CODE HEART ♥

EPISODE 17 : THE PORPOSAL WITH CODE

One night before Stanford flight. Tomorrow at 9 AM, their flight from Karachi to San Francisco. Two seats together, business class - Mr. Shepherd booked it. Cookie's pet passport was also ready, in a brand new bigger pink carrier that Mr. Shepherd himself bought. It said "FIRST CLASS CAT - COOKIE SHEPHERD-LANE" embroidered.

The whole DHA house was packed. Boxes everywhere. Stanford hoodies, new laptops, cat toys.

But Alex texted Charlotte at 11 PM.

Alex: "Come to school. Right now. Old computer lab. Don't tell anyone. Bring Cookie."

Charlotte: "Are you crazy? It's 11 PM! School is closed! And we have flight tomorrow!"

Alex: "Please. Trust me? One last time before we leave Karachi?"

Charlotte knew that line. "Trust me?" - the same line he said on stage during Nationals when their code crashed and he put his hand over hers on the mouse.

She wore her white hoodie, took Cookie in the new big pink carrier, and sneaked out. Her parents were sleeping.

St. Augustine Elite at 11:30 PM looked haunted. Dark, empty, only security guard at gate who knew Alex - "young master Alex , late night coding again?" - and let them in.

Old computer lab. Room 302. Where it all started. Where Principal forced them to work together for 7 days. Where they fought about Python vs C++. Where he first held her hand on the mouse.

The lab was dark, only two computers on. And fairy lights. Lucas, Jack, Sophie, Mia had decorated it secretly with fairy lights, balloons that said "STANFORD BOUND" and a big banner that said "CODE HEART - FROM KARACHI TO CALIFORNIA"

Charlotte entered, confused, holding Cookie: "Alex? What is this? Who decorated?"

Alex was standing in the middle, in his black shirt, but not cold bully. Nervous. His hands in pockets, but shaking. Cookie ran to him immediately, she loved Alex more than anyone.

Alex: "Lucas and Sophie decorated. I told them I have a bug to fix before Stanford."

Charlotte: "Bug? What bug? Our prototype is already funded by Lane Technologies..."

Alex took a deep breath. He walked to the main computer, opened a file. On the projector, big screen.

File name: `WillYouStayForever.java`

Charlotte laughed: "Alex Shepherd, what kind of file name is that?"

Alex: "A very important file. That I have been coding for 6 months. Since the day you threw my keychain in the rain and I realized I can't live without you."

He clicked RUN.

On the big projector screen, code started compiling:

public class CodeHeart {

public static void main(String[] args) {

String girl = "Charlotte Lane";

String boy = "Alex Shepherd";

int daysWeFought = 7;

int daysWeLoved = 365;

boolean willYouStay = false;

if (girl.equals("extremely beautiful, extremely rich, too pretty to resist")) {

boy = "in love";

}

System.out.println("From Day 1, you broke my rule.");

System.out.println("My rule was: Don't let girls come near me.");

System.out.println("You came with a sick cat and broke it.");

System.out.println("Then I made a new rule: Don't let this girl go.");

}

}

The code ran. And on screen, an animation appeared. A small pixel boy in black shirt carrying a pink cat carrier, following a pixel girl with glasses.

Second file auto-opened: `Promise.java`

System.out.println("Lane, I am not good with words. I am good with code.");

System.out.println("So I will code my heart.");

System.out.println("For 8 years, I was cold because my Mom left.");

System.out.println("I thought everyone leaves.");

System.out.println("You taught me that some people stay.");

System.out.println("You stayed when I was a bully.");

System.out.println("You stayed when I was jealous.");

System.out.println("You stayed when I cried in front of 800 people.");

System.out.println("Will you stay for 5 years of Stanford?");

System.out.println("Will you stay for 10 years of startup?");

System.out.println("Will you stay forever?");

Charlotte's eyes were already watery. Cookie meowed.

Then third file auto-opened. This time not Java. It was a ring box animation.

On screen: `WillYouMarryMe.exe is installing...`

Charlotte gasped: "Alex! What are you doing?!"

Alex knelt down. On one knee. In the coding lab where they first met. He took out a small velvet box from his pocket. Not an expensive diamond ring from his father's money. A custom ring he made himself. Inside the ring, engraved in tiny letters: `CODE HEART - 100%`

Alex, voice shaking, looking directly into her eyes, no longer cold, no longer bully, just a boy who finally learned to love and stay:

"Charlotte Lane, on Day 1 you said you are extremely rich, extremely beautiful, too pretty to resist. But you never said you were mine. So... will you officially be my forever? Not just coffee. Not just for school. Not just for Stanford. Officially. For this life, next life, forever. So no other boy, not even Ethan, not even Simon, thinks he has a chance? Will you be Mrs. Shepherd one day, after Stanford, after we build our own Code Heart Tech?"

Charlotte was crying happy tears. Loud. She dropped Cookie's carrier, Cookie ran.

Charlotte: "Alex Shepherd... I was already yours since you carried my pink cat bag in front of the whole school... since you trusted me blindfolded on stage... since you cried for me..."

Alex: "So that's a yes?"

Charlotte: "That's a yes, you i***t bully! Yes! 100% yes!"

He put the ring on her finger. It fit perfectly. He had measured it secretly from her old ring while she slept on his shoulder during a coding session.

They hugged in the coding lab where it all started.

Outside the lab window, Sophie, Mia, Lucas, Jack were all hiding in the dark, crying and recording through the window glass.

Sophie, full volume whisper, crying: "HE PROPOSED WITH CODE! HE PROPOSED WITH CODE! THAT'S OUR SHIP! THAT'S CODE HEART! I TOLD YOU HE WOULD PROPOSE WITH CODE!"

Mia: "MY SHIP IS SAILING! CODE HEART FOREVER!"

Lucas: "Bro proposed before Stanford! Before I could! Now I have to propose to Mia tomorrow at airport! Pressure!"

Jack, blushing, looking at Sophie: "Maybe... maybe I should also propose with code... Sophie... will you debug my life forever?"

Sophie turned, shocked: "WHAT?! JACK STONE! ARE YOU PROPOSING TO ME TOO?!"

Jack: "No no! I mean... yes... maybe after Stanford..."

Everyone laughed and cried.

Inside the lab, Alex and Charlotte didn't hear them. They were in their own world.

Charlotte, looking at her ring, then at Alex: "Alex, we have flight tomorrow 9 AM. What will we tell our parents? That we are engaged at 18?"

Alex: "We will tell them it's a promise ring. For 5 years later. After Stanford. After our startup. My dad gave your dad the silver bracelet. My promise ring is the same. It's a promise to stay. Don't let this girl go. Remember?"

Charlotte hugged him tighter: "Don't let this girl go. Ever."

Alex: "Ever. In this life, next life, forever."

Cookie came back and sat on both their laps, as if approving.

Outside, the security guard shouted: "Young master Alex ! Lab has to be colsed now! go home safely ! you have a flight tomorrow!"

They laughed, turned off the computers, turned off the fairy lights, and walked out hand in hand, Cookie in the new big pink carrier, ring shining on Charlotte's finger.

Tomorrow, California. Stanford. New life. But tonight, Karachi. Their old lab. Their first promise.

*[END OF EPISODE 17]*