A Missed Opportunity

66

I awkwardly glance across the room at Aaliyah who sits right there listening to this. Her eyes narrow, arms crossed over her chest and leg crossed over the other. Her foot bounces rhythmically, keeping quiet over there.

"Oh, but it was a nice dress." Molly reaches over to touch Angela's arm dismissively. "It went a little low on the breast area, but it was quite lovely." She insists. She's the only one who seems to acknowledge Aaliyah's presence over there.

Abby, the girl who I had the pleasure of meeting at Thanksgiving, is quick to jump into this conversation. "She didn't have a long train though, remember?" She reminds, wide eyed as if that is such an awful thing.

Angela rests a hand on her chest as she gasps. "Oh, right. Yes, her dress touched the floor, but it didn't drag far behind her like I told her it was supposed to."

I awkwardly sit here while they continue to go on about the specifics of Aaliyah's dress. I grimace a little the longer they go on because Aaliyah's dress starts to sound prettier and prettier. I make a mental note to ask for pictures from her wedding day later.

"Oh! You know what? You guys should totally have a summer wedding." Abby smiles brightly as she points absently towards the ground. "Somewhere by the water."

"Really?" Angela's nose scrunches. "I was thinking fall when the leaves change colors. I have a friend with a beautiful place overlooking the water. I'm sure she'd be willing to rent it to us for a few days. It'll be lovely."

The two of them continue on with ideas for my nonexistent wedding, Angela insisting on a fall wedding and Abby insisting on a summer one. Molly, meanwhile, stays quiet while she probably considers the options. I allow them to go on for a bit until I've had enough of my wedding that I'm not even engaged for yet being planned for me.

I clear my throat. They don't stop talking, but I don't let that stop me from speaking up. "Our relationship is still too new for us to be thinking about marriage." I announce.

They all freeze, staring at me as if I've lost my mind. I can't tell if it's because of what I say or if it's because I say anything at all to interrupt them.

Abby raises a brow. "But it's not too early to have two kids together?" She dryly questions.

I falter at that. I can't really say anything much about it because of the lengths we failed to go through with before we even made ourselves official. Neither of us seem to know why we did that, but neither of us have a problem with it either. I don't think.

Noah scoffs at that. I think he's about to unleash something on them, but someone across the way does it for us both.

"Abby, says you. Aren't you the one with a pregnancy test in your purse? At least Kiara has a boyfriend—Where's yours?"

All eyes slowly drift to Aaliyah. She still sits with her arms crossed and foot bouncing, scowling now at Abby. Eyes quickly move back to Abby once we all process what was just said. Abby's eyes are wide, darting around rapidly and mouth opening and closing with strange stuttering noises. "I—No!" She eventually manages to choke out.

"Yes!" Aaliyah argues, uncrossing her leg as she leans forward in her seat. "Don't you dare try to scare my friend away when you're not exactly little miss perfect either." She scolds, more angry than I think anyone in this room has ever seen her. That's obvious with the blanket of silence laid over the entire room.

We all sort of just stare at her when she huffs and shoots up from her seat, storming out of the room once she seems to decide she needs some air. For a moment longer, we all stay silent as we process that.