Sweet Mischief’s Rollercoaster Romance

Easton scratched his head, looking puzzled. "What's up?"

Chad flicked the ash off his cigarette. "I'm in a bit of a pickle. How do I convince her folks to let me marry their daughter?"

Easton was momentarily speechless.

The next afternoon, Chad dropped Molly off at the exam center and picked her up afterward, then headed off for his night shift at the station.

He didn't bring up the marriage topic again, which only made Molly more curious. "Chad, did my parents give you a hard time again? Are you getting cold feet about marrying me?" Chad looked at Molly and shook his head. "No, you just focus on your exams. I'll handle the family stuff."

Chad wasn't at the hotel that night; he went out and came back with a bag full of snacks and drinks for Molly to enjoy while he was gone.

After he left, Molly pulled out her phone and called her mother.

No matter how much she tried, her family wouldn't believe that she and Chad were just friends. So she made the call to her mother as his girlfriend.

"Hey Mom, are you still up?"

"Yeah, I am. Are you still staying at the hotel with him?"

Molly said, "No, he's at work. I wanted to ask you something. Did my brother come back to see you and Dad?"

"He did, but I didn't agree to anything."

Molly fiddled with the hem of her shirt, hesitating before she finally asked, "Mom, am I the daughter you're proud of, but not the daughter-in-law you wanted?"

There was a long silence on the other end where Coleen and her husband could hear Molly's question on speakerphone.

"Molly, what you and Chad did really shocked your father and me. It took us days to come to terms with it," Coleen finally said.

Mom. It's a lot

worried Chad is pressuring you into marriage. I told him that nothing he says will matter unless you tell me yourself

half-hour call, Molly leaned back on her bed, looking at the bags

a bag, and started looking through the snacks. Over the years, Chad had learned even which brand of

high school but couldn't handle anything too cold or

enough for her to grip with one hand, with sweet juice inside the purple-red skin. Her gums would bleed when she tried to bite into the tough skin, and Chad, seeing her struggle, would peel it off for her so

politely decline any sugarcane offered to him, saying, "One's enough

checking the ingredient labels on her snacks, refusing to buy her anything that wasn't right for her, even if she cried for

peeling the ones she couldn't open.

on the bed,

a colorful pinwheel in her hand, with her mother's gentle warning

his youth, not the

and instead of a lush field, she stood above an abyss, reflected in a mirror-like surface. She stirred uneasily in her sleep, crying out for her

called in

voice, she cried, "Chad, I'm here. Andre,

multiplied around her,

MiaLeo, where are you? It's so dark, I can't see you. Chad, where are you? I'm

the voices faded, and she was left alone in the dark, sinking, panicking, "Brother, Chad, please save

most helpless, Molly woke with a start,

in sweat and tears, her hair damp again despite having showered earlier, she realized it was just a dream. The hotel lights were still on, snacks scattered across the bed. She hugged herself, taking deep breaths to calm her racing heart, leaving the lights on all

dawn neared, she finally drifted

Chad hurried

keycard, so he had to knock, "Molly,

asked a cleaning lady to open the door with her

asleep with a steam eye mask on, and he breathed a sigh of