The Engagement

3. Look Out

"How did this happen?" I ask my friends.

"Your mom found out about your engagement and threw this party." Camryn says.

"And how did she find out? I certainly didn't tell her and the government registration letter couldn't have gotten here that fast." I say.

"Sorry!" Mandy throws up her hands in surrender, "I told my sister who told my parents who then called your parents."

It's a shock yet not a shock at the same time. Mandy and her younger sister, Brenda, aren't really close. Somehow though the two sisters always seem to share the most important, and inconvenient, things with each other. Brenda, unlike Mandy, is close with their parents so anything that gets told to her is immediately relayed to her parents.

"It's not your fault. If my dinner hadn't gone so badly I might have wanted this party." I say.

"What happened to make it so bad?" Mandy asks.

I tell them about my irrational and unquenchable anger at the sight of Charles Milburn II. I don't tell them about the time traveller. It doesn't seem like a necessary part of the story. Anyway I don't think they'll believe it if I tell them.

"Then it's true. There is a thin line between love and hate." Camryn says.

"What are you going to do?" Mandy asks.

"I don't know." I say, letting pure honesty show through.

Just then my mom brings out a cake. How did she throw all this together on such short notice? The cake has one candle in the center and my mother asks me to blow it out. I argue that it's not my birthday but my mom quickly replies that this day marks the birth of a healthy marriage. I suppress a laugh. It definitely hasn't been healthy so far.

My mom continues to stare at me, smiling, from the center of the room. She's unwavering when she wants to be and I often end giving in to her. Today is no different as I plaster a smile back on my face and walk toward her.

The furniture in the living room has been rearranged for the party. I wasn't here when they did it so I'm not aware of where everything has been moved to. There's a large open space in the center of the room where mom is standing with the cake. I make my way toward her.

Before I can make it to blow out my engagement candle, however, something takes my legs out from under me. It's a stool, a tiny little thing that normally resides at the foot of my dad's recliner. Now it's under my feet tripping me.

"Are you ok?" My cousin Sylvia asks. My uncle Allen grabs my arm and pulls me to standing.

"I'm ok." I say, straightening out my dress.

"You gotta watch where you're walking." Uncle Allen says.

Eventually I make it to the center of the room and blow out the candle. Claps and cheers come from around the room. For the next few hours I'm the center of attention. I have to field questions about who my fiance is and what he does for a living. Great Aunt Marigold squeals with joy when she hears that he's a lawyer. My cheeks start to burn I'm smiling so hard. Throughout the night I keep thinking that the time traveler was right. I was blindsided by this party. I'm currently pretending to be happy. And, that stool proved I need to look down when I walk.

The party is all but over when I escape to my room and plop face down onto the bed. Most everyone has left. Camryn and Mandy snuck out first, the cowards, and my family members trickled out after that. Currently my mom is stuck in a goodbye cycle with the neighbor Mrs. Burns. They say goodbye to each other, move three feet closer to the door, and then get sucked into another conversation about a piece of gossip Mrs. Burns heard or a news article mom read in the day's paper. So far they have made it to the front porch. I expect it to be at least fifteen more minutes before they say goodbye for real.