by Debbie Civil
Chapter 25
Jake
She’s sitting beside me, and its hell not to stare at her. Carmen’s dressed in a blue short dress with a low neckline. The rehearsal has been going on for two hours, and I’m anxious to get out of here. I try to focus on my main goal, pretending to act enamored by Jill Mace, America’s Darling. She’s beautiful, in an ordinary way. Her hair is blonde, her figure petite, and she does have beautiful blue eyes. But if I wanted a baby doll, I would have dated Wildflower. Jillian is sitting in the back row of the church, taking selfies. She’s been tweeting about how much fun she’s having with me. Because I’ve screwed up so badly, I’m going to join her on her campaign. I will smile, stuff a few backpacks, and make a few speeches that have been written for me. I’m going to be on my best behavior until the election. After Uncle James is reelected, I’ll wait a few weeks, and then ditch the blonde. But, I’m not sure what will happen afterward. Carmen made me agree to her stupid rules. But I didn’t. She was so emotional at the time that she didn’t realize it. I’m not giving her up. I don’t care what I have to do. I’m prepared to fight for Carmen. But despite the fact that she begged for us to be friends, she isn’t even looking in my direction. In fact, she hasn’t even said a word to me since we entered the church.
“Our turn,” Carmen gently says. Sure, now she talks. I try not to say something bitter to her. After all, we do have witnesses. I link arms with her, and we walk down the aisle and separate when we get to the front of the church.
“Very good, Jake!” the wedding planner coaches. “Just remember to pause right before you separate, so the photographers can snap pictures of you.” How nice! I’m going to be shot by more cameras.
“This is it,” I tell Carmen. She nods and smiles, and it takes everything I have not to kiss her. But, of course, I can’t do that. I’m being watched by Eliza’s wedding party. Bridget is boldly snapping pictures of me. I can’t be seen looking at Carmen with desire. But I can’t help it, either. This can’t be happening. I can’t be expected to spend so much time with her. Without saying a word, an idea slams into my head. I spot Nathan and Eli standing on the stage, talking to the pastor about something. I straighten, tug at my suit jacket and quickly walk onto the stage. They don’t notice me at first.
“So you two want to read your vows?” the old man asks them. Eli pales, but Nathan doesn’t notice. He nods.
“Yes. That’s what we want.” I have the distinct suspicion that Eli has forgotten to write her vows, which is ridiculous because she is the one who insisted that using traditional vows were lame. In fact, she said that they were “very lame.” I can care less about this, though. I need to escape Carmen. She’s just too tempting.
“Nathan,” I say, putting on a grin. The trio finally notices me. Nathan turns around and looks confused.
“Jake, what’s up man?”
“I’m taking my girl out to dinner.” There, that was said directly, with no trace of argument.
“Did Carmen say something about Sharp Michaels?” Eli asks, her face screwing up in a frown.
“No. I just want to spend some time with my girl.” Eli doesn’t look convinced. But I don’t care. Nope, I just want to spend loads of time away from this stuffy wedding party.
“Go, head man. We all understand young love,” Nathan says and then I breathe a sigh of relief before dismounting the stage and walking over to my girlfriend. Well, to me she’s just a friend that I occasionally kiss. To the world, we are “love birds” from two different sides of the track. She smiles at me, her blue eyes filling with mischief.
“Want to sneak out?” I ask with a hint of seduction. Jill pretends to consider.
“I don’t know. Don’t you have a rehearsal dinner to go to?” She looks pensive.
“They won’t miss me,” I insist. Jill nods.
“If you insist.”