Dare You To Love (Camren - Norminah - Vercy)

Chapter 2: Plus One

July 2017 (2 Months Since Camren & Vercy)

Normani's POV

I was on top of the world! I was going to marry my long-time crush Dinah Jane Hansen! I still couldn't believe my luck. When I'd asked my parents to take the proposal of my marriage to the Hansen family, I hadn't expected them to accept. But I was tired of not being able to express myself to the love of my life. I wanted to try at a life with her, so I took a chance and it paid off! Dinah said yes to me!

Dinah's POV

After our parents arranged our marriage, Normani and I had met up a few times to plan the wedding. She was extremely shy at first, but after a few 'dates' she started opening up more. I wanted to ask her whether she was happy with this arrangement, but on our second 'date' Normani brought along her dream wedding scrapbook that she'd been working on since she was a kid. I had my answer: Normani was actually happy. And to be honest, this didn't come as a surprise for someone who'd had such a sheltered upbringing. She'd probably grown up with her parents brainwashing her about how good arranged marriages were. That was probably the only reason why she was so excited.

I was really stressed about this whole marriage situation, but I just decided to take it one day at a time. I'd always wanted a lavish wedding and so did Normani, so I comforted myself by going all out for the ceremony. The marriage part I was going to deal with when I got there.

There were two weeks to the wedding. All invitations were sent out. The venue, Vibiana Cathedral, was reserved. Celebrity Chef Ayesha Curry was booked for our catering. The cake was ordered from Allycakes, an up-and-coming gourmet bakery that'd surpassed top-notch bakeries in taste and presentation. Our outfits were done by high-end designers—well, my pantsuit was at least. I didn't know anything about Normani's dress, since I was playing the role of the 'husband' and as per tradition, I wasn't supposed to know anything about the bride's dress before the wedding. The only thing left to do now was to learn the first dance and our amazing wedding planner, Herlinda Gomez, had set us up to take lessons at the famous "Dance With Me" studios.

"Welcome ladies!" an exotic looking man with slicked back black hair said when Normani and I entered the studio, "I'm Val and I'll be your instructor."

"I know! I've grown up watching you on Dancing With the Stars! You're my grandma's favorite!" Normani squealed and I looked at her in surprise because she usually had a quiet demeanor.

"I'd love to meet her someday," Val said charmingly, "What's your name?"

"I'm Normani. And wow, this is so amazing! I asked our wedding planner to book us lessons from your studio, but I had no idea you were actually going to teach us yourself!" Normani said excitedly.

"Well, your wedding planner put in a special request for me. I think she wanted it to be a surprise," Val said.

"Oh my gosh! I freakin' love Herlinda! This might be asking too much, but if you can, please come to our wedding. My grandma is flying up from Houston next week and I know she would love to meet you," Normani said, handing him an invitation that she seemed to conjure out of thin air.

"Looks like I can make it!" Val said after reading the invitation.

Normani squealed with joy and started rambling on about how she thought some girl named Zendaya should've won in season 16. It was cute seeing this outspoken fangirl side of Normani, but I didn't like the way this Val guy was suddenly chatting her up, so I cleared my throat and said, "Shouldn't we be getting on with the dance?"

"Ah yes. You must be the famous Dinah Jane," Val said, extending his hand.

"I didn't realize I was famous," I said, shaking his hand firmly.