When Lightning Strikes

When Lightning Strikes: Chapter 15

My head pounded. My eyes felt swollen and I knew they were rimmed with red. My body ached. I didn’t want to get out of bed and face the world.

I haven’t seen Aubrey. When she had come home last night from house hunting, I had bolted upstairs and kept myself locked in my room. I was too cowardly to talk to her, or even look into her face. I’d break all over again. What if I couldn’t hold my guilt in and ended up telling her?

Jason hadn’t mentioned anything. I knew this because if he had, Aubrey would have confronted me already. The problem was that I had to see her today. A few days ago, she had pleaded with me to accompany her and the wedding party to go shopping. Aubrey had already gone over millions of designs for wedding gowns with her designer and today was the day to see the results. Her designer had called her last week to tell her that the dresses were ready – the bridal gown, the accessories, the bridesmaid dresses and the flower girl’s dress.

I couldn’t not go.

It took me a while to convince myself to finally open the door. There was paranoia that once I did, Aubrey would accuse me of stealing her soon-to-be husband from her. The text by the unknown number yesterday also made my heart beat faster. What if the mysterious person had tipped off Aubrey?

Or worse … what if it had been from my sister herself?!

I crept out into the hallway, tip-toeing. No sound.

“Cee, I know you like exercising and all, but I don’t get why you’re trying to be a ninja.”

I swivelled around to see my dad watching me, amused.

“Sorry dad.” I flushed. I must have looked like an idiot. “I was just seeing if everyone was awake.”

He snorted. “Well of course everyone’s awake! Everyone in this house here is an early bird except me!”

I watched as he stalked off into the bathroom, muttering something about how we underestimated the preciousness of sleep-in time. After he shut the door, I made my way downstairs, wanting to prepare myself to see Aubrey. Once I edged into the lounge room and poked my head through the archway, I saw her.

She was flicking through one of the bridal magazines she subscribed to and occasionally with her other hand, she’d pick up her mug of steaming coffee. Her dark curls were piled over to one side of her shoulder to reveal her glittering earrings, and she wore a sleeveless cream blouse tucked into an emerald green pencil skirt. She looked so lovely that I wanted to cry.

“Gracie, what on earth are you doing just standing there?” Mom asked, watching me curiously from the kitchen island.

I jumped. What was with everyone catching me off guard this morning?

Aubrey turned around and smiled dazzlingly at me. I couldn’t return it, knowing the crime I had committed just yesterday. The butterflies in my stomach were too much for me to handle – I felt like both my stomach and heart would burst any second now. I was waiting for the moment when she would throttle me with her bare hands and accuse me of being a backstabber.

“Gracie, you’ve finally woken up! Aren’t you excited?”

I cautiously sat across from her and nodded. What a lie. I wasn’t looking forward to today at all. I would have to see Jason, who regretted kissing me. I couldn’t help but think of the way he held and kissed me. His actions certainly contradicted his words. Or had he just been too caught up in the moment? Why was I sad knowing that he didn’t want to kiss me anyway?

It must be my hormones.

“I can’t wait to see my dress. It’s going to be gorgeous!”

I nodded once again quietly started to pour myself cereal.