{"id":1181,"date":"2019-02-14T12:07:25","date_gmt":"2019-02-14T17:07:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/read.whitefire-publishing.com\/?p=1181"},"modified":"2020-06-01T09:05:38","modified_gmt":"2020-06-01T13:05:38","slug":"love-lace-and-minor-alterations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whitefire-publishing.com\/read\/love-lace-and-minor-alterations\/","title":{"rendered":"Love, Lace, and Minor Alterations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n

Love, Lace, and Minor Alterations<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

by V. Joy Palmer<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isabel\n\u201cIzze\u201d Vez, bridal consultant extraordinaire, has been helping brides find The\nDress for years. She loves nothing more than helping make wedding dreams come\ntrue \u2026 but sometimes the happy endings grate on her. How many times can a girl discover\nsomeone else\u2019s gown without dreaming of the day it\u2019ll be her turn to wear one?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When\nJames Miles Clayton walks into her life, he represents everything Izze can\u2019t\nhandle: change. He\u2019s determined to bring the Ever After Bridal Salon into the\nblack \u2026 and to prove to Izze that she should give him a chance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But\nif there\u2019s anything Izze handles worse than change, it\u2019s trust. She may have a\nfew issues\u2014fine, she knows she does. But will they keep getting in the way of\nany chance of her own Happily Ever After? She wants to trust God to give her\nthose dreams of love and lace, but that\u2019s going to require some \u2026 minor<\/em> alterations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t

Chapter 1<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t

When a bride finds The Dress, there\nis joy, laughter, and on some occasions, even spontaneous dancing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is none of that right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bride wails like her firstborn\nson has been promised to Rumpelstiltskin. I stare in horror at the once\nbeautiful dress. Formerly perfect, sparkling with promise, and, well, now it\ndoesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat are we going to do?\u201d the\nbride asks, knocking me back into reality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Um\u2026I\u2019m not sure there is anything\nwe can do for that dress now. Her undergarments show, courtesy of the torn\ntrain, but I\u2019ll attempt to take a more positive route.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI will have a seamstress look at\nit and see what she can do, but just in case, why don\u2019t I bring in some other\ngowns for you to browse through. Just in case,\u201d I add so she doesn\u2019t think all\nis lost with this gown. Even though all is totally lost with this gown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat do you mean, look at other\ngowns? This is The Dress. Are you crazy? This is the<\/em> dress!\u201d She screams right into my face, eyes bugging out of\ntheir sockets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell,\nI know that, and you know that, but a bride should always be prepared for whatever\nhappens. She should always have a backup dress. I was going to mention that to\nyou when you came in today for your fitting,\u201d I say this casually while I take a\nstep back. I\u2019m not completely lying. I fitted a bride once who had five<\/em> backup gowns. When I asked her\nabout it, in one of her fifty fittings, she just called it being well prepared.\nI called it neurotic, but to each her own. I was going to mention it today for\nlaughs, but you use whatever you\u2019ve got to in a crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cReally?\u201d\nThe bride looks at me in complete desperation. Her hazel eyes are wide and\nunblinking as she waits for me to fix her world with a single word. I have\npower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cReally.\u201d\nI give her my best reassuring smile. \u201cSo why don\u2019t you change out of this dress\nwhile I go get some others? Do you want to try some in this same style, or\nmaybe a different one? You would look divine in an empire waist gown.\u201d I keep\nmy voice as sweet as maple syrup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\ntakes the bait, and soon an empire waist gown that screams gorgeous drapes from\nher shoulders. Lace covers the bodice, and a big satin ribbon emphasizes the\nwaist. The lace, covering a chiffon skirt, flows to the floor. It starts off\ncovering her whole waist but gradually narrows at five points around the skirt,\nvery similar to a star shape. When it reaches the hem, there are just five\nlittle dots of lace. It\u2019s even more beautiful than the dress her flower girl\nruined. A few minutes later, she schedules another fitting and then disappears out\nthe door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just\nanother day\u2019s work at Ever After, the bridal boutique in Keene, New Hampshire,\nwhere I work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My\nname is Isabel Vez. Yes, I love my job. No, the bridal boutique is not named\nafter the movie Ever After<\/em>. No, I\u2019m\nnot married yet. No, I don\u2019t let the fact that I work with annoyingly perky\nbrides every single day rub salt in my raw single wound. And yes, I still love\nmy job despite all that. Usually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\nwoman would make a model candidate for Bridezillas<\/em>,\u201d\nmy best friend and Ever After\u2019s one and only seamstress, Kaylee McGrurd,\nwhispers with a giggle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo\nkidding.\u201d I pretend to straighten a couple bridal catalogs long enough to\ndebrief her about the last customer. \u201cI thought her head was going to explode\nwhen she saw the dress. Her eyes were twice the normal size.\u201d I try to imitate\nher expression for Kaylee\u2019s benefit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat\nhappened to it?\u201d Kaylee asks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe\ntrain had been partially ripped off the dress, and clung to one side of the\ngown by a single, jagged piece of fabric.\u201d Kaylee makes a face, and I hold up\nmy right hand. \u201cDon\u2019t ask me how, but if you get a train that long, it\u2019s going\nto come with some risks. I imagine it has something to do with the flower girl,\nwho was playing with it, but then hid behind her mother when the bride started\nto hyperventilate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGood\njob with that client.\u201d My boss, Lilly Marshall, suddenly appears by my side.\nIt\u2019s spooky how she does that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nquickly straighten. \u201cThank you.\u201d My boss does not tolerate slouches at work.\nShe says it brings disgrace to our gowns. Lilly went to an all-girl school from\nkindergarten to twelfth grade. Etiquette lessons were required each year, or\nyou didn\u2019t move on to the next grade. This especially means that if she catches\nme slouching, she will give me a five-minute lecture about good posture. I know\nthis speech by heart, in case you were wondering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSuch\na pity her other dress was ruined like that,\u201d Lilly mutters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes,\nit is a pity, uh, such,\u201d I say. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kaylee\nstarts to laugh at my bad grammar, but covers it with a cough when my elbow\nlands in her ribs. \u201cYes,\u201d she says, \u201cIt\u2019s such, such a pity,\u201d Kaylee says this\nwith a straight face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My\nboss stares at us for a few minutes. I really want to howl with laughter. Drat\nKaylee and her ability to keep cool under all circumstances! Lilly snaps back\nto reality and smiles. \u201cWell, back to work, girls. Those gowns won\u2019t find their\nbrides all by themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Um\u2026\nokay. Creepy statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nlook at my friend as our weird boss walks away. \u201cWill you stop doing that?\u201d I\nwhisper. \u201cThe woman is not stupid. She\u2019s going to figure out you\u2019re mocking\nher.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf\nshe hasn\u2019t figured it out yet, then I don\u2019t think she\u2019s going to anytime soon,\u201d\nKaylee says. \u201cSo, The Chow Man after work? I\u2019m craving a good crab Rangoon.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\nsounds great,\u201d I say. \u201cDo you want to eat there?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo.\nI\u2019ll pick it up on my way home. I just want to crash in front of the TV\ntonight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh,\nso your usual nightly routine?\u201d I smile at her as she rolls her eyes at me and\nsticks out her tongue. We may be twenty-five, but we still act like we\u2019re\nthirteen with each other. You know, as long as no one is looking. Then we act\nlike the mature young women they think we are. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They\nreally have no idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSee\nyou at home. I\u2019ve got some errands. I\u2019ll pick up the Chinese food.\u201d Kaylee\nsmirks. \u201cHave fun with the nut cases.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\nare not nut cases. They are just stressed. Planning a wedding can be very\nstressful.\u201d I say this in a monotone, as I recite this line to sobbing, spazzing,\nand emotional<\/a> brides almost every day. Some of them are<\/em> total nut jobs, but I can\u2019t tell Kaylee that. I hate losing in\nany way, shape, or form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhatever.\nI\u2019ll see you later.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kaylee\nwaves as she shoots out the door, her long, red hair flying out behind her like\nWonder Woman\u2019s red cape. Kaylee is beautiful. She\u2019s five-foot-ten with long,\nsleek red hair and bright green eyes. Literally, her eyes are the color of a\nfresh kiwi. She has a fabulous fashion sense, witty humor, and a love of\nfootball, baseball, and various other sporting endeavors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What?\nI don\u2019t like sports. I once forgot whether the Red Sox were a baseball or\nfootball team. Basically, Kaylee is every man\u2019s dream. She even cooks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nam the opposite of every man\u2019s dream. I\u2019m short\u2014five-foot-two\u2014with extremely\ncurly, dark hair. I already covered the fact that I don\u2019t know baseball from\nfootball, and I do not cook. I can\u2019t even make mashed potatoes right. My\nroommates call the fire department every time I bring home groceries. You have\none little incident with a fiery stove, and nobody trusts you anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nwalk around the bridal boutique. The front windows boast mannequins dressed in\nour newest gowns, but sheer curtains partition them off from the rest of the\nstore. The front section of the store has popular dresses on display. The left\nand right walls are wall-to-wall mannequins dressed in bridal apparel, as well\nas a few random mannequins that stand throughout the greeting area. I stop to\nstraighten the hem of one before going to stand behind the front desk, which is\nframed by a door on each side. One leads to the stockroom. The other leads to\nthe offices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nbell over the door chimes, and another bride walks inside the store. She takes\na seat on one of the three couches arranged like a giant \u201cU.\u201d They face the\nstorefront, but that doesn\u2019t stop this blond chick from turning around to stare\nat me with the classic, \u201cWhen is it my turn?\u201d look. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Candace\nMatthews, the other consultant, comes out of the offices. \u201cIs my two o\u2019clock\nappointment here yet?\u201d She tucks a strand of black hair behind her left ear. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\ngesture to the girl who is still staring at us. How can you miss that? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Candace\nsteps next to me and pretends to busy herself with some paperwork on the desk.\n\u201cHer name is Precious. Precious Treasure.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nsnort, and immediately start coughing to cover it. \u201cYeah. You have fun with\nthat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThanks.\u201d\nCandace rolls her eyes, and then walks over to the bride to introduce herself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nget back to work, busying myself with some paperwork for the brides who have\nordered gowns and are coming in for fittings, rather than buying off the rack.\nI don\u2019t have any other appointments scheduled for my shift, and before I know\nit, it\u2019s time for me to leave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once\nI walk out the front door, I turn left down the strip mall sidewalk. Ever After\nis right in the middle, with a shoe store and a trendy clothing store on the\nright. On the left, there is a bookstore and caf\u00e9 called Whipped Cream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nopen the door to Whipped Cream, and am greeted by Grant Thurrs\u2014the owner, as\nwell as the man who thought of the corny name to this caf\u00e9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHey\nIzze!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\ntake a step back. Not sure why, but it\u2019s my first response to such an\nenthusiastic greeting. \u201cHi, Grant. Been a slow day?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\nwas so bored that I arranged the mugs by color.\u201d He gestures to the shelf to\nhis right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd\nwhat color dominated?\u201d We have a long-standing argument that he needs to get a\nvariety of different colored mugs, not just blue mugs. He always says that the\n\u201cmugs\u201d on the customers are different enough for him. I say that\u2019s rude, and\nblue gets boring after a while. And on it goes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He sighs. \u201cIzze, do we really have\nto go there again?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My lips curl in a smug grin. \u201cYes.\u201d\nI bat my eyelashes at him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He mumbles in a low voice. I\nbalance on my tiptoes to hear him. \u201cGlue,\u201d he says. Yeah, that\u2019s what I heard,\ntoo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGlue? Do you glue you\u2019re mugs\ntogether? Does the health inspector know?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat? No. B-L-U-E. Are you deaf\nfrom all the shrieking brides?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m not deaf. You just mumble.\nTake a speech class,\u201d I say as I settle onto a barstool in front of the\ncounter. \u201cI\u2019ll take an iced mocha with a shot of caramel and an extra shot of\nespresso. Pretty please.\u201d I add the pretty please for good measure. After all,\nI did insult his speech abilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He rolls his eyes. \u201cNo extra mocha\nshot this time?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI thought that was understood.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cComing right up.\u201d He turns to get\nit ready.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I look around the caf\u00e9. It is dead\nin here. This strip mall is located in the middle of town. This is Keene, New\nHampshire. No, it\u2019s not New York City, but it\u2019s not exactly a little\nstick-in-the-mud town in the middle of a state nobody remembers exists. Normally\nbusiness is pretty steady.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grant owns the caf\u00e9 along with his\nsister Miranda, who chooses that moment to enter. Grant and Miranda happen to\nbe my second cousins, so I get a discount on coffee. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHey!\u201d she yells. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I blink. These people are not\nnormally so starved for human interaction. \u201cUh\u2026hi!\u201d I respond, also yelling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now she blinks at me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I decide to change the subject and\nspare myself from looking like an idiot. \u201cSo how are you doing, Miranda?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m good. It\u2019s been so slow today.\nIt\u2019s making me sleepy. I can\u2019t wait until closing.\u201d She yawns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grant comes back with a to-go cup\nfilled with my icy mocha treat. \u201cWhat are we talking about?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYour sister just told me she\u2019s\ngoing to club you over the head, lock your body in the shed, and become sole\nproprietor of this establishment.\u201d I figure potential murder is definitely free\nof boredom. \u201cOh, and she\u2019s going to buy more mugs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grant rolls his eyes as he hands me\nmy coffee. I take a sip of the sickly sweet but delicious drink. Grant almost\ngags as he watches me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow can you drink that much sugar\nand cream on top of chocolate?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have a strong heart.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhatever.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I grin. \u201cBye, guys. I\u2019ll see you\ntomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBye,\u201d they both echo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\ntake a deep breath at the door. Iced coffee in the middle of winter was not a\nbright idea. I take another sip. Who cares? I open the door and run the rest of\nthe way to my car. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\npull into the driveway at my house. Yes, I said house. It\u2019s a four-bedroom\nhouse that Kaylee and I rent with two close friends from church, Apryl and\nCourtney Burns. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sisters.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Twin\nsisters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m\nsure you can imagine the joys that brings our lives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s\na small, uh, good house. Really, it\u2019s a rundown shack. The paint is peeling.\nThe shutters are falling off. The stove doesn\u2019t bake properly. The hardwood\nfloors creak. The railing leading upstairs is broken. In fact, we kicked down\nwhat was left, rather than keep dealing with it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On\nthe plus side, there are four small bedrooms. Four small, small bedrooms.\nBarely big enough for a bed. That may be a slight exaggeration, considering I\nhave a dresser, desk, and chair squeezed into mine. But I love this house. It\u2019s\nbeautiful in a\nfalling-apart-on-an-old-back-road-with-lots-of-sunshine-and-nature kind of way.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nget out of my little blue car. Sweet! I\u2019m the first one here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As\nI walk in the front door, I kick my shoes off in the foyer, hang my coat on the\nrack, and set my Coach purse, a Christmas present from my parents, on the\ndecorative table where we all keep our purses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nwalk the agonizing ten feet to the couch where I immediately collapse without\nbothering to change out of my skirt and blouse. Bring on the wrinkles, because\nonly a chicken running through my living room screaming, \u201cThe sky is falling!\u201d\nis getting me up and off this couch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And\nif that happens I\u2019ll be going to get a psych evaluation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

About\nhalf an hour later Apryl and Courtney get home. I can hear them yelling from\nthe car all the way in here, on the couch, with the volume on the TV turned up\nhigher than necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAre\nyou crazy?\u201d That\u2019s Courtney and her familiar, high-pitched scream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cListen.\nI\u2019m going to say this to you one more time. This is my job. I love to do it.\nAnd it\u2019s my head. If I dye the whole thing magenta, that is my right! It\u2019s your\njob to love me regardless of how I look!\u201d Apryl screams back. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\npause the movie. I might as well listen without any distractions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut\nwhen you dye my whole head magenta, it\u2019s another story!\u201d Courtney shrieks at a\ndecibel appropriate only for dogs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThen\ndon\u2019t bring up my hair color choices.\u201d Apryl huffs. Apryl has had some\ninteresting hair colors. Currently, her hair is jet black, shoulder length,\nwith a ton of layers\u2014at least it was this morning. \u201cAnd I did your tips. The\nvery ends of your hair. Get over it. You said you wanted something different,\nand this is different. Besides, it looks great on you.\u201d Apryl sounds like she\nis trying to speak calmly, like she is trying to reason with her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah right.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m\na law student.\u201d Courtney says. \u201cI\u2019m going to be a lawyer. I can\u2019t have magenta\ntips! It\u2019s undignified. I was thinking blond highlights or even red. But this\nis frightening!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cListen,\nundignified works for you. King David was undignified. I think lawyers are too\nstuffy. Live a little. Add some color to those gray suits.\u201d Apryl says all this\nin a bored tone. I bet they\u2019ve been going at it for a while.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\ndoor slams open and they walk inside the house. Courtney practically runs\nthrough the living room, up the stairs, and presumably into her room, because I\nhear another door slam. Apryl just stands there and looks at me. Probably\nbecause I\u2019m lying on my back, legs flung over the back of the couch, and feet\nhanging off the edge. Also, I\u2019m in a skirt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Could\nbe embarrassing if there were any guys here. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\ndrops her purse on the floor, kicks off her shoes, and belly flops onto the\nloveseat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDid\nyou see her hair?\u201d Apryl asks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nfiddle with the remote. \u201cShe took off running too fast for me to see it. Flash\nwould have been proud.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\nlooks great on her. I\u2019m not dyeing it back. She can go to some other\nhairstylist and pay for it if she\u2019s going to be like that.\u201d She huffs, sending\nher bangs flying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nkeep my mouth shut. I don\u2019t really want to deal with it. I just want to watch Letters to<\/em> Juliet <\/em>and eat my bag of Oreos. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes,\nI am going to eat the whole bag by myself. It\u2019s been a long day. Don\u2019t judge.\nI\u2019ll work it off. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or\nI\u2019ll skip breakfast tomorrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\nlove this movie,\u201d Apryl murmurs. \u201cWhat are you watching next?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy Fair Wedding<\/em>. Somebody\u2019s doing a\nwedding with sky diving or ocean creatures or something like that.\u201d I answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d\nApryl asks after a moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\ndon\u2019t know what was so hard to understand about that statement. I open my mouth\nto start over again only slower this time. \u201cI said My Fair Wedding<\/em>. The episode is about\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot\nthat, dork. I don\u2019t see how you went from sky diving to ocean monsters. They are\nworlds apart.\u201d Apryl rolls her deep-set, blue eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh,\u201d\nI say. \u201cI\u2019m not sure where a lot of those ideas for weddings come from, but\nI\u2019ve seen some weird stuff. I just remember it looked interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\nsee,\u201d Apryl says and then falls quiet again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thirty\nminutes later, a herd of elephants tromps up our porch stairs. Kaylee comes\nthrough the door seconds later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guess\nI was wrong about that herd of elephants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHey\nguys.\u201d Her hands are full of Chinese takeout. \u201cWhat are we watching? Where\u2019s\nCourtney?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apryl\nsays, \u201cLetters to Juliet<\/em>,\u201d the same\ntime I say, \u201cIn her room.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh,\nI love this movie!\u201d She sits down and passes around the takeout containers and\nchopsticks. \u201cWhy?\u201d She casts her eyes upstairs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But\nshe already knows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\noften go through this scenario with slight variations. First, one of us gets\nhome and flops on the couch with the television blaring. Next, the rest of us\nstart to find our way home. Then, Apryl and Courtney begin to argue about\nanything from haircuts to whether or not Congress would pass a law stating that\nsocks cannot be worn with sandals. Later, after much \u201cdiscussion,\u201d Courtney\nwill storm to her room. Finally, Courtney, feeling convicted, will return to\napologize, and we will enjoy a lazy evening in front of the TV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nknow my life. Boring for some, but not to me. I have a problem when I don\u2019t\nknow what\u2019s going to happen next. Repetition is good. Change is distressing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apryl\nsets the small container of rice on the floor and rolls over. \u201cShe didn\u2019t like\nthe dye job I did for her hair. It\u2019s too wild for her.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kaylee\njust nods in an Oh-I-see way. This is an argument as old as time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\nsit in silence for about fifteen minutes before I hear Courtney come down the\nstairs. She walks over to the couch, stopping in front of us. Her hair looks\ngreat, actually. The magenta looks really good with her wavy, mahogany-colored\nhair. I pause the movie again and close my eyes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\njust wanted to say that I\u2019m sorry for freaking out. You\u2019re right. This is\ndifferent. And that\u2019s exactly what I said I wanted.\u201d Her voice is soft, humble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even\nwith my eyes closed I can still see the scene in our little living room. I\nsmile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s\nokay, Court. I understand.\u201d I open my eyes as Apryl passes a container of Lo\nMein to her as a peace offering. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And\nall is well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWho\u2019s\nup for My Fair Wedding<\/em>?\u201d I ask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nlove my life.<\/p>\n\n\n