If You Like It Than You Shoulda Put A Ring On It (Part 5)

Hi everyone! This is Hayley's roommates and Jonathan--we're guest posting part 5 because we know a bit  more about it than Hayley does.

It all started when Homeboy/Jonathan came to Sarah J. and said he was going to propose to Hayley pretty soon. Oh man, those were some giddy days. We were so excited! Later, he told all of us that he wanted to propose in our apartment because that is where everything has happened, and that he was thinking about doing a sort of a timeline of all of the things that he and Hayley had done together since they first met, with a station for each thing. We were so excited and it was really hard to keep it a secret, but somehow we all managed it.

A few weeks later, Homeboy called the ring place and found out that the ring would be done on Thursday. The sneaky rascal told Hayley that the ring would be ready on Monday, and then a few days later he asked Hayley on a date for Monday night. Hayley came in after he asked her and said, "Homeboy needs to learn how to be subtle." She simply could not believe that the dummy would practically tell her when he was going to propose. We did our best to be sympathetic but we all knew the truth--Homeboy was a lot more wily than she realized.

This was the plan: On Thursday morning, we were going to clear out our living room of all of the furniture while Homeboy went and picked up the ring. Then we would help Homeboy set up each of the stations. At five, Sarah J. was going to waltz back up to campus, act like she was coming from school, and pick up Hayley. That part was important, because Hayley has been known to come home at the most inconvenient times. It took a lot of work to commit her to that one. Once Hayley came in the door and had time to look at the timeline, Jonny would come down the stairs looking dashing and BAM! Make all of her dreams come true!

Well, the day finally came. Thursday morning arrived and Homeboy went to pick up the ring. We all felt that class and work and other responsibilities came second to the greatest day of Hayley's life, so we sent Hayley off to school and spent the rest of the morning getting ready. We cleared out all the furniture and then Homeboy arrived in a blaze of glory, holding the ring in his hand. We screamed and cried and you'll understand why when you see it--it is gorgeous. Good job, Homeboy. We set up the stations next. There was one for the first time they met (with a picture of them in their football gear, a football, and some cleats), one for the first time they cuddled (a mini fort made of our couch cushions), water guns for every time they have ever had a water fight (which is pretty much every day), and etc. Rachel, the domestic goddess of the apartment, had made bunting to hang around the room that showed the dates of each activity. The timeline ended with the date of the proposal--Thursday, March 22nd. We hate to brag, but the whole room looked dang good.

Well, 4pm found all of us sitting in the middle of the room, surveying our handiwork. The room looked dang good and we were all so pleased and feeling so leisurely--after all, we still had an hour and a half before Hayley was due.  But all of a sudden Homeboy got a look of pure terror in his eyes and started saying Hayleyhayleyhayleyhayley. We looked at the window and there came that wretched woman, prancing down the sidewalk and chattering away on her phone like she owned the place. We panicked. Rachel threw herself against the door and Homeboy, Sarah J., and Meggie hit the deck. Hayley started to unlock the door, but Rachel kept stalling for time and turning the knob while we thought of the plan. What we finally came up with was this: Send Sarah J. around back to distract her until Homeboy could get a suit on and grab the ring. Little did we know that we would regret that plan for the rest of our lives.

Sarah J. went outside to stop Hayley and this is what we heard:

Hayley: The door's stuck... I can't get in... what's wrong?

Sarah J: Nothing's wrong.

Hayley: What's wrong?

Sarah J: ...There's been a terrible accident.

Hayley: What's wrong?

Sarah J: ...There's been a murder.

Obviously that was the stupidest thing that anyone has ever heard and we all know it. Hayley finally decided that something was up and went to the neighbor's to await her fate. In the meantime, Homeboy sprinted home, threw on his fancy clothes, and then ran back up our stairs. Finally everything was ready and we went and got Hayley. 

She walked in and saw everything. We were all waiting on the top of the stairs, patting Homeboy on the shoulders and whispering good lucks, so we could hear her, and she was making some happy noises down there. Finally, the time came. Homeboy went down the stairs, shaking violently all the way, and gave her a big hug. He told her that she was his best friend and that he wanted to be with her forever. And then he got down on one knee (Hayley: "Are you serious??") and asked her to marry him.

And you know something? She said yes.