Bring It On!

Chapter 3: "Define Guy Problems"

God, I was going to say yes.

"Fine." I mumbled.

"What?"

"Fine!" I repeated.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Really, really?"

"Yes!"

She screeched like a teenage girl, jumping off on me and giving me a huge hug. "Thank you! Thank youthankyouthankyouthankyou!"

"Ok, Ok! I get it!"

She ran up the stairs, more like hopped "I'll go call him now!"

I smiled to myself, it was nice to see her this happy.

Hopefully, this wasn't a bad idea.

*****

 The weekend passed in a blur of reading, homework, work and more reading. By Sunday evening I was definitely regretting my little confrontation with Hernandez. Sadly, it wasn't so much the actual confrontation, or the bump in at the park that had gotten be riled up, but more the engagement party, or fiançailles, I had gone too.

It had all started Saturday, when I was hanging out with Yasmine. I was lying on her bed staring up at the poster of the Algerian soccer team stuck on the ceiling above her bed when we heard some kind of commotion downstairs. A couple of minutes later one of her many cousins had stormed into the room blabbering in quick Arabic. Although usually I love to listen in on the conversations that Yasmine has with her family, because frankly no one can talk as fast as they can, this time I was slightly scared. The poor women seemed freaked out, and mean really freaked out.

"Hamar!" Guessing by her expression, that was an insult of some sort, and whomever she was pissed at was in trouble. "Redwa marriage, et mazel ma del WALOU!"  She screamed waving her hands in the air as she spoke. Marriage? ah now I could understand French, this was Yasmine cousin who was getting married, no wonder she seemed unnerved. Suddenly she notice she wasn't alone in the room with her cousin "T' qui?" Who am I? I'm not sure I want to tell you that.

"Mia, Yasmine's friend..." She gave me a weird look.

"Non." No what? Why was Yasmine saying "No" and why was her cousin giving me that look. "She is not coming"

"Why not? She pretty god looking, and I need more girls!"

"Umm...Thanks?"

"She's not free tomorrow." 

"I'm not?" Yasmine gave me a shut-up-before-you-mess-this-up look.

"She clearly is!" She said in her thick Algerian accent, turning back me. "You shall come to my wedding Mia! Make sure your dress is not too short." She then stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

"What just happened?"

"My cousin bailed on the wedding tomorrow, and you just got forced to take her place."

"As?"

"As family. Most of my female cousins live in Algeria, and in Algerian weddings or engagement parties, the men and women are separated. Family help organize the wedding, but also do the welcoming, serving etc. and withough my other cousin, we'd be down to me and my cousin Sarah, " She shrugged giving me an apologetic smile, "and now you."

It couldn't be that bad, I thought. If there was one thing I knew about Algerians was that they knew to dance, and the only chances they got to dance was at weddings.

"Not too sort dress?" I asked.

"Yeah, at least to the knees. Wait...does that mean you'll go."

Fake sighing, I raised my hands in surrender "I guess...."