Cyd was enjoying a nap in her room after school when an unsettling sound disturbed her. She awoke to see her best friend and roommate Shelby...crying.
"Shelbs! what's wrong?"
"Derek dumped me," she sobbed.
Cyd hugged the blonde. "He's an idiot!"
"I know," Shelby responded, though she continued to cry.
"You know I'm going to burn his house down now," the brunette said in a matter of fact manner.
Shelby laughed a bit despite her tears. "Please don't. You know Mom and Dad love you...but they might not let you live her anymore if you're a known arsonist."
"Dang, I'll need a 'Plan B' then," Cyd replied. Part of her still wanted to set Derek's house on fire, but she wasn't going to risk getting kicked out of Shelby's home. After all, with her own parents off in South America on an archeological dig, she'd be homeless if Shelby's parents turned her away.
"Why would that moron dump you?" she asked Shelby.
"He's dating Kelly now instead."
"Kelly?" Cyd made a disgusted face. "Okay, I have to burn her house down."
"No you don't," Shelby said as she began to dry her tears. Hearing her best friend plan violence and mayhem always managed to cheer her up for some reason.
"You'll find someone better," Cyd said reassuringly.
"You're right." Shelby let out a sigh. "It's just that...it was so nice at first. I imagined Derek and I dating all through high school, and then going to college, and then getting married."
"To be fair, you do that with every guy you date."
"I will not apologize for being a romantic."
Cyd hugged her friend again. "Shelby, someday you'll find the right match for you, And when you get married it will be perfect."
"You think so?"
"I'm sure you will."
The two girls smiled at each other, then both their eyes widened as they got the same idea at the same moment.
"We can time jump and see exactly what your wedding day will be like," Cyd said.
"Oh my gosh! Do you think we should?"
Cyd's response was to hold up her hand. "We're doing this!"
Shelby smiled and then she high-fived the brunette as they both thought about the future. When they did so, they felt the peculiar tingling feeling they'd felt many times before, ever since a freak lab accident had given the two teens the power to travel through time.
The Future
Shelby and Cyd appeared in a room they didn't recognize.
"Do you think this is my wedding day?" the blonde asked. "How far in the future do you think we are?"
As always, Cyd and Shelby looked like their normal selves to one another, though their minds were now inhabiting the bodies of their future selves, and would appear as the appropriate age to anyone else looking at them.
"Well, there's a mirror," Cyd said as she pointed towards the other end of the room and began walking towards it. "Let's see how old we loo-"
The brunette stopped speaking when she caught sight of herself in the mirror. Her reflection appeared to be about a decade older. She was taller and her breasts were bigger, but neither of those facts were what had shocked her into silence.
No, the thing that had captured her attention the most was her hair. The straight dark brown locks that hung all the way down her back...were gone.
"Ohmigod!" said the reflection of a beautiful blonde face that suddenly appeared looking over Cyd's shoulder. "You're bald!"
That was actually an overstatement, for Cyd's head wasn't shaved to the skin. But the 1/16th inch buzzcut she was sporting was pretty close to it.
"Wow," Cyd said when she got over her shock. "When will I do this?" Despite her surprise, she found she liked the results. She began to smile...as did Shelby.
"Look at you," the blonde said.
"No," Cyd said as she caught flashes of white fabric behind her reflection. She stepped aside so that she was no longer hiding the full view of Shelby. "Look at you."
Now it was blonde's turn to be shocked as she saw her older self, wearing a lovely wedding dress.
"Oh...my...I'm..."
"Beautiful," Cyd said sincerely. "Absolutely beautiful.
"This...This is really my wedding day!" Shelby couldn't hide her excitement. "I don't believe it!" She kept staring at her reflection in awe, but a sudden realization hit her as she noticed Cyd's reflection behind her. Future Cyd looked great, new hairstyle and all, but she was notably under-dressed for a wedding.
"Cyd!" the blonde exclaimed. "You aren't dressed yet! You have to be my maid of honor!"
The other girl looked over her reflection and laughed. "Apparently in the future I still wait to do everything at the last minute." Then a sober look came to her face. "Shelbs, what if I'm not your maid of honor? What if we're best friends anymore in the future? That could be why I'm not dressed up!"
"Cyd, we'll always be best friends," Shelby countered. "And if we'd had a falling out, why would you be here at my wedding?" The blonde quickly looked around the room, but their were no other clothes there besides her own. Certainly there weren't any bridesmaid dresses.
"You must have your dress in another changing room," Shelby guessed.
"I'll go look for it and get back here as soon as I've changed," Cyd said. Despite her well-known dislike for wearing dresses, she was more than willing to make an exception for her best friend's big day.
"I'll stay here and wait, but hurry," the blonde urged. "I can't get married without you being there."
******'******
Cyd stepped out into the hallway and started heading for the nearest door, hoping it was the proper changing room. Before she reached it however, she heard her name being called.
"Cyd! Where have you been?"
She turned to see a tall, broad shouldered and very handsome man rushing toward her. There was something strangely familiar about him, and she was stunned when recognition finally dawned on her.
"Barry!? Is that you?"
"Of course it is," the formerly nerdy but now quite hunky man answered. "Who else would I be? And why aren't you dressed yet? As this wedding's best man, I promised to make sure everything stayed on schedule. If you-"
"You're the best man?" Cyd interrupted, letting the implications of that news sink in. "Oh...no way! Does this mean Shelby is marrying Naldo?"
Barry looked totally surprised by the mention of his longtime friend (and somewhat incompetent lab assistant). "Marrying Reynaldo?" He paused and stared at Cyd. "Oh no, tell me you aren't time jumping right now. Today of all days."
"You caught me. We wanted to see who Shelby would marry."
"And you obviously haven't found out yet," he concluded. "Cyd, you and Shelby have to go back immediately. You don't want to do anything that will mess up this day."
While Barry's appearance may have changed, Cyd found he still spoke in the same lecturing tone she was familiar with. "I'm not going to mess up Shelby's wedding. That's why I need to get dressed."
"Cyd!" Another voice called out. "You need to get dressed!"
When she turned this time she saw a woman in a bridesmaid dress approaching. A thin and exceedingly attractive Asian woman wearing glasses.
"Marci?" the young time traveler said. "Wow, you got hot!"
"Actually, my temperature is well within the standard range," she replied, sounding as Marci-like as ever.
"She means you look beautiful, darling," Barry explained.
"Darling?" Cyd said happily. "You mean you two are still together?"
"Still?" Marci looked at her questioningly. "I should hope so. We've only been married for two years. Oh...you're time jumping aren't you?"
"Guilty as charged," she answered, glad that the first two people she'd run into were part of that very small group that knew about her and Shelby's time travel abilities. "And congratulations on being married." She paused. "Did I get you a good gift?"
Marci nodded. "A hand-knitted microscope cozy. We still use it."
"That's not important right now," Barry said.
"Not important?" His wife said. "I thought you loved the cozy?"
"Of course I love it," then shook his head and attempted to get the conversation back on track. "Look, we need to get you back to your time so that nothing ruins this wedding."
"We didn't come here to ruin this wedding," Cyd argued. "Shelby and I just wanted to see who she's going to marry."
Barry took a deep breath and looked his time traveling friend directly in the eyes.
"What year did you come from?"
"2016."
"And back then, how good a friend did you and Shelby consider me?"
"Barry, you're a great friend."
He smiled at her. "Well, here's what you don't know. In the decade since then, we have all gone through so much. Between time travel adventures and just growing up, we're even better friends now then we were back then. You and Shelby mean the world to Marci and me."
"Aww...Barry," Cyd replied in a soft tone. "You're getting me all emotional here."
He put a hand on her shoulder and continued. "The reason I want you to go back, is because you know how your future can be changed when you have knowledge of what's going to happen. Even when you don't want to change it, you can still do so accidentally. And believe me...this is a day you don't want to change."
Cyd found herself moved by the sincerity in Barry's tone. "Shelby is marrying someone who will make her happy?"
"I don't think there's anyone who could make her happier," Barry replied. Marci nodded in agreement.
"Well...okay."
Barrry and Marci quickly hurried Cyd back to Shelby's changing room and hurriedly explained what they wanted the time travelers to do.
"But who am I going to marry?" the blonde asked. "I've got to know!"
"Shelby, good things come to those who wait," Barry offered.
"Besides," Cyd added. "In the future, after you're married, we can jump back and relive the wedding as many times as you want."
"That would be cool," Shelby concluded. "Okay, we'll go back." She looked to Barry and Marci. "I'm glad things turn out so great for you two. Oh, should we let you know that you're going to get married?"
"Keep it a secret," Barry answered, before glancing over to his wife and taking hold of her hand. "Besides, we always knew we'd end up together."
"Awwww," Shelby and Cyd said together before high-fiving and jumping back to their proper time.
The Present
Shelby and Cyd were back in their bedroom.
"That was something," Shelby commented.
"I know you didn't find out who you're going to marry," Cyd said. "But it looks like you're going to have a great wedding."
"I think I can wait to find out who I marry. The important thing is...you'll be there."
"Hey, I'm always going to be there for you," Cyd replied.
"And I'll always be there for you."
The two friends hugged for a long time.
"Well, what do you want to do now?" the blonde asked when the hug ended.
Cyd thought for a moment until an idea struck her. "You have any hair clippers in the house?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"You saw what I looked like in the future," Cyd answered with an enthusiastic smile. She ran her hands through her hair. "Let's take all this off!"
"Seriously?!"
"Totally," Cyd answered with a laugh. A few minutes later, they were both saying goodbye to the brunette's long locks.
The Future
Barry, Marci, Shelby and Cyd all stood in the dressing room, one moment after Shelby and Cyd's teenage selves had returned to 2016.
"Just like we remembered," Shelby said. She turned to Barry and his wife. "Thanks for keeping us from finding out."
"I don't know if we would have been ready to know everything back when we were sixteen." Cyd added.
"I can't believe you never told me that you jumped ahead to your wedding today. I could have been more prepared," Barry replied.
"Hey, we knew how it turned out." Shelby smiled. "You did a great job."
"People, you're missing one important point here," Marci said forcefully. "Cyd still isn't dressed."
"Hey, we have..." Cyd began as she pulled out her phone to check the time. Her eyes widened in alarm. "FIVE MINUTES!"
Marci grabbed Cyd by the arm and dragged her off towards her changing room.
"You know, they say it's bad luck for the bride to see her betrothed on the wedding day, before the ceremony starts that is."
Shelby shook her head. "I'm not worried. That's for a bride and a groom...not a bride and a bride. Cyd will be ready in time."
Exactly four minutes and fifty-one seconds later, Cyd and Shelby stood together at the altar and made it official that they were much more than best friends.
The End.
author's note: When the idea of Shelby and Cyd jumping ahead to the day that one (or in this case, both) of them gets married came to me, I was shocked that nobody else had used it for a Best Friends Whenever fic already (to my knowledge at least). Obviously it could work for all sorts of pairings for either girl...but this one is my personal favorite. I hope you enjoyed it. Please review.