dollar bill out of her wallet. My eyes widen and I shook my head.

"No Casey, I can't let you pay for me" I said while trying to pull back her hand. She ignored me and gave the money to old Myrtle.

"We'll take it" she said and Myrtle smiled. She unlocked the glass case and plucked out the mask before putting it into a medium sized black box with a cushion. She handed me the bag and smiled.

Casey ran out with the mask before I could return it. I smiled at the woman.

"Thank you" I said kindly.



"You're welcome dearie" she said and the started walking to the back room. Before she entered it, she stopped and looked at me again.

What she said nearly made me cry.

"Be careful Lass. The Twilight Moon is nearly upon us and she is gaining power. Trust no one." And with that she disappeared into her back room.

Let's just say, I ran out of the shop like a bat out of Hell.

➰➰➰➰➰

Casey was driving back to Gabriel's place and I was thinking quietly.

The crazy old woman has lost her mind!

Who is gaining power?

Trust No One?

God, it's like I'm in a horror movie that will never end.

Begrudgingly I put the thought in the back of my brain and focused on the present. I turned to Casey and shot her a glare.

"Why'd you do that!" I asked

"What?" She asked innocently.

"Casey, you know what you did. Why'd you pay for me!" I accused and she grinned.

"Technically I didn't pay for you" she said.

Now I was confused.

"What?" I asked her stupidly and her grin widened.

"You can't get mad at me because technically I didn't pay for you. Gabriel did." She said and my mouth popped open.

"WHAT! WHY?! HOW!" I asked rapidly. She laughed at me.

"Woah, slow down speed racer. One question at a time" she turned her blinker on and then merged lanes "This morning in Homeroom Gabriel came up to me and asked when I was going to take you shopping. I told him that I was going to take you shopping after school today and he nodded his head before taking out his wallet and handing me 3 crisp one hundred dollar bills. When I asked him what these were for he said that they were for you. He wanted to buy your dress,shoes,and mask for you." She said and my mouth hung open even wider. She grabbed my chin and closed my mouth.

"Why would he do that? $300 is a lot of money Casey" I said and she smirked.

"Uh,Eva honey. In case you didn't notice but, the Green's are loaded. Mr. Green is a well respect, high paying attorney and Mrs. Green, before she became a stay-at-home mom, was a world class neurosurgeon. Gabriel even has his own business" she said and my mouth dropped open again.

"WHAT! HE'S STILL IN HIGH SCHOOL!" I yelled and she chuckled.

"That maybe true but Gabriel has his degree in land development and architecture. He's a genius. Plus he's really good at investing" she said and I nearly passed out.

He was a Genius!!

Casey parked and I didn't realize that we were already at the Green's house. She turned to me and hugged me.

"Thank you for accompanying me today Eva. I really appreciate it" she said and I smiled.

"No, thank you Casey. For everything" I said sincerely and she smiled.

"Okay, now get out of my car before Gabriel comes out here and rips you out of it" she said and we laughed.

I waved to her and she drove away.

I took a deep breath before knocking on the door to my mate's house.