Page 26 of The Broposal

“We won’t get caught.” Kenny smirked, still on one knee. How could he be so confident?

“I’m not risking your ass just so I can have a valid ID.”

Kenny finally stood up, and his eyes softened. “You know it’s so much more than that.”

I sighed. Of course I knew. Being a citizen was the dream, but… it was a selfish dream. Still, a small part of me (which I was trying to ignore) was intrigued by the idea of marrying Kenny. Even if it terrified me.

“It’ll be okay! We won’t get caught. We’ll do a damn good job faking it.”

“Kenny…”

“I’m just gonna keep asking…” Kenny said with an annoying look of determination.

“Ask all you want.” I knew Kenny well enough to know he’d make good on that promise. I just needed to wait it out, and he’d eventually forget.

“I will!” Kenny announced, then left to grab his keys from the table. “I’ll be back!”

“Where are you—” I started, but the door was already open and closed, and Kenny was gone.

Kenny really had no idea what his offer was doing to me. I lay in bed trying not to daydream about what it’d be like to marry him. It was true that my life would be a lot easier, but it felt so selfish. Kenny was only doing this because he basically lived to make other people happy. The dude was always doing nice things for me, or Jackie, or his parents, or strangers on the street. I didn’t know how Kenny had the energy to live his own life when all he seemed to care about was other people.

I rolled over and reached for my guitar. Playing calmed my nerves, and I needed to shut out the intrusive citizenship fantasy, so I played some of Tío Nacho’s favorite music. Nacho always wanted me to practice mariachi music so I could joinhis band, which I had no interest in. Music was personal for me, not something I wanted to share with complete strangers. Especially when it came to my own songs.

Before long the apartment door opened again. Kenny’s footsteps came down the hall as if he was about to come into my room, but then he went away. Soon there was shuffling around the kitchen, and my curiosity got the better of me. I got up and opened my door to find a bouquet of red roses on the floor.

“Um, what are these for?” I asked.

“What are what for?” Kenny shouted from the kitchen.

“The flowers?”

“Sounds like a total mystery. Is there a note?”

I crouched down and plucked the note from the side of the bouquet.

To: Kenny’s future husband, Alejandro Torres

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Really, dude?”

When Kenny said he wasn’t going to stop asking, he really wasn’t wasting any time. I grabbed the roses and headed to the kitchen.

“I made dinner!” Kenny exclaimed proudly.

I sniffed the air, the smell of sweet batter wafting through the room.

“Pancakes?”

“You love breakfast for dinner, so… pancakes!” Kenny brought two plates over to the kitchen bar and pulled out a stool for me. I rolled my eyes playfully and sat down.

I looked down at the pancake, where “marry me?” was spelled out with chocolate chips.

“You are too much.” I laughed.

“Soooo… have you changed your mind?” Kenny sat down next to me, looking up at me with those adorable puppy eyes.

“In the, what,hourit’s been since you last asked?” I cut out a slice with my fork to distract from Kenny’s puppy-dog eyes and took a bite. It was super crispy on the bottom.

“Sorry it’s a little burned.” Kenny nudged his head on my shoulder, laughing into it, all embarrassed. “Kinda took me a while to spell with the chocolate chips.”

---