With a surprise romantic picnic at sunset

The days were already getting longer. It was nearly eight o’clock at night, and the sun was only just now dipping below the horizon. The California sky had turned tangerine. It was stunning.

But not as stunning as Elizabeth. I heard the approaching footsteps and looked up to see her dark, wavy hair caught the wind. She was dressed casually—just faded jeans and a simple zip-up cotton hoodie. No makeup that I could see (not that she needed it).

I, on the other hand, was wearing a tuxedo.

Elizabeth’s mouth hung open in adorable confusion the instant she saw me. She turned inquisitively to Stephanie, but the buxom blonde was already hurrying back down the hill, towards her car. Sensing that she had been lured into a trap of some sort, Elizabeth gave me a wry smile. “Ian, what’s going on?”

“I asked Stephanie to lure you here. What did she tell you was up here?”

“Her purse. She said she left it here last night on her date with Simon.”

“Yeah, well, Stephanie’s a good actress.”

Elizabeth laughed. She walked over to take a look at the spread I’d laid out: picnic blankets, cheese and crackers, and strawberry wine (Elizabeth had gone nuts over that Deana Carter Song when it had come out a year or two earlier).

In the distance, we could hear the cheers coming from the baseball stadium at the base of the hill. Finally, with a bit of a blush in her cheeks, Elizabeth gave me an appreciative hug.

“Is there some… special occasion?” she asked nervously.

“I want you to go to prom with me.”

“Ian, I—“

“I know, I know. You already told Josh Perfect-face you’d go with him.”

“Peterson.”

“Right. And I feel like a dick asking a girl to prom after another guy’s already invited her. BUT...”