Marriage of Unconvenience

I made a quick list of five songs and made Cara listen to them.

“This one,” she said as the second song started to play.

“Don’t you want to hear the others?” I asked, but she shook her head.

“No, this one.” It was Halsey’s cover of I Walk the Line by Johnny Cash. A little melancholy, but it was one of my favorites.

“You want to practice?”

“No. I want to save it for the day,” she said as the song finished.

“Sounds good,” I said with a yawn. “Hey, you want to come over and stay? Lisa’s gone so we can do whatever we want.” I was still getting used to the fact that I was living by myself for a few days until Cara moved in. I still poked my head out of my door before I went out into the kitchen to make sure Lisa wasn’t there. And then I remembered she was gone and did a little shimmy of joy. That girl really had poisoned the atmosphere in the apartment. She’d been a malignant black cloud and now she was gone, I was free and happy. It was going to be even better when Cara moved in. Everything was going to be perfect. My best friend was going to be taken care of and I wouldn’t have to reuse dryer sheets. What more could you ask for?

Twelve

The morning of the wedding, I was flipping out. I hadn’t slept at all, and I had dark circles under my eyes. I slathered on the makeup and put my hair in a ponytail. Cara was going to be over in a few minutes to do my hair, I was going to do her makeup, and then we were going over to the courthouse. My parents and Ansel had wanted to come over to “help prepare,” but I had said no. We didn’t need to make this into a bigger thing. I was already having a hard time getting my hands to stop shaking as I applied my eyeliner. I had to wipe it off and start over three times.

My doorbell rang and I dashed downstairs to let Cara in. She had a huge bag with her and I had no idea what was in it since my parents had picked up our dresses and were in charge of bringing them to the courthouse so we could change there. What did she have in there?

“So, since this isn’t a real wedding and we’re not doing a honeymoon or anything, I decided that I’m sleeping over.” She dropped the bag in my room and joined me in the bathroom, hopping up on the sink.

“Do you want to do your hair first?” she asked.

“Yeah, sure.” I turned around and took it down so she could do her thing.

“I think I’m just going to do a low messy bun, kind of like what Chloe did when I tried on the dress. I’m glad we’re not doing veils. Veils are weird and have gross connotations.” I agreed with her, but a little part of me kind of wanted to see what Cara would look like with one on. Not like, over her face, but maybe tucked under her hair and flowing down her back.

I stayed still as Cara combed water and mousse into my hair and then started braiding it back. The braid started on one side of my head, then she worked it around so it formed a loose crown on my head before pulling a few pieces out to make it look casual. Then she sprayed the hell out of it with spray so it would stay that way. I checked myself in the mirror and the effect was gorgeous. Ethereal and whimsical.

“Okay, your turn.” I decided to go with a fresh and glowy look since her dress was pink, and pulled that color in, using it on her eyelids and to highlight her cheeks. I brushed her lips with a peachy pink lip color and then we were done. I finished my makeup and then it was time to go.

“Hey,” Cara said, reaching for my arm before I left the bathroom with my makeup bag. She was still sitting on the sink and hadn’t said much as I did her makeup. It wasn’t like her to be so quiet, but I assumed that she was just thinking about everything. I had a million thoughts going through my head right now, and was trying to shut them up for a little while so I could focus on what we still needed to get done.

“What?” I said. “We really need to go.” I normally wasn’t the one who kept us on a schedule, but I guess we were reversing roles today. She would take over once we got there, I was sure of it.

“I just...” she let go of my arm and pressed her hands on the counter to lean closer to me.

“Yeah?” I said, stepping closer.