Chapter 8: Chapter 8

She hasn't said a word about it since I just told her about it. "Mom? You ok?"

"What are you in the world?" After she yells, she gets up on her feet right away. Oh, I see. This Mark must be your boyfriend, right?"

I guess you could say that I did have something happen to me." I told my mother, "Yes, this Mark is the one I'm going to marry." Even though she was rude, I was nice to her. For some reason, I felt like I was more grown up and sure of myself.

"You can't tie the knot! You're 17." Oh man, that made me laugh so hard I was about to pee my pants.

"No! You have no right to say such things to me! You haven't been in my life for the better part of 15 years. It's getting hard not to cry." I love Mark. Besides that, he loves me. Dad doesn't mind. Oh, for God's sake, he, Mark, and I all think the same thing! Mark is in charge of making sure I'm happy, and he really cares that I'm happy. "Why aren't you happy for me?" is the question.

I can almost hear her crying through the way she sighs. Getting bigger in her eyes. "I'll do whatever I can to get it... So how did you two meet?" She wonders. It got better over time. Here come her questions.

"Okay, so we agreed to meet at a coffee shop. I forgot my wallet, but she offered to pay, so I guess we'll just have to do this." Mark says. I'm glad he didn't change anything about the story. I give him a smile back.

"Ok. How long have you and your date been going out? I was right the whole time. Questions.

I told them that I've been dating my partner for the past three years.

"Favorite color." She wonders.

I smile and look in the direction of Mark. He doesn't say anything. "Purple is the best color for her." "His is green."

"I still don't approve but I understand. Somewhat." She takes a few deep breaths and settles in before going on. "So, I take it you want to see the dress, right?"

"Yeah. One reason is that this is the case. Also, I'd like to invite you to come with us. The wedding is a small, private event. Family and close friends are important to us. I would love it if you could come."

She was about to say more when a younger girl walked into the room. "Mommy, here is a picture that I made just for you." She looked like she was at most seven years old.

She said, "I still don't understand why you didn't make one just for me." This is what an older man says when he walks in and hugs and kisses my mother on the head. He pays the same amount of attention to both Mark and me. Oh. You could say, "Hello, my name is Will's wife Liz's husband."

I feel like I'm about to faint. I can't say anything. "Uh, my name is Mark. Nice to meet you." I'm still frozen.

"As well as you. What is your name?" He asks me to hold out my hand so he can take it.

"Excuse me, but my name is Alyanna," Alyanna said. In the end, I stand up and shake his hand firmly.

"I've heard something like that before." He says. He's stopped by either my mom or Lizzie.

"Hannah, why don't you go see what your sister has been up to and check on her? The girl gives a little nod.

Her husband comes back to talk to her. "Uh. Is this really Alyanna's name?"

"Yes, she just told me who she is," he said. He didn't get it. He kinda seems like an airhead. Even though I've only known him for, what, ten seconds, I've already decided what I think about him and what I think of him. I don't agree with Beauty and the Beast's central idea.

The mother told the man, "No, Will, this is my daughter Alyanna." He looks at her for a second, then at me again. I smile a little. "Hi."

He gives back the smile. "This is something I've been looking forward to for a long time." Liz told me a lot about you, so I know a lot about you. Okay, so he started out as a fool, then he got confused, and then he went back to being a fool.

"Hi. Mark, who you can see in this picture, and I are going to get married. We're here to buy a dress, and I wanted to use this time to catch up with my mom. I say.

"Mom?" Now, the older girl can be seen. Where does she point when she talks? She seems about to cry because she keeps looking back and forth between Liz and me.

Liz has to deal with her. "Hon I... I..." At that, she lets out a sigh. "I'm not sure." She has just started to cry.

The girl will be leaving. "Shall I talk to her?" Okay, so he started out as an idiot, then he got confused, then he went back to being an idiot, and now he's being kind.

"I apologize. We made a mistake by coming. As I get my things together, I'll say this.

"No. I'm glad you did. I haven't gotten back to you in far too long. I'm not going to do it again." She moves toward me by taking one step toward me. "I would be happy to come to your wedding. I hope you can always depend on me to be there for you. If it's okay with you, I'd like to take you to a bridal shop so that the dress can be made to fit you.

I give her a bear hug and a smile. "Yes. That would be a great idea. Please let me know if you think it would be good for your other daughters to go. I haven't told anyone yet that both of them are my sisters.

"I think they would, but I need to talk to Sophie first before we go any further." When my oldest daughter said that her sister "stormed off," I must have looked like I didn't know where I was.

"Oh. Okay, I can see that. When would you like to leave?" I ask kinda looking at Mark. He gives me a look that says, "I don't care," and then he nods his head.

"If that's okay with you, tomorrow."

Sophie needs some time alone to help her calm down."

That sounds like a good idea, so let's go back to the hotel and rest." I finish the turn and reach out to take Mark's hand.

I'd love to invite you to stay with us, but we don't have any extra room and I think Sophie might be a little nervous. My mom says. It's clear that she really wants to go talk to her daughter about what happened.

Even though this pain in my chest shouldn't be there, it is. I can't figure out why. Why couldn't she just keep staying? But if she had, Mark and I might not have met. Would I be in the same room as the man I'm starting to feel attracted to?

I know this will never happen, though. It's just a small piece of paper.