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On Friday night, I went over to Angelica’s for the rehearsal dinner. The rest of the past week seemed to drag on longer than it normally did, probably because I was dreading the wedding.
I arrived early, but Angelica was waiting for me when I arrived. She flung the front door open and, surprisingly, looked excited to see me. “Come on,” she said, pulling me through the front door. “I have something to show you.”
We climbed up the stairs and went into a room diagonal from Scarlett’s bedroom. It was next to the room Angelica and Phorcys had been in the week before, which I assumed was Angelica’s bedroom.
When I raised my eyebrows at her, she told me, “I’m showing you your new room. Scarlett told me tiger lily orange was always your favorite color.” Angelica glanced over at me. “If you don’t like it, though, we can always change it to a different color before you move in with us.”
She opened the door to reveal the room, which had been painted tiger lily orange. The comforter on the bed was a bright shade of yellow with orange and pink flowers. The curtains matched. There was a white desk similar to the one in Scarlett’s room, which had a brand new orange laptop resting on it. “That is all mine?” I asked, gasping.
Angelica nodded. “Do you like it?”
“It’s perfect,” I murmured, glancing over at her and smiling. “No one’s ever done something like this for me before.”
Angelica raised her eyebrow and pursed her lips. “Your grandmother never gave you your own bedroom?”
“She did, but I painted and decorated it myself, so it’s kind of amateur,” I explained. “This looks like it was done by an interior decorator or something.” I was still in disbelief at all of the details that had gone into making my new bedroom perfect. I couldn’t believe that any of them had been working on this and keeping it a secret from me this whole time.
“Well, the good news is, you have somewhere of your own to get dressed now. So, go get dressed,” Angelica instructed.
“What am I changing into?” I asked. I hadn’t known that I was supposed to change into something nicer once I got here; I’d assumed it was going to be a really casual rehearsal dinner.
“Go check your personal bathroom,” Angelica told me with a wink before leaving my room, closing the door behind her.
In the bathroom, I found a black cocktail dress hanging from the doorknob. I quickly stripped off my clothes and slipped into it. Once it was on, I decided that Angelica had good taste. The dress was very flattering. I was beginning to feel excited about what the bridesmaid dress was going to look like.
Once I went downstairs, I found that Scarlett and Gabby were both sporting the same black dress that I had on, but Jasmine’s was a shade of sultry red, which even I had to admit looked awesome against her skin tone.
“Why is your dress different?” I asked, mostly because I was jealous that she had gotten the prettier color.
Jasmine rolled her eyes at me. “I’m the maid of honor, obviously,” she scoffed, tossing the new extensions that she was wearing over her shoulder and strutting out of the room.
“Hi, Felicia,” a male voice said from behind me, and I turned to find George standing next to me. “It’s nice to see you again.”
“It’s nice to see you, too,” I replied politely, and I could have sworn that I spotted that same lustful look in his eyes; it passed quickly—just in time for both of us to see Angelica strut into the room, wearing a floor-length, low-cut gown with a slit on one side that revealed her long, silky-smooth leg.
“There you are, lover,” she cooed at George. “Are you excited to show me off to your friends?”
“Of course I am,” George replied, his eyes locked on hers and a smile glued to his face. “Let’s get you acquainted. They’re by the pool.” As she took his arm, which he held out for her, she glanced over her shoulder at me, a look of hatred flashing through her eyes.
*
The next morning, I woke up bright and early for the wedding. Angelica had avoided me for the rest of the night at the engagement party, so I’d ended up going home early and going to bed.
“You’re up early. Are you working today?” Gram asked when I strolled into the kitchen to grab a glass of water. I turned my back so that she wouldn’t see me empty the packet of salt into my glass.
“No,” I replied. “My friend Gabrielle’s mom is getting married today.” Technically, I wasn’t lying to her for once.
“Well, that’s nice. Are you bringing a date?” Gram asked.
“Actually, I am.” I grinned. “It’s Jackson—the boy who almost got fired at the same time as me.”
Gram raised her eyebrows at me. “That’s an interesting story if I’ve ever heard one.”
I laughed. If only she knew the rest of the story.
Gulping down the rest of my water, I told my grandmother, “I need to leave now. I have to help out with the wedding. I’ll see you later.” I kissed my grandmother on the forehead before heading out the front door.
Angelica’s driveway was already packed with cars when I arrived. Once I was inside, I found that everyone from wedding planners to florists to photographers were there. For such a rushed event, Angelica and George had certainly been pretty extravagant for their ceremony.
I checked out the backyard, which was complete with a brand new gazebo that sat at the end of the aisle the bridal party would be walking up. Behind it, in the distance, was a beautiful view of the ocean.
“Isn’t it the perfect day for a wedding?” George’s familiar voice asked from behind me.
I turned around and smiled at him. “Yes, it is. You must be very excited.”
“I am,” George replied. “But I’m not sure that I’m excited for what you think I’m excited about.”
“Excuse me?” I asked, confused.
George smiled at me. “Felicia Parks, don’t act like you’re confused. I know you want this just as much as I do.”
“Want what?” I hoped that George wasn’t going where I thought he was going with this; he was old! But, judging by the way he kept looking at me, he probably was going where I didn’t want him to go with it.
“We’re going to be cousin-in-laws, not cousins. So, nothing can stop us from being kissing cousin-in-laws. It’s perfectly okay.” George winked at me.
I wrinkled my nose at his offer and backed away from him, quickly running into the house. I couldn’t believe that twice I had felt sorry for the man - once when Angelica had told me that she was marrying him for his money and again when she had cheated on him. And here he was, standing out there in a tuxedo, hitting on his supposed cousin-in-law-to-be on the day he was supposed to be getting married. I didn’t feel sorry for him anymore, though. He and his wife-to-be were a match made in heaven.
“Felicia, you need to change into your dress now so we can do pre-wedding photos,” Jasmine told me. I could tell that someone had forced her to come in here to fetch me because everyone else was busy.
“Look, Jasmine . . . I appreciate what you did the other day. You know, trying to brag me up to Phorcys and Ceto so they wouldn’t kill me,” I told her. “It means a lot to me. Thank you.”
A hint of a small smile flashed across Jasmine’s face. “You’re welcome. Honestly, I’ve just wanted you to start thanking me for stuff. I felt like I put all our lives in danger by saving you, and I didn’t think you appreciated it at all. Maybe we can try to make the best of this all and be friends.”
“I would like that.” I felt relieved that Jasmine and I were at least going to try to get along now, but I would find out soon that it would be the very least of the problems that lay ahead of me.
*
“You look beautiful,” Jackson said when he came over to me after the ceremony had ended. I was wearing the one-shoulder turquoise bridesmaid dress, which hit just below my knees. My hair was in a fancy updo with a white flower on one side.
“Thank you,” I replied, stepping up on my tiptoes to plant a small kiss on his lips. I could tell from the way that he rocked on his feet and flashed me a cocky grin afterwards that the kiss was pure ecstasy for him, too.
Angelica strolled over to us, flashing her new wedding band, which rested against the sparkly engagement ring. “What do you think of my rings?”
“They’re pretty,” I replied. I had never been to a wedding before, but I assumed that people typically didn’t just flaunt their engagement ring; I liked to think that most people weren’t that materialistic.
“And what do you think, Jackson?” Angelica asked, tilting her head at him. Her long, blonde hair was in tight ringlets that fell over her shoulders; some of the strands were pulled into a tiny braid with a flower that matched the bridesmaids’ dresses. I had to admit that she was prettier than most of the models in the bridal magazines were.
“It’s cool,” Jackson shrugged, glancing over at me. We both knew the question was an odd one to ask a guy—odd enough to make me question her motives.
“George is planning on taking me to Jamaica for our honeymoon. We leave tomorrow night,” Angelica trilled. “Isn’t that just so exciting? Have you ever been to Jamaica, Jackson?”
“Nope, I can’t say that I have,” Jackson replied.
Angelica made a pouty face. “That’s a shame. I bet you’d look like model material without a shirt in that hot Jamaica heat.” She winked at him, and I nearly vomited in my mouth. Was she trying to flirt with my date?
“Maybe we’ll have to go sometime,” Jackson said, turning to me. I knew that he was trying to remind her that he was my date; I wanted to remind Angelica that she had just gotten married.
But Angelica didn’t seem to take the hint so easily. She continued with her ridiculous flirting, right in front of my face. “Jackson, that tuxedo looks just stunning on you. Where did you get it?”
I rolled my eyes and pulled Jackson away from her. I would have left him there, but I knew that I couldn’t trust for him to be left alone with her; I trusted him, but not her.
“What’s up with her?” Jackson whispered. “She’s a newlywed.”
“Tell me about it,” I replied with a shrug. “I don’t think they really love each other.”
Glancing over my shoulder at George, who was staring at me, confirmed that they both had wandering eyes, even after getting married.
I couldn’t help but wonder why Angelica had insisted that I bring a date when George didn’t even have any family members who would find it suspicious if none of us had dates.
Turning to Angelica, who was glaring at me, I wondered if the whole reason she’d insisted I bring Jackson was so that she could flirt with him. As he wrapped his arms around my waist, I could still feel her eyes on us. It made me want to prove to her that she wasn’t going to win whatever sick game it was that she was playing; I leaned in close to Jackson and, titling my chin, gave him the most passionate kiss I could.
When I turned back to Angelica, I found that she still was staring, but this time, her expression had turned dark.