Carmine knocked on Caroline's door, all dressed up in a royal blue suit, ready to escort his fiancé to the prom.
The door opened, and Carmine could swear he'd died and gone to heaven, as what he saw looked like an angel.
Caroline looked amazing in her prom dress. It was white on top with spaghetti straps, the bodice adorned icy blue gems and sparkles, the floor length skirt icy blue adorned with lace at the bottom edges, making it look like a winter wonderland you could wear.
"You look... wow!" Carmine gasped.
"Shall we go to prom, my love?" Caroline asked, fluttering her lashes.
Carmine blushed hard and took Caroline's arm in his.
"Allow me to escort you, my lady." He said.
The theme of the prom this year? Night of the Wishing Stars.
The room was adorned with many beautiful stars, constellations all around, and lights resembling fireflies in the night.
"You know," said Caroline. "My grandmother Lamenta knew a lot about the stars. When I was a little girl, she would always tell me many stories about the magic they held to grant wishes. And she herself was believed by many to have the power of granting wishes herself."
"Was she an Enchanted?" Carmine asked as he and Caroline danced under the artificial, yet magical stars.
"Not that I'm aware of. But she was magical in her own way. She always told me that the shooting stars, when they pass by, those who are fortunate enough to see them are the one who deserve to have their greatest wishes come true."
Carmine twirled Caroline once more and leaned in to kiss her.
Lately, Carmine and Caroline had gotten really serious in their relationship. At first it was just simple hugs and kisses, but once Carmine found a special place for them to make out unbothered, let's just say, things got a little hotter from there. Mostly, it was Carmine taking his shirt off whenever they had private time in their special space. Caroline couldn't resist when she saw how defined his abs were underneath, and she enjoyed being so close to him.
Of course, the two of them were careful not to do anything too strenuous. Especially after an incident that happened the year prior.
A couple of sophomore students named Katie and Sharo had gotten to a great point in their relationship. They were kissing, flirting, and spending every minute together. But they even got to cutting classes just so they could make out. And then one day, the unthinkable happened!
Katie was pregnant at age fifteen!
It was huge scandal not just for the two teens' families, but for the school as well!
Because of her pregnancy, people started treating Katie differently. And her whole life turned upside down. Sharo broke up with her, not wanting to deal with being a father so young, people started spreading rumors about poor Katie and saying she would never have a future in music now. Carmine and Caroline felt terrible for the poor girl. She and Sharo were both very lucky not to get expelled. But you can be sure Katie did not let it end well for Sharo; the moment he told her he would not be the kid's father, she let him have it. After her own father left her when she was a baby, she was not going to let the father of her baby leave without her giving him a piece of her mind first.
Tonight, Carmine and Caroline had only one wish. Although the shooting stars they saw were artificial, their love for each other was not.
Their wish? To live happily ever after together. To be blessed with a very happy and long-lasting marriage in which no matter how hard things got, they would never forget how much they loved each other.
"Do you think one day, when we have kids, they'll want to attend school here too?" Caroline said.
Carmine was a bit surprised by that question. He asked Caroline to marry him, so he should've expected that subject to come up at some point. He honestly never gave much thought to having kids of his own. His own father was hardly around, and Carmine wondered... would he be a good father? What if he made a huge mistake and it impacted the child's life badly and how they grew up to be?
"I guess it's a possibility." Carmine said. "But... can talk about having kids wait until we're older? We're still kids ourselves."
Caroline chuckled and said, "Of course. But once we graduate and find good jobs, we're going to have kids."
"I'll be honest... fatherhood is something I never gave much thought to. I hardly saw mine growing up. But if it means that much to you to be parents, then I'll make sure to be the father your babies deserve. And we'll have as many as you want."
"I hope so. Being an only child is rather lonely."
"Don't I know it?" Carmine said more as a statement than a question.
After a while, all the dancing made the couple thirsty.
Carmine walked over to the punch bowl and got a cup for his love and one for himself. It was very refreshing, and delicious too!
"Hmm. This is good punch." Carmine said.
He decided to take a second drink of it. However, the second drink, he started to notice it tasted a little odd the second time around. Caroline noticed it too.
Carmine sniffed his cup and started to wonder.
"You don't think someone spiked this, do you?" Caroline asked.
"I hope not." Carmine said. He shrugged. "Maybe it's just the ice having melted in it."
Inconveniently, that was when someone else spilled some punch on Carmine's shirt.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" said the other student.
"It's okay. It was an accident." said Carmine, drying himself off.
Caroline walked Carmine away so they could take care of the stain before it became unremovable.
Caroline brought Carmine to their special spot so Carmine could use magic to change his clothes without anyone seeing them while she did the best she could to remove the stain. Having experienced people spilling food, falling into dirt, and even periods coming sooner or later than expected, she knew how to get a lot fo different stains out of various materials.
But... before Carmine could do any magic, he began to feel funny in his head. So did Caroline.
The couple began to feel really dizzy and lightheaded for a bit.
For reasons neither of them could explain, Carmine and Caroline just began kissing from out of nowhere!
Everything else became a bit of a blur after that.
It was late the next morning, when Carmine and Caroline woke up, and they found themselves on the couch that sat in the room, the couple under a blanket.
"Oh! Morning, Beautiful." Carmine smiled.
"Morning, Handsome." Caroline smiled, kissing her boyfriend.
Except, the couple looked under the blanket and then on the floor, where all their clothes were laying!
Shoot! They both cursed in their heads.
Carmine looked away and let Caroline get dressed first and then got himself dressed before they left the room.
"We tell no one of this." Caroline said sternly.
"Agreed." Carmine said.
For the weeks after that, things were fine between Carmine and Caroline. They went back to classes and got ready for final exams and graduation.
Except... Caroline began to feel tired and hungry all the time. At first, she thought she was just on her cycle, which tended to cause increased hunger for her. But... she also started to notice some of her clothes began to feel a little tighter on her. And then... she threw up during one of her ballet classes!
It was so humiliating!
Carmine was concerned for her, and so he started doing what any good boyfriend would do. He got her some ginger ale and peppermint tea to help her nausea and stomachaches, brought her a new fluffy pillow to help her rest better, and of course brought her a get-well bouquet of snapdragons. And he held her hair back any time she needed to go into the bathroom to throw up again.
At first, they thought maybe Caroline just had the stomach flu virus that had been going around, or she was feeling nauseous and experiencing mood swings due to anxiety from exams coming up.
But Caroline went on her computer to look up all the symptoms she'd been experiencing, and one thing she found got her worried.
Caroline wore a hood over her head as she walked into town one weekend. She stopped in front of a building and gulped as she got ready to walk in.
"Okay. Okay. Best case scenario, it's not what I think it is." Caroline told herself. "Worst case scenario, it's a repeat of the incident last year."
And Caroline stepped forward and walked into the building. A pharmacy.