December 31, 2013 - Morning of the wedding
I woke up today feeling pretty ecstatic about the wedding. My excitement caused another night of restlessness, only gaining me a total of three and a half hours of sleep to run on. Nevertheless, I felt like I could run to Miami and back because I was so energized at the same time. Did I mention that Ana chose me to be her maid of honor? I probably had forgotten to mention it as I had been a wreck since the day she asked. Holding the title of maid of honor was pretty nerve-wrecking and stressful. I felt like I had done a good job catering to every single one of Ana's needs and making sure she was happy.
I swung my feet over the edge of my bed, rubbing my eyes while yawning. 7:30 AM my clock beamed in red.
I gazed at the two dresses I was going to wear tonight.
Ana's orders, of course, to have two dresses. She wanted her bridal party to look elegant and sophisticated at the ceremony and she wanted us to look sexy and fun at the reception.
"It's New Year's Eve, I want you girls to look amazing!" I recalled Ana exclaiming during the dress appointment we were in. She also ruled that we could each choose our own dresses, but we had to stay within the same color.
The ceremony dress was a soft pink color, a color that I instantly remembered being Ana's favorite when she was younger. She had even convinced our parents to let her paint her room that color. I think she even went through a phase where EVERYTHING she owned was soft pink.
The floor length get-up shaped into a sweetheart neckline and was held up on one shoulder with the help of a rope of jewels. The same style of jewels wrapped around my waist, giving an empire waist look. I couldn't put my finger on the type of material it was made out of, but nonetheless, I felt the least excited about this one because I didn't think I was even deserving to be in such a magnificent gown. I dreamed about wearing things like that, but I didn't feel right. I sketched out designs sort of like it too, hoping one day someone could be seen in the creation because anyone else in the world would do the piece justice. There was something off about the dress and me.
The dress for the reception was black. My choice, Ana simply agreed. It was made out of a beautiful, flowing chiffon material that looked utterly comfortable to spend a long night partying in. It was a one-shouldered piece that hugged my waist then flowed out and stopped just above the knees. It was the greatest ensemble for this occasion.
She stated, "You can't go wrong with a little black dress, and it's appropriate for the date of the wedding!" That was the moment she revealed it would be held on New Year's Eve.
I planted my feet on the warm carpet, wiggling my toes through the shaggy fabric, and I threw on a silky robe.
I spent an hour washing up, usually it never took me that long, but today I had to spend an extra twenty minutes in front of the mirror de-tangling the tousled mess of a mop on my head to make it easier for whoever was going to style my hair. Ana insisted a professional do my hair and make up for this day.
Once I was sure most of the tangles were removed from my hair, I pulled it up into a messy bun (which was bound to tangle my hair again, but I didn't really care) and I headed to the living room where I was greeted by my mom, Ana, and 9 other girls that were in her bridal party. It was bizarre that one person knew so many people. This was the first time I had experienced the bridal party as a group. It was a difficult task to have us all together because, five of the bridesmaids were cousins that lived in Greece. I hugged each of my cousins, thanking them for flying into the States like my mom requested I did because they really didn't have to fly in.
Ana properly introduced me to the other four bridesmaids, they were her best friends she went to college with. I shook their hands, giving slight nods to let them know they were being acknowledged. Each girl was so stunningly gorgeous, Ana surrounded herself with girls equally as beautiful as her and my insecurities only began to grow.
Ana scheduled our transformations to be the first things done in the morning. I protested this until she said she wanted to take photos with the bridal party ahead of time since we would all be together. She chose the house to get ready at because the deck looking out to the ocean made for really good photo shoot ideas.
While I awaited my grand transformation, I sneaked into the kitchen to get a glass of water. Choosing not to be at the halfway point of tipsy at almost 8:30 AM like the rest of the girls that were sipping on an expensive champagne. I needed to remain sober until the reception. That was my goal.
I stood quietly sipping the water and scrolling through my Twitter timeline, catching up on whatever I missed in my short amount of slumber. I had a couple notifications and I usually never read them, I only clicked them to get rid of the notification and moved on.
@Ashton5SOS has followed you!
That was odd, but I followed back.
"Talia?" I heard my older sister shout. "Come on! Javier and Rachel are ready for you!"
I cautiously walked back to the living room, taking a seat near whom I guessed were Javier and Rachel. My biggest fear was that I'd leave this chair looking like a complete fool.
Luke decided to make a stop by the house a little after noon, partly to see my makeover and to make an exchange of letters between Jack and Ana.
"What happened to smoked out, too cool, edgy Talia?" Luke took in my appearance as we entered my bedroom. "You don't look so rough."
"Thanks." I rolled my eyes, tightening my robe.
My mom brought me a plate of salad that didn't look pleasing at all. Right now, I could probably scarf down a whole large pizza, but I was also afraid to ruin my lipstick. Luke laughed as he watched me stuff my face with the healthy food, likely never witnessing me eat something healthy in my life besides a strawberry a few years back.
"So," I dabbed around my lips with a napkin to gently get rid of any food on my face. "Ashton followed me on Twitter."
"He did?" Luke scoffed. "I told him to leave you alone until tonight."
"That's a little rude."
"Ashton's just...I don't know..." Luke hesitated to put the right words together. "He's Ashton. He's going though a lot at the moment and I wanted him to stay away from you so you didn't get involved."
"What is he going through...?"
"To put it bluntly, he's lonely, T. He's not in a very good state of mind. Just...stay away." Luke sighed, rubbing his eyes. I was sure he got as much sleep as I did and he needed more, but Jack kept him up all night playing poker and doing shots of whatever was left over in Andy's alcohol cabinet. "I should probably head back to my house and give Jack, Ana's letter." That was his way of saying he wanted to drop the subject and not talk about it until he was having a better day.
"Can you just stay?" I pleaded. "Or can I go with you? I mean, it's madness here and things are probably a lot calmer over there."
I could imagine all the groomsmen sitting around watching ESPN while chugging beers and having a nice laugh. No hair and makeup, just a chill time.
My mom peeked her head in my room, "Talia, we need you in the living room for pictures!"
I sighed and dropped my fork to the plate. "Can you help me with my dress, Luke?" I scratched the side of my head, not caring if I messed up my hair. It wasn't meant to look elegant the way the loose waves framed my face, making me look like a typical beach bum.
"Sure."
He politely turned around as I put on the first dress. I held it closely to my chest so it wouldn't fall. "You can turn around now. Just, um, zip me up."
"We'll hang out tons tonight," Luke chuckled, gently tugging on the zipper.
"If I even make it out alive from this house."
