Shaking my head, trying to drive those thoughts away, I followed Niall to his car. We sat in silence while he drove, and I thought about what was happening to me. Do I like him? I don't think so. It's probably just because I haven't had a boyfriend in a long time, and I miss that. I've never even had a real boyfriend. They were just for fun, no feelings involved. At least, not on my part... But Niall can't possibly appeal to me, it's impossible. He's... Niall. Never mind, it's not true, and that's final. And I know it perfectly well. I think...
We arrived at the church, and after parking, we got out and started walking inside. It was a good thing I put on a sweater and a short, unfastened fur coat. It wasn't freezing, but it was still winter. At least the snow had melted.
Inside, no one paid attention to us, which made me happy. Of course, I was already delighted that my childhood best friend was having his dream wedding. I led Niall to the first pew, where we were instructed to sit. A few teenagers gathered in a group, talking amongst themselves, noticed us. They looked like the cool kids, about 15-17 years old. They started pointing at us, and four of them began walking towards us. Niall noticed this too, of course, and started giggling as he turned to me. Finally, I heard a girl calling my name, saying she needed me urgently. I smiled apologetically at Niall.
"Good luck with them," I gestured behind me and rushed over to the girl.
"Hi," she quickly greeted me, grabbing my arm and starting to pull me somewhere. "I'm Emily, Lilah's best friend, and we require your help. At home, Lilah forgot to spray her hair with lacquer after curling it, and now her hair looks bad. It's hard for her to fix it with the dress on, and I'm not very good at it because mine is naturally curly. So, she told me to call you because you must know how," she explained, leading me into some small room.
"Sure," I simply replied, understanding the problem.
Passing through another door, I saw Lilah in her white, stunning dress, sitting on a chair in front of a mirror, fixing her makeup.
"You look amazing. Except for the hair," I chuckled.
"Hi, thank you for coming, but hurry, we have fifteen minutes until the start. Please help me!" she was hysterical. Hormones.
"Okay, don't worry, I'll make it. Where is the curling iron?" I replied calmly, and when Emily handed me the tool, I started my work. Ten minutes later, I was finished, not forgetting the hairspray. "Done," I said, clapping my hands.
"Oh God, thank you so much," Lilah quickly got up and hugged me.
"Are you joining in?" I asked the other girl standing aside.
"Alright," she said and hugged me from the other side too.
"Well, your dad will be here soon, and shall Emily and I go sit down?" I asked.
"No, I'm going to the altar. I'm a bridesmaid," she grimaced, as if she wasn't too thrilled about it.
"Well, then we're still leaving," I laughed, and now I led her back out of there.
I was returning to my seat, and everyone was already sitting quietly in their designated places. Except for two teenagers who were glued to Niall on both sides. Wanting to get back, I remembered Jakob. He was already standing anxiously at the altar with one groomsman. I ran up to him and held out both my hands. He high-fived me, and I quickly hugged him.
"I'm so proud of you," I whispered to him, and he nodded as I pulled away. "By the way, she looks amazing," I added and ran towards my seat, which was occupied by one of the sixteen-year-olds wearing tons of makeup.
"Go to your own seats and get out of mine."
"And who are you to tell me what to do? Can't you see we're busy?" one of them snapped back, pointing to Niall, who looked more annoyed than I ever was by Josh.
"First, I'm older. Second, he doesn't like you, and he looks annoyed. Third, he's my date, and he wouldn't be here without me, so get out," I hissed, and they grumbled and left.
I sat down next to Niall and some other man. I didn't even recognize Jakob's father.
"Hello, Mr. Sul," I greeted him.
"Luanna? Is that you?" he was surprised.
"Does anyone else call you Sul?" I chuckled softly.
"Definitely not," he chuckled. "You've changed so much," he marveled. "I can't even count how many years it's been."
"Fifteen," I said after a moment's thought.
"Unbelievable," he continued to marvel, but the music started playing. "We'll talk later," he said and turned his attention to his son.
Lilah, holding her father's arm, entered through the doors and walked toward the altar. I started tapping my foot; it was all so fun and happy. Niall put his hand on my knee, sending shivers down my back.
"Stop it," he laughed quietly and straightened up, removing his hand.
Finally, the whole ceremony began.
We were now driving to the restaurant-hotel where the celebration itself would take place. And apparently, we'd be spending the night there.
"It's a good thing I didn't cry," I sighed, leaning my head against the window.
"How sentimental," Niall snorted, driving behind the other guests.
"Don't mock me," I frowned. "We dreamed about this moment sixteen years ago."
"You started planning your wedding when you were six?" he asked.
"Exactly. It was one of the most important things in our future, and we promised each other to be there. We'd sit in the first pew and be happy for each other, since neither of us had siblings," I explained.
"I never thought about that," he said, scratching his head.
"Don't touch it," I slapped his hand. "Don't mess up your hair."
"What does it matter?" he laughed.
"Well, it's a wedding, and people care about these things," I listed. "And your hair looks neat for the first time in your life."
"Wow, thanks for the compliment," he said sarcastically.
"No offense, I actually don't care if it's neat or not. I don't even brush my own hair sometimes," I clarified.
"I know, I know. Let's go," he urged me, stopping in the parking lot like the other guests.
Everyone went into the restaurant and sat down at the huge table, which was already set, with names written on a piece of paper to indicate where to sit. We were placed between Jakob and Lilah, and Jakob's parents.
While the waiters started bringing food, some people began giving speeches about the newlyweds, congratulating them, and so on.
"Please tell me you didn't prepare a speech," Jakob said to me.
"Her speech should be the best," Niall chuckled in agreement.
"No, Jakob, I didn't prepare a speech," I said, and he calmed down, sighing with relief. "But that doesn't mean I won't give one," I whispered to the two of them, and immediately stood up.
All attention turned to me.
"Hello, I'm Luanna Perez, and I've known Jakob since I was four and started kindergarten. We became best friends, and I can admit that planning our wedding was a frequent pastime. We always dreamed about it. Once, I asked him what name he'd want for his wife. You can think I'm lying, but he answered, 'Lilah.' One dream has come true. There were two, but I won't mention the other until it's fulfilled. Every time we talked about weddings, we promised to be there. To sit in the first pew and rejoice for each other, since neither of us had siblings. Even though he moved away, and I didn't see him for thirteen years, we still found each other, and here I am, rejoicing for him with all my heart," I finished and sat down as everyone started applauding.
Of course, Lilah was sitting there crying because of her pregnancy hormones.