Chapter 33: Chapter 33

Amelia's p.o.v;

In the bridal gown store,

As soon as I walked in, I noticed a large group waiting for me on the couch. My mother, Mrs. Campbell, Anna and Cathy.

I questioned them after I had a chance to speak with them, "I thought you had already done buying for the wedding, didn't you?"

"We finished getting dresses for everyone, babes, '' my mother said as she motioned for me to sit down next to her.

"If so, mom, what are we doing here? Why did you ask me to come here?"

"Because someone still hasn't decided on the dress,"

"Who is it?"

She merely stared at me when I questioned her. Others just stared at me as I looked to them for the solution. Why are they looking at me so intently?

"Why are you looking at me? Is it me?" I questioned.

They nodded in unison.

"I assumed you had chosen the bridesmaids' outfits beforehand. Did you forget to buy it for me? I sent you the measurements through a message. Didn't you get it?"

Anna, "Yes, we did, but we waited for you since you didn't arrive while we were picking out our clothes in person. So, we decided to pick out your outfit when you're free from your music event."

"You give me a sense of importance,"

Mrs Campbell, "Naturally, you are significant too. I know you would have heard this a lot, but the wedding wouldn't have taken place and I wouldn't have gotten my best buddy back if it weren't for you. So you are important in the wedding ceremony."

"You are aware that I didn't do it to win back your friendship. In the beginning, I did it to fulfil my brother's wish. Later, I wished to please my mother. Please don't make me feel uncomfortable again, that wasn't my objective from the start."

I'm not sure how much longer I'll continue to hear this.

Anna said, "Because you fulfil our wish." Everyone started laughing, and Anna got up and sat down next to me. "Let's choose the outfit now, all right?"

I said, "I assume you've already chosen bridesmaid outfits for your friends. Every bridesmaid should have the same appearance, and I have no idea how to choose clothes for myself for events like these. So I'm not helpful to you people."

"That's nothing to be concerned about. Like you already said, the outfit is chosen, you just have to wear the outfit which fits your size. Simply put them on to check whether they fit."

I nodded and turned to face everyone, asking, "Did you all come for this?"

"Actually, we had intended to have lunch after this." Cathy said.

I grinned and thanked them for helping me out.

"This way, please", said a woman approaching me in formal garb.

I nodded and went in after her seeing Anna giving me a thumbs up.

She declared after I wore the bridesmaids outfit, "I'm going to open the curtains," after donning the lengthy purple gown.

I gave her a nod.

I brushed off my clothing as soon as the curtains opened, turned to face them, and greeted them.

They merely stared at me without saying anything else.

"If no one says anything, how will I know if it looks well on me?"

"You look stunning, babes," my mother remarked.

"Yes, you do look different in this clothing and that difference is great '' said Anna.

Mrs. Campbell smiled and said, "You look wonderful in this clothing, dear."

As Cathy approached me, she said, "Let your hair down, it'll look wonderful with the gown," and she pulled the hair band out of my hair.

I looked at the clothes I'm wearing front and back in the mirror and said to the woman who helped me to change, "It's a little tight for me,"

"Make her try another size of this identical dress." Mrs. Campbell instructed that woman.

The woman drew the drapes shut, murmured, "Wait for me," and then walked away.

I giggled at myself as I observed myself in the mirror and asked, "Why does it look weird in this outfit? Anyways, blue suits me better than I expected."

"It will fit you, mam." the lady said as she came over and gave me the identical outfit in a different size.

The woman assisted me in putting on that dress. She inquired once she was done,, "How does it feel now? Does this get you well? Can you breathe properly now?

I remarked, "I believe this to be the one, it's comfy." as I nodded.

To display my clothing to the group outside, the lady once more opened the curtains. When I looked up, Ash and Mike were speaking to my mother. When they came here? Mike soon fixed his gaze on me, which made me uneasy, so I averted my gaze away from him. He was still staring directly at me when I turned around to face him. Why is he staring at me in that manner? Do I appear bad in this attire?

"You're trying out the bridesmaids dresses, huh?" Ash asked after glancing at me. He inquired, "You said you're going out for lunch, mum, I didn't know you were still shopping for the wedding." turning to face her.

She waved her hand at me while grinning at him and said, "Come on in. We'll examine the clothing in more detail."

I held the dress and when I tried to step down, Mike hurried up to me and assisted me in descending the elevated platform before I did on my own.

He said, "You look wonderful," as I went down from the elevated stage while holding his hand.

I moved over to my family after giving him a little nod without looking at him.

Ash asked me, "Do you consider yourself to be some sort of queen?" Ash turned to Mike and asked him, "What were you doing, dude? Did I take you here to assist her?"

Mike, "She appeared to be in need of assistance."

Ash, "But you were flirting with my sister over there, I noticed it."

Mrs Campbell, "Do our walking, Amelia. Tell us how you appear wearing this attire."

I nodded before beginning to walk toward the door and coming back. As I turned away from the door, I stepped on the top of the gown and was about to fall, but Mike caught me and asked, "Are you okay?" while gazing into my eyes.

I was lost in his gaze until Ash tapped on Mike and said, "Get your hands off her, dude!"

I snapped his hands off of me and walked to my family while turning away from him.

Mom, "I'll take this outfit. You look good in it."

I gave her a nod.

Mrs Campbell, "As we agreed, let's go to lunch right away."

Cathy, "Yes, I'm already feeling hungry."

Anna, "We'll order plenty of food to satisfy your appetite, so don't worry. Ash, follow us."

Mom, "Ash, come to lunch with us and ask your friend to come along with us too."

After Ash and Mike agreed to come with us, Mrs Campbell, Cathy and my mom left, leaving Ash, Anna, Mike and me.

"I'll go and get my outfit changed then."

Mike, "Why? You can come with this dress. You look good in this."

Ash smacked Mike's head and said, "Stop flirting with her openly. Remember that she's my sister."

"Is it wrong to flirt with her since she's your sister?"

Anna interrupted them saying, "Why are you fighting like a five year old?" Anna said to Ash, "They're grown up. You can't order around them like that."

Ash said to Mike, "You should not flirt with her."

"Why should I?"

While they were arguing, I silently got away from them and went to the dressing room. I told myself to "get yourself together" as I stared in the mirror inside the dressing room.

After I got changed into the outfit in which I came here, I stepped outside the dressing room and saw Mike standing there alone. Where did Ash and Anna go?

I looked around the bridal store to look for them, and Mike said, "They left for the restaurant."

I was surprised when I heard that. Did my family purposely leave me with Mike? How did my brother leave?

Mike said, "Your brother was agitated when Anna asked him to leave with her, leaving you with me. He didn't agree so she finally dragged him away from here. I was amazed with her strength. I'm sorry, let's go."

We came out of the restaurant and walked one behind another. We didn't talk the whole way to the restaurant.

We visited a neighbourhood eatery. We all took our seats, and Ash, who was sitting next to me, motioned for Mike to take Mike's seat so that he could sit with Anna. Mike sat next to me at my brother's request.

Being next to him caused me to become uneasy.

While placing our food orders,

Mom, "Let's try the catfish. I've heard it's pretty popular in this place."

Mrs Campbell, "I'm going to sample both barbeque and cornbread. I don't feel like trying any seafood right now."

"We're trying out the catfish today." , Mom smacked Mrs. Campbell.

"Go ahead and attempt it on your own if you want to. Why do you keep bugging me?"

"You must eat what your best friend wants to eat since you are my best buddy, the saying goes.'

"There are no such regulations. You shouldn't lie."

Anna, "How about trying both BBQ and catfish?"

"I'll go for banana pudding, a cinnamon roll, and a sweet tea because I'm wanting sweets," Cathy.

"I want mac n' cheese, ham, and fried pickles." Ash.

While I was looking at mom and Mrs Campbell, Mike asked me, "What do you like to eat? " as everyone was talking about the food they wanted to eat.

I avoided looking at him as I grabbed the menu card in his hand and replied, "I'll examine the menu by myself first."

I ordered Mac n' cheese with potato salad after we placed our order, and I proceeded to tuck into my meal to distract myself from my anxiety surrounding Mike.

While I was eating, he approached me and whispered, "You looked gorgeous in that dress." Then he backed away.

I nodded as I carried on eating at the table.

Mike abruptly touched my hand underneath the table which startled me a bit. Mike's hand on mine felt quite odd, I kept eating without saying anything. I turned back to look at Mike, but he was still concentrating on his meal. After that fight with Mike that day in his college, we're meeting now and he's already been flirting and clingy with me. What's going on in his mind? He gripped my hand where the fingers met and stroked his finger along the back of my hand from the wrist to the tip of my finger.

I quickly jerked away and looked around the restaurant before muttering loudly, "I... I need to use the restroom." and hurried off to the bathroom.

I stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom and gazed at myself. My ears and face developed a tomato-red colour. It's really embarrassing, really. I had that thought. What's going on with me? Oh oh, here we go again, I thought to myself. My heart began to beat quickly. A few weeks ago, I would have never thought I would experience this kind of anguish once more.

After washing my face, I turned back to the mirror. My face remained red.

"It won't wash off with water."

I turned around to see Cathy standing by the door.

"Do you like Mike?" she asked as she approached me and stood next to me.

"What!? No! He's my brother's friend."

"So? And, Are you certain of that? Considering that your looks for each other speak for themselves."

"We don't have a relationship, yet for some reason, I always feel strange when I'm next to him."

"What peculiarities are those?"

"The kind where I couldn't control how quickly my heart was thumping."

With a smile, she enquired, "What's keeping you from liking him?"

"I didn't say that. I only mentioned my heart… yeah, I think maybe I'm interested in him. We only met twice I think. Yeah, this is the third time I'm seeing him but it feels like I've already known him. I don't know why I'm feeling like that. But wasn't it all sudden to like someone?"

"Is it because of Andrew?"

"Andrew was my past. He's only a friend to me. Did you forget what I said? I had a long history of liking Andrew before I was heartbroken."

"You're scared,"

"What?"

"You're frightened of liking someone else, of getting wounded again, and of being rejected. What if it's different this time?" she questioned as she put her hand on my shoulder. "Think about it. It's not too late to like the person we're interested in."

She laughed and said,

"What are you encourage me to get with him? You don't know him in the first place. Ah! I get it! Are you scared that I'll go after your boyfriend?"

Mike wasn't at the table when I arrived. What happened to him? Did he leave to answer any calls?

"Where is your friend, Ash?" Cathy questioned Andrew.

Ash responded, "He stated he had important things to accomplish so he went," as I turned to look at him and carried on consuming the food.

I noticed a tissue paper with writing under my plate as I was still eating. I took the paper and held it beneath the table as I read it.

"Sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable,"

As I resumed eating from my plate, I tucked the paper inside my pocket.

Uncomfortable? Did he think I snapped his hand because I felt uncomfortable? No, I don't. I didn't feel uncomfortable with your touch. I was just… embarrassed a little. Got shy since it was new to me. A guy never held my hand under a table before. This is the first so i got thrilled and killed the moment.