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.

understanding. "I get it, Mom. It's a

you into marriage. I told him that nothing he says will matter unless you tell me yourself that you want to

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

through the snacks. Over the years, Chad had learned even which brand of chips she preferred, carefully picking

in high school but couldn't handle anything too cold or

the sugarcane they used to buy, just thick 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 she

the holidays, Chad would politely decline any sugarcane offered to him, saying, "One's enough

refusing to buy her anything that wasn't right for her, even if she

the things she couldn't, peeling the ones she couldn't open. He became an inseparable part of her

bed, reminiscing about

a colorful pinwheel in

and soft in his youth, not the stern figure

turned dark. Andre vanished, her parents were gone, 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 brother in a

Molly," someone called in

"Chad, I'm here. Andre,

her, "Molly, Molly,

where are you? It's so dark, I can't see

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

helpless, Molly woke

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

dawn neared, she finally

his shift, Chad hurried back to

taken his keycard, so

Worried, Chad asked

he found Molly, asleep with a steam eye mask on, and he breathed a