Chapter 6
Shelby
My sisters line up behind Sheila and look over at me, not knowing if I'm still going to go through with this. I give them a silent nod, and they turn to look forward. Sheila walks in first, and the white bouquet in my hands starts to shake. The top of the dress suddenly feels like it's getting tighter and tighter on my ribs. I look down at the Cinderella dress that I put on less than an hour ago. It is a tradition that every girl dreams of, but it was hard to fake a smile knowing what I did. My mother helped me get dressed just like I've always dreamed. She fastened the fifty little buttons that go up my back. A daunting task but one she was adamant about doing.
One that I wanted to say no to or else everyone would get suspicious, so instead, I smiled for the camera. My nerves were in my stomach the whole time and then formed a lump in my throat. At times, I couldn't even speak or say anything with the fear that my plan would be ruined, and after everything that happened, I was not about to let that happen.
"Okay," Presley says, coming over to me and pulling the veil over my head. "It's now or never," she says, and I glare at her. "Well, I can see she's ready to rumble." We share a look, and it calms me down for a bit, knowing that I have them in my corner.
I watch Presley walk down the aisle, and I breathe in and out. My hands are starting to shake, and I can see Travis look at me. "It's not too late."
"I have to do this, Travis," I whisper, putting my hand to my stomach, hoping to calm it down. "I just need you to promise me that you won't fly overboard."
"Me?" he hisses and then laughs. "You need to worry about Harlow."
"You told Harlow?" I gasp, my stomach flipping up and down, and my neck is suddenly getting hotter than normal.
"How the hell else was I supposed to get her grandfather's special sweet tea?" His eyebrows pinch together. "The day before your wedding? It had to be dire. You are just lucky that my in-laws are here and talked her down. If it was her cousins, he would have had a pike shoved up his ass and been a scarecrow on their farm." He shakes his head.
"Okay, you two," Mallory says, coming to us. "You can take your place now." She motions to us.
I nod at her and walk the three steps to stand in front of the two brown doors. I hear the music switch off and turn to Travis. "Don't forget to make sure Mom stays in her seat," I tell him through my veil, blinking the tears away because I refuse to look anything but stunning. I can cry by myself after this is done, but I will not shed one more motherfucking tear before then.
The sound of people getting up fills the silence, and then the piano starts, and I know we are about ten seconds from the doors opening. "Here we go," I say, and my stomach is in my throat.
The doors swing open, and I gasp when I see the decorations that my sisters planned. Big potted vases of flowers run down the aisle that is set up with gold chairs. "You want to stop?” Travis asks right before I take a step forward.
I don't look around at any other decorations, afraid that I'm going to fall over. I don't look at any of our guests who came all this way to see us get married. Instead, my eyes focus on Joseph who stands in his black tux with his hands folded in front of him. His blond hair is perfectly styled and pushed back as he smiles at me. I take a second to look beside him at Ace, who has tears in his eyes as he smiles at me and then leans over to say something to Joseph. I look down at my feet, blinking away the stinging of tears that want to come and take over. "You can do this," my head screams at me at the same time that my heart tells me, "Run."
My knees shake when we finally stop walking and face the altar. I turn to Travis exactly like we practiced, and he lifts the veil over my head. He has tears in his eyes, and I can't even imagine what he's feeling. I would never want to be in his shoes. Fuck, I don't even want to be in my shoes, let alone be a bystander waiting for it all to happen. He leans forward and kisses my cheek before turning and holding out his hand to shake Joseph's hand. "Thank you," Joseph says to him and then looks at me. "Hi." He smirks at me, and if I wasn't sure before if I shouldn't marry him, this should be a red flag. Who says hi when they first see their bride? I'll tell you who. No one.
"Hi," I say, smiling at him, and the anger fills the blood in my body. I turn to hand Clarabella my bouquet while Presley comes over and makes sure that everything is properly placed with my train.
"Dearly beloved," the priest starts, and all I can hear in my ears is the sound of my heart beating a million miles a minute. My stomach twists and turns, and I have no idea what the fuck is going on. I sit when I need to sit and stand when I need to stand, and the whole time, he holds my hand. I look down at his hand in mine, and everything in me wants to yank it away. But it's not time yet. "Joseph and Shelby, have you both come here freely?"
"We have," Joseph and I say at the same time. And I can see him look over at me from the side, but my head stares straight ahead.
"Joseph and Shelby have decided to say their own vows," the priest says, and I turn to face Joseph. I'm expecting him to take a paper out, but he doesn't. "Joseph."
"Oh, my turn," he says. People laugh at him, and I look down at my hands that are shaking in his. I'm waiting for him to notice, but as usual, he doesn't. "You know I'm not good at stating my feelings, so when I sat down to write my vows, I googled how do I write vows." He laughs, and my skin crawls for the first time since I've met him. Along with fucking anger that he couldn't put into words how he felt for me. "There was a whole list of things telling me how to put it together, but the only one that I understood was the football one, so here we go." I look into his eyes, hoping to see something, anything to tell me not to go through with it. But all I see are the lies. "They said to say to kick it off with your name first, so, Shelby . . ." People chuckle with him. "Then they said halftime was to state why I intended to marry you. And that is because there is no one else I'd want to walk next to. There is no one else I want by my side but you." He looks down at his feet and then back up at me. "And the fourth quarter my intentions to you. I pledge myself to you today and always."
He looks back at the priest, who just smiles at him and then turns to me. "Shelby," he says my name and I turn to grab the piece of folded paper that Clarabella has been holding.
I unfold the white paper with shaking hands, and as I open it and see the letters on the paper, I know that I really don't need this paper because I've memorized the whole thing. "Unlike Joseph, I didn't have to look my vows up online," I say, and people laugh. "I had them written two weeks ago, but I did tweak them a little last night." I look at him, and he just smiles slyly. I look down at the words on the white paper. "My dearest love," I say, and my voice cracks. I look up at him, and I hear a couple of people ooh and aah, and I want to tell them to shut up. But instead, all I can do is get my breathing under control because if I'm not wrong, I feel a full-on panic attack coming, and this needs to get out before that. "I don't know where to start, so I will start at the beginning. From the first day I met you, my heart skipped a beat." I look into his eyes the whole time, waiting for him to realize what I'm saying. "From the first touch of shaking your hand, it felt like an electric shock went through my body, and I was alive for the first time ever." I can see his eyes turning a touch darker. "No matter what I did, nothing could have stopped me from feeling the way that I feel when I'm with you. We both fought it for as long as we could, but the minute I kissed you, I knew you were meant for me and only me. I never wanted to fall in love with you." I laugh at the irony of it all. "But I did. I love you with everything that I have. I love you with my whole soul. I'm getting married tomorrow, and everything in me wishes it was you. Everything is telling me that it should be you. Sheila," I say. A gasp rings out, and I see at that moment he fully understands how fucked he is. His mouth opens and closes, but nothing comes out. I hear people chattering away, and I can feel my sisters come in closer to me as I get to the last line. "Run away with me. I love you, Sheila, and I'm yours forever." The piece of white paper in my hand falls to the floor, dead just like my love for him.