"Joseph and Shelby have decided to say their own vows," the priest says, and I turn to face Joseph. I'm expecting him to take a paper out, but he doesn't. "Joseph."
"Oh, my turn," he says. People laugh at him, and I look down at my hands that are shaking in his. I'm waiting for him to notice, but as usual, he doesn't. "You know I'm not good at stating my feelings, so when I sat down to write my vows, I googled how do I write vows." He laughs, and my skin crawls for the first time since I've met him. Along with fucking anger that he couldn't put into words how he felt for me. "There was a whole list of things telling me how to put it together, but the only one that I understood was the football one, so here we go." I look into his eyes, hoping to see something, anything to tell me not to go through with it. But all I see are the lies. "They said to say to kick it off with your name first, so, Shelby . . ." People chuckle with him. "Then they said halftime was to state why I intended to marry you. And that is because there is no one else I'd want to walk next to. There is no one else I want by my side but you." He looks down at his feet and then back up at me. "And the fourth quarter my intentions to you. I pledge myself to you today and always."
He looks back at the priest, who just smiles at him and then turns to me. "Shelby," he says my name and I turn to grab the piece of folded paper that Clarabella has been holding.
I unfold the white paper with shaking hands, and as I open it and see the letters on the paper, I know that I really don't need this paper because I've memorized the whole thing. "Unlike Joseph, I didn't have to look my vows up online," I say, and people laugh. "I had them written two weeks ago, but I did tweak them a little last night." I look at him, and he just smiles slyly. I look down at the words on the white paper. "My dearest love," I say, and my voice cracks. I look up at him, and I hear a couple of people ooh and aah, and I want to tell them to shut up. But instead, all I can do is get my breathing under control because if I'm not wrong, I feel a full-on panic attack coming, and this needs to get out before that. "I don't know where to start, so I will start at the beginning. From the first day I met you, my heart skipped a beat." I look into his eyes the whole time, waiting for him to realize what I'm saying. "From the first touch of shaking your hand, it felt like an electric shock went through my body, and I was alive for the first time ever." I can see his eyes turning a touch darker. "No matter what I did, nothing could have stopped me from feeling the way that I feel when I'm with you. We both fought it for as long as we could, but the minute I kissed you, I knew you were meant for me and only me. I never wanted to fall in love with you." I laugh at the irony of it all. "But I did. I love you with everything that I have. I love you with my whole soul. I'm getting married tomorrow, and everything in me wishes it was you. Everything is telling me that it should be you. Sheila," I say. A gasp rings out, and I see at that moment he fully understands how fucked he is. His mouth opens and closes, but nothing comes out. I hear people chattering away, and I can feel my sisters come in closer to me as I get to the last line. "Run away with me. I love you, Sheila, and I'm yours forever." The piece of white paper in my hand falls to the floor, dead just like my love for him.
Chapter 7
Ace
I listen to Joseph say his vows, and I'm almost embarrassed for him. Had I known that he didn't write them, I would have tried to get him to write them last night instead of him finishing off a whole bottle of whiskey. Or even this morning when he woke up and looked like he was confused as to where he was. I thought it was wedding jitters, but I just ignored it. After all, the only one who could tell me if it was, was Shelby and there was no way in fuck I was going to put that doubt in her head. I look over at Travis, who just sits in the middle of his mother and his wife, the three of them just glaring at him. I close my eyes as more words come out of his mouth, and all I want him to do is just shut the fuck up.