Chapter 14: Chapter 14

The next morning, my dad's annoying singing and the smell of cheap candle wax melting woke me up around ten. You know what they use to make candles for birthdays.

We started this tradition with my dad. You find a candle and put it on our favorite thing to eat for breakfast. Ours are both huge cinnamon rolls. I'm no longer tired, but I don't want to get out of bed.

"Have a happy birthday! Happy birthday to... you. Happy birthday smiley Alyanna. Hey, it's your birthday!" My dad sings and dances while he does it.

I fully sit up and see a full plate of mega cinnamon rolls with a candle in the middle and my dad smiling at me. "Thanks dad." I go in to give him a hug.

"Thank you, honey. Now, make a wish and blow out the candle." He tells me to move the dish closer to me.

I close my eyes and wish for something small. Then let it go. "Can we eat them now? I'm starved." I ask, putting my finger in the frosting already.

"Sure. But let's go down the stairs." As he leaves my room with the mega cinnamon rolls, my dad says.

"Hey! Don't keep me from having breakfast on my birthday." I say that I'm leaving my room to go after him.

Mark is all dressed and sitting on a bar stool eating eggs when I get downstairs. "Hey. Have a great day!" He says it in a casual way.

"Thanks." I smile. Ok, so last night we just talked like nothing had happened. I mean we kissed, didn't we? I won't spend the day worrying about that, though. No, I'll have a great birthday and a great graduation.

"Eat quickly before they get cold." My dad tells me to get out of my head and give myself a pep talk.

"Ok, ok." I say sitting next to Mark. "What time will Charlie arrive?" I ask. He has never forgotten my birthday. Or even my graduation.

"When you leave, he'll get here. But he will be there for your graduation and the party dinner." Serve me a roll, says my dad.

I want you to look at my Mark. "What do you have planned today?" I ask you to bite into my roll.

"It's not much. After my meeting, I'm done." He answers.

"When will we meet?" I ask with a lot in my mouth.

"In about 30 minutes." He says taking his last bite of egg.

"Okay, so after the wedding, do you want to spend the day with me looking for the things we get to choose?" I ask. I'm not sure if he'll really say yes or not. I mean that he might or might not do it.

"Sounds good, for sure. We need to get back before you have to leave." He says.

"Yeah, I know, but I want to do what we can so we don't have to worry. The wedding is in 6 weeks." His way of saying he doesn't want it to take too long makes me roll my eyes.

He gives a small eye roll. Enough to show me. "I guess I should go. In an hour, I'll come get you." Before going out the door, Mark says.

When he leaves, my dad looks at me. "You were the one who said that time apart is a good thing." He says.

"But that will happen after the wedding. Usually, the bride and groom can't live without each other." I try to explain why I did what I did.

"Sure." He says. "So I can go to your graduation, I have to go to work soon. You're fine until Mark gets back, right?"

"Yes I'm fine. Love you." I say giving him a hug before he goes upstairs to get ready.

When I'm done with the dishes, I go to my room and find a wrapped box with a note on my bed. "She helped me choose it. Hope you like it. From dad." I read to myself.

When I opened the box, I saw a beautiful red dress that came to my knees and had a black belt to go around my waist. I know I said I don't really like dresses, but this one is really pretty. Most of it was lace, and it looked like flowers. It's great.

I grab my phone and send a thank-you text to my dad. Next, I put it on. It fits perfectly, and I'll wear it tonight for sure.

I put it on the door of my closet, then go to my desk to draw. It's the quickest way to get lost in time. So Mark will be at my door before you know it.

"Hey. Ready to go?" He asks.

I jump but don't bug him about scaring me. "Yeah, hold on a sec." I answer as I get my purse and follow him out of my room.

I find the box my mom gave me when we get in the car. When Mark walks in, he sees me with the box. "You didn't open that at all." He says. I ask, "Should I now?"

"So what? She did say that it was an old thing." He says to start the car and back out of the driveway.

Before I start to open it, I just stare at it for about 30 seconds. When I open the lid, I see something that looks like a headband and has small diamonds around the edge. It's lovely. I remember seeing it in the wedding pictures of my mom and dad.

"What's that?" Mark asks.

"That's the tiara my mother wore to hide the seam in the veil." I would say to look through the box again.

I discovered a note. "What's it say?" Mark asks as he looks at it.

I took it out. "My family has had this tiara for more than 70 years. When my grandmother got married to my grandfather, she wore this. My mom wore it, I wore it, and now I hope you will too. I'm giving you this as if you're old. The veil could be your "something new." I love you. Mom." As I read the last part, it makes me smile.

"Let me guess. To a bridal store so you can get a veil." Mark says this with a smirk, but he is serious at the same time. "If it's okay with you." I start.

"Fine." He says that the turn is close to a bridal shop.

"Thank you."

"We've been here for more than an hour, and you still haven't chosen a veil. It's just a mesh piece of fabric you put on your head." Mark says, rolling his eyes as he watches me try on all of them from the couch.

A consultant comes over. "Do you need help?" She wonders.

"Yes we do. She won't make a choice." Mark gives me the answer.

"You might like it better if you try it on with a dress." What the expert says. "I have my dress already." I reply.

"Which is fine, but the whole effect is different, so just tell me what your dress looks like and I'll find something similar, and we'll find a veil to go with it." She says.

"Ok. My dress is tight up to my waist, so it doesn't have sleeves." I use my hands to show her and put them around my waist. "Then it ends and there is no train. And a small belt that had blue stones on it." I say.

She looks me over and then sticks out her hand. "I'll be back in a minute." She comes back with a dress that is almost the same, but not quite. "If you try this on, I'll find a veil for you." She says.

I pay attention to what she says and then go back to change. "Ok, I'm all set." I say as I walk out.

She keeps me from going outside so she can cover me with a veil.

"All right, get ready, here she is." As she shoves me toward the main room, the consultant says.

Mark's eyes get really big, and he jumps to his feet. "How do you feel?" I ask shrugging.

"Perfect. I like it a lot." He stutters.

"Give us the veil." I say to the advisor.

"Anything else?" I know that when she asks, she wants me to buy the dress so that she can make a sale.

"No, that's it." I say. I won't buy another dress because the one I have is just right. The best dress I've ever tried on or owned.

"Want to go to the restaurant?" Mark asks as she puts the veil in a box.

"Sure. How about me?" I ask. I'm not sure why I want to drive, but I just do.

He asks, "Why?"

We walk outside. "Do I need an explanation?" I hold out my hand for the keys and ask.

"Fine. Don't get us into an accident." He says he's getting into the back seat.

"I won't." I say getting in.

The trip goes without a hitch. I haven't driven in so long. Most likely in more than a couple of weeks. Mark has been driving me around ever since I met him and got engaged to him.

We were able to get a seat at the diner. "So what else do we need?" Mark asks.

"Well, my something old is the tiara thing, my something new is the veil, my something borrowed are the stupid shoes Maya told me I have to wear, and my something blue is my belt thing." That's the only thing we can plan. Well all I get to plan.

I'm fine with it. I don't want to spend the first half of my summer being stressed out and worried about getting ready.

"Am I not getting anything?" While taking a bite of his burger, Mark asks.

"If you want to, you can be something old. And I'll be different. What do you think?" I'm sure that's why he hates me. Ha ha, I'm so mean.

"Ouch. That was bad. I could be something blue, though. I'm not very good at public things." I didn't know that.

"You'll do fine. I'll also be up there." I try to calm him down.

"Thanks." As he grabs my hand, he says.

We had a moment together. We're looking into each other's eyes while holding hands. He's no longer on guard. I like this Mark who isn't on guard. But even good things must end. When the check comes, the look is back, and our moment is over.

Mark pays. "We should go back to give you time to get ready." He says. "Sure," I reply.

On the way home, we don't really talk much. Mark drives again. I see Maya's car when we pull into the driveway. "Uh oh." I say.

Mark asks, "What?" and looks worried.

"Maya has come. In other words..." I pause to make a point. "Makeup." I feel disgusted.

Mark laughs, and everything is fine again. So far. "Is that what scares you?" Mark asks.

"I just don't like it. I don't think I have to hide any of this." I sat there and pointed to my face.

He laughs again. "Ok. If that's how you feel." He shuts the car off.

"No. Save me from the Maya monster, please." She comes out of the house and walks over to the passenger side at the right time. The place where I am.

"Hello Mark." With a smile, she says. She then looks at me. "You went too slowly. You should have been her a half hour ago. You left me hanging. Now I only have 30 minutes to do your hair and makeup." She tells me to get out of the car.

"Please no makeup." Please.

"We'll see. I still have to do your hair, though."

"Why is this wrong?" I ask, going through it with my fingers a few times.

"Oh sweetie." She is putting on her kind face. "Don't forget that I'm the pro. I'm the one with three sisters who are beauty experts and a mother. And the one who wants to be a beauty therapist and a journalist."

"Wait, is that for real?" Mark asks. I didn't know he was there. Maya has been telling me what's right and what's wrong. I didn't realize he was looking at us. I think they were laughing.

Maya turns to him. "What?" She asks with her teeth clenched. I tell Mark to hurry up, and he starts to open the door to his car.

"You know that I have to do some things. Bye. I'll be there to see you." He yells at me from the middle of my driveway.

"It really is a job!" Maya no longer yells at anyone.

I walked up to her and put my hand on her shoulder. "Let's go in ok?"

"It's a legitimate job." She whispers to make sure that both I and herself feel safe.

"I know. I know. Since Mark is a guy, he doesn't know much." I say rubbing her back. When it comes to this, she is very overprotective. It's run by the family.

"Right. Yes you're right!" Then she drags me back into my pain.