Friend Zone

by Camilla Isley

  “Georgiana is pregnant, and she’s getting married to Tyler.”

  Alice was too shocked to speak.

  Haley frowned. “Isn’t she in grad school?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Were they trying for a baby?” Haley asked, the hint of an accusation in her voice.

  Madison smiled. “Vicky wouldn’t give me specifics, but I have a suspicion there’s more to the story than she let on…”

  The possibility of a trick pregnancy was enough to leave Alice, Madison, and Haley gossiping and laughing together, the tension of the morning finally gone.

  Thirty-six

  Alice

  Alice and Madison received the invitations to Georgiana’s wedding on the same day. Haley wasn’t invited to the wedding as she didn’t know Georgiana well; she’d only ever seen her in freshman year at sorority meetings. The letters arrived as all three roommates were chilling in their living room. Madison and Alice opened the heavy cream envelopes while sitting side-by-side on the couch. The wedding would be in two weeks’ time.

  Madison broke the silence first. “It seems my pregnant cousin is having a shotgun wedding before her bump starts showing.”

  Since their argument, Madison had been quiet and subdued. But in the last few days, it had gotten worse. Her face had become paler, the bags under her eyes more pronounced. Alice couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen Madison smile. Still, she had not asked. They were being perfectly normal with each other, but some sore feelings lingered.

  “I still can’t believe she’s having a baby,” Alice said, turning the card in her hands.

  Georgiana had called Alice to deliver the happy news right after Madison had spoken with Vicky. Later, Madison had integrated the information with what she’d heard through her family’s grape vine. The gossip was that Georgiana had deliberately stopped taking the pill to get herself accidentally-on-purpose pregnant.

  “It’s a pretty obvious consequence when you go off the pill,” Madison said flatly.

  “Are you sure that’s true?” Alice didn’t want to believe her mentor would sink so low to keep a man. Georgiana was smart, beautiful, and, to the outside world, the incarnation of confidence. “You think there’s no chance it was one of those rare cases where the pill actually didn’t work?”

  “What?” Madison snorted. “That famous zero point one percent?”

  “It could be,” Alice insisted.

  “No, it couldn’t.” Madison shook her head. “Georgiana did it on purpose.”

  “I agree with Mad here,” Haley butted into the conversation, still tapping on her iPad. “The pill not working is the most overused excuse for getting pregnant by accident.”

  “Why would she do that?” Alice asked.

  “To force the poor guy to marry her,” Madison said.

  “Yes, but why?”

  Madison shrugged. “Because she wanted to marry him? I don’t know.”

  Alice changed the subject. “So you’re going to be a bridesmaid?”

  “Unfortunately.”

  “Isn’t it a good thing? Maybe she wants to reconnect with you.”

  “It’s not a good thing, it’s family politics,” Madison said, sounding sure. “I’m her cousin, so I get a spot on the bridesmaids’ roster. Tomorrow I have to go to a bridal shop and stomach Georgiana parading around in white gowns. I’m dreading her choice of bridesmaid outfits.”

  Alice was surprised. Weddings were Madison’s thing; she was a hopeless romantic and loved them. But today, she sounded bitter. Even if this was Georgiana’s wedding, why was her friend being so cynical and negative about everything?

  “Oh, come on. If there’s one thing you can’t say about Georgiana, it’s that she doesn’t have a sense of style,” Alice said. “She’d never pick ugly dresses, it’d ruin her ceremony.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  “You want to go together that day, or do you have special bridesmaid duties?” Alice asked.

  “No. We should go together from here.” Madison blushed.

  Why the blush? Maybe she wanted to bring a date. Alice checked her invitation; it said plus one. “I mean, if you want to go with David—”

  “No!” Madison said, too quickly. “Why would I want to go with him? We’re not even dating anymore.”

  Haley perked up on the couch and, while Madison wasn’t looking, they exchanged a completely silent conversation made of shrugs, wide eyes, and mouthed words: “Did you know?” … “No, you?” … “No. What do you make of it?” … “No idea.” … “If he hurt her, I’m going to kill him.” … “I’ll help.”

  “Mad, are you okay?” Haley asked.

  Madison shrugged. “Sure.” She turned around with a fake smile plastered on her face. “So, the wedding.” Madison’s tone was upbeat and her change of subject so abrupt, Haley and Alice exchanged another we’ll-get-to-the-bottom-of-this-later look. “I have to be there early to get my hair and makeup done by a professional. My dear cousin doesn’t trust my grooming skills. I bet you can get special grooming privileges, too.”

  “You think?” Alice was skeptical although not about getting free hair and makeup.

  “Yes. Unless…” Madison paused.

  “What?” Alice asked.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to bring a date to the wedding?”

  “One-hundred percent.”

  “Are you still avoiding Jack?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  “I’m too ashamed.” Alice forgot Madison’s troubles and concentrated on her own. “I told him I loved him. Worse, I told him that I’ve been carrying a torch for him since freshman year. I also yelled about being jealous of all his girlfriends. I can’t stomach the idea of facing him after all that.”

  “Is he still calling you every day?” Haley asked. “He’s called me only twice this week.”

  Jack had been harassing Haley—the neutral party in all this—almost as much as he had Alice.

  “Yes,” Alice confirmed. “Less often, though. We’re down to two missed calls per day.”

  “Don’t you want to know what he has to say?” Haley asked.

  “Yes and no,” Alice confessed.

  “Why not?” Madison.

  “I can’t take what I said to him back this time, Madison. I can’t pretend I was acting out because I was on the rebound from Ethan. Saying I love you, I’ve been in love with you for three years, is pretty final. We can’t go back to being friends, it’d kill me. It’s goodbye for good this time. I’m not ready.”

  “What if he has something different to say?” Haley asked.

  “Like what? That he’s finally realized he loves me, too? This is not a fairytale, and Jack is no Prince Charming.”

  Alice stood up from the couch and braced her hands on the window frame. Whenever she rehearsed her angry declaration to Jack in her head, her face burned with shame. I’m in love with you… I have been since freshman year… I had to watch you go through girl after girl… I hated every single one… I was jealous… I spent years hoping one day you’d notice me…

  The humiliation was too much.

  “When he came here searching for you,” Madison said cautiously, “he didn’t look like a worried friend.”

  Alice stiffened. She didn’t want to discuss Jack with Madison; the wound was still too fresh. “What did he look like, then?” she asked.

  “To be honest, like a crazed lover. He punched the wall.”

  Instinctively, Alice turned to stare at the wall and found her roommates staring, too. “Yeah, right.”

  “I’m being serious,” Madison insisted.

  “I saw him, too,” Haley said. “He looked desperate.”

  “Did he say anything specific?”

  “No, but—” Madison started.

  “No, exactly,” Alice snapped. “Can we drop the topic now?”

  “What would you like to talk about?” Madison aske
d. “I’ve got no love life to complain about.”

  “So you ended it for good with David?” Haley asked.

  “Yes.” Madison winced. “Better no love life than a crappy one.”

  “What—” Haley started.

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” Madison hissed.

  “Are we doing a bachelorette?” Alice changed the subject completely. It was clear whatever had happened between Madison and David was still too raw.

  “No,” Madison said. “Since Georgiana’s pregnant, we’ll do a bridal/baby shower two-in-one.”

  “When?” Alice asked.

  “Next weekend.”

  “Okay, so we have the shower next week, and the wedding the week after?”

  “Correct,” Madison confirmed. “And tomorrow is shopping with Bridezilla, but that’s just for lucky me.”

  “What am I going to do alone for two weekends?” Haley asked.

  “Want to swap lives?” Madison asked. “What do we need? A shooting star, or something? Find me the star, and I’ll make the wish in a heartbeat.”

  Haley rolled her eyes. “Your family can’t be that bad.” She turned to Alice for confirmation. “Right?”

  Alice took Madison’s side. “The Smithsons can be overbearing at times.”

  “The voice of truth.” Madison made a thank-you gesture and sighed. “I hope three weekends in a row with my family won’t send me to therapy.”

  ***

  The next weekend, Alice followed Madison up the front steps of her aunt and uncle’s massive townhouse for the bachelorette/baby shower. Madison stopped on the doorstep, visibly reluctant to go in. Alice stepped forward and rang the bell.

  Georgiana opened the door. “Alice! I still can’t get over the hair, so fabulous.” Georgiana hugged her and then switched her attention to Madison. “Madison,” she said with a tight-lipped smile. “You might want to try a blowout sometimes; I hear it does wonders for unruly curls. Come on in, everyone’s outside.”

  Madison rolled her eyes, then took Alice’s arm under hers and guided her through the house toward the backyard. Okay, Alice thought, so Georgiana really was a bit bitchy with Madison.

  The setting outside was stylish in an overwhelming, pastel-colors way. Pastel decorations, pastel gazebo, pastel food, and pastel-wrapped presents. Pastel pink seemed to be the dominant color.

  “Is she having a girl?” Alice asked.

  “I think it’s too soon to say,” Madison said.

  “There’s a lot of pink here.”

  “Eh, you know Georgiana.” Madison shrugged. “She probably thinks she can influence the sex of the baby by sheer willpower.”

  Alice looked down at the bright, rainbow-patterned present in her hands. “Let’s go drop this off.”

  They walked toward a table piled with presents, and she deposited hers on top. It clashed so badly with the harmonious pastel theme that Alice immediately removed it from the top and hid it at the back.

  “Where’s yours?” Alice asked.

  “No idea. My mom was in charge of the presents from our side of the family. Probably something expensive,” Madison added, her voice tainted by jealousy. “It’s not like I’m going to spend my own money on my bitch cousin.”

  “How about your unborn niece?”

  “Or nephew,” Madison pointed out. “Let’s see how he/she turns out first. Hey, why don’t we go say hello to my mom?” Madison pointed at a stylish woman in the distance and steered Alice that way.

  Alice loved Madison’s mom. Of all her friend’s relatives, she was the most easygoing and probably the one who’d passed on to Madison her boho style. Alice suspected it had a lot to do with the fact that Madison’s mom had not been a Smithson from birth.

  “Did you pick the bridesmaid dress?” Alice asked as they walked.

  “No, she did.”

  “What color?”

  “Pastel lavender,” Madison said mockingly.

  Alice suppressed a laugh. “Is it bad?”

  “No, you were right,” Madison conceded. “She’s too stylish to pick a hideous dress. Hi, Mom…”

  They chatted with Madison’s mom until Mrs. Smithson was called away to solve a catering problem, and then they headed back to the buffet.

  Alice was trying to decide what to eat when Georgiana waltzed over and grabbed a light-blue pastry. “Alice,” she said. “Try these azure ones, they’re delicious. Madison,” Georgiana continued. “You might want to stick to the white pastries, they’re sugar-free. You know, in case you’re watching your weight.”

  Alice half-choked on a bite of her “azure” tart. Georgiana definitely was snarky with Madison in a way she’d never seen her be with anyone else.

  A loud crash resounded in the background, and they all turned in the direction of the noise. A server had tripped and dropped an entire tray of glasses.

  “Those idiots,” Georgiana snapped. “Ladies, excuse me; I have to go make sure this party doesn’t get ruined by substandard house help.”

  Alice smiled awkwardly and, out of the corner of her eye, caught Madison throwing away the cake pop she’d only half eaten.

  Alice could pretend not to have seen, but she felt the need to say something. “You know you can eat the whole tray if you want. You don’t have any weight issues.”

  “No.” Madison sighed, that air of lingering, unexplained sorrow crossing her eyes. “She made me get my dress half a size smaller than my usual. So she’s right, I need to watch what I eat.”

  “No, you really don’t.” Alice picked up another azure tart and pushed it into Madison’s hand. “Eat this, it’s really delicious.”

  Madison grabbed it and bit half off, smiling. “Mmm, you’re right… these are divine.”

  Alice wished everything in life could be solved with a blue—sorry, azure—tart.

  ***

  The day of the wedding, Madison and Alice left their apartment to drive together to the Smithson’s country house in Madison’s car. Madison was wearing her lilac, one-shoulder strap bridesmaid gown, and Alice was in a simple blush cocktail dress. Alice had not dared wear anything that wasn’t pastel. They’d left their hair loose and wore no makeup, as per wedding planner-issued instructions. A professional would take care of them before the ceremony started.

  At the house, the whole pampering process was extremely efficient. A stern-looking wedding planner ushered them to a small room to change into black silk kimonos and then moved them into different rooms, one for each beauty task: hair, makeup, nails, and a final station where they got back their (steamed) dresses. The wedding planner and her assistants kept muttering, “Divide and conquer.”

  Throughout the entire process, Alice was alone. She never caught a glimpse of the bride or Madison until she was ushered back into a changing room and found her roommate already there. Madison, who usually never wore makeup, looked stunning in her gown with her golden locks arranged in a complicated chignon. When Alice was dressed, too, a scary assistant ordered them to go wait inside the church, which was even-in-heels-walking distance.

  The first guests had already started to arrive and Ethan was helping his father welcome everyone. Many voices were overlapping, the typical Boston accent mixing with a southern lilt. The groom was originally from Texas. Alice shuffled through the entrance door with Madison at her heels, trying to avoid catching Ethan’s gaze; she hadn’t seen her ex since their breakup.

  For now, Madison sat with Alice on the bride’s side of the church, halfway to the back. Yet, soon, she would have to go backstage to make her official entrance as the ceremony began.

  “Is the best man a woman?” Alice asked, squinting her eyes.

  “Yep, Rose,” Madison confirmed. “Ethan’s girlfriend.”

  “You’re right!” Alice exclaimed. “I didn’t recognize her primped like that; if it wasn’t for the chignon, you could take her for a guy.”

  “Yeah, Georgiana forbid her from wearing a dres
s or doing her hair in any style other than a low chignon.”

  “Seriously? Why?”

  Madison shrugged. “I guess she wanted to make sure no one stole her thunder. As if.” She snorted.

  Rose was talking to the minister. Alice felt weird watching her; it was like spying, in a way. Maybe it was normal to be fascinated by the woman your ex-boyfriend had chosen over you. The visual stalking of her old rival didn’t last long. Rose soon finished her conversation and vanished through a door on the right of the altar, presumably where the groom was waiting.

  At that moment, Ethan walked past them and disappeared behind the same door as Rose. He didn’t recognize Alice, or he pretended not to. After five minutes, he came back out and nodded to the priest. The groom and best woman followed and took their spots at the altar.

  “I have to go,” Madison said. “I’ll catch up with you later.” And she was gone.

  The wedding march started playing a few minutes later as the bridesmaids and bride made their way down the aisle. The minister started talking and before Alice knew it, the ceremony was over. It doesn’t take long to change your life forever. She tried to wait for Madison to walk back to the house, but her friend was in the thick of the crowd with the rest of the family so Alice decided to fly solo.

  At the house, the reception was taking place in the gardens. Waiters were already passing out champagne flutes and some aperitifs, so Alice grabbed a flute of the bubbly. She removed her shoes to walk on the grass, feeling strangely isolated amidst the crowd of guests. Weddings did weird things to a girl’s emotions.

  Alice’s mood didn’t improve during lunch. She didn’t know anyone at her table, which was obviously the singles table—seven women and a grand total of three guys sat around her. A perfect reproduction of the dating men-women split. For Alice, it was an effort to sustain polite conversations for the three hours the five-course meal required. So, when the dessert buffet was announced, Alice seized the opportunity immediately and shot out of her chair to stretch her legs.

  Thirty-seven

  Rose

  Rose left Ethan at their table and strolled around the dessert buffet. She took a plate and piled it with all sorts of treats. As she reached the chocolate bonbons, Rose noticed a pretty girl throw her a furtive glance and then lower her gaze just as quickly.