Ambivalence

Something New and Old

Camila

Bridesmaids' dresses were supposed to be ugly.

Yet the dress I wore—and had spent almost a thousand dollars on—was probably better than any of the dresses I owned. The elegant one-shoulder red dress made me feel classy. Ariana had even picked out jewelry and shoes she suggested to go along with it. Yes, it was expensive—well, to me it was—but I had taken what Lauren had said to heart and decided to splurge this time around. My longtime friend was getting married, she wanted her day, and if she wanted her girls to look as close to human perfection as possible, then fine. I would get my hair, makeup, and nails professionally done, and I couldn't even lie about it not being fun. I felt a like a Barbie, but in a good way.

I walked into the waiting room looking for the rest of her bridesmaids, and when the four of them looked at me, their mouths—well, all except for Josephine—turned up in the widest grins, so I took it as a good sign.

"WOW Camila, You are looking so beautiful . I might've to ask for your hand !" One of the bridesmaid smirked, coming up to me. " From now on, just walk around in red. You are going to conquer all of the ladies ." 

"Thank you. I will do my best Hailee." I winked at her.

"Hailee." Josephine stepped up. "Ariana will be coming out any second. Let's remember it's her day."

 "Damn Josey calm down, What you lack is Vitamin Me" Hailee laughed.

"Stop being joker Hailee for once, and Ladies please don't pay attention to useless things " Josephine yelled at everyone

Their smiles dropped, and they took a step away.

I wanted to ask Josephine what I had done to make her so angry with me, but then again, I remembered that after that day I was never going to see her again, so I really didn't care.

"Ladies." Ari's mother came out of the dressing room, holding the doors closed behind her with a smile so wide it could crack her face. "May I present to you, the future Mrs. Van Allan!" She pushed open the doors.

Ariana turned to us, and in my head it was like she did it in slow motion with romantic music and lighting, that's how beautiful she looked. Her hair was pinned up in a loose bun with a red rose in it, and she wore the best princess wedding gown I had ever seen, with little lace and sparkle accents.

"Mila?" she called out to me.

I realized I was the only one who hadn't moved close. "I'm sorry, I'm just in awe right now. You look so beautiful, Ari." I finally walked up to her. "So beautiful I'm going to cry."

"Don't cry! If you cry, I'll cry." She laughed, hugging me.

"Oh, and we can't have that." Ari's mom came up, giving me a small hug as well. "We are already running late. Hurry girls."

Lauren

Why am I here?

No, honestly. Why?

Ever since I had entered the hotel, I kept wondering, why?

Chris grinned beside me like he knew something I didn't, and my mother was proud because I wasn't afraid of a wedding...which, as a grown woman, should not have been that surprising, but whatever. For some reason, that afternoon I had put on the best suit I owned, polished my shoes, and combed my hair...like I was going to prom. Nevertheless, I was there, at Nathaniel and Ariana's wedding, sitting on his side as everyone chatted about how wonderful the wedding hall was. In my mind, not only was the place annoying because the air smelled like one too many damn roses, but it also looked pretty modest in comparison to a lot of the things Keana had done for ours.