Water Under The Bridge • Gracie Abrams

09 The wedding

010 The wedding

Katie was getting her makeup done, surrounded by all the makeup artist's tools. She looked stunning, but she warned us not to mention it. She said if we did, she'd be thinking about her looks all day, and who knows what 'unspeakable actions' that would lead to, in her words.

I could tell Katie was pretty nervous, her leg was bouncing as she sat there, and she kept glancing at herself in all the mirrors around the house, asking if her baby bump looked cute. Meanwhile, Jack was off with the boys already at the venue, which was a beautiful beach chosen by Aurora and Cara. The beach connected with a big mansion where the party was gonna be held.

I spent all morning going over the wedding speech I wrote, and honestly, I think it's pretty solid. But every time I tried to write about love, Gracie just kept popping into my head. I mean, I tried my best to focus on Katie and Jack, but it was like Gracie was just there, I really hope nobody picks up on the fact that my speech low-key screams 'Gracie Abrams.' That would be so fucked up.

"Hey, wanna drink?" I asked Katie, who gave me a glare that could stop a freight train.

"I'm so stressed right now that if you make another drinking joke, I'll murder you, cut you into pieces," she said, flashing a fake smile.

"Just trying to get you to smile. The wedding's in an hour, by the way, where's your dress?"

"Gracie and Olivia went to pick it up. They should be here by now, but they aren't. Maybe they crashed, or worst, maybe someone stole my dress," Katie rambled, pacing around the place.

"Hey, calm down," I said, placing my hands on her shoulders in an attempt to comfort her. "I'm sure there's just traffic on these tiny Venice streets."

Her phone lit up, and she exclaimed, "I'm sure it's them!" Hurrying to the bed, she grabbed her phone. "Oh, it's just Aurora and Cara. They arrived safe and sound at the venue," she said, dropping her phone back onto the bed. "They said it's really cute."

"They can't say other thing because they chose it,"

Katie shot me a look like she didn't want me around, her eyes filled with stress and frustration. It was obvious the wedding pressure was getting to her, making her act a bit off.

"But I'm sure it's really nice," I smiled.

"We're here!" Gracie and Olivia entered the room, both dressed up for the ceremony. Olivia was wearing a large grey dress with her hair kinda curly, while Gracie rocked the maid's dress, which was creamy with a bit of white.

"This Italian people might be hot, but they don't know how to drive," Olivia said, handing the dress to Katie.

"Yeah, yeah, we don't have time. Help me put this on, and Cassie, go and change. An hour is nothing on a wedding day," Katie said, urging everyone to hurry up.

I nodded and left the room. As I put on the maid's dress, I couldn't help but think it looked much better on Gracie. I was really nervous about sharing my speech with everyone, especially because I knew she would be there, and I feared she might be upset if I mentioned certain things. I just hoped everything would go smoothly, and Katie would stop stressing about all of this.

•

"God, how much do we have to wait?" I whispered to Gracie, who was standing next to me.