Bon Bons to Yoga Pants

Chapter 51-My Story

Ten minutes before the ceremony was supposed to start, I rushed into the bridal suite completely drenched but holding Dad's photo safely in my arms. One of my fake eyelashes still hung from my eye, flapping every time I blinked.

"LEXIE!" The shriek came from Kenzie, swathed in all white. One of the bridesmaids stood at her side, swatting her hand away every time Kenzie tried to gnaw on her perfectly manicured nails. "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? And . . . wait . . . what happened to you?"

Mom rushed forward. "What happened?"

"I got in a car accident," I said, passing the photo off to Mom. "It was on my way back from getting Dad's picture. Some old lady hydroplaned and ran into me. Look, that doesn't matter right now. I've already called Terry. She's on her way over to fix . . . this."

I waved a hand over my hair, catching sight of myself in the mirror with a cringe.

"An accident?" Kenzie cried. "Are you all right? Are you hurt?"

"An accident?" Mom echoed, and both rushed forward to flutter over me. "Are you okay? Why didn't you call? What happened? I knew I shouldn't have sent you!"

"I'm fine, I'm fine," I said, batting them off. "I'll go over the details later."

"Is anyone hurt?"

"No, no, it's fine. Can we delay the ceremony for just a few minutes so I can clean up?"

Kenz nodded. "Of course, Lex. As long as you're okay. I'm . . . are you sure? You don't have to stand up there."

I smiled. "No, I'm definitely going to be there for my little sister's wedding. I just hope you don't mind me standing in a puddle."

 Mom, seeing that I wasn't about to die a horrible death, sprang into action. "I'll let the venue know. They'll make an announcement that there's been a delay. Yes, an announcement. That's what I'll do. Need to make an announcement."

She bustled away, having found a job to occupy her for the moment.

"I'm here!" Terry declared from the door, waving a hairdryer and a brush. "Get in a chair, Lex. Kenz, you stand back and look beautiful. Flock of flamingos, back off. Terry is in town now. We have a wedding to look fabulous for."

____________

The wedding venue rained in flowers pink and black. Tulle swept the aisles, decorated the chairs, and filled the arbor that the pastor stood in front of. I recognized only a portion of the people that I passed while I walked down the aisle. Bradley sat in the back, looking burly, and a bit out of place with his rumpled hair, but handsome all the same.

Despite a twenty minute delay while Terry straightened my hair, Mom blow-dried my dress, and one of the flamingos cleaned my face and reapplied a simple layer of makeup, every seat in the room was packed full. An organ played in the background, McKenzie sparkled, and Mom cried through the whole thing.

It was perfect.

Kenzie and her groom disappeared outside in a hailstorm of applause once it finished. I hung back, watching the milling crowd surge out the doors. The reception would immediately follow the ceremony in a different part of the venue. Bradley waited at his seat, then filtered through the crowd when the chaos died down.

"You look beautiful, girl." He smirked. "You certainly cleaned up fast."

I returned his grin with a wry smile of my own. My hair was straight and dry. No curls. Not much body. I wore only a simple slash of eyeliner and some mascara, but I didn't care. I felt great. Although I'd felt beautiful before, I felt like regular Lexie now, and it was regular Lexie that had something to say.

"Thanks. Hey, listen, I meant to tell you that Kenzie wants me to mill around for a while, talk to everyone. She said just for the first hour or so. We have family in town that I haven't seen since Dad died, so they all want to catch up. To spare you the agony of small talk, I brought something to occupy your time while I catch up with my crazy old aunts."

His eyebrows rose. "Oh really?"

I tugged his sleeve. "Really. Follow me."

We slipped out a side door before anyone noticed. Once in the bridal suite, now deserted and flamingo-free, I reached for my backpack and pulled out a thick stack of papers.

"Here," I said, extending it to him.

He grabbed it, eyes narrowed. "Is this what I think it is?"

"Depends on what you think it is."

"Your story."

My stomach fluttered. "Yes. It's the story that I submitted to the competition, except I added more to it. It's still not quite finished, but I wanted you to read it as it is now."

"Bon Bons to Yoga Pants?" he asked, reading the title with a quirked eyebrow.

I glanced down to the collection of papers and bit my bottom lip. Although I'd planned out exactly what I wanted to say before I handed my heart over to him in its inky entirety, the words failed me. I relied on the first thing that came to my mind.

"Yeah, Bon Bons to Yoga Pants. It's a story about a girl that used to eat bon bons all the time, and lived in fear of yoga pants because they were form-fitting. It's . . . my story. Look, I think you probably won't care about my past, but it's important to me that you know and understand who I am. I mean . . . who I have been. Although I suppose that who I have been all these years has led to who I am now. Anyway . . . it's important to me. And," I added in a small voice. "You happen to be in it. A lot."

His lips twisted in a little smile, but he remained quiet. I pulled in a deep breath to gain a little strength. The words that I knew I needed to use stuck in my throat, but I forced them out.

"Bradley, I . . . I used to be very overweight."

The words came out with more velocity than I intended. Although I watched his eyes carefully, trying to detect any sign of horror or disgust, I saw nothing. He simply listened, waiting for me to finish. It gave me the strength to keep going.

"I mean it. I weighed in at 259 pounds at the beginning of this year. My dad died of a heart attack, and he had always been very sedentary and heavy as well. I kind of followed in his footsteps all my life. I hated myself. I never did anything healthy, and I turned to food when my problems scared me. But now I've . . . I've finally started to actually live. So when Miss Bliss told me to write about something raw and real and . . . well, me, I decided to tell my story."

I let out a long breath, having run out of steam, and felt suddenly exhausted.

"I guess that's it," I said, smiling sheepishly. "I just needed you to know who I really am before we figure out whether this is going to go anywhere. And, uh, don't get freaked out by . . . well, whatever you read about yourself."

Bradley fanned the pages then looked at me with a crooked smile. "Thanks."

Such a simple word, but it struck me to my heart. His beautiful murky eyes said everything else. I swallowed back my relief, feeling fifty pounds lighter.

"Yeah, sure. Anyway, I thought you could start reading it while I do the necessary mingling."

He held out his hand for me to take and grinned. "I'd love to read your story, Lexie Greene. Let's go. Your crowd awaits."

I think I already know the answer to this, but say it anyway: what do you think Bradley's reaction to Lexie's story is going to be? 

And big announcement! Megan won the poll: she's the next story! I've already set up the holding book cover and the authors note so you can add the story to your library. I'll start writing it right after BBtYP finishes. Here's the link so you can visit it and read the blurb:

https://www.wattpad.com/story/44283403-first-dates-to-lifting-weights

Don't forget to add both stories to your library so you're notified of updates, leave your comments below, and MUAH.