Bride to Be

01: Kindly Join Us

CHAPTER ONE: KINDLY JOIN US

May 20th, 2020

All was well in the life of Gemma Perry, that is - until she got a letter in the mail which she didn't know at the time, would change her life. She was sitting at her cedar wood desk in her small, two bedroom New York apartment before hearing a familiar voice from down the hall. 

"Mail," her best friend and roommate, Marcie, yelled upon walking into Gemma's bedroom. 

"If it's just another bank statement," Gemma rolled her eyes, not even bothering to look at the mail in her roommates' hands, "then throw it away."

Marcie eyed the white envelope covered in tiny pink bows suspiciously, knowing that Gemma would surely be interested when she placed the envelope in front of her. Aside from packages from Amazon and bank statements, Gemma hardly ever received any mail. She opted for everything to be paperless, and sent to her email. Only extremely important mail, would make it into her mailbox. 

"Kindly join us for the wedding of - " Marcie began reading the beautifully wrapped invitation, which she probably shouldn't have opened without Gemma's permission. She didn't care though -- because the second she saw mail with Gemma's name on it that wasn't an Amazon package or a bank statement, she was intrigued. Marcie knew it wasn't right to go through her friends' mail, but she couldn't help but wonder what was inside of the thick, white envelope. 

Gemma turned around in her chair abruptly. She yanked her earbuds out, pausing the episode of American Horror Story that played on her laptop screen. 

"Did you open my mail?" she asked, her eyebrows perking up as she tried to see what Marcie was looking at. Gemma's roommate covered the envelope with her free hand, a devilish grin shadowing her face.

"Only because you didn't seem interested," she responded, uncovering the envelope once more so Gemma could take a better look. Marcie sat on the end of Gemma's bed, and with no hesitation, Gems scooted her computer chair closer to Marcie.

"Who the hell is getting married?" she laughed, grabbing the half open envelope from Marcie. "My brother has only been with his girlfriend for a year - "

Her jaw dropped as she eyed the name written on the perfectly printed invite. Not only had she not talked to this person in years; she also thought this person completely hated her.

"Who is it?" Marcie asked, curiously, noticing Gemma's sudden change in demeanor.

"Avery," her tone was breathy, as the initial shock of the name printed in cursive hit her like a ton of bricks. 

"Avery?" Marcie questioned. It had been a long time since she heard the name, Avery.

"My best friend, from - " Gemma stopped herself. "My old best friend, from Michigan." 

"You had a best friend before me?" Marcie joked, immediately earning a glare from Gems. "Sorry," she rose her hands in defense, knowing the topic of Avery was frustrating for Gemma.

Avery was Gemma's only friend throughout childhood - up until their senior year of high school. Gemma was antisocial throughout her teen years, hence why Avery and her siblings, Olivia and Jax, were the only people she ever hung out with. Although this may bother most people, Gemma didn't care. She was fully content with her group, despite two of those people being her siblings whom she lived within ten feet of. 

While Gemma took regular high school classes during her last year of high school, Avery was granted permission to take college classes at the University of Michigan. Little did Gemma know, this would change the course of their friendship forever. After meeting a group of sorority girls during her first semester of taking college classes -- Avery basically left Gemma to rot. She was fully content with her new, older friends. Despite Gemma's efforts to find her best friend in the new person she'd become, there was no use. As soon as Avery entered that college, as a mere senior in high school, she was gone -- and the new version of Aves emerged.