Wedding Bells

Today is the day. Everything is perfect. I admire my wedding dress; it is a vibrant white in color and has a strapless sweetheart neckline with the perfect amount of lace to accent the flow of the train. My mother, who everyone calls Shay, and I spent endless weeks looking for the perfect dress. We visited thousands of boutiques, but none of them held the one. I couldn't even find an inspiration! Then my best friend and maid of honor, Arianna, called with news that she had found the perfect dress (She knows me ever so well) and sent me a picture. Lo and behold, I fell in love. Mom and I dropped everything and drove three hours to this mystery boutique that held the dress of my dreams. I smile thinking back to that day; it was the day it finally clicked, I was getting married. Me! Little Miss Allison Gibson, soon to be Allison Brooks, is getting married!

My fiancé, Channing, isn't allowed to see me today (Yes, we are sappy lovers who want to follow sappy traditions). Therefore, we decided to leave each other a letter to read on the wedding day. His brother, Roy, is supposed to bring me the letter at the church. I suggested that he should trust him with it. Roy and Channing haven't been on the best of terms most of their lives. Roy is mentally unstable and hard to deal with. For most of his life, Channing has kept his distance from him, but I have managed to slightly mend that conflict. He now realizes that his brother needs help, love, and compassion.

I hear a knock on my door; it is most likely my mother. "Happy wedding day my dearest daughter!" she pronounces bursting through the door and embraces me in a hug. "Look at you though..." She examines my messy hair that I piled on top of my head in a so-called bun, my thin body that is still clothed by pajamas, and my naked face. "You have an extensive day ahead of you, at least get dressed! Arianna will be here any minute." My best friend, Arianna, is a beautician, and I have decided to let her do my hair and makeup for the wedding.

"Allison!" Arianna appears through the still ajar door. I squeal in delight. She looks as striking and stylish, as always. She is wearing a bright yellow dress with her perfectly tamed curls, and makeup that accents her dark skin. We have not gotten to see each other much since high school, only limited and entirely random visits whenever we can find the time to travel three hours to each other's new towns. We had gotten accepted to different colleges, forcing us to grow distant.
"It's so good to see you!" I say. We hug, and she briefly describes her crazy trip here that involves lots of traffic and downright insane people. She doesn't spend much time talking; she is the kind of girl that gets straight to business.

"Trust me alright? You are going to be stunning," she declares sitting me in a spinning chair in front of the mirror in the living room. She turns the chair around so I cannot see my reflection. She plugs in a straightening iron and a curling iron and then digs through her luggage for makeup. My stock of beauty products consists of the same styling irons (cheaper brands), light toned foundation, mascara, a small makeup palette, and a tube of lip gloss. If you compared my collection to hers, well, hers would make mine appear as an ant to an elephant ratio.

"I never doubted your talents." I say.

Two hours later, she spins me around to look in the mirror. I am blown away by the girl I see in the mirror. Is that really me? My strawberry blonde hair is piled on my head in a much more elegant way rather than my messy bun I last saw in my reflection. My brown eyes are fascinatingly enlarged by swoops of natural brown eye shadow, bold black eyeliner, and mascara. My cheeks are dusted with a light shade of pink.

"What do you think?" She asks.

"I think you are ah-mazing! Thank you so much, I barely even recognize myself." I say flattered.
"Hopefully Channing won't faint by the mere sight of you before you all get the chance to say I do!" She spies tears welling up in my eyes and says, "Don't you dare wash off my masterpiece! Smile. Laugh. NO CRYING." This makes me laugh; Arianna always knows exactly what to say. Satisfied, she yells for my mother. "Shay! Get in here and look at your beautiful daughter!"