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“What’s the Newlywed Game?” Lola asked, eyeing Valerie as she sat front-and-center in the living room with the rest of her crew around her. She kept her voice light and electric, despite her simmering fear that Valerie was about to burn the cabin down due to her inner demons.
Audrey shuffled toward her backpack and dragged her laptop out, propping it up on a shelf so that everyone could see it. “Amanda and I never thought in a million years that Tommy would agree to it. We approached him in April about the idea and he was all for it.” Audrey flashed her eyes back toward the Bachelorette Party as she brought up a video on the screen and pressed play.
In the video, Tommy sat outside the Sheridan House on the porch swing. He wore his freight windbreaker and had a thicker beard than normal, evidence that this had been taped about three weeks ago. Lola remembered laughing with Tommy every time he’d kissed her, as his beard had scratched her chin.
“Hi, Lola.” Tommy spoke nervously toward whoever filmed, his hands on his thighs. “Audrey and Amanda approached me with a radical idea they call ‘The Newlywed Game.’ Apparently, it’s a test to make sure we know each other well enough to marry. I told Audrey that we have the rest of our lives to play stupid games with each other, but she insisted this would make your bachelorette party more fun. So, I’m going along with it.”
Lola laughed joyously as he fell into his “actor persona.”
“Wow. He isn’t bad,” Charlotte quipped.
“The camera loves him,” Audrey said. “To be honest with you, I think he might have a thing for acting. When we were done with filming, he asked us several times if we’d gotten everything we’d needed.”
“He is cute...” Valerie murmured, sipping more champagne. “I’ll give you that.”
“Anyway. Lola Sheridan, my future bride, I’ve come up with a series of questions for you. For every question you answer correctly, the rest of your bachelorette crew must drink. For every question you answer incorrectly, you must take a drink yourself. Obviously, the point of your bachelorette weekend is to party yourself silly. I hope this game helps you on your journey,” Tommy continued onscreen.
“Really, really cute,” Valerie affirmed, nudging Jenny with her elbow.
“Let’s get started,” Tommy began. “Number one. Which Caribbean Island did I live on when I was twenty-two years old?”
Even before Audrey had a chance to pause the video, Lola snapped her fingers. “Barbados.”
“Uh oh. She sounds sure of herself,” Claire said with a laugh.
“The answer is Barbados!” Tommy cried.
The bachelorettes groaned, laughing wildly as they drank. Lola beamed at Audrey and whispered, “This is funny.”
“Okay. Next question,” Tommy began. “What was the first gift I ever gave you?”
“Oh. Easy one,” Lola muttered. “A necklace made of amber from the Baltic Sea.”
“The Baltic Sea?” Valerie demanded.
“Yeah. He’d gone sailing there and collected amber,” Lola explained. “He shined the amber himself and made a necklace out of it. I keep it on my nightstand because I’m so terrified of losing it.”
“The answer, my love, is the amber necklace,” Tommy boomed.
“Oh no. We’re screwed,” Christine offered as she sipped her drink.
“Don’t worry. He hits some harder ones later on,” Audrey said. “Childhood questions. Stuff like that.”
“Uh oh.” Lola wagged her eyebrows. “Lucky for me, I have a pretty dang good memory for stuff like that.”
“She really does,” Jenny interjected. “We would have been lost without your memory during our twenties.”
Lola’s heart lifted as she played through Tommy, Audrey, and Amanda’s game, which led her down the path of Tommy’s life. Ultimately, she missed only four questions, which made the rest of her bachelorette troupe groan and laugh at once.
After The Newlywed Game, Audrey announced a game of “How Well Do You Know The Bride?”
“Uh oh,” Christine said mischievously. “I have a hunch it’s about to get messy in here.”
“Based on what we just learned about your peanut butter and pickle fascination, I’m a bit worried about how I’ll do on this game,” Susan said with a laugh.
“You should be nervous,” Valerie touted, arching her brow.
Lola cast her a dark look. Why are you being so competitive? She wanted to scream.
“All right. Let’s do this,” Audrey began, reaching for a large cowboy hat which had been positioned upside down on an empty chair. She passed the cowboy hat to Christine, explaining, “Take a paper, read the question, and answer it as best as you can. If you can’t answer it, you drink. If you can, everyone else drinks.”
“Here we go,” Christine began nervously, unfolding a piece of paper. “What was Lola’s first boyfriend’s name?”
“Oh...” Susan snapped her hand over her mouth.
Valerie and Jenny exchanged glances knowingly. Lola remembered telling both of them about her past loves from middle school and high school and the fact that nothing had ever “stuck” for her.
“Gosh. That’s tricky. I spent most of your early dating years locked in my bedroom,” Christine said with a funny smile.
“We know it!” Valerie called out.
“Shh,” Jenny hissed.
“Gosh, I’m sorry, Lola. I don’t know,” Christine finally said with a sigh.
“It was Robbie!” Valerie cried, her eyes flashing toward Lola. “Right, Lola? Robbie? The guy you made out with outside the middle school during third period?”
“I got in so much trouble,” Lola affirmed. “But the teachers didn’t want to tell Dad what happened. Wes Sheridan wasn’t to be bothered during those years. It’s why I got away with a lot.”
Lola shrugged sheepishly and beckoned for Christine to drink. Christine laughed and passed the cowboy hat around. “I guess we’ll learn a whole lot about our Lola tonight.”
Charlotte took the hat next, drew a card, and read: “What is Lola’s favorite cocktail?” Charlotte puffed out her cheeks in thought before finally saying, “Aperol Spritz?”
“Easy one,” Valerie affirmed, sipping her glass. “She’s marrying an Italian, after all.”
“It’s true. I’m borderline obsessed,” Lola said, still on-edge about the strange glint in Valerie’s eyes.
The next questions hit on aspects of Lola’s journalism career, Audrey’s father, Lola’s hobbies, and Lola’s favorite movies and books. Lola was overwhelmed with the list of questions, along with the number of answers her friends and family actually came up with.
“You guys know me a whole lot better than I thought,” Lola joked.
A little while later, Susan grabbed a piece of paper from the cowboy hat and read out: “Where did Lola always say she dreamed of moving to one day?” All the color drained from her cheeks. “Gosh, I’m not sure I know that one. I hate that I don’t know it, Lola.”
Lola shook her head, smiling. “Don’t worry about it. Things have changed since I got to the Vineyard.”
“You’re telling me,” Valerie interjected.
Lola arched her brow toward Valerie. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Valerie gesticulated toward the cowboy hat. “I mean, Lola, come on. You never shut up about moving to California. It was always the next thing on your lips. You had that ‘move to California’ fund in your piggy bank. You sang that ‘California Girls’ song by Katy Perry like, nonstop.”
“Terrible song,” Lola tried to joke. “I’m sorry about that.”
“That’s not the point, Lola.” Valerie seethed, now, as though Lola not caring about California anymore was a personal affront to Valerie. “You gave up, Lola. You gave up on yourself and your dreams. You let yourself settle for this life on Martha’s Vineyard. And I hate to say it, but I can see how unhappy you are.”
Everyone was quiet after that. Only the speakers made noise, playing “I Want It That Way” by the Backstreet Boys, which didn’t exactly fit the newly sour mood.
“Valerie. Come on,” Lola interjected. “It’s just a stupid game.”
“No. I’ve had about enough of this,” Susan countered, using her “lawyer” voice. “Valerie, I’ve never met you before. I don’t know anything more about you than what you’ve revealed to me today. All I can say is this. You stormed into our party and acted like a brat the entire time. I don’t know why you’re so unhappy with your life that you have to ruin Lola’s bachelorette party, but I’m telling you now, you’d better quit it.”
Valerie’s lips parted with surprise. She looked like a young woman who’d just been grounded from going out. Lola dropped her eyes to the ground, her cheeks burning with shame.
For years, Valerie and Jenny were my only friends.
Now, it’s like they don’t fit into my life at all.
Is that my fault? Did I completely change?
Valerie stood up from the couch and stomped toward the kitchen, blaring out, “Jenny, I’m leaving.”
Jenny shifted timidly on the couch, clearly on edge about letting Valerie go alone. She locked eyes with Lola, who nodded and mouthed, “Maybe it’s for the best.”
“I’ll call an Uber,” Jenny finally sighed, jumping from the couch to gather her things. “Come on, Valerie.”
In the chaos that followed, Lola wrapped her arms around her knees and stared at the bricks of the fireplace. Backstreet Boys shifted to a song from the early 2000s that she, Valerie, and Jenny had played on repeat back in the old days— “I’m Real,” by J.Lo. Valerie locked eyes with Lola as she stomped toward the door. Within her eyes, Lola could feel the density of their time together, along with the anger Valerie now felt because Lola had moved on.
I can’t live that life anymore. I’m sorry. Lola wanted to tell her this but instead bit hard on her lower lip and nodded toward Jenny and Valerie as they left. Audrey walked over to the door and watched outside quietly before reporting that the Uber had arrived.
“Do you think they’ll be able to find a hotel at this time of night?” Susan asked, always the worried mother type.
“Let’s not worry about them anymore,” Christine tried, her eyes toward Lola. “Are you all right, Lola?”
Lola shrugged. “I’m so sorry about Valerie. I don’t think I knew she still felt so resentful toward me for leaving.”
“The woman is in her forties. It’s time for her to grow up,” Susan countered simply.
“I don’t think it’s that easy for everyone,” Lola offered. “We’re all on different timelines, and that’s totally okay. I just think she’s really unhappy and taking it out on whoever’s around. It’s a sad thing to see, especially because I really do love her so much. We’ve been through a lot.”
The Sheridan and Montgomery women stared down at the rug between the couches. Lola’s heart pounded. It felt as though her “sisters” from her previous life couldn’t allow her the happiness of her current one. It felt like she’d betrayed them.
“Let’s keep this party going, shall we?” Audrey said finally, smacking her hands together as she jumped up to grab another pre-made game. “If you ladies still have it in you, I have another idea.”
From under the table, Audrey procured a ridiculous sight: a cardboard cut-out of Tommy Gasbarro himself, very nearly the correct size and width. Lola howled with laughter, shoving Valerie’s darkness from her mind. Audrey positioned the cardboard cut-out against the wall and then passed out little feminine lip cut-outs to each of the bachelorettes.
“This is an old-fashioned game made new,” Audrey explained. “Pin the Kiss on the Groom.”
“Like Pin the Tail on the Donkey?” Charlotte asked with a laugh.
“Oh yeah. But unlike when we were kids, this time we’re all a little tipsier. It should be a good time,” Audrey said mischievously. “Plus, I have this blindfold here.” She reached into another bag to find a light pink sleep mask. “Who wants to go first? Amanda? Why do I think you’re perfect for this?”
Amanda laughed and waved both hands in front of her face. “No way! I’m so drunk already.”
“Come on, Amanda. Someone has to try it,” Audrey said, sliding the face mask over Amanda’s eyes.
Amanda groaned as Audrey positioned her in front of the cardboard cut out, where she twirled her in circles. As they watched, Christine slid onto the couch next to Lola and muttered, “Are you sure you’re okay? That was kind of brutal.”
Lola nodded, furrowing her brow. “I don’t want to let her ruin the rest of the weekend.”
Christine shrugged. “I just remember being like her, you know, before I met Zach. Before I had Mia. I was so resentful of the rest of the world for moving on. I thought partying into my forties meant that I was winning. I was so wrong.”
Lola nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat. “Thanks for saying that, Chris. Really. I guess it’s something Valerie has to figure out on her own.”
Before them, Amanda staggered forward with her fake lips extended, plastering them on Tommy’s forehead. When she removed the face mask, she cried out in alarm.
“I was so off!”
“Oh yeah. Absolutely terrible job,” Audrey said. “At least you managed to find his face. Who’s next?”
The night carried on until around one, when the Sheridan and Montgomery women collapsed in their upstairs bedrooms: Audrey with Lola, Amanda with Susan, Christine with Kelli, and Charlotte with Claire. One bed remained empty, a sight that made Lola terribly sad.
That time of my life is over. I’m welcoming this new era with open arms and wishing Valerie good luck in all she does. It’s all I can do.