Senioritis 3

Different Rocks

The camera flashed yet again and MJ was pretty sure she'd blinked. She readjusted her grip on her bouquet of blush-colored Calla Lilly and Dahlia flowers, before flicking her loose curls behind her shoulder.

"One more..." the photographer muttered, squinting into the camera a little as he adjusted the lens. "Big smiles, ladies. And three...two...one."

MJ leaned closer to May now, giving the photographer the best smile she possibly could. She was sat directly to the left of May on a traditional white sofa, with all the other bridesmaids surrounding them. MJ didn't really know any of them very well but had got to meet them in fittings and in the dress rehearsal a couple weeks ago. She was the youngest one there for sure, and opted to do her own makeup while the others had got theirs done professionally.

May and Happy had chosen a rustic inn style venue in the countryside of Northern Manhattan. It looked right over the Hudson River and there was a view of some mountains in the distance. All the guests had been staying in the hotel that was attached to it for the past few nights. Peter and MJ had a few weeks left of the summer break before they started their Sophomore year at Berkeley.

MJ had spent practically the entire summer in New York with Peter - May and Happy had been thrilled to take her in. She'd landed a cancer research opportunity at a lab not too far from Peter's house and Peter had got an internship with Amazon near home too. He'd also been building his own app with Li Mei - something along the lines of helping customers avoid fraud online and protecting data. Peter and Li Mei would have Skype meetings about it on some evenings because Li Mei was all the way in California. MJ still thought Peter was so fucking smart that it was kinda stupid.

They'd had the most fun during the weekends; MJ had finally gone cliff jumping with Peter, Ned, Flash and Greg. She'd grazed her leg against something during one of her jumps but it was totally worth it. They'd spent many Saturdays sitting by Flash's infinity pool and eating deep dish pizza, then playing Cards Against Humanity and trying not to get too drunk.

Happy had two guest passes with his membership at a country club and Peter and MJ went along with him to play tennis whenever they got the opportunity. MJ had gotten pretty good at her serve and back hand swing with practice, beating Peter in several matches, and he'd often protest that she'd violated some rule. They were both extremely competitive and it was highly amusing for Happy to watch. They'd started betting money in their games and Peter currently owed MJ over two hundred dollars.

Some of MJ's favorite nights were spent watching Parks and Recreation on Netflix with Peter and May. They'd done a mini marathon over the course of the summer and were on the sixth season now. They would all laugh hysterically whilst eating ice cream. Peter and MJ would get through an entire tub of a the cookie dough flavor together and feel dangerously full afterwards, but again, it was worth it.

MJ would always fall asleep before the end of an episode and Peter would have to gently shake her awake. Peter and May never seemed to mind re-watching the parts MJ had missed with her the next time.

May would go over her master checklist for the wedding with MJ and they'd decide on multiple things - May's final options for her dress, the color scheme, the flower decorations and the reception menu, to name a few. MJ had put together a mood board for May to take inspiration from and had hand-designed all the invitations.

She'd practically made the guest room in Peter's house her own, arranging her collection of books in a shelf and turning one of its corners into a station for all her art supplies. She'd painted May and Happy from a photo of them slow-dancing on their engagement night and May had had it framed and put up in the living room.

The panic attacks were almost non-existent. Peter never got them anymore, at least. Sometimes MJ still woke up feeling uneasy in the early hours of the morning; she would sit and paint in that corner for a while, her thoughts shifting to the blending of watercolor and the strokes of her paintbrush. She'd feel tired again soon enough and go into Peter's room to climb into bed with him. He wasn't a deep sleeper - he'd always feel her beside him and turn over and pull her close. Sometimes there'd still be a little paint on her fingers and she'd get it on his shirt but he never cared.