Red-Heads On The Battle Front

32. Wedding Greens and Browns

"You look beautiful, Gwen"
"I look like a monkey in a monkey suit"
"You do not!" Mum gasped indignantly. I scowled at my reflection. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Being one of Gabby's bridesmaids meant that I had to get all decked up. Gloss and everything. It wasn't that I was against makeup, it was just that I was against it on me. It was too tedious, too time-consuming, and I looked nothing like what I normally did. I look I thought with a jolt, which I couldn't understand if pleasant or not, like a younger version of Gabby.

And it was true. My hair, which was usually such a mess, was softly curling around my face. It pissed me off on many the occasion when it got caught in my lip gloss. But without my glasses, a hint of the stupid sticky stuff on my lips and actual hair instead of the tumbleweed of red that usually sat on top of my head, I did look remarkably like Gabby. It wasn't altogether an unpleasant thought.

But none of this compared to the unease that I felt when I saw my dress.

"I'm supposed to walk in that?!" I was appalled. Yes, it was beautiful, but it that was the exact problem.
"I'll spill something on it! Or worse, rip it!" I was panicking majorly. "Can I back out?" Celia tutted. I glared at her.
"Of course you can't! Don't be silly" she said airily, twirling prettily in her pale lilac dress, strands of straight brown hair whipping around her beaming face "Celia! Don't ruin your hair!" Mum cried, catching her by the shoulders. She stumbled and giggled. I rolled my eyes. The wedding fever had finally caught up to her.
"And you!" she glared at me. What? What did I do? I thought hastily "Dress. On. Now." I sighed and slipped into the restroom to change.

When I came out, Celia squealed and hugged me, delicately as to not crush the pale silk flowers embroidered on the chest of my parchment-colored dress. "You look...wow" she said as my mother nodded appreciatively. I smiled nervously and stepped in front of the mirror.

Okay. Not so bad.

I grinned a little uncertainly. I didn't look as terrible as I'd expected myself to look - the dress fit better than I'd expected it to, and as for being a bridesmaid...I finally looked like I fit the part. I could handle this. Phew, okay. Barely had the thought finished forming in my mind did my mother bring out the shoes. I groaned. No. No way. She glared at the look on my face.

"You are not arguing. You have to wear these shoes, like it or not" she said, the heel on the silk shoes threatening to impale my glass-less eyes. Ah crap.
"Mum, I will trip, and I will ruin Gabby's wedding!"
"You'll trip on the hem with flats on" she said, with a note of finality in her voice. I (unwisely) decided to argue.
"Mum-" My protest was silenced with a look from her motherly person. Hey, at least they aren't three inch heels, right? I slipped them on, a mutinous look on my face.
"Give me a twirl" Celia ordered. I opened my mouth to tell her to shut up, but all that came out was a squeak. Oh for the love of God! I gave up attempting to talk and stumbled around in a sloppy kind of twirl.
"She's adorable in a baby-deer kind of way" Celia noted to my mother.
"I am not Bambi!" I squeaked. They just laughed at me and swept out of the room, me stomping along in their wake.

The dress swished around my ankles, and I smiled to myself. I can do this.

ᴥ ᴥ ᴥ

"Oh. My. God" My mouth dropped open as I looked at Gabby. Celia was in a similar state next to me.

It wasn't just the magnificently poufy, princess-like wedding gown that she wore that made her look stunning. It was her true beauty that shined through a layer of makeup on her face. Her cheeks were flushed and rosy from pre-wedding joy, her viredescent eyes shining with hope. Even her hair looked brighter - auburn, fox-red and gold. She looked like the bride she was.