Oh, Calamity!

The next day, I was off to Luna and Alex’s again to help plan the wedding since I had the day off. I arrived only to find that Cassadee and May, Jack’s sister, were there before me. Luna had told me the night before that the two of them were set to be her bridesmaids, which slightly surprised. Why had Luna picked May over Robin?
May greeted me with a big hug and a smile. “It’s been so long, Nora! I’ve missed you!”
I couldn’t help but return her grin. “Glad to know you still like me!”
“What? Did you really think that I would stop adoring you because of Jack? As if! You’re the little sister I never got to have!” She assured.
Bridal magazines were scattered all over the living room floor, ready to be flipped through and critiqued by us all. I could hear the faint noise of instruments coming from downstairs, so I assumed the boys were practicing or something, like when we were in high school. Memories of hanging out in Rian’s basement with the guys flooded my brain, but I quickly shook them away.
“I’m gonna go tell Jack and Alex to keep it down so we can focus,” Luna said, heading toward the stairs. “Maybe the groom and the best man will actually want to help us plan.”
“Anyway, how have you been, Nora? Life been treating you okay?” May questioned, patting the spot beside her for me to sit down.
I sat between her and Cassadee crosslegged on the floor. “I suppose. I love my job, that’s for sure. I’ve got a pretty nice apartment and all, so that’s cool. What about you?”
“Eh, it’s been life. I heard you have a boyfriend too. What’s he like???” She wondered.
“May, don’t bug the poor girl too much,” Cassadee said with a laugh.
I laughed, albeit a bit nervously. “His name’s Will, and he’s really sweet. I couldn’t ask for anyone more caring.”
“Have you met Robin yet?” She asked with an eyebrow raised. God, she was like a more gossipy version of Jack, though I love her all the same.
“Yeah, I met her last night. She’s pretty nice, and Jack seems really happy with her,” I mentioned, playing off the crack in my voice.
“You’re right, she’s super cool...but I’m not sure if I like her,” she commented.
“Why not?” Cassadee said, asking what I wanted to say. She was amazing at reading my mind already.
May seemed hesitant to tell us. “It’s just...I was always rooting for Jack and Nora to end up together, y’know? I mean, we all were. I was convinced they were going to get married, and it’s disappointing that they aren’t,”
I felt my heart ache. “Yeah...I know the feeling.”
Luna, Jack, and Alex came pounding up the stairs and joined us on the floor, forming a circle around all the magazines. Judging by the looks on the boys’ faces, Luna had forced them to come up here, which made me laugh. After all, you certainly couldn’t go against the wishes of the bride.
We all began flipping through everything, showing Luna things of interest and tearing them out if she liked them. I found myself glancing at Jack a lot, but he always looked back at me, those brown eyes piercing through me. I had to remind myself to keep looking away, that I was better off pretending to be strangers with him.
An hour or so later, I was getting tired of sitting on the floor and looking at flowers. “I’m gonna go get a drink, does anybody want something?”
A chorus of drink orders erupted amongst our circle. “Here,” Jack said. “I’ll help you get them all.”
The two of us made our way to kitchen and I began rummaging through the fridge, trying to ignore Jack eyes burning into the back of my head as he leaned against the counter. “What? Do I have something on my face?”
He gave me a small smile. “No, it’s not that. It’s just...I think we should talk.”
I remembered the last time he said that and a chill ran through me. I turned to face him. “Okay. Shoot.”
He sighed. “Look, I know you’ve been avoiding me, and you honestly have good reason to, but I think we should change that. I mean, the Maid of Honor and the Best Man kinda have to work together on the wedding, so shouldn’t we at least try to be friends?”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea, Jack? Would Robin be okay with that?” I wondered.
“Come on, we’ve both moved on. I’ve got Robin, and you’ve got that....guy,” he replied. “Nothing’s gonna happen. We’ll just be friends, like we used to be.”
I pursed my lips in thought. The feeling in my gut told me this was a very bad idea, that everything was going to go wrong, but my heart wanted Jack. Not in a sexual or romantic way even, but anything was better than this. “Sure. We’ll be friends. I mean, what could go wrong, right?”
He smiled at me and we got the drinks, returning to the living room. I honestly felt a little relieved that I didn’t have to pretend to want nothing to do with Jack anymore, because I honestly don’t know how long I could’ve kept that up. Jack wasn’t the type of person you could just hate, no matter what he had done in the past. I sure as hell couldn’t.

Notes