Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or anything else you might recognize from the works of Sarah Dessen.
Chapter One: Looking Back and Looking Ahead
Macy's POV
"Macy, look at how beautiful you look," my mother said to me. She was walking into my bedroom at the beach house. It had been renovated again in the last year to expand to include a second floor full of bedrooms and a pool house for entertaining. Since Wes and I had gotten engaged, we and the rest of our family and friends had been visiting much more. Of course, this was mostly due to the fact that right away I had chosen it to be the location of our wedding and honeymoon. "Your father would be so proud of the extraordinary woman you have become, and the wonderful man you are about to spend the rest of your life with," my mother continued. I look up at her, peck her on the cheek as she leans down to grab one of the magazines on my desk in front of me, and watch as she makes herself comfortable on my bed.
I was sitting in a white chair, draped with tulle, in my white bathrobe and white fuzzy slippers. Kristy was working on my hair and makeup, and as always all of the mirrors in the room were turned around or covered so that I could not look at myself until everything was done. I had gotten used to this, and was trying to relax, flipping through the newest People Weekly magazine. Tori and Candy Spelling, along with Tori's four children, were on the cover, the headline reading Candy Spelling to Leave Everything to Her Children and Grandchildren When She Dies. Tori Spelling has been one of my favorite celebrities for a long time, and as I turn to the article, I read about how her mother's health is declining. Since she and Tori have strengthened their relationship since Liam, Tori's first child, was born, she wants to put Tori, her husband, and their kids in her will permanently. The article continues to talk about how Tori's kids will be able to afford to go to any college, private school, or get into any profession they want to once they grow up.
My room is filled with white orchids on every surface, and white tulle draped upon bedposts, chairs, door knobs, and such. Not only am I in a white bathrobe until I put on my dress and shoes, but so is Kristy, my mom, and my bridesmaids who are down the hall in their own room treating themselves to facials, manicures, and pedicures. The white is a symbol of the purity that Wes and I share; not long after we got together, we both knew that we wanted to be together for the rest of our lives. We decided that we wanted to stay celibate until we eventually got married. If we didn't tempt ourselves, we wouldn't worry about either one of us being unfaithful while we were apart. Also, we didn't want to be in a situation where we were having children too soon.
I look at the digital clock on my dresser, which reads 6:45 p.m. It is Saturday, August 25th, 2012. The sunset is set to be at 7:52 p.m., which is why we have set the ceremony to begin at 7:30 p.m. Wes and I will be spending the next week at the beach house for our honeymoon. I can't believe the time is finally here, I thought now. I have graduated high school and college, and Wes finally went to Art school and graduated. Wes now has galleries back home and here in Colby, and we have kept our jobs at Wish, maintained our old friends while also making new ones. I can't wait for the rest of our lives to begin!
"You're all set, Mace," Kristy said. "Now all you have to do is slip on that sexy, out-of-this world dress that is going to blow Wes' socks off!" I chuckled softly at this. I stood up, turned, and watched as Kristy now strode across the room, opened my door, and yelled down the hallway toward the bridesmaids' room, "Monica! Colie! Isabel! Morgan! It's time!" I could hear commotion from down the hall, as all of my bridesmaids made their way toward my room. Colie, with her strawberry blonde hair half up in a loose French braid, and half down curled slightly to make it look wavy, was first in the room, Isabel and Morgan not far behind her. Their hair, Isabel's blonde and Morgan's brunette had been fixed in much the same way. I had met Colie, Isabel, and Morgan shortly after the beach house was renovated that first time. Wes and I went to explore Colby together, since the only exploring I had ever done was years before with my father shortly after we began going to the beach house. We stopped into this place called the Last Chance Café for lunch and all three of the girls were working. Colie was about 16, and had moved in with her aunt Mira after her mother Kiki Sparks had started travelling too much for work to be at home with her. Apparently, she had met Isabel and Morgan the summer before while visiting her aunt for the first time since she was about 10 years old.
We also met Norman, Colie's boyfriend, who lived in Mira's downstairs room. As we began going to the beach house more, we spent more time with them. We learned about Morgan's ex-fiancé, Colie's mother's workout program, and we met Mira. Mira was extremely eccentric, but also very alluring in her artistic ways. Then later, when Colie graduated high school, my mother hired her to live in and upkeep the beach house. Colie was happy do it, especially since she would be attending college only 20 miles away. Since then, Colie and Norman have gotten engaged and she has just finished her Associates degree in Small Business Management and has purchased the Last Chance Café from the previous owner, and in June, Colie and Norman were married. They will be living in the beach house together as the permanent residents.
After Morgan broke off her engagement with her ex-fiancé, Isabel finally told her that not only was she her best friend and confidante, but she was in love with Morgan and wanted to see if a relationship could work between them. Morgan was shocked at first, but only due to the fact that she didn't think her best friend could ever think of her like that. They began to explore their feelings with one another, and whether or not there was any sort of future for that relationship, and two and a half years later, they were married in a ceremony in Maryland, and are now looking into having children through adoption.
Kristy met a boy named Nicholas just before Wes and I got together. They dated for a year and a half, got engaged, and had a small wedding three months later in May 2009. In April 2010, they welcomed now two year old baby Edward Carlisle (yes, her inspiration came from the Twilight series). They live in a house just a few doors down from my house (which used to be my mother's and now will be mine and Wes'). Monica lives with them, still single and while she has opened up every now and again, she is still not very social. Stella is still living in her double-wide next door to Delia's and across the street from Wes' and Burt's (which will now be just Burt's, once he finishes college and moves back from the dorm). Speaking of Burt, he is engaged to Lisa Jo, whom he met around the same time Kristy met Nicholas, only at an Armageddon convention. They attend the same college, will be graduating the same time, and have a wedding date set for just a few days after graduation.
Monica was the last in the room, ambling in slowly like always. I saw her put her cigarettes away, and then Kristy spoke, "Okay everyone, it is 7:00 p.m. and we need everybody to pitch in so we can get Macy's dress on her without messing up my handiwork." This set everyone in action. Once I had my custom Kristy gown (yes, she became a designer, can you believe it?!) on, everybody else set to work getting their gowns on. At 7:20, we made the final touches, and started for the front door, where we would start one-by-one ascending down to the beach.
Isabel and Morgan would be walking first, together. Then, Colie would be walking with Norman, and Monica with Pete. Kristy, my Matron of Honor (Caroline helped me plan the wedding and was playing hostess), would be walking with Nicholas. My four year old nephew William would be ring bearer next to Delia's 5 year old Avery's flower girl. Then, I would be walking down the aisle toward my forever with Wesley Keith Baker.
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