Page 31 of Fauxmance

An image of Hayden's grin flashed in my mind.

But if it had been him, I thought, that would be incredibly romantic.

Mom and I made it to the venue in no time. Several of the other bridesmaids were already there. As we walked in, Mom left to go help my sister, and I went to put my things down.

Isabel 'Izzy' Peabody, my favorite cousin, gave me a nod.

"You ready for this, Magnolia?" she said.

"As ready as I'll ever be," I said back. "You?"

"Little lace gloves, little purple dresses." Izzy frowned as she pulled up the hem of her skirt. "And these little silver shoes that pinch my feet. This is so lame. I can't believe Jasmine roped me into this."

"Ah come on," I said. "It's going to be so much fun."

Sariah, who was seated on my other side, shook her head. "Magnolia, I love your sister. But I'm so ready to get this wedding over with."

"Shh," I said, looking around. "Sariah, keep it down. You don't want Jas to hear. It'll hurt her feelings."

"You think she has feelings?" she said. "I used to think so, but ever since this wedding, she's been kind of a tyrant."

"Ah, come on. She's your best friend."

Sariah lifted a brow. "When I walked in today, my bestie ordered me to change my hair. Ittook my stylist 35 minutes to complete the up-do. But did Jas care about that? Nope. Apparently the style was too similar to hers."

I scrunched my nose. That didn't sound like my sister.

Izzy nodded. "She made me remove my nail polish, said the black clashed with the bouquet."

"She wouldn't—"

"She would, and she did. Told me it was her wedding day, not a funeral." Izzy sniffed. "As if she doesn't know black is my signature color."

Sariah added, "I heard her yelling about pew bows this morning."

"Ooh, I heard that, too."

"What?" I asked.

"The pew bows," Sariah repeated. "She kept saying, 'The pew bows, the pew bows! Who hung the pew bows this way?' I don't know. I guess she wanted them hanging at a perfect 90-degree angle."

Izzy nodded. "I heard her talking to the priest, making him recite his lines. She had him do it at least four times. Father Gregory looked a little stunned afterward."

"I just saw her lecturing the flower girls. No more than three petals per step."

I shrugged. "Well, her emotions must be all over the place right now. She's getting married for goodness sakes."

"And she's officially turned into Bridezilla," Izzy put in.

"I'm sure it's just stress."

"Well, at least she's not as bad as Mrs. Wheeler," Sariah pointed out. "These days her face is stuck in a permanent smile. Nothing fazes that woman."

"Yeah," Izzy said, "it's creepy. I thought she was going to frown once, but it was just a sneeze."

Thinking of our constantly-smiling etiquette teacher, I rolled my eyes. "Mrs. Wheeler loves weddings and so do I. Anyway, can't you two try to be excited?"

"Hmm …yeah, no," Izzy said. "Can't. Sorry."

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