2

Looking Like a Girl

"Any girl can look glamorous. All you have to do is stand still and look stupid." - Hedy Lamarr

The beach Total picked for the ceremony appeared to be a picnic site, with lots of tables and fire pits spread out all over the place. It was strangely empty for such a nice place, but I tried not to overreact.

"Don't worry, Max," Angel reassured me, "we didn't have money for a booking, so we mixed up the signs marking the route to the beach." I frowned. I was going to have to have a talk with Angel about this. Redirecting traffic for a doggy wedding was not acceptable.

"But it's not just any doggy wedding," Angel insisted, picking up my thoughts, "it's Total's wedding!"

Before I was able to fully scold Angel my mom spoke up, "Alright everyone, there's a bathroom up that way! Let's get changed, then we can set up the lattice arch with the flowers." I rolled my eyes. Why of course there was a lattice arch with flowers! We needed somewhere for the priest to stand, after all.

No, we did not actually have a priest. How would we be able to explain the talking dog?

Anyways, we all walked down to the bathrooms and went our separate ways to change. Mom was the one performing the ceremony, so she didn't have to get changed (no fair!) so it was just me, Angel, Nudge and Ella in the bathroom.

Ella twirled in front of the mirror to see how she looked in the bridesmaid dress. "This is going to be so much fun!" she exclaimed, beaming at herself in the glass.

"I know, right?" Nudge chattered, "I just love all the prettiness involved with weddings! The dresses, the flowers, and I just think it's sooooo sweet when two people—or dogs I guess—commit to stick together their entire lives! I wish that I was in love like Total and Akila, except that I don't want to be in love with a dog..." Nudge realized that everyone was staring at her and shut up.

"I think it's really sweet too," Angel agreed. Then she turned to me and asked, with a teasing glint in her eye, "Hey Max, when are you and Fang going to have a wedding?"

My face dropped. "Uh..." was all I could say.

Ella raised her eyebrows, "Yeah Max," she quipped, "it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that you're head over heels for Fang."

"Being head over heels isn't the same as wanting to get married," I reminded her.

"So you admit to being head over heels?" Ella grinned.

I groaned, "Ella!" I really didn't need this conversation right now. Besides, I seriously doubted that Fang wanted to get married right now any more than I did.

"You really love each other, Max," Angel stated, "and you look really pretty right now. Why wouldn't Fang want to marry you?"

"It's more complicated than that, Angel." Still, I walked over to the bathroom mirror and looked more closely at myself. I had to admit, I looked pretty good. I mean, I still felt uncomfortable in the skirt, and the fabric was all weird and slippery, but at the same time... I looked like a girl. Nudge had even managed to untangle my rat's nest hair enough for it to look semi-presentable. It was almost a bit nice.

"See?" Angel piped up, running over and giving me a hug, "Fang's going to love how you look!"

"I guess..." I winced a little. All of these wedding preparations were diminishing my tough side. Still, I did look kind of nice.

Unfortunately, my one semi-girly moment was interrupted by a loud knocking on the bathroom door. "Max!" Fang yelled urgently.

I walked over to the door and opened it. "What's wrong?"

"Max, we—" Fang stopped talking and did a double-take, his eyes widening slightly. Apparently he had just noticed my dress. However, he quickly shook off his amazement and got to the point. "It's Iggy," he said, "We can't find him anywhere."