Kris and Ginger were sunbathing by the pool on the fourth of July at noon while the rest of the family was either in the pool at the tables having lunch. Ike and Roni were over again and this time Diana finally allowed Jessica's boyfriend, Colin, over for the day. Jess had just turned fifteen and had been begging Zac and Taylor individually to teach her how to drive now that she had her learner's license. Taylor was not about to teach his little sister how to drive in his precious car, and Zac just didn't want to do it. Ginger pointed out that Jess needed someone over twenty-one to teach her otherwise it was illegal, and immediately Ike got up and walked away before Jess remembered how old he was.
"So Zac told me he'd give me a pre-nup if I wanted it," Ginger explained to Kris, lying on her stomach very uncomfortably on the ground that the both of them had taken up to try to get some sun. They'd been out there an hour already and Ginger hadn't gotten much of anything while Kris was getting perfectly tan. The Tulsa sun wasn't anything like it was back home, but it was still hot.
"Really? Are you going to do it?" Kris asked.
"I think so. I mean I'd feel kind of bad if we ever did get divorced and I ended up getting the house and money, considering I didn't do anything to earn it, but he said he'd give it to me. It'd be stupid not to take it and end up with nothing later on."
"Yeah, but you and him are destined to be together. You're never going to get divorced."
"I know. That's why I'm thinking about doing it. I know it's never going to happen." Kris nodded.
"I don't want to even mention an idea of a pre-nup to Taylor. He freaks out at the sound of you guys getting married, much less us." Ginger snorted. "He does! It's terrible. It's not like I want to get married right now or even in the near future, but he still won't hear about it."
"Well you have to look who you're talking to, Kris. You're his first real committed relationship. He's never been with someone long enough to think about getting married. He's never had to think about it before so now it's starting to scare him." She looked over her shoulder at Zac. He was sitting at a table with Jess and Colin and he didn't look like he was being very nice to Colin either. "Zac! What time is it?" He looked at his watch.
"You have fifteen minutes before you need to flip, Ginger," he said.
"Okay," she said. "Are you being nice to Colin? It doesn't look like it."
"Of course I'm being nice."
"Jess, is he being nice? He's nothing threatening anybody with ass-kickings and shotguns, is he?"
"Nothing too bad yet," Jess said. "I'm watching him. I'll let you know if he goes overboard."
"Colin? You okay?" Ginger asked. The boy gave her a thumbs-up sign. She nodded. "Just making sure." Ginger turned back to Kris. "Anyway, Zac and I are going to the park to watch the fireworks after dinner. Do you want to come? Zac said it's the best thing ever." Kris nodded.
"Sure. I'm always up for some fireworks."
"Is that a sexual innuendo?" Ginger asked.
"It wasn't intended to be, but, sure, yeah!" Ginger laughed. "You won't be, like, doing anything with me and Taylor right there, are you?"
"No, unfortunately the only fireworks you'll see are the ones in the sky. Sorry."
"Damn! I was so looking forward to that!"
"I know, right? Everyone wants to see me getting it on. It's a curse." Taylor, who had walked up to them at the wrong moment, was thoroughly confused.
"All right�" he said. "Anyway, Kris I'm going to throw you in the pool."
"No you're not!" Kris said. "I'm not even! My back is completely white. Give me another hour before you throw me in."
"You are absolutely no fun at all. The both of you. Everyone else has been in the pool!"
"We're tanning! This is what we do! Since they're no beaches in this God forsaken place, we're stuck doing it on the lawn today," Kris said. "Anyway, my bathing suit is white. You don't get white bathing suits wet."
"Then why did you buy a white bathing suit?" Taylor asked.
"Because it was pretty and I never go in the water!" He groaned. "We're going with Zac and my sister to this park tonight to watch the fireworks."
"All right. What park?"
"I don't know. Ask her," Kris said, pointing to Ginger. Taylor looked at Ginger.
"Ask Zac. I don't know." Taylor walked away.
"Hey, Zac, where are we going tonight?" Taylor asked.
"I'm going out. You're staying home," Zac said.
"No, your girlfriend just invited me and Kris to come with you guys." Zac looked over at Ginger, who waved.
"Yeah, we're going to McNeil Park after dinner." Taylor nodded and walked away. Zac looked at Ginger.
"What?" she asked. "I want them to come." Ginger gave him a flashy smile and turned back to Kris. "Zac was telling me how much your boyfriend's changed. Apparently you're the best thing that's happened to him."
"Of course I am," Kris said, a smile on her face. "Did you see what he was like when we first started going out? What an asshole! I made him what he is today. Not an asshole." Ginger smiled.
"Yeah. He was pretty bad before you came around. But he always had that quality in him. I always knew once he met the right person he'd be a better guy. I guess it's true. He stopped hitting on me," Ginger said. When there are other people around, she finished in her head. A few minutes later Zac walked over, picked Ginger up, and threw her in the pool. She screamed.
"Time to flip over," he said, laughing. She got out of the pool, ran over to him, and starting hitting him in the arm with her fist. "Ow! Ow! Stop it, I'm sorry."
"You're such a moron! I hate you!" she said.
"So that's where your third tattoo is," Taylor said, standing about two feet away and laughing at an unfortunate Zac who was getting pummeled by his girlfriend. Ginger stopped hitting Zac and looked down at her chest. She immediately pulled the corners of her wet bathing suit up to hide her tattoo. "Was that a rose?"
"Yeah�" Ginger said, looking at the ground.
"Is that for�?"
"What are you doing looking at her chest anyway?" Zac said, turning to Taylor.
"What? I, um�"
"You know this is why I don't want you coming along with us places. You do shit like that."
"Zac, it's a very large tattoo on her chest, its kind of hard not to see," Taylor said, immediately defending himself. "It's not like I went looking for it. Jesus Christ, will you get over it? I'm not after your girlfriend!" Having caught the attention of everyone outside, Zac grew embarrassed.
"Come on, Ginger, let's go inside."
"I have to finish tanning," she said.
"You're not a shade darker than when you came out here, now let's go inside," he said, throwing her a towel. "And cover up for God's sake, it's like you're provoking him." Ginger nodded.
"Okay�" she said, weakly. Kris sat up on her towel across the lawn, watching as Ginger followed Zac inside, drying her hair with the towel he'd given her.
The night at McNeil Park, Ginger and Zac were sitting on a blanket about a foot apart while Taylor and Kris were huddled up together next to them. Ginger had insisted that the two of them still come along even with the incident that morning by the pool. Zac hadn't said much to her all day and she didn't say much to him, so she was surprised when Zac suddenly pulled her against him and kissed her forehead.
"I love you," he whispered. "And I'm sorry."
"Me too."
"Do you want to take a walk?" he asked. She nodded. "We'll be back," Zac said to Kris and Taylor. They nodded and looked back over the view. Zac had found a great place to put down the blanket. They were secluded but still had an awesome view of the sky.
Zac led Ginger to the sidewalk that winded through the park. Everyone was waiting for the fireworks to begin in about ten minutes, so Zac and Ginger were alone. "You're going to get me back in time to see the fireworks, aren't you?" Ginger asked, leaned up against Zac as they followed the sidewalk. Her hand was tightly in his and she was looking up at him with a vacant expression in her eyes.
"I'll try," he said, pausing to kiss her. "I'm really sorry about earlier." She shook her head.
"Don't be. I knew the moment you said we were all going out by the pool that it was going to happen. I guess things between him and me aren't exactly all better," Ginger said.
"It's still no reason to yell at you like that."
"It's done, Zac," she said. "It's done and over with. I've forgotten about it."
"You're just different, Ginger. You always have been."
"I like to think I'm mighty different," she whispered. "You don't have to be afraid of losing me to him. It'll never happen. Not in a million years."
"Well, to make sure," he said, digging in his pocket, "I got you something." He handed her a small velvet box. She eyed him carefully before opening the box. She gasped.
"Zac�"
"Will you marry me?"
"Of course I will!" she said, throwing her arms around him. She kissed him. "Oh I love you so much!!" She kissed him again. "Zac, this is so beautiful! Oh my God�" She put it on her finger. "�How much was it?"
"You're not supposed to ask how much it cost!" Zac said.
"Well I want to know," she said. "How much was it?" He sighed.
"Two hundred dollars." Her eyes grew in disappointment. Even her mother's shotty wedding ring cost more than that. "At ninety-eight percent off at a desperate jewelry store that was going out of business."
"You bastard," she said, hitting him. "You went with Taylor!"
"Actually, he saw the sale and called me. They actually had a lot of really, really good stuff there. I guess nobody knew they were there, which was probably why they went out of business."
"How much did it cost before it was marked down?" Ginger asked, watching her new ring in the moonlight as they started to walk again.
"You figure it out."
"Honey, I wouldn't know where to start. I am no good at math." He shrugged.
"Well then I guess you're not going to find out." She gave him a look. "It was quite a bit of money before they marked it down. I couldn't believe the prices at that place. It was like ninety-five to ninety-eight percent off for like three hours one day that Taylor just happened to pass by. He was lucky he did otherwise I would have been stuck paying a lot more for that thing."
"It's beautiful," she said. "No, it's gorgeous." She moved her fingers around, a large smile on her face. Her ring had a yellow gold band with a large diamond-shaped diamond in the center with two smaller square diamonds on either side. She couldn't get over how large the diamonds were, which was why she asked how much it cost. The start of the fireworks caught her attention. "Honey, the fireworks are starting," she said.
"Okay, we'll go back." She smiled and kissed him again, then walked with him back to the blanket. She giggled periodically, still staring at her ring, which only made Zac smile. She was extremely excited. As soon as they saw Taylor and Kris (who were making out), Ginger finally looked up.
"Kristina! Kris, come here." Kris got up and ran over to her sister.
"What? I was gonna score," Kris said.
"Look!" Ginger held up her left hand. "He proposed." Kris screamed and threw her arms around her sister.
"Oh my God!" she yelled. "Oh my God!! Let me see that!" Kris let go of her sister and grabbed her hand. "Holy shit!" Zac walked past them and sat down on the bed. They were still yelling and speaking incredibly loud and fast.
"So you gave her the ring?" Taylor asked.
"Yeah."
"Cool."
Behind them Kris and Ginger were still screaming. It went on another few minutes until Zac got fed up with it. "Yay we're engaged," Zac said. "Now can we calm down and watch the fireworks please?" Ginger gave him a look but the two of them shut up immediately and sat back down.
"Towards the end there we were just doing it to piss you off," Ginger said, a smile on her face.
"Good." She held his hand and looked up at the sky as the fireworks continued to go off. After about fifteen minutes Kris and Taylor were making out again and Ginger was getting bored. As beautiful as fireworks were and how much Ginger didn't want to ruin the moment, she was running out of things to do. "Do you want to go somewhere?" Zac asked, speaking her mind.
"I thought you'd never ask." They stood up.
"Take your purse," he said. She smiled, knowing exactly why he'd asked her to take her purse, and grabbed it from the blanket.
"Leave us one!" Kris said. Ginger bit her lip to keep from laughing. She didn't know how Kris managed to yell that out without removing her lips from Taylor's, but it happened. Ginger dug through her purse and left them a condom before running off with Zac.