Unofficial First Girlfriend

CHAPTER 1

"Where are my earrings?"

"I'm not really confident about this wedding," Clark mumbled as he handed me my pair of white tortoiseshell earrings after I strapped on my rock-studded heels.

"Not this. The white pearl one," I snapped. "And don't worry, alright? We've talked about this last night and the night before that. Sab is with me. What could go wrong, right?"

"If you say so. But you know, you should've prepared your stuff earlier," he responded and walked back to our bedroom.

"Mama, milk," Naiah demanded as she tugged my bridesmaid dress.

"Dada will give you a bottle in while, okay?"

I walked across the living room, careful not to trip on the sea of toys scattered all over the floor.

"I can't find it in here!" Clark yelled from inside our bedroom.

I spotted one of my pearl earrings on the console table.

"Naiah, where's my other earring?"

"I don't know. Where's my milk?"

"Clark, she's asking for milk."

I glanced at the wall clock. It was almost a quarter after two, and Sabrina would be here at any minute.

"I'm looking for your earrings."

"It's missing. I think Naiah played with it earlier."

"Milk!" Naiah screeched.

I frantically searched for my missing earring among Naiah's toys when we heard a honking car outside.

"Sabrina's here," Clark stated the obvious.

"Just give me whatever earring you found." I grabbed the earrings from his palms, my clutch from the couch, and my phone from Naiah's hands. I gave her a kiss on top of her head and reminded her to be a good girl.

"I'll be home before midnight," I promised Clark.

"Have fun." He gave me a quick peck on the lips. "But please don't drink too much, okay?"

"I won't," I reassured him.

Sabrina gave another honk as I made my way down the stairs. I walked through the diner and gave the crew some last-minute reminders as I put on my earrings.

Sabrina honked again, and I glared at her as I opened the passenger's door of her red Beetle.

"You look like you've gone to war."

"Well, I could've gone to war. You should try dressing up and putting your make-up on with a toddler in your room and looking for an earring in a sea of mess."

Sabrina began driving. "Is that why your earrings don't match?"

"What?"

I pulled my compact mirror from my clutch and found out that my earrings indeed didn't match. One was a white rose stud, and the other one was a white flower crystal. I groaned in frustration as I removed my mismatched earrings.

"There's a box on the backseat. I brought a couple of pairs for an emergency."

I reached for the box, and sure enough, there were a variety of earrings. I chose the classic hoop earrings and kept my mismatched ones in my clutch bag.

"You're a lifesaver," I complimented her, and she smiled at me in response.

"Can you believe it? We're attending the first wedding of our friends."

"Yes, and it's Lucio's, no less."

Sabrina chuckled. "He used to be rejected most of the time back in high school. But look at him—he's the first one to tie the knot."

"Lucky him."

"And how come we're almost in our mid-20s already?"

I smiled. "I know. It feels like we were playing on the school grounds yesterday, and now we're celebrating a wedding."

Sabrina turned down the radio's volume.

"Remember when you said you wanted to get married on a cliff at sunset?"

"Uh-huh," I replied, the memory was still vivid in my mind. "Then Bryce said it was stupid."

Sabrina slowed down as we approached the tail-end of traffic.

"But Nick defended you and said he thinks it's unique."

I nodded. "Well, it is unique."

"Do you still want that wedding on a cliff?" she asked, a bit hesitantly.

She knew how much I wanted to get married on a cliff. It was the dream. It was one of the things I had wanted the most when I grew up, along with becoming a film director. But growing up wasn't as easy as I thought it would.

I had learned that when you're an adult, you make decisions you can't undo. Sometimes, you even make decisions you don't want to do. And sometimes, life just sucks.

"Yes," I admitted.

I still want my dream wedding. When my parents had learned that I was pregnant, they wanted Clark and me to get married. But before breaking the news to them, Clark and I had decided to put off the wedding. We wanted to focus on the baby, so no wedding happened.

Also, I was scared.

Knowing I would be a mother terrified me. But the thought of being married somehow terrified me even more. Although I love Clark, I knew I wasn't ready to tie the knot.

When you're 19 and pregnant, a wedding feels more terrifying than exciting.

"Clark and I haven't talked about it yet. I think the last time we talked about getting married was before Naiah's first birthday," I added.

"What? That's like, what, almost four years ago?"

"Yeah. But it's alright. I'm not in a rush. I mean, Clark and I live with Naiah, so it feels like we're married. The only thing missing is a marriage certificate. It's not that bad."

Sabrina nodded. "I guess you're right. At least, you got yourself a partner. When you're almost twenty-four, and you only meet uninteresting guys, you lose hope that you'll ever get married someday."

I chuckled. "Come on, the last one wasn't so bad."

Sabrina groaned—an obvious indication that she still regrets dating the last guy. "How long has Nick been home?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

"I don't know. Haven't talked to him yet."

"Typical," she laughed. "I mean, among all the guys I know, he's the best in ghosting."

"I know!"

"And we didn't even date him."

I nodded and smiled. "Right."

I didn't even date him.

My phone beeped, and I pulled it out of my clutch bag. Nick's profile photo was on the top right side of my home screen. I tapped it and showed the photo of him and Bryce.

"Speak of the devil," I chuckled. "He's already in the venue."

"Wow. I'm surprised he's not late."

"Look who he's with." I raised my phone and showed her the photo.

"Ah, Bryce is already there too. Tell them we'll be there in about ten minutes."

After ten minutes, Sabrina was backing in a parking spot as I swiped on another coating of lipstick. I stepped out of the car and watched her as she changed into her heels.

"You're on time."

I quickly spun on my heels at the sound of the voice.

"I'm surprised you arrived before we did," I responded.

"Nice to see you, Macey."

"Glad to have you back here, Nick."