“And the microphones?” I ask.
“I tested them a little while ago,” Derrick confirms.
I scan the crowd around us, recognizing familiar faces among other unsuspecting fairgoers.
“This is starting as soon as that carriage stops,” I say, more to myself than to anyone else. I feel this weird mix of excitement and anxiety. This is my best friend’s proposal, and she’s put it in my hands to make the moment just right. That’s a lot of pressure for one person to handle.
The carriage comes to a stop right where it’s supposed to. Oliver and I watch them from the side of a nearby vendor so that we’re out of the way but we can still see everything that’s going on and have a front row seat to their reactions.
Ryan hops out of the carriage and holds his hand out for Tina, helping her climb down without dirtying her dress. Just as her feet touch the ground, the sound of a steady drumbeat cuts through the air. The crowd quiets down as two girls dressed in a marching band uniform with shakos on their heads step into view of the carriage. One of them has a drum strapped to her body, and the other holds a saxophone.
Tina frowns. Her confusion is clearly visible, and I know why. This isn’t what we discussed. She never saw this part of the plan when she stopped by to watch them practice. Ryan, on the other hand, has a big smile on his face as he watches what he thinks is his proposal plan begin to come to life. He reaches over to hold Tina’s hand, his fingers squeezing hers as he smiles down at her.
The girl with the saxophone begins to play, and then another band member steps out of the crowd, appearing behind them as the carriage quietly moves away, playing a flute. They’re playing the intro to Sara Bareilles’s “I Choose You.” Within seconds, several other people appear from their hiding places behind vendors, playing instruments and dressed in full marching band gear, until the whole band is together.
Tina looks around, a confused smile on her face, until she locks eyes with me. She frowns, a silent question hanging in the air between us. Of course, I know she wanted this song playing, but I never told her it would be played by a marching band. Her frown dissolves, making way for a full smile as she looks up at Ryan.
Now it’s his turn to look confused. He asked for the marching band, but this isn’t the song he wanted. His mouth is curved up in a half smile, his brow furrowed. He looks down at Tina, meeting her eyes, and then they both let out a short laugh. He wraps his arm around her, hugging her against his side while they watch everything going on around them.
When Derrick hears his cue, he runs out onto the field before them and does a series of flips before landing on his feet. Even I’m surprised by this. I clasp my hand over my face, watching in awe. As soon as Derrick hits the ground, Julie starts singing the words to the song, her voice amplified by the microphone.
Another woman stops to look at them. She acts confused at first, but then she and Derrick start to dance in sync with each other. The band members start to dance too, still holding onto their instruments but no longer playing them. The instrumentals carry on through a stereo while Julie sings her heart out. She sounds even better than she did at rehearsal.
Soon, the entire surrounding area is filled with dancers. Tina holds one hand over her heart, her expression doing nothing to hide the pure excitement she feels right now. Ryan smiles, then looks down at Tina like she’s the only person at the fair. I watch as Tina’s hand slips into her pocket where she has the ring. I bite my lip, hoping that she can be patient and hold on until the very end.
“Is that my mom?” Ryan suddenly asks.
Tina frowns, and then her eyes widen as she spots Marjorie dancing with the rest of them. She claps her hand over her mouth and laughs. Even I can’t help but laugh along with them. I still can’t believe I convinced her to do this.
Just as the music gets to the peak of Sara Bareilles’s song, the band members bring the instruments back up to their lips and begin playing the opening lines of Jason Derulo’s “Marry Me” while Derrick rejoins Julie and begins singing the lyrics. With Julie still singing the other lyrics, it’s a weird mashup of the two songs, but it works.
Tina frowns as her plan becomes less familiar again. Ryan looks like a perfect mix of confusion and hesitant relief as his plan becomes more familiar. When they look at each other, though, all other feelings seem to dissolve, and all they can do is smile.
As the music transitions from one song to the other, half of the people dancing around them go back to what they were doing before, most of them fading into the crowd as if this never even happened. They leave behind only the band, now marching in formation, and a few more dancers who move alongside the band, dancing to Jason Derulo’s song which is being harmonized by both of the singers now.
Ryan and Tina both look at each other, an unspoken question in their eyes. I wonder if they’ve realized by now that each of them is up to something, and this show being put on is for both of them. Tina looks confused, but happy, and I think I know the moment that it begins to dawn on her, because her eyes lock with mine for a moment. The corners of her mouth curve up in a slight smile, her brow wrinkles, and she looks up at Ryan, then back at me and her smile widens knowingly. This is the moment that I can finally breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that my best friend is happy with this interference to her plan.
The sound of a plane engine gets louder as one of the planes I hired gets closer to the fairgrounds. Tina and Ryan look up, and so does everyone else around them. As the plane comes into view, Tina looks surprised again when it doesn’t have a banner trailing behind it. She bites her lip, glancing only briefly at me before looking back up at the plane.
It flies overhead, then turns and shoots upward, leaving a trail of smoke in the sky, until it’s spelled out the word “Marry.” While everyone watches the plane, my eyes are on Tina and Ryan. Tina blinks rapidly when the smoke forms a T and it becomes clear that this isn’thermessage it’s writing in the sky. Her eyes flick to Ryan. He’s not looking at the sky either. His eyes are on her, an easy smile on his face. She struggles to tear her gaze away from him and look back up at the sky. I can see the moment it fully dawns on her, but before the plane is finished spelling out her name, another plane—Tina’s plane—comes into view on the opposite side of the fairground.
Ryan looks away from Tina to read the banner, and that’s when they both finally realize what’s happening. The first airplane finishes writing “Marry me Tina” in the sky, while the banner on the other plane comes fully into view, spelling out: “Will you marry me, Ryan?”
Tina and Ryan look at each other, their eyes as wide as their mouths. In unison, they both say, “Are you proposing tome?I’m proposing toyou!”
The airplanes finish with a loop over the park. Tina and Ryan stare at each other, both laughing, and neither one of them knowing what to do next. Then, springing into action, they both pull their ring boxes out of their pockets at the same time. They open up the boxes to show each other the rings.
“I think I already know the answer to this,” Ryan says, “but… will you marry me, Tina?”
She nods, laughing. “Will you marry me, Ryan?”
They both say, “Yes,” at the same time, and then the sky above them is filled with fireworks, crackling and booming overhead while Tina pulls Ryan down to her lips and kisses him.
I’m surprised by the knot that forms in my throat. I almost forget that Oliver is standing next to me until I feel his hand take mine. I look down at his hand as it squeezes mine, and then I look up at him. His eyes are on me, but he’s not looking into my eyes. His gaze wanders up from somewhere below my shoulders, like he’s taking me in, before his eyes reach my face and he realizes I’m watching him. His mouth curves up in a smile. Even after everything that just happened, he somehow makes me feel like I’m the only other person around.
* * *
“You sneaky little bitch,” Tina scolds me afterward. I can tell by how wide her smile is that she’s not the least bit mad. “I can’t believe you did this. You did this, right?”
