Page 85 of Bad Crush
Ginny and Heath are quiet in the third-row seats, and I’m leaning against Adam, half asleep, between him and Rhett. The latter is passed out cold, arms crossed over his chest, hat covering his eyes.
The trip went too fast, but I’m glad we went. If Maverick’s birthdays feel anything like my own, it was worth it.
We stop halfway to eat and stretch our legs.
“My charger’s toast,” Mav says. “I’m going to run into the store and grab another. I’ll meet you guys at the restaurant.”
We split up, the guys go with Mav, and Dakota, Ginny, and I walk down to grab a table for us. There’s a fifteen-minute wait if we want to sit together, so we put our name on the list and continue down to see the little shops in the outdoor strip mall.
“I don’t want to go back,” I say. “Rehearsals are going to kick my ass this week.”
“You’ve been rehearsing for weeks,” Ginny says.
“Yeah, but we’re completely off-book this week, and there’s always at least one person who doesn’t know their lines and throws us all off.”
“Dr. Rossen asked me to come by tomorrow and teach the new people how to do stage makeup,” Ginny says. “Do you want me to do your makeup for the show?” She’s a wizard with a makeup brush and helped me, and several others, for our Christmas production. She did such a good job, they asked her to be an unofficial stage assistant this semester. She gets college credit for coming to rehearsal and making sure we’re all prepared, and in turn, we all get to look fabulous.
“I would be an idiot to turn that down,” I say and bump my hip against hers. “But if you’ll just watch me do it once and make sure it looks okay, I think I can manage to do it for the shows.”
She nods, then stops abruptly. “Oh, look, it’s a wedding dress store.”
The three of us turn to see the white gowns in the storefront window.
“I can’t wait to get married,” she says dreamily. “I want a big dress with a really long train that takes two or three people to carry it. Or maybe I want to get married on the beach with a simple dress.”
“It’s all about the dress,” I say, looking longingly at the beautiful beadwork of one of the dresses.
“We should go in.” Dakota takes a step and opens the door. Her eyes light up with mischief. “I’ve always wanted to try on gaudy wedding dresses. It’ll be so much fun!”
Ginny and I don’t move.
“Come on. You two owe me. Reagan got fake engaged, and you two kept it from me.” She tilts her head to the side. “We’ll be quick, and I promise to put on the most hideous one I can find.”
“We’re supposed to meet the guys,” I say.
Ginny’s switched teams, pulling out her phone. “I’ll text Heath and let them know we put our name on the list and headed to look at the shops.” Her thumbs tap away on the screen as she texts him, and she steps into the bridal store.
I can’t think of a good excuse, so I follow them inside.
I’ve never given much thought to my own wedding. Things like that always led to thinking about how my mom probably wouldn’t be there. No helping me get ready or walking me down the aisle. But the second I put on the beaded dress from the window, I gasp at my reflection.
“Oh my god, Reagan,” Ginny says when I walk out. She’s in a tulle gown with a corset-style bodice. A saleslady is fussing over her, trying to add a veil, which Ginny waves off. “No veil.”
“Let’s see the veil,” I say.
The lady smiles at me and clips it into place.
“Definitely veil,” I say.
Dakota’s sitting on the bench. She put on the biggest, puffiest gown she could find and is now watching Ginny and me with rapt interest. “I agree.”
Ginny sighs. “You’re both right. I had this picture in my head of the gown and my look… this is none of that, but I love it all.”
I smile. She’ll probably be the first of us to get married. She’s the youngest at nineteen, but I have no doubt that she’s found her person. She and Heath are the most adorable couple I’ve ever known.
The saleslady moves over to me, pulling up the spaghetti straps and pinning it. I should stop her from going to all this effort since there’s no chance in hell I’m going to be buying this dress, but I can’t bring myself to say a word as I stare at myself in the mirror.
When she’s finished, Ginny moves over, and we giggle at the sight of us.
