Hometown Glory

Seven

"Mommy, wake up!"

"No baby, Mommy's very sleepy."

"No Mommy! No sleep!"

Georgia groaned as Bailee climbed into her bed and sat on her back, bouncing up and down.

"I see your alarm clock is working," Georgia's mother laughed from her doorway.

"Oh, yes." Georgia wiggled until Bailee slid off her back. She turned and lay flat on her back, lifting Bailee into the air. "Loud and clear. And adorable."

"What time do you have to be at the hotel tonight?"

"Any time after six. Which reminds me, I better start packing my makeup bag. God knows I have bags under my eyes."

"Chanel and Louis bags, right Mommy?" Bailee asked innocently, which made Georgia burst out laughing.

"That's right, Buggy. I taught you well."

Georgia's mom shook her head, laughing. "You'll be in trouble when she's 16."

"I'm willing to take my chances."

"Come on, princess. Let's make mommy some breakfast, okay?"

Georgia's mom and daughter left her room, and Georgia lay sprawled like a starfish on her bed.

I can't believe I've barely been in Tulsa for a week and I've already created a huge mess. She thought to herself, sighing loudly.

Georgia knew she overreacted. She should have just sucked it up and walked with Zac. Even if she wasn't in the wedding, she probably would have ended up running into him anyway.

But now, avoiding him was totally out of the question.

XxxxX

Around 8pm, Georgia had unpacked her belongings in the hotel room that she had to herself and had watched a movie. She took enough clothes to get her through the next 48 hours, including her bridesmaid dress.

As she hung up the dress in the closet, she noticed a mini fridge and opened it, revealing a mini bar. Score! She thought. Yes, she knew she was underage. But one or two drinks couldn't hurt, right? Maybe it'll help her sleep better tonight.

Georgia went in search of the ice bucket. She found it, wrapped the white robe that Natalie had given her (that had Bridesmaid printed on the back in hot pink) around her body and left the room, walking barefoot down the plush carpeted hallway.

Georgia tapped her long, dark blue fingernails on the wall, waiting for her bucket to slowly fill up. Suddenly, the door next to the ice machine swung open.

"Whoever is tapping on the wall, can you please- oh."

Georgia closed her eyes tightly, praying she would open them and not see who she thought she would. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. When she opened her eyes, they landed on a very squeamish looking Zac, who was avoiding her eyes.

"Sorry. Didn't realize it was you." He mumbled, sticking his hands in his pockets.

Georgia ignored him and continued to the vending machine that was next to the ice machine. She stuck a $20 bill in the slot, then selected all the snacks she liked.

"Are you going to ignore me and pretend we won't be at the same place at the same time tomorrow?"

Georgia lifted an eyebrow, giving him a pointed look. "You ignored me for three years. I don't see why we should acknowledge each other now." She replied coolly, stuffing her pockets with her snacks.

She breezed past him, flicking her curly hair over her shoulder dramatically. Apparently though, that wasn't a good enough answer for Zac, because he followed her up the hallway.

"Leave me alone, Zac."

"Why wouldn't you walk with me, G? Why did it have to be Isaac?"

"First, do not call me that. You don't deserve the right to. Second, why would I wanna walk with you?" She scoffed, placing the bucket on the floor in front of her room and turning around to face Zac.

"Because I thought-"

"Because you thought maybe if I did decide to walk with you, that everything would be absolutely peachy? That I would suddenly forget that you left me, and didn't call like you promised?"

"But I did call!" Zac tried to protest desperately, throwing his hands in the air.

"Yeah, twice over the course of two weeks. And then nothing. Listen, I know tour gets busy and overwhelming. I did one last year, with a toddler. And it wasn't easy by any means. But I made the effort to call my boyfriend every night after the show." Georgia was calm on the outside. On the inside, she was choking Zac with her bare hands. "You couldn't even call every second day. I was left with nothing. Clearly, I was nothing more than a summer fling for you. Which is fine, I guess. Because I'm sure you've had many others since then."

"Georgia! You weren't a summer fling. I told you I loved you. Doesn't that mean anything to you at all?!" Zac yelled, making Georgia take a step back.

She picked up the bucket and held it in her arms, remaining cool and calm. "It meant everything to me, Zac. More than you'd ever know. But we were kids. We didn't know what love actually meant." She looked over her shoulder at him as she walked into her room. "Goodnight, Zac. See you at the altar."

Zac was left speechless. Turning around, he scuffed his way back to his room. He flipped on the queen sized bed and rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands.

"Who were you yelling at, Zac?"

"No one, Kate. No one."

XxxxX

Uh oh...

Who saw that coming?! ;)