Another Life (Book 3)

Chapter 10

I smile and turn back to the road, feeling my stomach flutter. We drive to David's Bridal in Springfield and meet our wedding planner, Mary. She greets me with a friendly hug. "How are you?" I ask politely.

"Great!" she looks us over and claps. "Are we ready to get some dresses?"

"Yay!" Lee cheers.

Steph laughs quietly and I just settle for a smile. We go inside and the chatter of excited brides hit me instantly. They're all gawking over everything they put on. They like this, then it's this, then it's definitely this! I already want to leave.

Somebody approaches us, talking with Mary. He must've asked who the bride was because she pointed to me. Then she points to Steph and I almost freaked out. I signal for her not to, shaking my head behind Steph's back and mouthing no. She gets it eventually and comes over.

"This is Emilie; bride." she rests a hand on my shoulder. "Sloane;" she glared at me. "Maid of Honour" I sigh with relief "and Irelee; flower girl. We already have her dress, so we're doing these two late birds that I told you about."

"Yes. And why is she not wearing what the rest of the bridal party is again?" Ray asked, a bit curious.

"Nothing." I quickly interject. "Can we...get started?"

"Uh-huh. That type of maid of honour. Okay well," He grins wide at us, rubbing his hands together. "I am Ray. Look at those arms and legs! Yes! Follow me. You are going to be perfect."

Sloane laughs at me as I stand there just staring at him. Am I the only one who finds this weird? Irelee laughs and drags me along.

Mary chuckles at my side. "Try to have fun, will you?"

"I can only promise that I will try to find a dress. Anything else is asking too much."

She smiles and pats my arm. "We are going to have four brides four weeks from now, right? Because this entire wedding is centred around having four brides. We need her dress today!"

"Uh,"

"Emilie, there is no more time to delay!"

"I heard you and she'll choose her dress today. Just give her until I choose mine."

She nods. "Hey, it's your money."

"Yeah, so relax a bit." She doesn't like the smirk I give her as Ray comes back dragging a rack of dresses.

He removes one from the rack with Mary's help, then comes towards me, pointing to a small pedestal. "Come. Let's get rid of this first."

I go reluctantly, staring horrifyingly at it. Why did I ever let Irelee help me choose the final selection to try? I was stupid. I was so stupid.

He holds the dress up beside me and inspects us. Awkward doesn't begin to describe how I feel right now. "Put it on." He orders.

Okay. I take the dress and as I head into the changing room I look back at Steph, pleading with her to save me, but she just laughs as she holds onto Lee's shoulders. I disappear behind the curtains and I swear the dress alone fills the entire space. Finally, I get out of my clothes and into the damned thing. It weighs me down like a sack of bricks. I poke my head through the curtain and they're all staring at me. Yikes!

"Come on out, let us see you!" Ray encourages.

Finally, I step out with embarrassment on my face. All their faces transform into a smile. Ray steps forward, taking my hand to help me up onto the pedestal. He takes the veil from my hand and I bow my head for him to put it on. I feel like I'm covered in a million curtains, hiding away from the world, but they're not doing a very good job at hiding me either because here they all are staring at me.