Part 2 (2/2)
I sprinkle on the final layer of black olives, swallow back my urge to eat the entire dish at once, then cover it with plastic wrap and toss it in the refrigerator before I change my mind.
My phone buzzes and I wash the cheese and avocado from my hands before checking it. My heart hurts when I read the message. This can't be good.
Becca: Hey Bay, I have some bad news...
My fingers shake as I type out a reply. Bad news can only mean one thing - she's cancelling our weekend plans. I bet she got called into work or something. Ugh. Now tears form in my eyes and I try to blink them away and remind myself that I'm an adult and adults don't cry over broken plans.
Me: What is it?
Her reply takes forever. Like, literally, one entire forever goes by before she replies and in that forever, I open the refrigerator door and contemplate eating the seven layer dip before my apple turnovers come out of the oven. h.e.l.l, I could eat both of them back to back. It still wouldn't heal over the pain of not getting to plan the wedding with my best friend.
My phone buzzes. I close the refrigerator door, blink back more tears and tell myself to stop being so selfish. Maybe something terrible happened to her and that's why she can't come over. With fresh new fears in my mind, I open her text message.
Becca: The bad news is that you're gonna have to get off your preggo a.s.s in a minute...
My eyebrows draw together. Me: Huh???
Before I can press send, there's a knock at my front door. My phone buzzes again.
Becca: BECAUSE YOUR BEST FRIEND IS HERE, BEYOTCH.
With a squeal, I sprint through the kitchen, almost tripping on the s.h.i.+ny tile flooring in my fuzzy socks. I yank open the door without even checking to make sure there's no murderer on the other side. Luckily, it's just Becca. She's been keeping up with her hair highlights and now her hair is so long it's almost down to her b.u.t.t. We both do this little jumping up and down while squealing thing and then I throw my arms around her in a hug.
”I cannot believe you tricked me like that! You're such a jerk!”
She makes this coy look and then says all innocently, ”I don't know what you're talking about...”
”I was seriously going to cry when I thought you weren't coming,” I say. She laughs and takes off her backpack, setting it on the floor in the foyer. ”I have some more things,” she says, popping back outside. When she returns, she's carrying a large duffel bag and a black sign that's as big as a poster board for a school project, but it doesn't look like a homemade display board.
”What's this?” I ask, taking the sign and turning it around. It's black foam board with white lettering that has obviously been professionally printed. It only takes a second to recognize it as a type of sign they use for motocross races, only...it's not a real sign. This one says MAIN EVENT in big letters and then under that is the date of our wedding, August 9th.
Becca bursts into a big smile and scrolls through her phone, looking for something. ”It's your wedding announcement sign! Isn't it awesome? My boss has a printing machine and he made it for me.”
”I'm still confused,” I say. But I smile anyway because her excitement is rubbing off on me.
”Well you know how you wanted the wedding to be kind of motocross themed?” she says. I nod and she finally finds what she was looking for on her phone. She turns it toward me and it's open to an image that she had saved from a screenshot. ”I got the idea off of Pinterest. My friend Kristina pinned it to her motocross board and I thought it was so perfectly cute and so perfectly you.”
The image shows a girl standing on a dirt bike track, holding up the sign as if she were starting a real race. Behind her is a guy on a dirt bike, looking like he's ready to start the race. ”This is really awesome,” I say, immediately picturing all the ways Jace and I could take a photo on the track. ”This will make an awesome picture for the wedding announcement and the invitations and, like everything. Did you bring your-?”
Before I can finish my question, Becca pulls a ma.s.sive camera out of her oversized purse. ”Camera? Yep.”
At the moment, I am super glad that Jace isn't here because he always rolls his eyes when I start to squee like a crazy girl, because that's exactly what I do. ”This is going to be amazing!” I say, bouncing on my heels. ”I know I make fun of you for your Pinterest obsession, but this time it totally paid off.”
She bats her eyelashes and waves her hand at me. ”I know, I know,” she says. ”Being a loser who spends all weekend on the computer instead of going on dates has finally come in handy for once.”
”Aww,” I say, frowning. ”Are you doing okay? You're still totally over Braedon, right?”
She nods. ”Yeah, we're cool. We're totally better off as just friends, but it's not him that I miss. I miss having a boyfriend. Someone to text me good morning and someone to hold my hand and all that...” She stares at somewhere off in the distance and sighs. ”Oh well,” she says, perking up again. ”This weekend is about you, my dear. Not me.”
I feel a twinge of guilt for being in such a happy relations.h.i.+p when Becca is so single it hurts. She's such a great person and she deserves someone to care for her. I don't know why she can't ever find a good guy. Of course, our hometown totally sucks when it comes to guys. If not for meeting Jace at my grandparent's house in Salt Gap, Texas, I'd probably still be single as well.
”Actually...” I begin, remembering my conversation with Jace the other day. I know he thinks it'd be a bad idea to try and hook up Becca with his best man, but that doesn't mean they can't just flirt with each other until he goes back to California, right? Becca lifts an eyebrow for me to continue. We sit on the couch and I prop the main event sign against the wall. ”Okay, so, this isn't a big deal at all, okay? Like it's so far from a big deal that it's not even a deal at all...”
Becca rolls her eyes. ”Then why bother telling me?”
”Because Jace's best man is totally hot and I think you two would look super cute in pictures together.”
Her eyes narrow. ”Why just pictures?”
”Well...because he lives in California so he'll only be here for the wedding. But Jace says he's an awesome guy, so the good news is that you'll have someone to hang out with for all the planning and festivities.”
She laughs. ”How hot is this guy?”
”Hot. Like Jace hot.”
”Is he into motocross?”
”Yep. He's semi-pro and races all over the country.”
”Bada.s.s.” Her eyes drift off into secret Becca daydream land. After a few moments she says, ”Well I guess having a hot guy to flirt with for a few days is better than having no guys to flirt with for a few days.”
”Your time will come, I promise. One of these days, we'll be planning your wedding.”
”And maybe your baby could be my ring bearer!”
”How'd you know it's a?” The words are out of my mouth before I can realize what I'm saying. I slap my hand over my mouth and Becca's eyes go wide. Even though I wanted to know the baby's s.e.x as soon as possible, Becca wanted to wait. She said it would be more fun that way.
”You're having a boy!?” She grabs my hands and squeezes them tightly. ”Oh my G.o.d, a little boy? I'm so excited I can't even think straight.”
I hang my head, not wanting to admit it but knowing I can't deny it. ”I'm sorry I accidentally ruined it for you.”
”No way, are you kidding? I'm so excited! He's going to be a little Jace!” Becca stands up from the couch and begins pacing the living room, ticking off ideas on her fingers. ”I'm going to throw you a dirt bike themed baby shower, and we can get you all checkerboard and motocross patterned baby blankets and...do you have a name picked out yet?”
I shrug, lacing my fingers together in my lap. ”Nope. No names, no plans. I'm kind of on the verge of a panic attack about it all.” I don't even realize I'm playing with my engagement ring until Becca's hand falls over mine. She looks me in the eyes, giving me a rea.s.suring smile. ”We'll focus on the wedding first and then the baby. It's all going to be fine.” She points her finger at me as if she's my mother. ”Absolutely no worrying. I forbid it.”
”Yes ma'am,” I say sarcastically. She punches me in the arm. ”Okay,” I say, grabbing my wedding planning notebook off the coffee table. So far, it's a whole lot more notebook than wedding plans. But I plan on resolving that soon. ”Let's plan this wedding!”
Becca holds up an identical notebook that she bought to match mine. She calls it her Bridesmaid planner. She slaps her notebook to mine as if we're holding champagne gla.s.ses and making a toast. ”Let the planning begin!”
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