Josie's POV A Wedding Dress Shop January 7th, 2012
"Oh my God, Josie! It's been way too long!" Laura said, pulling me into a hug.
"It seriously has been." We sat down on a couch, waiting for Ashley to finish picking out dresses to try on. I had my camera around my neck, ready to go with a fresh SD card that I had remembered to get at about eleven o'clock last night. Thank God I have an understanding boyfriend who didn't question me when I got out of bed to go to Target, and insisted on coming with me.
"Alright. I think I've got some good ones." Ashley said, coming around the corner with a ton of dresses draped over her arm. A consultant was close behind, her hair pinned down so tightly that not a strand dared come out. "You ladies ready to get this party started?"
"Definitely. Oh, it feels like yesterday that we were here doing this for me!" Laura exclaimed, giving Ashley a knowing look.
"I have a feeling it won't be long until Josie's in my place." Ashley said, walking into the fitting room with the consultant.
"Oh, I don't know about that. It's barely been two and a half months. Besides, I'm twenty, I don't think I should be getting married any time soon."
"I was twenty-one! If you know you know." Laura shrugged.
"She's right Jos! I seriously think that you and Ben are the real deal. Have you seen the way you look at each other?" Ashley called from the fitting room.
"You guys are talking like we've been dating since we were ten and both of us are too chicken to propose. It's been two months, and besides, we're here to talk about your wedding, not mine." Ashley came out in a tight mermaid gown.
"What do we think?"
"You look beautiful! But I don't know how I feel about the mermaid cut on you, I feel like you'd be better suited with a ballgown, like the princess you are." Laura said decidedly.
"I'm with Laura, a ballgown would look amazing on you."
"That's what I was thinking. I only got one mermaid just to see how it looked, and I'm not a fan. Back to the fitting room!" Ashley turned on her heel, going back to the dressing room quickly.
"Can I get you ladies a glass of wine or champagne?" another consultant asked, walking over to us.
"A rosé would be wonderful."
"I'm not twenty-one, but I'll take a water if you've got it." I said with a small smile.
"Of course, I'll be back." He came back with our drinks, and Ashley tried on countless more dresses, none of them quite hitting the nerve we were looking for.
"I'm never going to find a dress! You guys go look, I need a break!" she said, falling back onto the couch.
"We shall return." Laura said, grabbing my hand and pulling me up. She took me down a long hallway and into a room filled to the brim with dresses. "Let's start looking." Twenty minutes later, we hadn't gotten anywhere. I sighed, flipping through dresses for one that seemed like Ashley.
"Laura! I think I may have found it!" I said, pulling out a dress. It was a strapless ballgown, and fairly simple, just some light detail on the bodice.
"Oh my God, she's gonna love it!" We ran back to Ashley, the dress draped over my arm. "We...found...the one." Laura said, breathing heavily. "Running is NOT my thing."
"Fine, but this is the last one." She went into the fitting room and came back, looking in the mirror. "Oh my God." she breathed, close to tears. I quickly snapped a few pictures of her in the mirror, wanting her to have this moment forever. "This is the dress."
"Ashley, you look absolutely stunning." I said, looking at the pictures. That's when it really hit me: My big brother was getting married. And Ashley is going to be my sister-in-law. In less than a year. I felt myself well up, and quickly tried to blink back the tears to no avail.
"Aw! Josie! Why are you crying?" Ashley laughed, wiping away a few tears.
"Because! We're gonna be sisters! It truly hit me for the first time." I wiped my own eyes, laughing a little. "Also because one of my siblings is getting married, and that's never happened before!"
"You two are going to make me cry!" Laura yelled, fanning her face. Ashley was measured for any alterations the gown would need, and then she changed back into her normal clothing.
"Do you guys want to get lunch?" Ashley asked as we walked out of the store.
"I would love to, but I have a lunch date already." I replied, thinking about the adorable boy that would be waiting for me at the pizza place we had found.
"Ooh, lunch dates during the rehearsal process! I haven't seen that since it was those two!" Laura said, nudging Ashley.
"I'm telling you, they're meant to be!"
"Okay, well, you two have fun planning my future during lunch, and I'm going to go eat pizza with Ben." I said, turning onto the street that went towards the restaurant. When I got there, Ben was sitting at a corner table, looking at his phone. "Hi."
"Hey! How was dress shopping?" he asked with a grin.
"A lot."
"Of?"
"Tears, dresses, glasses of wine for Laura, talking about my love life, just a lot." I chuckled.
"Tears? I thought picking out a wedding dress was supposed to a be happy thing!" he exclaimed, looking very confused.
"Every tear cried was a happy one, I promise."
"Even yours?"
"What? How the hell did you know that I was crying?"
"One, there's mascara under your eye. Two, your eyes are red. Three, we're connected, obviously I knew you were crying." He jokingly waved a finger between our foreheads, making me laugh loudly.
"Yes, even mine. It just hit really suddenly that Jeremy wasn't all mine anymore. Not that he ever was, but it's just...we've always been so close, and now there's another girl taking my place. I love Ashley, but it's hard. I sound so selfish, of course I want him to be happy but-"
"You're not being selfish. Selfish would be forcing them to call off the wedding. Selfish would be resenting Ashley. But you've welcomed her into your life with open arms, and you said it yourself, you want them to be happy. That's the farthest thing from selfish that I can think of." Ben took my hand, giving it a small squeeze. "Besides, it's your big brother, and the first kid in your family to get married. It's hard for all of you, but it'll turn out great in the end. And you're getting a sister that you can actually see in person."
"Ben, you have no idea how much I needed to hear that. Thank you so much."
"Anytime darling."
I don't have siblings, but I feel like this would be accurate?? If you have siblings, especially ones that have gotten married, please let me know if I'm close. Thanks boo. Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
YOU ARE READING
Something To Believe In
Fanfiction"I don't think you realize how risky this is. We could get into so much trouble." "I don't think you realize how much I don't care." ...
