"Now, why are we here?" Marco asked as soon as he and Craig walked into the mall.
Craig jerked his head toward the jewelry store. "I'll be over there," he said.
Marco's eyes widened. "Are you—?" he asked.
Craig nodded.
Marco's jaw dropped. He followed him over to the store. "When are you going to ask?" he asked.
"As soon as I can," Craig said. He walked into the jewelry store with Marco close behind. "Help me pick one out in my price range."
"Yes, have the gay guy pick out your pregnant girlfriend's engagement ring for you," he said. "Leave all the decision making to me."
"If I wanted to bring a weird guy I would have brought Spinner," Craig said. "Shut up and help me decide. And if you see anyone from school, especially a girl, distract them. I don't want them to tell Sammy."
"I feel so honored that you're actually trusting me with a secret," he said. "Oh, well." He looked at the rings in the price range that Craig had written down on a small sheet of paper. He randomly pointed to one. "There."
"Where?" Craig asked. He was looking at the rings that he couldn't afford. Well, he could but Julia would be in college by then. He walked over and looked at it. "Do you think Sammy would like it?"
"I'm sure she will," Marco said. "What's her ring size?"
"Ring size?" Craig asked. "Um, I don't know. Sammy doesn't wear that many rings."
"Could I help you, gentleman?" a lady asked.
"Uh, yeah," Craig said. "I want to buy that ring right there." He pointed it out and she smiled and reached in and pulled it out.
"This is a beautiful ring," she replied. She told him the price, the look on her face said that he didn't have the money to just keep moving.
Craig nodded and pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and counted out the money and handed it to her. He hadn't had this much money since before he left his dad to move in with Joey. Most of it was from the money he had saved up from then. Her eyes widened and she put the ring in a box and handed it to him in a bag.
"Who's the lucky girl that you're scraping all of this money out for?" she asked.
"My girlfriend," he said. He put the rest of his money in his wallet and put it away. He took the bag and he walked out of the store followed by Marco.
"I didn't know the ring cost that much," Marco said. "But once Sammy finds out you spent that much money on her, she's going to kill you."
Marco was right. Sammy freaked out if he spent more than $50 on her. That was just the type of girl that she was. But Craig shrugged. "She deserves it," he said.
Marco nodded. "That's really cool that you're actually going to get married to her," he said.
Craig smiled. "Yeah it is," he replied. "I can't wait to see her face when I ask her."