Page 13 of Little Gray Dress

“No.” He opens the fridge to platters of prepared food, beer and what appear to be very fancy appetizers. “All of this,” he motions to the counter in front of him, then nods into the fridge, “is for a casual thing.”

“How many friends did you invite?”

“Mostly just the wedding party.”

“The entire wedding party?”

“Yes, well, the bridesmaids and groomsmen, and their families.” Evan stops brushing sauce on a plate of burgers and turns towards me, sauced-up brush still in hand. “You will be nice, and you will stop obsessing over Jack. Now is your chance to prove that you’ve moved on.” He wags the brush at me.

“Right.” I nod at him and dodge out of the living room and up to Lily’s room where she is sprawled across her bed watching a news program.

“Hey,” she says, never looking away from the TV.

“Jack is coming here? Did you know this?”

“Uh, not until about an hour ago. Why do you care, again?” She wrinkles up her face and clicks the remote to turn the TV off.

“I don’t, I just wish someone had told me so I could have found something else to do.”

“Jack is your brother’s best friend, which means Jack is in the wedding party. You too are part of the wedding party. This is a wedding party party. Where else would you go? And how did you assume you wouldn’t see much of Jack while you were here?” Her condescending tone reminds me that I’ve forgotten my I’m over Jack story.

“Right, I ju—” The doorbell interrupts me and I can feel my face doing things I’d rather it didn’t. “Shit.” I can’t help it. I don’t know what I am exactly, but completely over him isn’t it.

“Relax, psycho. Just be yourself and you’ll be fine.”

Just be me. Such great advice. If I did that, then Jack would know the exact fantasies I’ve had about him over the last two years. Not the sexual fantasies I’m sure he’d expect either. These ones involve revenge.

I speed-walk into my room and glance in the full-length mirror by the window. I roll up my jeans mid-calf, slide on my favorite black flip-flops, toss on a sleeveless top that doesn’t look like it’s just spent the last twenty-four hours crushed in a suitcase, and pull my hair out of the ponytail. A few fingers through my curls, a dab of lip gloss on my lips, and voilà! I don’t look like I’ve just spent the last few days a nervous, frazzled mess.

“Emi! Come down and meet everyone,” Hannah yells up the stairs.

I do a last-minute mirror check again and then casually head down the stairs to an empty foyer. I hear their voices on the back patio and peer around the staircase in that direction. I thought Evan said he invited just the wedding party and their families? There are a good forty people mingling out there. Hannah has tables set up with decorations and flowers and everything is very put together. How did I miss this earlier? It couldn’t have been a ten-minute setup job by the looks of it.

“There you are!” Lily comes up behind me carrying a tray of bacon-wrapped food. “Come on.”

I follow Lily out, almost hiding behind her as she sets the tray on a giant table full of food. “Oh my God, is he here?”

“Yes. Now stop acting like a weirdo.”

“Lil… Everyone is a pair.” I glance around not seeing a single person here alone. “Some of these people even have kids!”

Lily jerks me by the arm behind a curtain separating the patio from the hot tub area. “Stop it,” she hisses at me, her face only two inches from my own. “You will stop acting like a pathetic, heartbroken teenager and you will get your ass out there and act like the amazing Emi we all know and love. Jack does not control you.”

If ever there was a moment that felt like my mom was still here, this was it. I nod my head in shame and follow her on to the patio. It only takes two seconds to spot the keg and fill a cup with whatever is in it. Now is not the time to worry about not liking beer. I down the glass in thirty seconds, pretending it’s not as bad as it truly is, and fill it again.

“Emi, come meet everyone.” Hannah pulls me from the bar area, saving me from looking like a raging alcoholic, chugging beer alone. “You need to meet May, Jack’s fiancée. I know it’s weird, but you’ll have to meet her sometime. It might as well be now. I really think you’ll like her. She’s great. She’s active in charity work and really has helped me with the endless wedding planning, plus she’s been so good for Jack since...” As the words come out of her mouth she notices my face and frowns.

“Hannah, I don’t think—”

“I’m sorry, you’re right, that was tactless”

“I’m sure she’s just fabulous,” I try not to roll my eyes, “but it is a little awkward, even if she was the queen of the universe, right?” I ask her, hoping I’m not just making all this crap up in my own little dramatic world in my head.

“You’re totally right. I’ll try and be more considerate of your feelings.”

“OK.” I nod at her watching what she just said dissipate into the air like she’d never said it all, which seems to be classic Hannah.

“Guys!” She pulls me into a group of people, some I know, some I don’t. “This is Evan’s twin sister Emi!” Hannah puts her arm around me and hugs me from the side. “I can’t wait until we’re officially sisters!”

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