Chapter 1
Ever been to The Wedding Of The Year? I have once. My cousin, Molly, had one two years ago. She had this whole Disney fantasy wedding, from a princess dress to Disney names on the different tables.
I was apparently a part of the bridesmaids but other than the dress, I’d say it’s debatable. Honestly the photos during preparation and the actual wedding I’m barely there. I wasn’t even invited to the afternoon tea bachelorette thing. There was no alcohol, so it was fine for a sixteen-year-old but nope.
Anyway, let’s get back to the present. I’m working at the smoothie shop with my other cousin's girlfriend.
She’s 24 and quite tall. She’s dark blonde and has light green eyes. She helps out everyone who needs it, always giving leftover food from the day to the homeless shelters. However, she loves pranks and is the Queen of Mischief. Which is perfect for my cousin, Mack, who's the king of Mischief.
“Are you coming to ours later?” She asks me as she eyes the guy ordering. She has that spark that she gets when she’s pranking someone.
“Is Molly going to be there?” I ask her back. She sighs but nods her head. “Only if you help me prank her.”
She finishes the smoothie and gives it to the guy. She turns back to me, “why do you want to prank her?”
“Payback,” I answer. It may be petty but every time I see her, she always finds a way to either push me aside or make me feel stupid.
Lola chuckles with a shake of her head. The guy comes back with anger in his eyes. I send Lola to the back room and get him.
“Hi sir, how may I help you?” I say with a small smile.
He shoots me a glare, “Where’s that other girl?”
I smile politely, “on break. So, what can I help you with.”
He tries to come back but I manage to stop him, “let me through. She put actual milk in this.”
“Are you allergic?” I ask raising an eyebrow.
“No, I asked for soy for my diet, but that girl put actual milk,” he huffs still trying to get through shoving me against the wall. Our boss and owner walk in and pull the guy away.
“Sir, please don’t attack my employees,” our boss says. He turns to me, “what made him so aggressive?”
“You know the policy that we don’t swap ingredients unless they have an allergy, this guy didn’t believe us and is now trying to attack Lola,” I explain. Boss nods before getting the shopping centre's security to escort him away. He tells me to take my break with an extra 5 minutes.
I head into the back room and Lola is waiting anxiously. I straighten my clothes, “Your lucky your boyfriend doesn’t visit. I just got manhandled for you.”
“Then you’d be the perfect bridesmaid,” she says with a laugh. I do a double-take.
“Your engaged!” I exclaim. She nods her head and I hugged her. “I’d love to be your bridesmaid.”
She hugs me back, “Molly said you wouldn’t.”
I laugh and release her, “of course, she said that. She wanted her bridesmaids to only be bridesmaids for her and each other. I didn’t sign a disclaimer and I technically only wore the outfit.”
Her face drops and turns confused, “what?”
“Ask Mack. They called bridesmaid for a photo, and I got turned away because I didn’t have a date,” I shrug, “hell just ask for photos of her wedding then play spot, Clara.”
Lola laughs. Then see’s my serious face and then stops. We grab our food and then sit down to eat.
“Then don’t tell her you’re a bridesmaid. Then at the wedding, you’ll shock her, actually don’t tell anyone but Mack. Oh, you’ve just inspired an idea,” Lola says with a massive smile. She pulls out her phone and texts somebody.
Oh god, what have I started? A few minutes later there’s a knock on the door and Mack enters. He looks between me and Lola then back at me. More specifically my wrists were where the guy shoved me up the wall.
“What happened to your wrists?” He asks slightly annoyed. He carefully inspects Lola and is slightly relieved that she’s ok.
I shake my head, “it doesn’t matter, it's dealt with. Anyway, what are you doing here?”
“Lola texted me to come,” he shrugs pulling up a chair and sitting down, “so what you been discussing.”
“First can you get me pictures of your sister's wedding? I want to check something. Second, I have an idea for ours,” she says with that spark in her eye that makes me worried.
Mack looks at her with the exact same spark and hands over the phone. He turns to me, “did she ask you?”
I nod, “yep, I accepted. However, that led to what happened at Molly’s. I didn’t even tell her about the tea party, and she’s gone all mischievous.”
Mack laughs but then stops as soon as it registers, “oh that’s why she wants the photos. She didn’t tell you that she didn’t want Molly as a bridesmaid.”
“No, she didn’t but I’m sort of glad. I mean, I love Molly but just because she’s the oldest out of us doesn’t mean she’s the best.”
Mack laughs, “trust me the fact you passed all exams that year annoyed her to no end, she was proud but annoyed she got beat.”
“Oh my god, your right,” Lola exclaims.
Lola hands Mack his phone back. And they share a look. The look that makes even me worried.
“Are we on the same page?” Mack asks. Lola nods. He turns to me, “you are not saying you're a bridesmaid to anyone but us two and the other bridesmaid.”
I stand up and nod, “I’m getting back to work.”
I head out to the front and see the boss talking to customers. I retie my apron around my waist then head to the counter.
The boss lets customers come and order. I get people shouting orders from every direction and to say I’m tempted to interrupt the happy couple would be an understatement. I manage to handle the rush of people and have no incidents. Lola and Mack finally emerge, and I send her a death glare. She whispers to Mack, and they start laughing.
Mack heads out and Lola comes over to me. I busy myself but keep an annoyed look on my face except when dealing with customers.
“I’m sorry Clara, we were just coming up with ideas. Tomorrow can you come to the house at 7 pm?” She speaks.
I sigh, “yeah sure. It may be about 7:15 as I’ve got work but it should be fine.”
She starts smiling. We continue our work till 5 o’clock and head to the locker room. We change out of our uniform and into regular clothes.
“See you tomorrow,” Lola says with a wave, “remember don’t tell anyone that you're a bridesmaid.” She winks at me and then walks out.
I shove on my cardigan and head out to my car. I head to the University housing building I’m in.
I park in my allocated spot and head up to my dorm room. There are six other people in this area but we don’t normally all hang out.
I head to the common room and get out the food to prepare some stir fry for dinner.
“Hey Clara,” a voice says making me drop my pan on the counter. They start laughing I turn and the bad boy on the floor Charles is there with his girlfriend by his side giggling.
Charles is your stereotypical bad boy even with the cliché good girl by his side. His black hair is always messy, and his Hazel eyes are always mischievous. I shoot them a glare.
“Sorry for scaring you,” Harmony says, she is nudging her boyfriend to stop laughing. She’s quite pretty with blonde hair, light blue eyes and a good figure. She is very sincere and sweet. She also can keep Charles in check.
“It’s fine. So, what’s up?” I ask them.
“Could you do us some?” Harmony asks.
I laugh but nod. I only talk to them two as the others are a bit two-faced. I make the food and we sit down in the sitting area. One of the other girls walks in. She sees our food and raises her nose a little bit higher. She doesn’t know I noticed.
“Have you got any left?” She asks.
“Sorry, no,” I say quickly before the others answer. She shrugs and walks off.
I turn to meet two very confused faces, “why didn’t you tell her?” Harmony asks.
“She raised her head higher when she walked in. Plus, she acts too much of a snob to eat common food,” I tell them.
Charles laughs and Harmony just looks astonished. I know I should have allowed her to turn it down, but I don’t want it wasted. After we’ve finished the couple decides to wash up as I’ve cooked. I head to my room and go straight for a shower before heading to bed.
