I shouldn't have given him the ring; I shouldn't have given him the ring! Alaina panicked internally.
Karin, who sat next to her at the table, rolled her eyes. "It's going to be fine. You'll get it right back!" she whispered assuredly, patting Alaina on the arm.
As the best friend of Ryan Sheckler, Alaina really had no choice but to be here at this stupid lame ass party.
If it was up to HER, she would have stayed home and watched old Christmas reruns that happened to premiere during the Thanksgiving holiday.
But he had enjoined her to spend Thanksgiving with him. Now they were having the time of their lives at this post-Thanksgiving meal gathering.
And of course, Alaina couldn't say no to Ryan Sheckler.
She wasn't quite sure what it was. It could have been the fact that they have been best friends ever since the seventh grade. It could have been the fact that they spent last Thanksgiving with her family. It could have been that Ryan studied hypnotism vigorously.
But it certainly, most definitely, absolutely could not have been the fact that she loved him so dearly.
Though it had occurred mere moments before, she replayed the event again.
"Hey hey! I heard about this cool trick, where you can see if you're a real match to be married!"
"Oh that! That's an old wives' tale. You use a ring and it tells you how many children you'll have, and what gender -"
"And that if you and the person you're dating have the same pattern, you're destined to be married -"
"Let's do it!"
"We'll need a ring," someone pointed out.
They were all quiet for a minute, before Ryan looked into my eyes.
"Alaina, you have a ring."
Immediately, the defense wall came up. "Oh, well, yeah, but -"
"Come on, don't be a party pooper!" some person, some unimportant fool piped up.
"He'll give it right back, won't you Ryan?"
He smiled a bit at me. "Yeah, I will. Don't you trust me Alaina? After all," he took a glimpse at her finger, "I gave that ring to you."
I glanced down, and saw that I was, in fact, wearing the silver ring with the butterflies engraved in it on her right ring finger. He gave it to me a long time ago.
In defeat, I slipped the ring off her finger and handed it to him.
"Alaina, Ryan wants to do you now," Karin whispered, shaking her out of her reverie.
"He wants to WHAT?" she shrieked.
It was quiet for a moment, and her brain whirred. "Oh, oh, yeah. Okay." Alaina delicately pulled out a strand of her hair and handed it to Ryan. He looped it through the ring and held the two ends.
She immediately laid out her palm, and before he began he said, "You know, I got girl boy boy girl."
Alaina didn't say anything. He slowly dipped the ring up and down three times between her index finger and her thumb, and then placed it steadily above the middle of her palm, almost touching it.
"I think it's kind of funny that no one has matched yet," someone in the background remarked.
After that comment, all was quiet. The ring hung still for a moment, and then turned in a circle by itself.
"Girl," Karin whispered.
Ryan repeated the procedure, and this time when the ring dangled above her palm, it swung back and forth.
"Boy."
The next time was a boy. Her heart began to race. She had one-third of a chance to get this right. If the ring swung up and down, She wouldn't know what to think. If it refused to move this fourth time, She wouldn't know what to think.
If it circled around...She wouldn't know what to think.
Alaina shut her eyes, as the ring nearly touched her skin. She felt the slightest circular motion, and opened her eyes wide.
Everyone was quiet. Ryan was staring at her, then at the ring, then at her, then back at the ring.
rest in results
"Wow," Karin whispered, in awe.
"Do you know what this means?" Ryan asked Alaina, as he pulled the hair away from the ring and let it fall to the ground.
"Hmm?" she asked. Hmm? That's all you have to say? AARGH!
"We should get married and have four babies," he laughed, slipping the ring back on her finger.
"Haha, yeah. Okay," Alaina muttered uncomfortably. Why did he laugh? she wondered, hurt.
He didn't let go of her hand. "I meant that, you know," he added, his cheek grazing hers as he kissed her ear, and then her cheek, and then the side of her mouth.
Alaina felt her face burn; she didn't want her first kiss with Ryan to be viewed so publicly. He seemed to notice to, and helped her off her seat, taking Alaina far, far away.
