All's Fair in Love and Las Vegas

Chapter Twenty-Three

        Dress shopping was scheduled for the crack of seven in the morning. Kylie and Nina were bubbly little fountains of excitement. I, of course, was too exhausted to be excited thanks to my emotional night. My friends obviously had their own speculations about the matter.

        "So...why are you so tired? You went to bed pretty early, Jackie," Kylie said in her falsely innocent tone.

        I scowled into the cup of pitch-black coffee I'd gotten to wake me up. "I told you, it's not like that."

        "Well I wish it was," she pouted.

        Shaking my head, I dropped my forehead against the backseat window, then immediately removed it because I shouldn't glom up the windows of someone else's car. Nina was driving, since I hadn't wanted to drive and Grayson had nominated her as the responsible driver. I think he just didn't want Kylie driving, which was fair. The girl has totalled three cars and she's only twenty-one. 

        "Kylie, you're supposed to be navigating," Nina complained.

        "Sorry, but this is more interesting!" the girl with the map of Vancouver complained.

        I grunted. I was ignored. 

        "Take a left," Kylie instructed.

        Nina's eyes practically popped out of her skull. "Left? I have to cross three lanes!"

        "Not my problem."

        "Yes, your problem, you have to let me know when the turn is far away which way I'm going!" Nina barked, sailing past the aforementioned left turn location.

        "You guys are loud," I mumbled groggily.

        "Look, it's clearly fate that I not tell you about the left turn, there's a coffee shop," Kylie said too optimistically. 

        Nina looked murderous. "It's Vancouver. There's a coffee shop on every block."

        "Even better, because Jackie needs some before she passes out back there."

        "I'm not going to pass out!" I protested, reminding myself of a sleepy toddler in need of her afternoon nap. 

        This declaration was enough to convince Nina to stop for coffee. It took a while, almost the whole ride to the dress boutique, but finally the caffeine kicked in. I was back to my old happy, sparkly self as Kylie pushed open the door to the boutique.

        "Oh, I hope I get married someday," she bemoaned sadly. "To be able to wear one of these..."

        "You could technically just buy one and wear it," Nina pointed out.

        "That's no fun. You have to earn the dress. As Jackie has so ethically done," Kylie said, smirking at me.

        I rolled my eyes. "You guys haven't been around his mother enough to understand. I'm actually surprised she didn't insist on coming today."

        The door opened again and Rylie came inside. Considering she was a wedding expert, I figured she might have some insight about choosing a dress. She greeted us and also introduced all of us to the boutique owner, a woman named Mandy. Suddenly I got shy and nervous; this was probably the biggest lie I'd pulled off so far. I had to buy a wedding dress for thousands of dollars and have people gush over it, tell me it looked amazing, and make it feel very real. This wedding was really happening.

        "So what are you looking for, Jackie?" Mandy asked, having all of us sit down on a set of pink sofas.

        Spoiler alert: I didn't have a dream wedding dress. And I would frequently change my mind on what I would find beautiful in one. I felt put on the spot, although I guess I'd had weeks to think about this.