‘I am so screwed!’ Sarah started sobbing again.
I hated seeing anyone cry, but seeing someone as strong as Sarah so broken cracked my heart.
I didn’t even know her ex, but if he walked into the library right now, I’d knock him out. Yeah, I knew, violence didn’t solve anything, but he deserved a good punch for hurting Sarah so badly.
As for her sister, well, maybe karma would take care of her for betraying her own flesh and blood. I’d never do something like that to my brothers and I knew they’d never betray me either, so I couldn’t understand how Sarah’s sibling could cross that line.
What was worse was the fact that Sarah seemed to be suggesting that they’d be rubbing it in her face at the wedding. Like they weren’t even ashamed.
And if her brother had implied that he didn’t have a choice, it sounded like perhaps Sarah’s parents hadn’t even taken her side. Even though she’d done nothing wrong.
Christ, this was awful. No wonder Sarah was so upset. I wouldn’t even wish this kind of situation on my worst enemy.
‘I’m not going to sugarcoat it. This definitely won’t be easy. It’ll be messy and painful, but you’re strong, so you’ll get through it.’
‘I won’t! Getting over what happened took me ages. Now it’ll be like opening up all those old wounds again. It’s going to be so humiliating. Everyone is going to be giving me pity stares and looking down on me.’
‘But you can tell them that you’ve moved on. You’ve landed your dream job and you’re living in a gorgeous seaside town that’s been named one of the best places to live in the UK! That’ll count for something, right?’
‘They won’t care. They’ll all just think that I got dumped for my younger, more exciting sister. And when they hear that I’m still single, there’ll think that no one wants me.’
‘That’s bullshit!’ My nostrils flared. I’d only known her a week and I could already see how impressive Sarah was. And Jess sang her praises constantly, so I knew my first impressions were accurate. ‘Fuck what they think. You know the truth. And if they’re rude enough to ask about your personal life, which by the way is none of their business, just tell them that you have a string of men after you. Or tell them you have a boyfriend, they’ll never know any different.’
‘They’ll know I’m making it up!’
‘Well, then, just start making some fake posts about him. Social media is full of lies and bullshit anyway.’
‘What? Using fake photos? The day I sit there adding photos of an imaginary boyfriend to my posts is the day I’ve hit rock bottom. And other people might lie on social media, but I don’t. I’ve always tried to keep it real. I let people know when I’m having a bad day. If I lied about having a boyfriend and I got lots of messages about how happy people were for me, I’d feel awful. People trust me. I wouldn’t betray that trust. And anyway, if I posted about him, they’d expect to see him at the wedding, so what would I do then? Print out his face, stick it on a blow-up doll and hope no one noticed my plus-one wasn’t a human?’
‘Hmmm. Good point. I know Jess can’t go, but isn’t there anyone else?’
‘Nope. The friends I had back home were mostly through my sister. She was always the popular, social one. I was the bookworm introvert who preferred staying at home. So they stuck with her. I have no one else. Like I said, I’m fucked.’
Fresh tears rolled down her cheeks. Watching them felt like being stabbed in my gut. I needed to do or say something to stop her pain.
‘I’ll do it!’ I shouted quickly.
What the fuck?
Why the hell did I just say that?
And a wedding?
I fuckinghatedweddings.
It was going to be hard enough being involved with Theo’s, but he was my brother and we’d been through thick and thin together.
But Sarah?
Like she’d openly admitted on every possible occasion to anyone who’d listen, she hated my guts. So why the hell had I volunteered to attend a wedding which had nothing to do with me?
With so many of my friends tying the knot, I received enough invitations without offering to go to another one.
It was crazy.
‘You’ll dowhat?’ Her head bolted up.
Now was the time to make something up or say anythingexceptrepeating the stupid words I’d just blurted out.
