Adolescent

4.

Why were they here?!

I made a barely perceptible noise and ran back to the singular bathroom, changed back into my dress and shoes, redid my small amount of makeup, tried to improve my hair and strolled out like I was trying to look good.

"Hello gorgeous!" Nat called when I came up to her. I growled a "shut up" to her. Then I got called to the stage by Sam to help set up and ran over, trying not to trip over my shoes and dress.

"How in the hell are we supposed to get the piano up on the stage?" Sam asked, holding his bass, nodding to a struggling Cade and Hayden, our guitar and drum players. They trying to pick up the piano that had come from Jess's house to get it on the stage.

"Boys!" I said into the microphone, stopping them. I pointed over to the other side of the stage. "There's a ramp over there. Try that."

I heard Hayden mutter, "Are you fucking kidding me?" as he and Cade started pushing the baby grand to the other side of the stage and up the ramp. Then he ran over to me, warning me before giving me a quick hug, saying, "Glad to have you back. By the way, you look gorgeous."

I thanked him for the compliment, then hugged Cade back as he took his turn to welcome me back.

"We might as well practice our set." I announced. Sam, Cade and Hayden took their instruments and places and I took my electric guitar and my place at the lead mic. We ran through a few songs of our set, then did some songs that were meant to entertain the incoming wedding-attenders. We were stopped by Nat paging me to come off the stage because a bunch of my family was demanding to talk to me. I jumped off stage without shoes, then put them back on.

"Annie?" I heard my uncle Gene call. "Where's my Annie?"

Oh god. I pinched the bridge of my nose, internally cringing at my old nickname, then put on a fake smile to greet my uncle and the rest of my family. Now, I was Ro, Roxanna or occasionally even Roxi or Rox, not Annie, Anne, or Anna, although Jess sometimes called me either of those three when she was feeling reminiscent.

My uncle caught sight of me and boomed, "Annie!" before enveloping me in a tight bear hug. I hugged the big man back lightly, pushing down the reaction that was creeping in the corners of my mind. These people are your family Roxanna, they aren't going to hurt you, I told myself in my head. My uncle let me go and we exchanged pleasantries before he walked to go talk to Scott.

Family. Family. Family, I chanted in my head before hugging every other Annie-saying family member that came to greet me. I sighed in relief when it was announced that Jess wanted to see me before she went down the aisle. I nearly ran to the makeshift bridal room. I gave Jess a pre-wedding pep-talk, then went to get with Danny to walk down the aisle, leaving Jess with, "I'll be right up there with you. You'll do fine." and kissing her on the cheek before dashing out.

It wasn't long before all the bridesmaids and groomsmen were lined up behind a large set of double doors, myself, alone, at the front - Danny apparently had a sick hangover and decided to skip the wedding - and Jess alone at the back. She had decided that she didn't need someone to walk her down the aisle and give her away. I'd made the decision not to freak out over not being walked down the aisle, leaning on Jess's idea and the way we were ordered made it look like it was planned.

Still, my breaths shook with nervousness at having to walk down an aisle in heels in front of three hundred people. I knew it was silly, that I performed in front of thousands of people nearly every night, but something about the wedding made me nearly shake with nervousness. I pushed it down as the huge double doors swung open and the wedding march began playing. I held my head high, chanting to myself, Look confident. Pretend like you're superior, as I walked down the aisle by myself, smiling at Scott, standing at the altar. I made it to my place, then stood, holding my expression and posture, while the other bridesmaids and groomsmen filed in.