I Do Until I Don't

Chapter 56

My sister is getting married today. My sister is getting─

"WAKE UP YOU MORON! I'M GETTING MARRIED TODAY!" Mélanie slams a pillow on my face. "Ohmygod! I'm getting married! I'm getting married? JULIA! I'M GETTING MARRIED!" Melanie bangs fiercely on the bathroom's door. "OPEN UP! YOU NEED TO DO MY HAIR!" She bangs some more.

"Dude! I'm here," Julia says, still laying on her bed. "Relax, we've got plenty of time, don't we, Ella? What time is it?"

I groan and check my phone. "9:45," I say.

Julia shoots out of bed. "WHAT?" She rushes to the bathroom with only her underwear and her t-shirt on. "WE ARE TWO HOURS LATE, PEOPLE! WHY DIDN'T MY ALARM GO OFF! UGHHHH! MOVE IT, PEOPLE! WE'VE GOT A BRIDE TO PREP!"

Mom and Dad come into the room, both fully dressed and perfectly put together. I don't know how dad will survive in a tuxedo in this weather for an entire day, but hey!, I'm not the one who'll argue.

*****

The bathroom becomes a full-on beauty salon. Creams and bottles of je-ne-sais-quoi, mascara tubes and eyeshadows palettes and lipsticks, curling irons, hair straighteners, glitters, flowers: you name it. Everything is there, in the small bathroom my sisters and I share. Julia is doing both my hair, hers and Melanie's. Since Julia's and my hair only require to be straighten out and then curled a bit for movement, Julia does one lock of her hair, one lock of mine, then does Melanie's hairstyle for five minutes before going back to her and me and then five more minutes with Melanie. As for make-up, Mom is on it, doing Mélanie's make-up as well as hers. Julia will do mine later because she knows what looks good on me. Dad is on Feeding Everyone Duty and goes down and up the stairs with fruits and little puffed hors d'oeuvres.

"How much time left?" Julia asks, a bobby pin in her mouth.

"It's 10:30," I say. "We have until two."

Julia's jaw tenses. "We have so much to do! Jesus! The photograph will be here at noon, so I have to finish Mel's hairstyle by eleven so that we have time for the dress, the last-minute makeup touch-ups, the We're-Going-To-Miss-You speeches and OHMYGOD I HAVE THIRTY MINUTES TO FINISH THE UPDO"

"OUCH!" I shout. "Ju, you burnt me."

She doesn't reply or apologize. I'm not even sure she heard me; she's back in her world of hairstyles and hair straightener and bobby pins and hair spray. So. Much. Hair. Spray.

My phone vibrates.

Fannar: How are the wedding preparations going?

"ELLA! IT'S NOT THE TIME TO TEXT!" Julia roars as my heart hammers in my chest.

Ella-Mae: Surprisingly okay! I'll text you later :)) See you soon.

Melanie has not spoken since she asked Julia to add flowers in her hair which was thirty minutes ago. She's smiling, but frowning at the same time, and it's so odd of a look that I can't help but want to laugh. I don't, though, because Julia is going to murder me. I swear, it's like she's the one getting married.

Mélanie is getting married.

She is going to have her own family. She won't come to our house whenever she has the time; she'll have to go to Nia's family, too. And spend time with together and do married-couple things. What will happen when Julia gets married? How will I ever survive not waking up to Julia's snoring or coming back from a night out and knowing she'll be waiting on my bed for me to explain everything?

Mom is crying. Dad has stopped bringing us food and is staring at Mélanie like it's the last time he'll ever see her. Julia is working so fast I'm scared she's going to burn herself. Melanie is not saying a word. And I, all I want is for my sister to be happy but, at the same time, I don't want things to change.