Checkers

Chapter 32 - The Wedding

My eyes fluttered open when I awoke in unfamiliar surroundings. I sat up suddenly on the bed only to realize that it wasn't mine, it was Elliot's. I looked over at the clock. 8:19.

"Oh crap!"

I hopped out of the bed in a quick frenzy. I was supposed to be in Julie's room at 7:30. I brushed my hair with my fingers and didn't even bother to change out of my clothes from yesterday. I ran into Julie's room swinging the door open.

"I'm here!" I announced. I looked around only to see two of Julie's bridesmaids and the hairdresser standing around.

"Well that's great but the bride isn't," the hairdresser said clearly annoyed.

"What?"

"When we came in here she was nowhere to be found."

I looked around to confirm that Julie was nowhere in sight. I excused myself to get into my dress figuring that I would have something to do while we waited for the arrival of the bride. I walked into the huge closet and searched for the hanger that held my outfit. There were actually quite a few things in plastic that I had to search through.

Suddenly I heard a sniffle.

I looked around confused until I heard the sound again. I turned around and moved apart some of the clothes. Sitting up against a wall was Julie in a bathrobe with tears running down her face.

"Julie?" I asked alarmed. I sat down beside her, letting the clothes cover us in darkness. Julie leaned against me and began crying on my shoulder.

"We are all waiting for you out there.”

"What if this is a cruel joke?" She sobbed as she wondered her thoughts aloud. I was speechless. "What if…he leaves me at the altar? I mean, why does he even like me? I'm just a normal girl! I'm not overly beautiful or good enough to be queen! Look at Madame V, she is so good and I'm going to be compared to her! I can't do this! I can't!"

"Okay." I stared at her with wide eyes unsure of how to handle this situation. "Let's just calm down and bit and take this one at a time. First of all, Luke doesn't like you; he loves you! He wants you to be his queen. If this is a cruel joke and he leaves you he is going to look like a complete jackass in front of all the press. He wouldn't do that to you."

Julie nodded slowly and wiped her tears with her hand. "I guess the cold feet finally kicked in,"

I beamed as she smiled. "Today is your day. Go and live it up!"

Julie began to stand up. "You're right. Thank you!"

I stood up and hugged her then I exited the closet shouting that I found the bride. The hairdresser got to work right away and I went back into the closet to change into my dress. It took a few hours to get everyone up to Julie's standards but we all wanted her to be happy so no protests were uttered aloud.

When everything was finished and taken care of, the last thing to do was get Julie into her wedding dress. She was a little hesitant but I encouraged her once again.

Julie got into her dress then up on her little platform. The other bridesmaids cooed and complimented as she twirled slightly. Julie's cheeks reddened a little as she asked the nearest person to zip her up. I watched her with a smile on my face. A true blushing bride.

I was just about to turn and get the bouquet when I heard her scream. I turned around alarmed only to see the side of Julie's dress had a slight rip. I relaxed a little as I had sensed something much worse. Julie started for the bathroom in a tensed stance.

"Whoa!" I stopped her before she could do anything.

"No! This is wrong! This is life telling me this isn't supposed to be a good day!"