The Scroll Of Proposal
As you may recall, I asked Paige to be my girlfriend after Kid helped me make a makeshift scroll that said, “Will you be my girlfriend?” on it. Then I took her out to a restaurant, and had our waiter hide it in her tiramisu (The Scroll). My first date with Paige was at a bar called Seesaw. Since then, it’s become a new bar called Good Night John Boy. John Boy is 70s-themed, while Seesaw was more modern.
At 5:20 p.m. on Friday, May 9th, 2025, Paige stepped out of Nicole‘s car and walked into John Boy. She had just gotten her nails painted blue, and she was wearing a blue, flowery dress. She knew that the proposal was coming soon, as we had bought the ring together. She pretty much figured out that it was happening that day when Nicole kidnapped her, and I was dodging her calls when I got off work early, but John Boy confirmed it.
A bartender named Andie took our drink orders, and once we got them, we sat awkwardly because we were dancing around the fact that she knew. Though I was OK with the fact that she did, because I knew she didn’t know everything that was about to happen. When we finished our drinks, I waved at Andie, and she dramatically nodded. “What was that?” Paige asked, a little nervously. I smiled and waited. She brought out the pad for me to cash out, and gave Paige a scroll. Paige looked at me, smiled, then unrolled the scroll. It read: Where Our Love Story Began. “Is this a scavenger hunt?” She asked.
“Maybe,” I replied.
Paige and I met because our brothers went to high school together. When Ryan, Will, and Mitch started Cousin Simple, Paige’s brother (who is also named Ryan), invited his whole family to a show. While I have known Paige for 8 years, we only started dating after reconnecting when Cousin Simple played The Newport (Columbus Against The World).
Noah had sent an email to The Newport to see if we could get inside for the next scroll in the scavenger hunt, but there was a concert that night, so the best we could do was meet Ryan outside. Because this happened to be the weakest part of my plan, I didn’t know exactly how it was going to work. Luckily, there was a parking spot right in front of where Ryan stood. Paige looked at me, then looked at Ryan, and she was obviously confused. In a moment of panic, I rolled Paige’s window down like we were at a drive-through, Ryan handed her a second scroll, and we drove off.
The second scroll read: Where Our Life Story Started, and Another Chapter Begins. When we pulled into our apartment complex, we were both giddy with laughter. We walked into our apartment, and the camera Luke got for Christmas was set to record, and music was playing from his Bluetooth speaker. There were tall black candles and small blue candles that my coworker, Elizabeth, let me borrow, placed around the ring and a huge scroll.
The Scroll said The Scroll Of Proposal on the top of it and had the date at the bottom, and my engagement speech made up the body. The first paragraph talked about how much I loved S.M. and that I thought I was going to marry her. The second paragraph was about Ryan catching up to me in grade level, and him starting Cousin Simple with Will and Mitch. Despite how much I loved the band, I felt very insecure about it; however, the insecurities were worth it since I met her through the band. The third paragraph was about how my cousin Ellie met her at Josh’s grad party (Graduation, Girlfriends, And A Pig Roast). She looked at us for all of 10 minutes and said, “When you’re with her, you have the same look on your face that you have when you talk about S.M.” The last paragraph talked about how much I love her, and how I am so excited for her to wear the ring, because every time I see it, I imagine growing old with her, and I can’t wait for that!
As I unrolled the scroll, Paige laughed and said, “It’s giving Hamilton.”
I couldn’t help but reply, “Hear ye, Hear ye!”
When I started talking about Cousin Simple, their slow song, Doorstep started playing. I had told Luke to hide in my room, with our cat, Charlie, until I started talking about Ellie. When I started talking about Ellie, out of the corner of our eyes, Paige and I saw Luke dash out of my room, into the hallway like a little goblin. Once I had finished my speech, I knelt down and grabbed the ring box on the table.
“Paige O’Brien,” I asked, “will you marry me?”
“Yes,” she said with a smile.
Have a Greattastic day and be safe!
J. Mitchie Ulibarri
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