My head shoots up, and Linda and Patrick look at each other, beaming so widely, then Patrick speaks.
“I didn’t prepare anything because I’ll have every single day of our lives to say that I love you, and remind you why I married you. And for the record, it’s because you’re awesome.” He softly looks at her eyes, and her face melts.
I look to my left, and Jake’s eyes are watering. He moves his hands and rubs his fingers against his eyes, then blinks a few times, making the watering stop. I gently rest my head on his shoulder, slowly, as if our bubble could burst if I moved too quickly. His head shifts above me, and I feel his lips rest on top of my head. For a few seconds, I close my eyes and let this be real. Jake then lays his chin on top of my head, and I smile, content. That’s when I hear a scoff behind us.Amanda. Of course. He ever so slightly smirks. He did it forher. And supposedly, I did too. We hear clapping and see the bride and the groom walking down the aisle, scrunching their noses at each other and goofy smiling. I totally forget about what happened a second ago and clap as hard as I can with everyone, containing every bit of emotion I can inside.
34
Bangerz Really Is A Hit To The Head
Mr. Jones made his huge backyard and land available for the reception to take place. So when all the guests go through Mr. Jones’s house onto the backyard, all we can see is a gigantic white tent.
I’m really excited to go inside. I have never been to a wedding before, but I do know that the reception is the fun part.
Linda and Patrick get in first, and when I get in, I feel mesmerized. Tiny lights all over the place, tables covering the sides and ends of the tent except the right side when we come in, where there is a stage and sound equipment, leaving the middle empty for a dance floor. And the floor is marble. I turn to Mr. Jones and ask.
“How did you put marble on the grass?” I feel like a child asking this question. My eyes are twinkling with curiosity, and my innocent smile is plastered on my face.
“Ms. Brown, I have had this tent for over 20 years. I do events here.” He dryly explains, looking at me as if I were an idiot. But his face quickly changes when Miss Patty comes in with her arm tangled with Jake’s. I put a hand in my mouth, trying so hard not to laugh. I have to get out of here.
Since everyone is still distracted by the decoration, I go and sit on one of the tables right in front of the dance floor. Soon after, Jake, Alana, and Lindsey join me, and we lay our stuff on top of it so that the people know the table has already been taken. There’s equipment to sing and a DJ. I guess that the equipment is from the other events. The DJ steps in and informs on the microphone.
“Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Mr. and Mrs. Byrne.”
How Would You Feel by Ed Sheeranfills the tent, and Linda and Patrick start to sway right away. They’re smiling so widely that their energy just spreads across the whole place. Their foreheads touch, and he whispers something to her ear, and she just laughs along with him. He spins her around just like he’s showing her around, showing people how lucky he is to have such beauty. He then spins her into his arms again, because at the end of the day, they belong to each other. They are too cute to even be real. I can see them, old, walking hand in hand through the streets, enjoying the sun, without worries in their lives because they’re old people. Old people in love. I bet that their spark will never go out either.
The song ends, making everyone clap.Time of Our Lives by Pitbull and Ne-Yostarts to play. I fumble with my sneakers, trying to trade my red high heels for my white Converse, becausethis is my jam.I then grab Lindsey’s hand and drag her to dance to her dismay — she loves this song, she’s just being a pre-teen about it — and Alana is not far behind us.
The crowd that gathered on the dance floor starts to jump, so we jump too. I look over at Jake, and he’s in deep thought, staring into the distance. That’s not the mood for a wedding. I’m going over there as soon as the song ends. My sister, Alana, and I look like crazy girls, but in the middle of all these crazy people, you can’t really tell. Time of Our Lives gets replaced byBurnin’ Up by the Jonas Brothers, and I fulfill what I had in mind when I looked at our table. I run to the table and say over the song, “You are coming with me.”
I grab his hand and lead him to the middle of the dance floor, where the girls and I were. The chorus is passing, and I look around. Amanda is at the table in the front, too. And she can see us. I grab Jake’s hand and pull him closer.
Joe Jonas’s voice sings, and I scream the lyrics near Jake. He’s staring me down, surprised but laughing. When Big Rob’s vocals appear in the song, I start to rap the lyrics immediately, without missing a beat. I didn’t know many Jonas Brothers songs, but this was always one of my favorites because it had that rock vibe, and my dad could also stand this one, too.
The chorus comes, and Jake is laughing at me, while I’m screaming the lyrics. We didn’t have time to discuss anything whenHips Don’t Lie by Shakirafills the tent.
“Somebody is watching us.” I discreetly indicate Amanda’s table, and he shakes his head. When he gets to me, I move my hips in a different way and then stop, only to lean my back against his chest, and I put his hands on my waist. We dance with one another, and I must admit I’m not sucking at this; I actually move quite well. He’s not bad either. He moves at the same time as I do. I turn around and can’t help but stop being all compelling and just sing the lyrics freely without putting on a show. I sing and dance, keeping my distance this time and just having fun. We are face-to-face, and he’s completely speechless on how I managed to quite literally dance glued to him and thenturn normal within seconds, but still, he smirks. We stay the rest of the song like this, and as the song finishes, I pull his shirt and pull his lips to mine. I open my mouth a bit, and we remain like this for a good five seconds, until I pull his chest and leave him stranded.
“For Amanda.” I justify, shrugging, and my confidence slips away.
After these three energetic songs, the DJ switches to some nice instrumental and invites us to eat at the now open buffet.
Did I- Just kiss him? …Withtongue?
I really hope nobody saw that…
* * *
As it turns out, my dad spent all of dinner glaring at Jake, and I kept slowly dying and dying a little more by the second.
Was that transparent? What if Jake can see right through me? Is a rejection imminent?Oooooh, I hate being vulnerable!
I just have to pretend it never happened. Manipulation at its finest.
As he senses I’m having a crisis, he gets up, all of us already having finished our food, and holds out his hand.
Adore You by Miley Cyrusstarts playing, and something in me pushes me to take his hand. Call it what you want, self-destruction, masochism, weakness… I already heard it all from my therapist.
He places himself right in the middle of the dance floor, and only a few couples are swaying by our side. I naturally put my hands around his neck, and instead of putting his hands on my hips, he wraps them around my lower back.
