Chapter 2
1461 Words
“It’s been five hours. She is still in there. She only has thirty minutes to get ready. The guests are on their way.”
“She must be still asleep. Do not bother her. So, what if she is a couple minutes late?”
“That is just reckless behavior.”
“Stop it, Laura. You make everything worse.”
“Whatever. I don’t care.”
Once again, people talking in front of my bedroom door, as if I couldn’t hear a thing.
I have been ready for almost an hour now. As much as I dread this, I want it to end as quickly as possible.
I take a last look in the mirror and feel sad for the girl in the mirror. She does not look happy at all.
This should have been a special day for me. It shouldn’t be like this. Not for me, or anybody else.
But thanks to tradition, I have to go through with it.
There’s a knock on the door, making me even more nervous, thinking about other people looking at me like this.
“Come in.”
Jenny walks in, and she is immediately in awe when she looks at me.
“You look so beautiful, Valerie,” she tilts her head on the left and places both her hands underneath her chin in a fist.
“Thank you.”
“I thought you were still asleep. I came by two hours ago, and you weren’t awake.”
“I was a little tired. So, are my brothers and sisters already here?”
“Yes. They arrived an hour ago. Everything is ready as well. Guests are settling in the tent right now.”
“Okay, then.”
I am ready to be done with this.
Jenny and I walk slowly down the stairs, not wanting to break my neck wearing this long dress and high heels. Every other woman wears a very bright color, like red or yellow, or bright pink, but I decided to go another way.
Black.
Yes. A black satin dress, high heels, little to no make-up, hair is up in a messy bun and I made sure to show as much skin as tradition wants it.
I may as well enjoy breaking the tradition and watch people lose their minds.
Long black dress, cleavage showing, also my whole left leg. It is frowned upon, showing skin from the waist down, but honestly, I do not give a damn.
Maybe I will be forced out of there and I won’t have to deal with this at all.
Downstairs, my siblings are waiting in the living room, talking to each other, (more like screaming at each other) drinking wine already, snacking and judging everyone but themselves.
As soon as I am in their peripheral vision, their eyes turn on me and I most definitely leave them shocked.
That’s what I was aiming for, thank you very much.
“You look beautiful!” Joanna rushes toward me and I go from smug to shocked at her reaction.
I thought she was going to scold me.
“Really?” I say, surprised.
“Yes! The leg showing, the cleavage. Baby sister, you will have them fawning over you. You did a great job on the dress. Also, black is your color. Good thing that you didn’t go for red. Awfully bright.”
What the hell is going on?
Why is no one scolding me?
“So, when’s the funeral?” Alex, Jenny’s dad, jokes and points at me.
I give him the finger and walk angrily away from them.
“Where are you going?” Joanna follows me.
“You are so stupid, Alex. After she got so excited about this day. Why do you have to ruin everything?”
“Shut up, Joanna. We are allowed to have some fun.”
Joanna keeps following me along with Jenny.
“Val, you look gorgeous. Do not listen to him. You know Alex is a jerk.”
“Why are you not scolding me?” I ask her out of the blue.
She takes a step back and frowns.
“Scolding you? Why should I scold you? You are not a child.”
“I am wearing a very showing dress. My leg is out. A lot of cleavage. I mean, this goes against tradition.”
“So?” She crosses her arms and my mouth drops open.
This is ricocheting and I am hating it.
I thought this would be the most inappropriate thing to do, but I am basically putting myself out there for free.
Not leaving anything to imagination.
What have I done?
“You look beautiful, Valerie. You really do,” Jenny says, and it sounds very sincere.
I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I am making an effort for this event that I don’t even like.
“Listen, Valerie. I know this is not something to take easily. I have been through this, along with your sisters and Jenny herself. Look at us now. Happily married. You got this.”
“Joanna, I can’t do this. I can’t!”
“What do you mean?” Joanna asks and Jenny is listening intently.
How do I say this without them going ballistic? What if they say something and everything goes wrong?
Do I trust them?
I mean, they must know, since everyone has been talking about it anyway.
“I haven’t. . .” I choke.
It is more difficult than I thought.
“What? You haven’t what?”
Jenny gasps and I tremble. She knows.
“What?” Joanna snaps.
“I haven’t wolved out yet!” I spit it out quickly and I feel so relieved. It feels like I am floating after getting it out of me. It has been weighing on me since forever.
“I know that,” Joanna slaps my hand and Jenny’s.
“You scared the hell out of me. You will wolf out immediately after today. It happened to me too.”
Both Jenny and I look at her as if she’s grown two heads.
“You?” I say in disbelief.
“Yes. I used to lie to dad, saying that I wolved out, so that he would leave me alone. You just pretend to go out in the woods and come back a few hours later, covered in mud and stuff. Easy.”
“Why did you never tell me that?”
“Why did you never ask?” She shrugs.
“It’s time,” she says after looking at her watch.
“Keep your head up high and do not greet a single soul on your way there. Joey will walk you to the tent. We will be right behind you, but you are not allowed to look behind you. Got it?”
“What is this, my first time?” I flick her forehead and leave both of them there, while I go looking for Joey.
*Jenny and Joanna*
“Did that really happen to you?”
“Hm? What?”
“I mean, were you a late bloomer like Valerie?”
“Oh, hell no. I am normal. I just said that so she wouldn’t freak out,” Joanna shrugs and walks away.
“Damn. Talk about lying.”
I am in the living room once again, being looked at and studied by my eldest sisters, who desperately approve of my new look.
This was something I was not expecting, but what bothers me most, is that I am kind of enjoying it.
Not the upcoming event, but the compliments. I rarely get compliments and I am kind of loving the attention.
Never before have I been such a wh*re for attention. I guess a girl needs some compliments once in a while.
“Valerie, you look stunning. I love your choice of the black dress. It’s magnificent and very secretive.”
“Yes, Valerie. Your brown caramel hair goes so well with the dress. The black Louboutin sandals. Great choice.”
“Sisters, would you stop pestering her? There’s only five minutes until the event begins and I need to walk her there.”
“Our little sister is finally ready!” Olivia says excited.
Now I am nervous again and I wish a terrible accident would happen, so I could get out of this.
I know, I am a horrible person for thinking this, but you have no idea what is coming.
“Ready?” Joey asks me, handing me his arm and I wrap mine around his.
“Yes,” I lie.
My legs start trembling, and I am scared that they will give in, and I’ll get embarrassed in front of hundreds of people.
Here we go.
- Writer
