Alice

"Look at how happy they are."

"Her dress fits so perfectly, I can't wait till next month arrives."

"They are going to have one good looking family."

Those were just some of the words I heard as I walked through the party. An engagement party. My engagement party. I stood next to a stoic , raven-haired man. As usual, he had no facial expression. My husband to be. Shun said we looked happy together, yet I have never once seen Shun smile.

I laughed when I heard those words, well, almost laughed. We had to "keep up appearances," or so my mother had put it. All I know is when I turned sixteen, Shun began to "court" me. It basically means by the time I turned eighteen, which was two weeks ago, I was going to get married to him. Needless to say, I just dimply can't refuse my parents.

"Honey," my mother came up to me, along with my father, and proceeded to crush the life out of me, "we are so happy for you."

I felt an awkward smile come upon my face as I awkwardly patted my mother's back, "Thank you mother," I said as nicely as I could put it.

"Dear," I heard my father's strong voice calling out, "I fear you are crushing the poor girl."

"Father, I am a full grown woman, not a little girl anymore," I growled as my mother released me of her death grip.
Shun turned towards my mother, "Mrs.-" before he could finish, mother cut him off.

"None of that now," she sternly said, "you may call me mother, seeing as you are marrying our precious angel. Plus, calling me Mrs makes me feel old."

Shun gave her a firm look, "Carrie, I was just going to take Alice. I believe her friends are waiting for her," as he said this, he made a gesture to where he saw Dan and Runo fighting, Billy and Julie in a deep conversation, and Murucho having a panicked look on his face as he tried to break up the fight with Dan and Runo. Needless to say, it looked like it was not going well.

As we walked away from my parents, I sighed in relief. Shun always knew when a situation was becoming too much, "Thanks Shun."

He nodded his head and led me to our friends. I even saw one of the corners of his mouth turn upwards, just ever so slightly.

"Finally pulled her away from her parents now, huh Shun," Dan's voice said, as we saw him, a smirk appearing on his face, "you must really care for Alice."

Shun rolled his eyes at Dan's comment," Like you and Runo are any better. I'm sure it'll be time for you two to get engaged soon." He looked over to Julie and Billy, who were laughing at what Billy said, "At least those two are happy being with each other."

Everybody looked over to the two who were still laughing, and sighed. They've been best friends ever since childhood, and now they're engaged. It was like the fates were making sure they were staying bout to each other. I smiled as they continued their conversation, both with a smile that could rival the brightness of the sun.

"I hope our relationship will be like that in the future," I quietly said under my breath, then looked to see Shun staring at me, eyes wider than usual.

Before he could say anything, the clinking of glasses could be heard, signaling a speech was about to begin.

"I would like to thank everybody for coming," my mother stated, as she held a spoon in one hand, and her champagne in the other, "not only for my daughter, but for her fiancée as well. They've known each other since they were little. Mrs. Kazami, or some of you know her as Lily, and I were close friends in high school, and we are proud to see our oldest children grow up." As she started tearing up, my father took over, "We are so proud of our children, and I'm sure that Sean would agree," as he said this he looked over to Shun's father, Sean, who simply nodded his head, a smile etched upon his face. "A toast to the soon to be married couple," mother announced as she happily held up her glass, and everybody followed in unison.

"Cheers!"

As the party was drawing to a close, and people started leaving, my mother stood by the door handing out invitations, "We hope you can come to the wedding, which will be in a month from now."

As soon as she said that to some people, there was the sound of excessive coughing behind us. As Shun and I looked back, we saw Dan, a half filled cup of water in his hands, was holding back tears, as he bent forward at the hips, Runo rubbing his back, an annoyed expression appeared upon her face.

"And this is why you shouldn't just drink a bunch of water. You need to be careful because you tend to do this way too much Dan," Runo lectured as he was still trying to regain the now lost oxygen that he had received from the water in his lungs.

Muroucho pushed up his glasses, lining his face, as he quietly said, "I just think he's in shock from the face that Alice and Shun are getting married in one month's time."

"Um, yeah, how can I not be surprised. My best friend, and Runo's best friend is getting married in a month! And we didn't even know what this party was about till we got here," As Dan said this, he went up to Shun, "Shun, you're so quiet and stuff, and Alice usually doesn't like to burden us, but I think i know the question everybody wants to ask here."

Shun took a step back, moving closer to me, as I was behind him for the moment, I could tell that because of the comment Dan just made, that he must have a guarded expression, "And what would that be," with that, Shun moved next to me as Dan quickly ran to where he was standing.

"Well, like, how did you propose to Alice of course!" Runo exclaimed, taking my hands into hers, "She wouldn't tell us! Like, in fact, we were like Dan. Completely clueless till we got here!" She quickly grabbed Shun's hands and placed them with mine, making me blush a bit, "So, like, how did you propose?" She gasped, as if she just had an amazing idea, "I know, you took her out to a fancy, candle lit dinner, didn't you! Or did you two take a stroll on the beach, or-" before she could even start her next thought, Shun cut her off, stating coldly, "I actually didn't propose to her. Our parents agreed to when we were getting married."

After he said that, it was quiet for a moment, "So, you didn't propose to her man," Dan exclaimed, a shocked look on his face.

"Actually," Murocho said, pushing his glasses up on the bridge of his nose again, "it is quiet common for business marriages to be done this way. You follow what your parents want you to do. You don't have any say in the matter as to what you would like. You just simply follow them. It was hard for me to tell my parents no what they wanted me to get engaged, but it went fairly well, seeing as the girl I was to marry already had a beloved."

"Aw, Murocho, why didn't you tell us?" Julie asked, "We could've like, totally added her to the group!"

Murocho looked down, "Because my parents didn't want people to know. I mean, I'm the only heir in my family, so choosing the right person for me to marry would be hard with all of the paparazzi trying to crawl down my back."

"Anyways," Julie exclaimed, "how about we start planning the wedding!" Runo and Julie knew that I always wanted a small wedding. Just close friends and family, but of course, my parents being who they were wouldn't allow that. It had to be big. Huge. The wedding of the century!

"How about we start small," Runo said, smiling at me, as the boys looked totally lost, except for Murocho, who kept tabs on the conversation.

"Yeah!" Julie exclaimed, "Like, we can totally choose brides and groomsmen first and like, work from there!"

I smiled, and then turned to Shun, "Actually, I was thinking that Shun and I would talk about what we wanted in the wedding, then see where we can go from there."

Runo looked crushed, along with Julie. The guys on the other hand…

"Does this mean that we don't have to help plan the wedding," Dan exclaimed excitedly, "Whoo hoo!" he jumped in the air.

"That doesn't mean that you're not going to be there for the wedding," Shun stated, before crossing his arms, then looked at me, "How about we go back home and we can talk about the arrangements from there."

I smiled, "Of course," after I said that, he walked away. I turned to my friends, "See you all soon." With that I waved my hand, and started to run after.