Day Six

“What in the hell are you doing here?!?” I hiss.

I’ve never been so mad as I charge up to Stephanie. My knuckles are burning from squeezing my hands into fists so tightly, fists that I want to introduce to her nose.

She doesn’t even look at me as I stomp forward ready to kill her. She’s staring at the wedding party with a sad face. Her shoulders are drooped and her eyes are blank as she watches Cynthia kiss Chase as everyone clinks on their wine glasses.

“You have some nerve!” I say, stopping an inch from her face.

“They’re not upset,” she says in a monotone voice. Her eyes look vacant as she stares. She still hasn’t even looked at me once. “They’re not fighting or sad or yelling at each other. They’re smiling. They’re actually happy.”

“Of course they are,” I hiss. I take a step back, watching her with confusion. “They’re in love. You obviously don’t know what that is.”

“I don’t,” she says softly. She turns to me, and I’m taken aback by the swell of pain in her eyes. “No one has ever loved me,” she says, looking hollow and lifeless. “No guy, not any friend, not my cousins, or my brother. Not even my parents. They always just sent me to my room while they showered Lucas with the love they didn’t have for me.”

My lips part, but I have nothing to say. I wasn’t expecting Stephanie to have feelings, and it throws me off balance.

She turns back to the wedding party and exhales long and slow. “Look at them,” she says, looking dumbfounded. “They’re so happy. How can I have that?”

I take a deep breath and shake my head. “Basically, you have to act in the exact opposite way of what you’ve been doing,” I tell her bluntly. “Be the exact opposite of the person you are. Whenever you’re about to do something, ask yourself, what would my opposite do, and then do that instead. That will be a good start.”

What? She wanted to know.

“All I wanted to do was make them miserable,” she says. “But it only made me miserable. They’re still happy. You guys will always be happy because you have each other. I’m so lonely, Tanya.”

“It’s Julia.”

“I’ve never had anyone in my corner. I’ve never had anyone care,” she continues. “I realize now that it was all my doing. It’s because I’m a shitty person. I don’t want to be a shitty person anymore. I want to have fun and laugh and have meaningful relationships like you guys have with each other. I don’t want to be me anymore.”

She’s like the Grinch when he’s having his epiphany on Christmas morning. I wonder if her heart is getting bigger like his did, but then I realize that she probably has no heart.

“I’m sorry I did this,” she says as her eyes get red. “I’m sorry I tried to ruin the wedding. All three of them. The truth is, I was jealous of your friendship. I’ve never had a real friend in my life. I seem to repel people.”

“You certainly do that,” I answer without thinking. “Sorry,” I quickly add when I see her face. I don’t need to kick the girl when she’s down. “But you don’t have to be like this any longer. You can learn to be a good person.”

She looks at me with hope in her eyes. “How?”

“Well,” I say as I take a deep breath. “You can tell Lars how you really feel for starters. You’re marrying the poor guy, and you don’t even love him.”

She shivers as she listens. “He smells like cinnamon all the time,” she says, cringing. “And he’s always talking about birds. It’s creepy.”

I open my mouth to encourage her, but I’m interrupted by a car driving up. It’s Lars.

“Here’s your first test,” I say to Stephanie, trying to give her some strength to do what’s right. “Break it to him. Gently.”

“Stephanie,” he says as he steps out of the car. “You shouldn’t be here. Come home.”

He reaches for her and she jerks her arm out of his reach. “Don’t touch me,” she snaps.

Lars recoils in confusion.

He does smell like cinnamon.

“You and me,” Stephanie says, wrenching off her diamond ring. “Are done.”

“What?” he asks, staring at her with devastation in his eyes.

“I never loved you,” she says, getting the ring free. “In fact, I hate you.” She takes the ring and launches it over the trees, sending it flying into the thick dense rainforest where he’ll probably never find it.

“Why are you doing this my morning dove?” he asks as he drops to his knees. He clasps his hands together as tears roll down his cheeks. “Please!”

“You’re so pathetic,” Stephanie says, shaking her head as she stares down at him in disgust.

He starts crying, painful ugly sobs. “Wait! My beautiful penguin. Wait!”

Stephanie turns and smiles at me. “Thanks, Tanya,” she says, looking like a weight has been lifted off her shoulders. “I feel like a better person already.”

She’s smiling as she walks back to her car. She opens the door and then pauses, turning to me with a happy smile. “I like this new and better Stephanie,” she says proudly. “Things are going to change.”

She gives me one last smile before getting into the car and peeling away, sending a dirty cloud of dust into Lars’ sobbing face.

Well, Rome wasn’t built in a day.

I raise my shoulders and smile awkwardly at Lars, whose sobs have now turned into pathetic whimpers.

I’m about to tell him that he’s luckier than he’ll ever know, but he tried to ruin my best friend’s wedding, so fuck him.

I glance back down at the wedding party and gasp when I see that Cynthia is about to toss the bouquet.

“Crap!” I curse as I lift my dress up and sprint down the road.

I’m catching that shit!

I definitely want to be the next one to get married, and I know to who.