This Is So Not Happening

ANNIE J.

I blinked as Qui

“Who’s that?” I asked as she perched onto her chair again.

“Just a friend. Someone from ballet,” she said, texting back quickly.

When Qui

“Face forward, please,” Marta said, giving my hair a yank.

“Ow!” I complained with a wince.

“Price of beauty, hon!” she trilled.

Once Marta was done making my scalp feel so tight I thought it might start to tear off, she affixed Qui

The hat floated down toward my head. I closed my eyes and told myself it was just one day. Just a few hours …

“Stop!”

Everyone jumped. I turned and looked at my mom. “No. I can’t do it to you, Ally. You don’t have to wear that.”

“But, Mom—”

“No.” She turned around and plucked a couple of yellow gardenias from one of the flower arrangements decorating the room, then handed them off to Marta. “Use these,” she said. “They’re more her.”

I was touched, but still. I didn’t want her to change her wedding just for me. “Mom, it’s okay,” I said. “I’ll wear the hat.”

“Yeah. What about the pictures?” Qui

“Ten years from now when I look at the wedding album, I’m not going to care what you girls were wearing,” my mom said, looking into my eyes. “All that’s going to matter is that you were there.”

I smiled up at her, my eyes filling with tears. Maybe this day wouldn’t be so bad after all.

jake

I was so nervous walking up to the church, you’d think I was trying to crash an NFL draft party or something. There were tons of people milling around outside. My eyes darted to anyone wearing a dark suit. Were any of them bouncers? Was there a guest list? If there was, I bet the words “Keep Jake Graydon Out” were written across the top.

My shoes crunched on the brick steps. Some guy who looked a lot like Dr. Nathanson, but wasn’t, gave me the stink eye. I attempted to smile and somehow tripped myself in the process.

“There you are.”

A

“Get inside. They’re go

Pretty but WWE-wrestler strong. She yanked me through the double, arched door and shoved me into a corner. The church was small and white with lots of stained-glass windows and a ton of flowers. She pushed me half behind a tall vase with sticks and blooms coming out of it in every direction.

“Stay there until they’re pronounced man and wife. Then go out that door right there, get in your car, and wait until Qui

“Yeah! Yes. Got it,” I whispered, smoothing my suit jacket. She was so intense there was no point questioning her.

“And do not let her or her mother see you,” she ordered, lifting a finger at me.

“I won’t.” I raised my hands in surrender.

“Good.” A

“Hey, A

She gave me this exasperated sigh as she faced me again. “What? Do you need me to write it down for you?”

I shook my head. “No, I just wanted to tell you … you look really nice.”

A

“You’re welcome,” I said.

She turned and slowly walked away, and I swear she swung her hips a little bit. I laughed to myself. Over the past couple of weeks I’d finally sort of started to get why she and Ally were friends. Even I kind of liked hanging out with her. Which maybe I’d get to do more. If everything went like it was supposed to.

Please let it go like it’s supposed to.

Suddenly people started filing into the church in a crowd. My heart started to pound and I ducked in farther behind the flowers. Before long, the music started and Dr. Nathanson walked down the aisle with two people who must’ve been his parents. Next up was Qui

And there she was. Ally looked gorgeous. She was wearing more makeup than I was used to, but in a good way. Her lips were red and shimmery and her eyes looked huge. The dress was black, and she wore yellow flowers in her hair. On her feet were these red high heels—pretty much the sexiest shoes ever.

She paused inside the door, right across from me. She was, like, ten feet away, and for a split second I was terrified that she was going to turn and look right at me. But instead, she lifted her chin and walked down the aisle with a smile on. I knew that part of her was sad about this. That her heart was breaking right now, knowing her parents were never going to get back together. But you never would have known it.

And in that moment I felt this whole new respect for her. I felt proud. I felt unworthy. Like maybe I didn’t even deserve to be here. Like maybe she was way too good for me.

I glanced at the doors as the pastor welcomed everyone to the wedding of Melanie and Gray, my toes itching inside my socks. What if I ruined her day just by being here? What if she said, “no”? What if this whole thing was just one giant mistake?

A

ally

So that was it. My mom was married. And she had such a smile of pure joy on her face as she and Gray walked up the aisle together, I was, shockingly, almost happy. Qui

Then we got to the door. Qui

“What’re you doing?” I asked.

Behind us, the guests were starting to crowd the aisle, headed toward the exit. I could feel them starting to clump up behind me.

“Um, your mom! She left her makeup bag in the dressing room. You should go get it,” Qui

“And you can’t go get it because …?” I asked.

The guests were starting to breathe down my neck or angle to try to get around us. My fingers were slick as they clutched my bouquet. Qui

“Fine.” She grabbed my gloved hand. “We’ll both go.”

Before I could point out that it made no sense whatsoever for us both to go retrieve a tiny bag, she had dragged me back into the church and toward one of the side aisles. We twisted through the laughing, chatting throng, headed for the door that led to the church’s offices and the bridal dressing room. Everything back here smelled dusty and waxy, like the scent of the two million candles that had been lit in the church over the years was clinging to the carpet and drapes. Qui

“Ow.” I craned my neck trying to check down my back for scratch marks. “Do they have you doing weights at cheerleading practice now?”