Glow Sticks

Chapter 4.

Poke… Poke… Poke… “Come on Amelia!” Lilly’s voice breaks through the fogginess of Amelia’s dream world. Poke… Poke… Poke… “Dearest best friend, please wake from your peaceful slumber and grace me with your illuminating presence.” Lilly says dramatically as she falls onto the bed next to Amelia with a dramatic sigh. Seconds past before gravity takes its toll and Amelia’s body falls to the floor with a loud thump. With a groan Amelia opens her eyes to look up to Lilly with a displeased scorn only to find her already peeking over the edge of the bed with a broad smile and glittering eyes. Lilly’s unruly red curls and light freckles entice a smile to form around Amelia’s lips, but she bites it back and intensifies her scowl. She reminds Amelia of a young Annie full of mischief and adventure.

“Is there any reason for this rude awakening?” She asks Lilly as she pushes herself from the floor. She folds her arms over her chest as she sits on the edge of the bed with a huff. “The floor is hard, if you did not notice.”

“Today is the big day!” Lilly sings unable to contain her excitement. “As my best friend and maid of honour it is mandatory for you to bring me coffee.” She elaborates as she gives Amelia an even wider grin and folding her hands together under her chin as she pouts in a pleading manor. “Surely you don’t want me to die of thirst now do you?”

“That is the lamest reason for waking anyone ever.” She grumbles, before giving Lilly a perplexed look. “What is the time anyway?” She asks as she gets off of her bed and searches frantically for her phone to see the time. She had it here somewhere.

“Seven o’clock-ish.” Lilly provides the time with an innocent look on her face as she bows her head and distractingly traces a pattern on the bed sheets, avoiding Amelia’s eyes.

“What?” Amelia shrieks, she halting the search for her phone. Amelia groans loudly as she falls back on the bed her arms sprawled out next to her. “I so hate you right now.”

“If you do this for me, I’ll make you the godmother of my first born.” She bribes. “Besides you can never hate your best friend s***h sister.” She smiles at her with a cheeky grin. “Besides we have loads to do before I can have the best sister ever.” Her voice is giddy as she pushes at Amelia again.

“Your optimistic tone needs work.” Amelia deadpans. “It is way too cheery.” Lilly laughs at her friend’s groggy state before she starts to shove at her again.

“Come on. Time is wasting and you can never get it back again.”

“You know the same goes with sleep right?” Amelia asks as she gives Lilly a pointed look. “Right now sleep is way more important.”

“Come on lazy-pants, I really need my caffeine.” Standing up from the bed Lilly pulls at Amelia’s arm.

Groaning again Amelia rises from her bed and makes her way out of the room, muttering unintelligible things under her breath.

Amelia did not notice her surroundings the previous night as she entered the bungalow, so now she takes the time to look around the small living space. The bungalow is round shaped with a small living room and kitchenette combined. One bulky wooden double coach and two chairs surround the small flat screen T.V. that is mounted to the wall. The décor is minimalistic and varies in beiges and dark browns. It’s simple, but cosy. The kitchenette has a counter with two cabinets at the bottom and a kettle, microwave and a small bar fridge on top. On the opposite side is a breakfast bar with four bar stools tucked neatly underneath and a double basin against the wall separating the two counters.

Just as Amelia fills the two cups in front of her with steamy water and the rich aroma fills the living space around her, her brother steps out of the room he shared with Nate. He looks a bit dishevelled and rubs his eyes sleepily as he makes his way to the kettle to get his own fix of caffeine.

“Hey, sis.” He greets while reaching for one of the cups in the cupboard overhead. “You are up early?

Sighing Amelia gives him a dejected look, before adding milk to her cup of coffee. “Thanks to your royal bride-ness.” She grouses, causing Max to chuckle at her.

“You are so not a morning person.” Amelia gives him a flat look before taking the cups and turning towards their room. “Hey, sis.” Max stops her. “I just wanted to thank you for what you said to Lilly last night.” The sincerity in his voice was evident as he gives her a grateful smile.

“Well, look at you, Mr. Big ears, admitting to eavesdropping.” Amelia teases with a big smile on her lips.

“I did not eavesdrop.” Max defends with a huff as he rolls his eyes at her.

“Whatever you say, Nosey!” She chuckles, lightly kicking on the door for Lilly to let her in.

*-*

The boys left around eight to organise the church and the preacher for their impromptu wedding. Max is a little worried that the preacher will deny his request and send him on his way. His throat clogs at the thought of not being able to marry Lilly, but he knows that if it did not happen today that he will do everything in his power to make it happen as soon as possible. Swallowing hard he tries to ease the spasm in his throat as he drives to the church that they passed the day before. They reach the old little church on the outskirts of the town near the stream that is lined with big ancient willow trees, the nervousness clenching his chest in its iron fist. It’s a small little building build with river rocks and big glass stained windows from the eighteenth century. Big carved doors welcomed the boys with open arms as they entered the small chapel with four eight seater benches on each side of the aisle. A big cross is mounted on the wall behind the pew and as if it is a sign from above a flower arrangement of Lilly’s favourite flowers, in front of it. A bell tower is to the side with a big brass bell visible from the outside. The bright colours of light dancing from the windows gives it a majestically atmosphere. The only other light comes from the candles burning in big standing chandeliers. It’s the perfect place for a small romantic wedding.

Convincing the preacher to marry the unknown couple was a bit of an uphill battle, but Max soon had the preacher on their side, promising them to meet them at the church at twelve noon. With that done and a few tense moments later the boys heads back to the lodge where Amelia and Lilly waits anxiously for their return wanting to go dress shopping for the perfect wedding dress for the most important day in Lilly’s life. Excitement bounced off the walls inside the bungalow as the two friends spoke animatedly about the upcoming events. After their morning coffee the two of them decided to have a mini spa day by themselves while waiting for the boy’s return. With each of them spotting a pale green facial mask and big round cucumber slices covering their eyes they made their plans meticulously.

A knock at their bedroom door pulls them from their peaceful state of mind as they finally fell into a silent moment with their thoughts to themselves. Amelia pulls the cucumber slices from her eyes with a huff as she gets up from her side of the bed where they laid head to toe next to each other. Not the least bit worried about her swamp creature complexion she is spotting at this moment she opens the door to face a horrified looking Nate on the other side. “I just…. Uhm?” Nate starts, but soon forgets his words as he awkwardly rubs the back of his neck, not expecting Amelia’s avocado covered face to stare back at him.

“Come on Nate, you can do it.” Amelia encourages him sarcastically as she motions with her hands for him to continue as if she wants to pull the words out of him.

“Uhm, yeah.” Nate frowned before shaking his head as he tries to get rid of his amused state. “You can take the jeep now… Swamp thing.” He cannot resist the smile that spreads over his face as Amelia stares at him unamused at the new nickname he suddenly had for her.

“Well, at least I can was this swamp goo off of my face and be beautiful again, but you my friend are stuck with that mug you call a face for ever.” Amelia retorts before slamming the door in Nate’s face and turning to her friend with a satisfied grin plastered on her lips.

It did not take the two of them long to get ready for their trip into town and by the time they reached the small boutique Amelia saw the day before their excitement could no longer be contained. The sales consultant meets them at the door with a bright welcoming smile, introducing herself as Lydia. Lydia is a tall slim framed elderly lady with short dark greying hair and wisdom filled hazel eyes. Her mannerisms was like a proper English lady and Amelia can see her sipping tea from fine china as classical music plays softly in the back ground. “Did you have any specific style of dress in mind?” Lydia asked in a refined ladylike voice after the girls explained about the impromptu wedding they have in less than three hours from now.

“Well, to be honest…” Lilly trails off as she looks around in the quaint little shop filled with white lace and satin sashes. “I have no idea.” She huffs as her head falls into her hands.

“That is okay, my dear.” Lydia smiles encouragingly as she pats Lilly’s back softly as if she is afraid that the poor thing will burst out in tears. “I have something in the back that I think will look perfect, but why don’t the two of you look around and if you like something then you are more than welcome to try it on. Fitting is the fun part after all, isn’t it?” Lydia asks with a sparkle in her eyes as she makes her way to the back of the shop.

“She has a point you know. Playing dress up was always your specialty.” Amelia mocks as she nudges a still hiding behind her hands Lilly. “Come on I am dying to see you in that one!” She laughs as she points at a puffy feathery dress that is sure to make her best friend look like a cake topper instead of the blushing bride she aims to be.

“You have got to be kidding me.” Lilly grumbles as she lifts her head from her hands and follows the direction Amelia pointed to.

Amelia grabs Lilly’s arm as she excitedly skips to the dress as she wonders how many swans it left featherless. Lilly reluctantly follows Amelia as she starts to pull different dresses from the racks, the fear of being at Amelia’s mercy gripping at her heart. Amelia ended with five different dresses in her arms by the time they reached the fitting rooms, each more extravagant than the one before and all of them the opposite to their taste.

“You better put that phone away!” Lilly warns an evil grinning Amelia.

“No way, this one is a keeper.” She laughs as the flash blinks twice and the shutter clicks at a tangled mess off tulle and red hair.

“Are you happy now? You got your million dollar picture now get me out of this freaking mess!” Lilly demands as the frustration takes over. How anybody can get into this dress is beyond her imagination. When she first saw this dress she thought that it wasn’t that bad in comparison to the others Amelia picked out, but that changed as soon as her unruly corkscrew hair got caught in the tulle that wraps around the top of the dress and creates a fan like sleeve over the right shoulder. “Ouch, that hurts!” She yelps as Amelia tugs on a strand of hair, trying to untangle her future sister in law from the horrible tulle monster that’s currently swallowing Lilly whole.

“Sorry.” She murmurs as she bit her bottom lip, trying to figure out how to get her friend free without tearing the dress to shreds.

“Oh, my…” Lydia gasps as she enters the fitting room after a soft knock and a distracted ‘yes’ from Amelia. Both girls shamefully cast their eyes down to the floor, just like they did when they were kids and caught doing something wrong. “I will be right back.” She says after a few silent seconds as she silently inspects the damage in front of her. Silent tears started to form in Lilly’s eyes as she starts to panic.

“It will be okay.” Amelia quietly tries to console her friend, but fails miserably as a sob burst through Lily’s lips. “This is my entire fault, I shouldn’t have insisted on you trying on all this ridiculous dresses.” She whispers as her throat started to clog with tears of her own. “I just wanted to make it memorable for the both of us.” A giggle bubbles from Lilly, as the tears mixes with the tulle she now knows will forever be her worst enemy.

“I sure will never forget this.” She giggles as she wipes the tears from her cheeks while Amelia looks at her friend baffled before she two broke into laughter. Just as the two of them calms down and silence fills the space around them Lydia’s voice cuts through the atmosphere.

“Frank, you better get here, now!” Lydia demands in her polished voice. “I told you it was impractical… I am cutting it off… I don’t care how long you worked on it, it’s hideous.” She hangs up the phone just as she enters the dressing room, armed with a pair of scissors in the other hand. “I am so sorry my dear, but I will get you out of there in no time.” She says as she lifts the scissors and start cutting the tulle without hesitation. “I have hated this dress the instant that Frank made it, a week in Paris does not a designer make.” She murmurs softly until Lilly is finally free from the monster of tulle and sighs in relief.

“Sorry.” Lilly and Amelia apologises in unison, but Lydia waves it a way with an elegant roll of her eyes.

“No need for apologising, it was unsightly and I hated it.” Lydia says as she gives the dress one last disgusted look. “Now let’s get you in the right dress.” Lifting the dress from the floor she accidently let go of when she first walked into the dressing room. It was absolutely beautiful and exactly the dress Lilly could see herself getting married in.

Everything was perfect from the cap sleeves to the gold band that fit just under her bust. The cream coloured lace felt soft and luxurious on her skin as Lydia closed the last of the buttons that lined her back and it fit perfectly. “I love it.” Lilly breathed as she looked at herself in the mirror. This was her dress. She felt like a princess as she twirled around for Amelia to see the dress in entirety.

“This is it.” Amelia declares as she watches her friend glow from happiness with a sparkle in her own eyes. After purchasing the dress they located the nearest salon where the hairdresser still pulled pieces of tulle from Lilly’s hair and then before they knew it, it was time to get ready for the most important moment of Lilly’s life: declaring her love to Max.