The Way We Were

2.9

Chapter 9

Ariel’s POV

Over the next few days, Luke is on my mind nearly one hundred percent of the time. Piper comes to pick me up to go dress shopping with her, which helps me not think of him. I’m brushing my teeth when Zoey calls upstairs to me. “Piper’s here!” she yells. “I’ll be down in a second!” I yell back after spitting out toothpaste and grabbing my jacket.

“What time is your doctor’s appointment?” I ask her as I pull my jacket on. “Half hour.” she tells me. “Alright, call me when you get out, we can go do something.” I smile at her. “Are you alright, Ariel? You’ve been a little…off, since Luke came over.” she tells me. “I’m fine. Thanks for asking. I’ll see you later.” I tell her, giving her a hug before leaving.

Piper’s in her car with two of her other friends. “Hi Ariel! This is Maddie and Emma. They’re my other two bridesmaids.” she introduces to Emma, who’s sitting in the front seat, and Maddie who’s sitting behind her. I climb into the car and we drive to the bridal store.

I feel slightly out of place, since I’m sure Piper’s friends have known her a lot longer than I have and they’re all the same age, but they’re both so nice and make me feel included. I like them a lot. When we get to the store, Piper walks up to the front to confirm that she’s here for her appointment. We’re led to a small seating area where Piper’s mom is already sitting, waiting for us. “Hey mom.” Piper says and leans down to give the woman a hug.

A girl comes over and introduces herself to us, telling us that her name is Alice and that she’ll be helping us today. She talks with Piper about what she’s looking for and then the six of us go off to look for some dresses. Piper carries the ones she’s picked out back to the dressing room and begins trying them on with help from Alice.

The first one she comes out in has a very full bottom with tiny detailed and sparkling flowers threaded into the material. She looks like a princess, but after talking with Alice and her mom, she decides she’s looking for one with a bit of a smaller bottom.

The next one she comes out in is a mermaid style dress, and it’s all lace. She doesn’t look very comfortable, and she looks out of place in it. She goes back into the dressing room to try on the last one she picked out and when she comes out her mom starts crying a little.

The top has a bit of flowered detailing trailing up where the material crisscrosses. The bottom is flowing and the dress has no set waist line. Alice leaves and comes back with a bouquet of fake flowers and a veil and places the veil in Piper’s hair. When she turns around to look in the mirror, she starts crying too. She looks absolutely stunning.

I don’t realize I’m crying until I see Emma and Maddie teary eyed, and then we all start laughing. I give Piper a hug after Emma and Maddie and her mom. “I’m so happy you’re gonna be a part of our family, Piper. You look so beautiful.” I tell her and she hugs me tighter. I notice then that she’s starting to show, but I don’t feel sad. I feel happy for her and my brother, happy that my brother has found someone as amazing as her and that they’re going to be starting a family. After Piper signs up her for her first fitting, we start looking for bridesmaid dresses. Piper says she wants a lavender color, and that Maddie’s dress should be different than me and Emma’s because she’s the maid-of-honor.