ANNIE J.

I blinked as Quinn pounced on her phone. I couldn’t have just seen that right. There may have been some odd relationships popping up over the last year, but Quinn and Annie? I was pretty sure they’d never even occupied the same airspace.

“Who’s that?” I asked as she perched onto her chair again.

“Just a friend. Someone from ballet,” she said, texting back quickly.

When Quinn was done, she told Lindsey she had to go and she set the phone aside, giving her manicurist both hands. She didn’t meet my eyes again, but that was nothing new. But the longer I looked at her, the harder she started to blush. What was going on here? Were Quinn and Annie talking? And if so, why?

“Face forward, please,” Marta said, giving my hair a yank.

“Ow!” I complained with a wince.

“Price of beauty, hon!” she trilled.

Once Marta was done making my scalp feel so tight I thought it might start to tear off, she affixed Quinn’s pillbox hat to her head. I cringed, just watching the thing go on. I was going to look ridiculous in that. Like, Halloween-costume ridiculous. As Marta removed the white tissue paper from my own hat, I caught my mom’s eye in the mirror. She was chewing on her lip like she hadn’t eaten in days.

The hat floated down toward my head. I closed my eyes and told myself it was just one day. Just a few hours …

“Stop!”

Everyone jumped. I turned and looked at my mom. “No. I can’t do it to you, Ally. You don’t have to wear that.”

“But, Mom—”

“No.” She turned around and plucked a couple of yellow gardenias from one of the flower arrangements decorating the room, then handed them off to Marta. “Use these,” she said. “They’re more her.”

I was touched, but still. I didn’t want her to change her wedding just for me. “Mom, it’s okay,” I said. “I’ll wear the hat.”

“Yeah. What about the pictures?” Quinn put in, turning in her chair.

“Ten years from now when I look at the wedding album, I’m not going to care what you girls were wearing,” my mom said, looking into my eyes. “All that’s going to matter is that you were there.”

I smiled up at her, my eyes filling with tears. Maybe this day wouldn’t be so bad after all.

jake

I was so nervous walking up to the church, you’d think I was trying to crash an NFL draft party or something. There were tons of people milling around outside. My eyes darted to anyone wearing a dark suit. Were any of them bouncers? Was there a guest list? If there was, I bet the words “Keep Jake Graydon Out” were written across the top.

My shoes crunched on the brick steps. Some guy who looked a lot like Dr. Nathanson, but wasn’t, gave me the stink eye. I attempted to smile and somehow tripped myself in the process.

“There you are.”

Annie grabbed my arm. She was wearing a dark blue dress with a wide neck, black fishnet stockings, and high heels. With her hair back from her face, she actually looked kind of … pretty.

“Get inside. They’re gonna be here any minute.”

Pretty but WWE-wrestler strong. She yanked me through the double, arched door and shoved me into a corner. The church was small and white with lots of stained-glass windows and a ton of flowers. She pushed me half behind a tall vase with sticks and blooms coming out of it in every direction.

“Stay there until they’re pronounced man and wife. Then go out that door right there, get in your car, and wait until Quinn gives you the signal. Got it?”

“Yeah! Yes. Got it,” I whispered, smoothing my suit jacket. She was so intense there was no point questioning her.

“And do not let her or her mother see you,” she ordered, lifting a finger at me.

“I won’t.” I raised my hands in surrender.

“Good.” Annie turned to walk away.

“Hey, Annie,” I said, stopping her in her tracks.

She gave me this exasperated sigh as she faced me again. “What? Do you need me to write it down for you?”

I shook my head. “No, I just wanted to tell you … you look really nice.”

Annie’s mouth fell open slightly. Her face turned pink. “Um. Thanks?”

“You’re welcome,” I said.

She turned and slowly walked away, and I swear she swung her hips a little bit. I laughed to myself. Over the past couple of weeks I’d finally sort of started to get why she and Ally were friends. Even I kind of liked hanging out with her. Which maybe I’d get to do more. If everything went like it was supposed to.

Please let it go like it’s supposed to.

Suddenly people started filing into the church in a crowd. My heart started to pound and I ducked in farther behind the flowers. Before long, the music started and Dr. Nathanson walked down the aisle with two people who must’ve been his parents. Next up was Quinn. She totally milked it, walking as slowly as possible, giving little flirtatious smiles to the people in the pews. She got to the front. I held my breath.

And there she was. Ally looked gorgeous. She was wearing more makeup than I was used to, but in a good way. Her lips were red and shimmery and her eyes looked huge. The dress was black, and she wore yellow flowers in her hair. On her feet were these red high heels—pretty much the sexiest shoes ever.

She paused inside the door, right across from me. She was, like, ten feet away, and for a split second I was terrified that she was going to turn and look right at me. But instead, she lifted her chin and walked down the aisle with a smile on. I knew that part of her was sad about this. That her heart was breaking right now, knowing her parents were never going to get back together. But you never would have known it.

And in that moment I felt this whole new respect for her. I felt proud. I felt unworthy. Like maybe I didn’t even deserve to be here. Like maybe she was way too good for me.

I glanced at the doors as the pastor welcomed everyone to the wedding of Melanie and Gray, my toes itching inside my socks. What if I ruined her day just by being here? What if she said, “no”? What if this whole thing was just one giant mistake?

Annie sat near the front, her back to me. Quinn stood next to Ally, watching the pastor. Before I could double-think it, I walked quietly to the door and slipped out.

ally

So that was it. My mom was married. And she had such a smile of pure joy on her face as she and Gray walked up the aisle together, I was, shockingly, almost happy. Quinn and I trailed after our parents along the velvet runner as the people in the pews clapped and tossed rose petals and cheered. Before long even I was smiling.

Then we got to the door. Quinn looked outside and threw her arm across the opening, blocking my way.

“What’re you doing?” I asked.

Behind us, the guests were starting to crowd the aisle, headed toward the exit. I could feel them starting to clump up behind me.

“Um, your mom! She left her makeup bag in the dressing room. You should go get it,” Quinn said.

“And you can’t go get it because …?” I asked.

The guests were starting to breathe down my neck or angle to try to get around us. My fingers were slick as they clutched my bouquet. Quinn glanced over her shoulder at the street, then rolled her eyes.

“Fine.” She grabbed my gloved hand. “We’ll both go.”

Before I could point out that it made no sense whatsoever for us both to go retrieve a tiny bag, she had dragged me back into the church and toward one of the side aisles. We twisted through the laughing, chatting throng, headed for the door that led to the church’s offices and the bridal dressing room. Everything back here smelled dusty and waxy, like the scent of the two million candles that had been lit in the church over the years was clinging to the carpet and drapes. Quinn opened the door to the dressing room and practically shoved me inside, her bouquet crunching against my back.

“Ow.” I craned my neck trying to check down my back for scratch marks. “Do they have you doing weights at cheerleading practice now?”