The Girl Who Read The Dating Manual

rule eleven: make the right choice

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Dedicated to@-Sugar-Kitten- for the support and also for helping me out when I needed it. Means a lot!

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Soundtrack:

Sober by Kelly Clarkson - when they go dress shopping

One More Day by Vast - The talk between Candice and Richard

Baby I Need You by Kim Taylor - The dance scene

In My Bones by Ron Pope - Candice & Chance

"Oh my gosh, Candi, you look gorgeous!" Ava crooned, clutching her hands to her chest and meeting my eyes in the mirror.

"I look like a cupcake," I replied flatly, smoothing down the taffeta skirt of the dress that very much made me resemble a dessert of some description. It was a pretty dress, I had to admit, with its embellished corset and sweeping skirts, but it just didn't scream me.

"But a very pretty cupcake," Jamie supplied as he picked up a turquoise tie and an emerald tie from the wedding boutique's selection. "The prettiest cupcake alive."

Chance just snorted and continued searching through suit jackets. We'd decided to go as an ensemble to try to find our outfits for the wedding, leaving poor Will behind as I couldn't even risk him catching a glimpse in a dress that I might choose. Call me traditionally old-fashioned, but I wanted it to be a surprise.

"You're right," Ava appraised, sighing. "It's like what I've told you from the beginning, Candi. When choosing a dress, taffeta is cheesy."

"I wanna try on another one," I said, stepping down from the pedestal in front of the floor-length mirrors and rustling back over to the racks of gorgeous dresses. Ivory linen slipped through my fingers, and Ava sighed. "Well, I need to find a maid of honor dress, so while you look I'll search. And, for God's sake, Jamie, if you pick the turquoise one, I will personally murder you with it."

Jamie looked flatly down at the shiny blue tie in his hand and put it back dejectedly. It had been a bit spritely, but I didn't have the heart to tell him that. He was a boisterous person, and I thought the tie would match his personality well. I had been pretty lax with the wedding so far, but I did want to make the big decisions myself.

So when Ava turned to me and said, "Oh, by the way, what colors are we doing for the bridesmaids?" I had to think long and hard about the colour scheme of the wedding.

"Uh..." I murmured, trying to think of what color would best compliment our personalities. Wow, we'd really dropped the ball on the whole wedding organization thing. We hadn't even picked colors. "Maybe like an orange-pink?"

She nodded. "Okay."

She disappeared, and Jamie sighed. "There's nothing here. I'm gonna go look around for other ties."

He disappeared, and I slowly picked out another dress, this one with intricate lace detailing in the corseted bodice and a following tulle skirt that pooled around my feet and had small glittery diamonds outlining the skirts.