Packed inside the gym of the local community center, a large group of people gathered for a wedding shower. Family and friends of the happy couple were seated around long tables sampling a variety of casseroles that they brought for the potluck. Nickole, carrying her plate piled high with the different casseroles, sat down at the end of a long table next to her fiancé, Don. Many close friends of Nickole and Don also sat at the table. These friends made up the wedding party. On the opposite side of Don from Nickole, sat Austin, Don's best man, and Ann the maid of honor, who was sitting on Nickole's other side, asked when she saw Nickole's plate, "Are you hungry?" Nickole laughed,
"There's so much food over there," Nickole defended herself gesturing over to another long table on which the guests had placed the casseroles. "I have to try everything."
"I don't blame you." Don said as he contemplated his now empty plate, "I think I'm gonna go back for more."
"Why don't you eat some of mine; there's no way I can eat all of this." Nickole suggested pulling her deep red hair out of her way.
"Err …okay."
"You two need to hurry up and eat, because there are gifts waiting to be opened." Ann reminded them. Don looked over at yet another table, and all he could see was wrapping paper and gift bags.
"Whoa! That's better than Christmas!" He commented.
"Dude!"Austin exclaimed from behind Don. "That's gonna take hours!"
"Well then we'd better get started." Don said as he stood up and began to walk away.
"Hey, I'm not finished yet!" Nickole called after him. He turned around, smiled, then walking back to where Nickole sat, he grabbed the back of her chair and pulled it away from the table; Ann and Austin laughed. "What are you doing?" Nickole asked laughing along with the others.
"I want to go open gifts, and you won't move until you finish eating, and, judging by the amount of food still waiting to be eaten, that's going to be a while." Don teased, "So, I'm just gonna have to make you stop and come with me." And taking her by the hand Don and Nickole walked over to the gifts. Ann turned to another girl with bright red hair and fair skin, Addie, and asked,
"Where's Michael? He supposed to be taking pictures."
"Um," Addie replied looking around, "I don't know, but I think he and Allen went to go do something."
"Do something?" Ann said apprehensively.
"My thoughts exactly," Addie agreed then turning to Austin she said, "Maybe you and I could go look for them."
"Um, okay." Austin replied, "But hang on, I'll be right back." He left the table and walked over to where Don and Nickole were now un-wrapping a toaster. Ann turned on Addie.
"Way to go, Captain Obvious."
"What?" Addie pretended to be confused.
"You need to practice subtlety."
"I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about."
"Yah, sure,"
Before Addie answered, Austin and another girl, Angelica, walked over to the girls' seats. "Where's Michael? He's missing some really good pictures." Angelica asked.
"Austin and I are going to go look for him now." And with that Addie and Austin left the table. They walked out of the building and into the parking lot. "What could they be doing out here?" Addie asked as she looked around at the assortment of cars.
"Allen said something about Don's truck." Austin replied, "Maybe they're around back."
"What are they doing with Don's truck?" Addie asked, but as they rounded the corner her question was answered by the sight that met them. Michael, Allen, and Chris stood in front of an unrecognizable truck. They covered Don's Ford F-150 with balloons and graffiti. "Oh my gosh! Guys, Don is gonna be so mad!" Addie exclaimed. Austin laughed,
"Y'all do know that we're not supposed to do that until the actual wedding day?"
Michael smiled a sinister smile, "Yes, we know that. But then he'd be expecting it."
Addie sighed, "You need to get inside and take pictures."
"Okay, help me find a place to hide this stuff." Michael ordered Allen.
"Where?" Chris asked looking around at the parking lot, "In the back of the truck?"
"That sounds good to me." Allen threw the rice, pasta, and empty window paint bottles in the back of Don's truck. "What do we need pictures of?"
"They've started opening the gifts, and it would be nice if Michael got a few pictures." Addie answered sarcastically.
So the five walked back inside the community center where they were met by Ann and Nickole. "Are you still opening the gifts?" Michael asked getting out his camera.
"No," Nickole responded, "We just finished."
"Oh,"
"Where have you been?" Don asked walking up behind Nickole.
"Um, nowhere," Allen said, hesitantly. Don looked from Michael to Allen,
"You're a very bad liar." Then, turning to Nickole, he said, "I'll be right back; I left my camera in the truck." He started to walk away.
"Wait," Allen started, "Michael brought his camera; why don't you use his?"
"Because, I want my camera," Don said, and he left. Michael turned on Allen.
"What were you thinking?"
"What was I thinking? What were you thinking? It wasn't MY idea to mess with his car!"
"Oh well, at least he'll be surprised."
Nickole stood there looking confused, "What did you do to Don's truck?"
Allen looked at Michael and then back to Nickole, "You'll see."
"For the record, let's say I had nothing to do with it," said Chris, then he walked away to go wash the window-paint off his hands.
Less than two minutes later, Don stormed back into the building and confronted Allen and Michael. He had a huge smile on his face. "You do realize that you're not supposed to do that until the wedding day?"
Allen and Michael looked at each other, "SURPRISE!"
After the guests left and the volunteers cleaned the gym, Nickole and Ann drove to Nickole's house. Ann was staying with Nickole the month before the wedding on July 14th. When they arrived at the house, the girls climbed up the stairs and crashed in Nickole's bedroom. "What's Don gonna do with his car?" Ann asked as she took her PJs out of her suitcase.
"I'm not sure," Nickole answered, "…but I think he's taking it to a car wash in the morning."
"It should wash off; it's only window paint." Ann paused, "Hey, can I check my e-mail?"
"Sure, I'm gonna get a shower." Nickole replied.
Ann clicked on the internet browser and logged onto her account. A message popped onto the screen: YOU HAVE THREE (3) UNREAD MESSAGES. Ann clicked the link and scrolled down to view the new messages. The first one was from her parents saying that they were having a great time on their cruise and that they hoped they would make it back in time for the wedding. The second was from Josh. Josh Wilson moved away the summer after junior year. He and Ann kept in touch, and she had invited him to the wedding. Ann read the e-mail: "Sorry, but I'm busy that weekend. I hope I'll be able to come back later this summer and see you all. I miss you a lot and can't wait to see you. Give Don and Nickole my best." Ann sighed as she hit reply.
"I'm sorry you can't come. I would have been great to have you there. Please try and come. It will mean a lot to Don and Nickole if you do. I miss you too." Ann finished typing and sent the message.
Moving on to the next message she looked at the sender's address, She started to read the first line… "July 14th? I can't wait to…"…but then Nickole came back into the room. Ann hastily deleted the message and closed the internet window. "Is there anything interesting?" Nickole asked, sitting on her bed in her pink poke-a-dot PJ's.
"Umm… my parents are having a good time; that's about it."
"That's good. So are you gonna come with Don and me tomorrow or are you doing something with Addie?"
"What's tomorrow?"
"Saturday…you know…we have the appointment with the wedding planner?"
"I'm not sure. I'll come with you if you want; I don't know what Addie's doing. Maybe she could come with us." Ann suggested.
"That would work. I'll call her." Nickole picked up her cell phone and dialed Addie's number. The phone rang for a few seconds; finally Addie answered,
"Hello?"
"Hey, Addie, it's Nickole."
"Hey, Nickole, what's up?"
"Oh, not much…we were just wondering if you wanted to come with us to the wedding planner's, and after that we're gonna go pick up our dresses."
"Um, yah, I'll come. What time?"
"The appointment is at ten so I thought you could meet us here at about nine-thirty." Nickole told her.
"Okay…hey, I have another call coming in. I'll talk to you tomorrow." Addie interrupted.
"Okay, bye."
Addie switched lines and answered the phone, "Hello?"
"Hey, it's Chris."
"Oh, hey Chris," Addie answered, slightly disappointed that it wasn't Austin.
"How are you?"
"I'm doing fine. What's up?"
"I was wondering if you had any plans for tomorrow."
"Um, yeah actually I do. A few of us are going to go pick up our dresses. I'm sorry."
"It's okay. I was just wondering. You have fun tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay," Addie replied, then she hung up the phone, and, feeling slightly confused, got in bed.