"What is it?" Joy asks irritably as she walks into her best friend's house. "I was kind of in the middle of something."
"Oh, thanks, Joy. Glad my best friend cares so much about my being engaged," Patricia scoffs from the other room.
Joy drops her purse to the floor in total shock. Patricia glides in, wearing an elegant outfit of a blue and green blouse with long black slacks. She flashes the glittering, glamourous diamond ring in front of Joy, a wide smile on the redhead's face.
Patricia is suddenly attacked by an exuberant Joy, who is beaming with as much radiance as the sun. Joy is clutching her friend with so much happiness, Patricia looks as if she's being choked with it.
"I am so happy for you!" Joy squeals, probably deafening Patricia's eardrums.
Patricia lets out a breathy laugh, returning Joy's embrace. "Thanks, Joy. And I still have my question to ask you."
Joy pulls away with excitement shining in her eyes, a plan formulating her head as she thinks of ideas for the wedding.
"Would you be my-y'know that thing that people are?-that maid of honor or something-"
"Yes! Definitely!" Joy exclaims.
"Uh, o-okay," Patricia stammers out, completely taken aback by Joy's giddiness.
"It's to Eddie, isn't it?" Joy already knows it's true, but she wants to confirm her idea.
"Wai- How did you know it was him?"
"Lucky guess." Joy smirks. "No, I heard him over the phone in our last call."
"Oh," Patricia shrugs. "Well, now that you heard the news, can you help me tell Amber?"
"Yeah, of course. Why? Are you scared about the crazy, blonde fashionista coming to take you away into a sea of wedding dresses and tiaras?" Joy teases.
The redhead narrows her eyes in annoyance, but nods. "You know how crazy Amber can get about weddings. Remember her and Alfie's wedding? She had the cliche, romantic, 'white wedding' that apparently every girl wants to have." She rolls her eyes at the last bit.
Her best friend laughs. "Well, true. I can see why you would be so scared of her. So when do you want to tell her?"
"Um, maybe-"
"Hey, Trixie. Where'd you go-?" Eddie's voice wafts through the air, as does the sudden sizzle of meat against oil as he starts to cook.
"I'm over here," Patricia replies. She begins to walk into the kitchen, and Joy follows. "Are you hungry? Eddie's said he was going to make us some lunch, want to join?"
Joy thinks about accepting, her empty belly reminding her by giving off a low growl. Thankfully, it is not loud enough to be heard over the sizzling of the food, so Patricia does not notice.
There is Eddie-in a button-down, black shirt with blue jeans, looking like he always has: carefree and cocky. He looks up with a grin at seeing Patricia, but seems a bit startled that Joy is there.
"Oh hey, Joy. How are you doing?" Eddie uses a wooden spoon to shift around what appears to be ground beef, then takes a few spice containers and shakes them over the food. The smell drifts to Joy's nostrils, making her mouth water.
"I'm fine. Congrats on the engagement," Joy commends.
"Thanks. Yep, me and my annoying English girlfriend are getting married. Quite a time for celebration," he smirks, throwing an arm around the redhead's shoulders.
Patricia wriggles out of his hold, smacking him on the shoulder. The hit lightly jostles the pan of cooking beef. "Did you just call your future fiancée annoying?" she growls.
"Yes, I did, dear." Eddie's eyes glimmer with sarcasm.
The stubborn, snide redhead gives him a half-smile, but kisses him on the lips anyway. "Sometimes I hate you, you know."
"And sometimes you love me, right?" Eddie adds.
"Yeah, I do." Patricia smiles.
Joy fidgets awkwardly at watching her two friends flirt and kiss like this, not knowing what to do with herself. She decides to interject before things turn a little too lovey-dovey. She pipes up, "Hey, lovebirds."
Both Eddie and Patricia stop staring at each other and glance at Joy. She gives them a little wave with a half-smile. "I'll just be going then. Don't want to ruin the moment."
"You kind of already did," Eddie mutters as he returns to cooking the food. Patricia smacks him again, but inquires,
"You sure you don't want anything?"
"No, no. I'm fine. If I do want something, I'll get something to eat at McDonald's or something, don't worry." Joy moves to the door, putting her hand on the handle to leave.
"O-Okay. Um, I'll tell you later about when to tell Amber, yeah?" Patricia calls.
"Yeah, sure," Joy replies, waving her off. She shuts the door, cutting off whatever her best friend is just about to say.
Joy presses her lips in a tight line, trying to form a happy expression for her friend, though Patricia isn't outside to see her. Joy ultimately gives up, knowing she can't do it after seeing her best friend and Eddie sending loving gazes at each other. She slowly trudges to the curb, where her dark red convertible sits.
She climbs into the front seat, putting her keys in the ignition and turning the key to start the car. As she pulls away from the sidewalk and onto the road, her mind spins with thoughts about everything: the wedding, to being a maid of honor, and of just love in general.
She thinks of the wedding and the couple that are soon to be married. "Patricia Williamson" and "getting married" do not form a cohesive sentence in her mind. Maybe because her redheaded best friend always said that she would never find anyone good enough for her. Now that she is about to be married-Joy is still recovering from her shock.
When Joy thinks about Eddie, the first word to come to her mind is "stupid." Mainly because the little twit annoys the hell out of her on a daily basis. But . . . if he makes Trixie happy, well, then she can bear his irritating cockiness.
The two of them do look really happy together, and they are a match made in heaven: both arrogant, stubborn, sarcastic, but with just a touch of hatred towards one another that they're not the completely perfect couple like Fabina.
Whoa, she chastises herself. Do not go there. Fabian and Nina are dating, happy together, and you are Nina's friend. You live on the same floor as her, for crying out loud. She is just nice enough to give you a room after what happened. Do not think about that.
Her thoughts redirect themselves to the topic of being the maid of honor. It is pretty incredible: it would be the first wedding that Joy would not be a bridesmaid in. Before the wedding, she will help Patricia pick out the wedding's location, mail out all of the wedding invitations, choosing the decoration and helping with the color theme. She will help Patricia pick out the bride and the bridesmaids' dresses, along with planning the rehearsal dinner. Joy would host the Bridal Shower and the Bachelorette Party, but she has a feeling that Amber will prefer to do that, and Joy has enough sense to not stand in the eccentric blonde's way.
A loud honk jerks Joy out of her thoughts in time for her to swerve sharply right to avoid going into the left-hand lane. The man she almost crashed into yells a stream of curses at her, but Joy gives him an apologetic smile, mouthing, "Sorry."
Joy cruises to a stop at a red light, and she begins to think about England. It is so much easier to drive there, with its roundabouts that are much easier to navigate through than some stupid flashing lights that don't seem to work in the rain. She taps her fingers on the steering wheel, impatiently waiting for the light to turn green.
A flash of green catches her attention, the stoplight changed, and Joy hits the gas pedal to drive forward.
With each passing street light, more and more thoughts fill her head, and by the time she arrives home, her mind is weighed down by the amount of things she is thinking about. Removing her shoes and crawling into her bed, though it is only seven o'clock, she falls into a restless sleep: full of unspoken wishes, hopeless dreams, and a remembrance of that four-lettered word, love.
. . .
Joy is sitting in a wicker chair with cloth pillows and sipping champagne from a glass flute, dressed in a violet-hued dress. In her hair are dozens of lilacs and purple roses, along with flowers to match her dress, the violet itself. Her feet are bare, and the dress is just short enough to show off her long legs that have been bronzed by the sun.
Golden light bathes her skin, but the sun isn't shining bright enough that she is blinded by it. She notes her brown hair that is coiffed perfectly, and it has turned almost a cinnamon color in the light.
Joy truly feels like she is in heaven, and then she sees it.
A dark speck is on the horizon and Joy narrows her eyes to see what is happening. She can just make out pouring water coming from what looks like a rain cloud. A crouched figure is sitting there, not doing anything and getting drenched by the rain.
Joy stands up, out of her chair, still holding the flute in hand. She strides toward the cloud, her bare feet being enveloped with the warm sand that surrounds her.
As she approaches them, she sees that the figure is in ragged clothing, hair draping over their face. She looks strangely like Joy, with dark brown hair and olive-toned skin.
Her shaking shoulders confirm Joy's theory that she is crying. Now that she is closer, she sees that the figure is a girl: one who is ripping up photos with pictures of her and . . . of him.
"Together forever? Yeah right!" she shouts at nothing.
Joy approaches the other one, but not before feeling hard concrete under the balls of her feet. It is weird, like an island of stone surrounded by a bowl of sand. She puts a soft hand on her shoulder. The other jumps in surprise, with wide eyes and trembling hands. Joy gasps as she realizes that the figure is her.
"What's wrong?" Joy whispers quietly to her mirror image.
"How could this happen? I thought love was amazing . . ." the other's voice breaks. Then her brown eyes, identical to Joy's, darken with what seems to be hidden, boiling fury. "But it is not. It destroys everyone, turning them to heartless and broken people."
"Wha- What are you talking about?" Joy exclaims.
The doppelgänger's lips turn up in a creepy smile, letting out a sinister laugh. "Yeah, sure! Like you don't know. Love kills people on the inside and out.
"Of all people, you should know that. Remember that breakup?" She leans up and whispers into Joy's ear. Her next words freeze Joy, icy remembrance slithering up her body. "Remember him?"
The flute shatters to the ground, champagne spreading in all directions as glass splits into a billion pieces on the black concrete.
Inkie, as you can see. All of the words I need to use are in bold font, and there will be more in the next chapters. If I misses any, just let me know (via PM or review, please!)
Yeah, Joy's dream goes from perfection to classic House of Anubis creepiness. I know that not much is revealed in this chapter, but I'll give you guys a hint about what is to come! Here it is . . .
"Meet me at the park in five. I need someone to talk to."
"What happened to us? I mean, what we used to have?"
"Wanna make a wish?"
"Ha. Wishes are for people with no drive to do anything themselves. They're for those who can't bother to make something of themselves. So, as you can see, I don't do wishes."
"Would you . . . like to go . . . with me . . . to the wedding?"
Hope you all enjoyed! Please review! (:
~Ary
PS: As you can probably tell, Patricia moved to America with Eddie, and Joy moved to America with Nina. Both drive on the right-hand side of the road. Just wanted to make sure everyone knew that.
