Protected

Photographer

Lucas was right, Josh got back around lunch time. I gave him my Ibuprofen, then he went back to sleep upstairs. Lucas and Zay went to the Treehouse to clean up, and they wouldn't let us help. Farkle was holed up in the library on the third floor working on a secret project.

Riley and I were holed up in the planning room, working on the wedding.

"Riles, did you say three thirty or five thirty?" I asked, scrolling down on my computer screen.

"Five thirty. We were going to do three-thirty but Farkle and I decided the timeline would work better for five thirty," she answered from her desk.

I was reading a spreadsheet when my eyes strayed to the corner of my screen, where one wedding ring shaped sticky note was sticking.

"Riley!" I said jumping up.

"What?" she asked excitedly. She was so easily excited.

"So, remember how you were looking at Yew Dell Gardens to have the wedding?" I asked.

Riley nodded.

"I had a great idea of where we could have the wedding! Lucas gave me the idea, actually," I said, "Why don't we have it at the Pack Garden?!" 

Riley shrieked in excitement and started furiously texting Farkle, her fingers moving ninety miles an hour. Seconds later, her phone dinged.

"Farkle loves the idea! I do, too! That's amazing, Maya!" she cried. I smiled as she ran out of the planning room. 

The Garden really would be the best place to have the wedding. It was big, close by, fenced in, and full of flowers! The Garden was like a living representation of their wedding theme.

After she left, I checked things off of my notepad: Officiant: Some random guy... I think his name was David; Entertainment: A playlist compiled specially by Riley and I; Transportation for guest: A chartered limo for Grand-pappy Joe, and first class seats for my parents, Riley's Mom, and Farkle's parents. I thought we were doing pretty well with this whole organization thing, if I do say so myself.

Josh walked in to the room, his face white, with bags under his eyes. 

"You got any more Ibuprofen?" he asked, his voice scratchy.

"Yeah," I said absentmindedly, tossing him the bottle, "Hey, you're trained on a camera, right?" 

"Yeah. I took classes in tenth grade and last year. Why?" he asked.

"Riley and Farkle still need a photographer. They said they would rather have you snapping all up in their faces then some random person," I replied, jotting down his name on the sticky note that said photographer.

"Yeah, I'd be glad to," he said. He swallowed the Ibuprofen and stumbled out of the room.

I sighed, laid down my pen, and left, closing the door behind me.

I could hear Riley down the hallway, talking to Farkle excitedly about the Garden. Just them=n, Lucas came up the stairs. 

"Hey," I said, wrapping my arms around him as he kissed the top of my head.

Riley's voice got louder as she got more excited about the Garden. We could hear her loud and clear.

"That'll be you soon," Lucas whispered.

"What?" I asked, looking up at him.

"That'll be you soon. Getting excited about our wedding," he said. 

And with that, he ducked into the gym. Leaving me, stunned and ecstatic, standing in the hallway.