Rise of Count Crescendo Chapter 16: Marriage Prom-Posal, a star wars fanfic

In the weeks before prom, all the juniors and seniors at Melody Prep Academy were ecstatic!

Beautiful dresses, arriving in a limo-craft, a big party to dance all night long, voting for prom king and prom queen, and the best part of the weeks before the big day... prom-posals.

Every girl who was going to prom wanted to be asked in a memorable way by the guys of their dreams, or some were not initially planning to but got asked anyway, sometimes by someone they totally never expected to ask them.

Caroline sat with her friend Lulu at lunch that afternoon, the two of them talking about how excited they were for prom.

"Has Carmine asked you yet?" asked Lulu.

"No," Caroline shook her head. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen him all day."

Suddenly, Lulu pointed out Carmine's friend Sanjay approaching a girl with a bouquet of roses.

"Rafina Hiros," said Sanjay. "Would you allow me the honor of escorting you to this year's prom?"

Everyone waited to see what the togruta girl would say, and Rafina smiled and said, "Yes!"

Students clapped as yet another couple was officially attending prom together.

Caroline was happy for her boyfriend's best friend, but she still worried. She hadn't seen Carmine all day today, and he never missed cheer practice. At first, Caroline thought maybe Carmine was just sick, but she didn't notice him feeling off recently, and it wasn't the anniversary of his father or grandmother's death today. If he wasn't sick, she worried... was he trying to avoid her?

They did get into a disagreement about where to go on their next date recently, but they managed to work it out in the end. But still.

And right now, Caroline had seen so many different prom-posals. Last week, one of the boys arrived dressed as a Greek god riding on a chariot and had a sign that said Would the lovely goddess bless me with her presence at the prom?. The next day, one of the girls in the dorm next door to Caroline and Lulu's found a box of donuts with a note that said, Donut Sound Sweet to go to prom with me? And yesterday, Lulu was asked to prom by her boyfriend Erlo asked her as they were playing cards, and on the cards were the words Will you... Go to... prom... with me? written on them. But for Carmine and Caroline... nothing.

Caroline sighed. She looked at her phone. No missed calls from Carmine. Not even a text message.

Before dinner was served that night, Caroline got a text message telling her to go to her locker.

So... Caroline went to her locker, and inside, she found a handwritten note.

Head to the hallway to the gym and follow the petals.

Caroline did go to the hallway to the gym. And on the floor, there was a trail of red rose petals along a path of little lanterns with flameless candles in them. It looked so romantic, and made Caroline wonder if this was how Carmine planned to ask her to prom.

And sure enough, when Caroline opened the door, she saw a romantic sight. There was a little table set up with a romantic dinner lit with another lantern, and there was beautiful violin music playing. But when Caroline looked at the instruments, no one was playing them. They were playing by themselves.

"Glad to see you could make it, my lady." said a familiar voice.

Caroline looked to see Carmine walking into the scene. He was dressed up in a tuxedo and presented Caroline with purple roses.

"Oh, Carmine. You did all this for me?" Caroline gasped, happy tears coming to her eyes.

"I'm only sorry that it took so long," said Carmine. "I just wanted to make sure everything would be perfect."

Caroline then looked at the blouse and jeans she was wearing.

"Now I only wish I'd dressed better tonight."

"You look beautiful in anything to me," said Carmine, pulling his girlfriend in for a kiss. "And I have no doubt that you will be the most beautiful woman at prom. I only hope I'm worthy of being your escort."

Caroline felt so touched that her boyfriend would work so hard to make a memorable prom-posal for her. She kissed him again and said, "Nothing would make me happier."

In his head, Carmine thought I only hope what I'm planning next can.

"Shall we sit and enjoy dinner together... alone, my love?" said Carmine.

"I'd get hangry if we didn't." Caroline chuckled.

Carmine pulled out a chair for Caroline to sit down, and presented her with a nice meal he'd cooked himself... with the cooks' supervision of course. Caroline was impressed with what Carmine did for her.

"You made such a lovely dinner, Carmine." Caroline smiled.

"I have one of my old foster parents to thank for that." said Carmine. "The one nice family I had, my foster dad was a professional chef. You should've seen the things he could do with even the most bitter vegetables."

"Well, kudos to him for passing on his skills to you." Caroline said.

Caroline couldn't have imagined a more wonderful prom-posal if she tried. She couldn't say she knew of a lot of girls who got asked to prom and then were taken on a special pre-prom date like Carmine did for her. And she was in for an even bigger surprise after Carmine presented her with chocolate covered strawberries for dessert.

"Caroline," said Carmine, taking his girlfriend's hand. "Ever since I met you, I've gotten to learn about all kinds of amazing forms of music. Country, pop, even songs in other languages. But my favorite music of all, the most beautiful music I could ever hope to know is you."

Caroline blushed and batted her eyelashes as her boyfriend said these words.

"When I first started here, I felt sure I was gonna fail instantly, but you stood by me and welcomed me with open arms. Losing my glasses on my first day of ballet was the best thing to ever happen to me. The moment my vision became clear again, I was sure I'd died and gone to heaven. But, words alone cannot describe how I feel about you."

Carmine went to a piano. The same piano, in fact, that Susy had discovered him playing that ultimately led to him becoming a student at Melody Prep Academy.

"Had I not sat at this piano almost four years ago, I would have never been discovered by my future mother, and then I might never have met you, Caroline." Carmine said. "So, here and now, I hope it will lead to another new beginning."

Carmine played the piano and began to sing a beautiful song called Parachute (from Austin & Ally)

I remember life before

Faraway dreams and locking doors
Then you came, then you came
Afraid to fall, to be free
Always my own worst enemy
Isn't what, what you see

I took time to realize
That I couldn't do it by myself, myself

There's no gravity when you're next to me
You'll always break my fall like a parachute
When you're holding me, so weightless I can barely breathe
You always break my fall, my fall
Like a parachute
You're my parachute

Caroline listened to her boyfriend's beautiful singing, and began to feel so blessed that she had him in her life. No matter how elaborate the prom-posals all the snobby rich guy in the school could offer, she would pick Carmine every time. He could've given her a picture of a daisy with Will you go to prom with me? written on it, and it would still be the perfect prom-posal in her eyes because Carmine didn't rely on his parent's money to make himself attractive to anyone. He didn't even care about being popular or treated like a god. He only cared about sincerity, genuine personality, and true love for who he was.

With you it all begins
Feeling okay in my own skin
So alive, I'm so alive
I know this life isn't gonna be perfect
The ups and downs are gonna be worth it
As long as I'm, I'm with you

When I'm standing at the edge it's just a long way down
And I second-guess myself, you better catch me now
Woah-woah, woah-woah, woah-woah, woah-woah
Never touch the ground

Carmine got up from the piano and approached Caroline, taking her hands into his own.

"Caroline, I know we're both very young and that we're graduating in just a few months, but in my heart, I just know we're meant to be together forever." Carmine said. "I love you. I love you so much, Caroline."

"I love you too, Carmine." Caroline smiled, happy tears coming to her eyes.

But then, Caroline was flabbergasted as Carmine got down on one knee and pulled out a velvet box.

Carmine opened the box to reveal a beautiful ring. It was very shiny with a silver band and a blue diamond that was at least five carats with two smaller diamonds on the sides.

"This ring used to belong to my grandmother." He told his girlfriend. "She used to tell me the story of how she and Grandpa met long ago, and she hoped one day she could pass it down to a son or grandson of her own someday."

Carmine remembered that story very well.

Miranda could've sold that ring after her husband died so she would have had at least a little money to raise her son, but sadly, she realized it would not have been enough to support them for even two months. Back then, everything was really expensive. Food, baby supplies, rent, you name it. And as a single mother and a retail worker at the time, she would never be able to give her baby the life he deserved. So, her only choice was to give little Qui-Gon to the Jedi Order and find a way to get herself back on her feet.

And now that Qui-Gon was gone before he had the chance to give a ring to the love of his life, Miranda passed the ring down to her grandson. Carmine made sure that ring was hidden very well. He was not going to let any of his greedy former foster families get their hands on it; it had already been hard enough to keep them away from his locket.

Carmine was sure that he would never meet a girl who wanted someone like him, but Caroline proved him wrong.

"Again, I know we're young, and I don't expect we'll get it done right after graduation, but..." Carmine breathed and said, "Caroline Stefanie Mitchell...sometime after we are officially of age, would you make me the happiest man in the galaxy... and marry me?"

Caroline couldn't believe this! This was beyond unexpected. She couldn't have anticipated that anyone would have done such a romantic gesture while they were still in high school. But Carmine was being so sincere, proposing with his late grandmother's ring, professing his love for her in every way with and without use of magic every chance he got, and working so hard tonight to give her a prom-posal she would never forget, as well as the last proposal she expected to receive now rather than ten years from now: a marriage proposal.

Caroline was speechless, and Carmine was beginning to get nervous.

What was I thinking? I should've waited until later to do this! He scolded himself in his head.

And then Caroline smiled and said, "Yes!"

Caroline caressed Carmine's face and kissed him on the lips, Carmine kissing right back.

Carmine was so happy that Caroline said yes, and he slid his grandmother's ring onto Caroline's finger.

"Oh, Carmine. It's so beautiful." Caroline said, marveling at the ring.

Caroline felt so touched that Carmine chose her to give such a special ring to. Most of the other, really snobby guys she met would rather buy a brand-new ring that was like twenty carats on the diamonds, and probably threw out their expensive stuff after just one use. But Carmine gave her something of greater value than money. That ring held many memories within it, and it was the ring that sealed the promise between Miranda and her husband to have a family together, and then they were blessed with a healthy baby boy who later brought Carmine into the world.

"I couldn't think of any girl I'd rather have wearing my grandmother's ring other than you," smiled Carmine. "My grandmother was the first woman I ever loved, and she always told me that when I was ready to find my true love, I should look for these qualities. Supportive, compassionate, and knowledgeable of what's really important. You fit all those qualities and more. If my grandma could see you, she would love you like the daughter she never had, and so would my father."

"You're always singing your grandmother's praises." Caroline smiled. "She was very lucky to have you for a grandson."

"And I believe she would agree I am lucky to have you as the woman I'll one day call my wife."

The newly engaged couple wrapped their arms around each other and stood close as they shared a very passionate kiss.