Just Convenience

Chapter 3

Emma's POV: 

I brushed my hands down my dress, trying to dry off the nervous sweat that had formed as I walked up to the restaurant. I hadn't seen my friends in probably over a year, and now I was getting thrown back into it. I had been content to slip into the back of everyone's minds, but now I had to make an appearance. 

We were meeting at a restaurant Katie had picked out for the get-together, an Irish Pub that we used to hang out at late at night in high school. I chose to wear a floral knee-length dress and hoped that I wasn't too overdressed or too underdressed; it could go either way with these girls. 

Walking into the restaurant, I looked around nervously. Not a lot had changed, which wasn't much of a surprise, and I wondered if anyone here would know me, "Welcome in; how many?" the hostess asked, breaking me from my thoughts, and I paused my search for the group. 

"Oh, I'm here for a get-together," I told her, continuing to look around after a moment. "A bridal party?" I added, not knowing what Katie would have used to make the reservation. 

It seemed to be enough information as the hostess said, "Katie, party of 8?" I nodded, and the hostess smiled, "You are the second to arrive; I'll lead you there." I followed her to a back room where Katie was sitting by herself; my heart skipped a beat. 

"Thank you," I told the hostess softly, and she left without another word. I walked into the room slowly, and Katie looked up from her phone for a second before going back to whatever she was doing. "Hi..." I greeted her, picking the spot not right across from her but two chairs to the side. Once again, Katie looked up but didn't say anything. My heart sunk in my chest; of course, this is how she would treat me. I didn't know why I expected anything different. I felt like leaving, but I wasn't here to see Katie; I was here for Lorine. I could be a good friend and stay. 

A few minutes passed, and two more girls that I didn't know entered the room; they must be Lorine's college friends. Katie and I introduced ourselves, and they sat to my right. We chatted for a bit before the last of our party showed up. I was also glad to see that I wasn't overdressed or underdressed; the rest of the girls wore similar dresses, including Lorine. All in all, everyone seemed really nice, and I was glad I stayed, even though large groups of people I didn't know or was uncomfortable with stressed me out.  

The waitress came into the room, introduced herself, and then took our drink orders. I was thankful I was near the end, so it gave me a chance to pick something not too out of left field but still fun. I ordered a Tito's Lemonade and was happy when one of Lorine's college friends sitting to my left said that sounded good and ordered the same thing. 

Once the waitress was gone, the conversations started in full, girls talking over girls, laughing, and overall pretty fun. I stayed mostly silent, not knowing which conversation to jump into. I also had a tendency to be talked over and didn't want to have to repeat myself numerous times in order to be heard and then just ignored. It always seemed to happen that way, so I just stayed silent. Maybe it was a good thing Lorine chose Katie as her Maid of Honor, as I was not the most capable of directing a room full of loud girls. 

Lorine stood up after a few minutes of talking and clinked her water glass to get our attention. "Okay," she started, smiling down at all of us, "I just wanted to tell each of you how thankful I am that you all are in my life," she looked like she was about to cry, and I wanted to roll my eyes, she always did this when giving any speech that involved her friends or family. Once she was done with the whole 'You girls mean the absolute most to me, and bla bla bla,' she said, "I would also like all of you girls to stand up and introduce yourselves, just so you all know each other better!" The girls murmured that it was a good idea, and I sunk back in my chair, already trying to plan what to say.