The Crown Royal burned Miss’s throat as it slid down. She winced and slammed the shot glass down on the scratched wood bar. The bartender, a nice kid named Mike or Mick or Nick or something, gave her a look she’d received many times before and wasn’t in the mood to think about right now. She pushed the glass forward and pulled out her phone, opening up the texts with he who used to be her bestest friend in the whole wide world, Jeremy.
The words seemed to move no matter how still Miss held the phone, but she knew what they said anyway. “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to come.” Miss snorted bitterly and motioned to MikeMickNick for another shot. Her thumbs hovered over the keyboard, willing the venom she felt to form itself into words and hit send. MikeMickNick set the shot down next to her arm and Miss closed the app in favor of the alcohol. She sipped the shot this time though, staring bitterly into space and letting the venom fester and swirl around inside her.
He thought she’d ruin the day, he’d said. He wanted the day to be perfect, and he didn’t want to take any chances of her “acting out.”
Acting out, like she was a child. Miss snorted again and threw back the rest of the shot, slamming the glass down with extra force. She reached into her jeans pocket and pulled out a handful of crumbled and sweaty bills, throwing them on the bar before staggering out to the street.
The bright, mid-morning light lanced through her eyes and straight into her brain as Miss stepped out onto the quiet side street. Miss groaned and held a hand up to cover her eyes as she struggled to open the Uber app and hail a ride.
Jeremy loved horses, loved barns and saddles and leather and wood and all that ranchy crap. If he had any say in the wedding at all, it would be at the ranch outside of town, where he and Miss had gone riding a billion times before. He’d have it at the same frickin ranch, because apparently nothing was sacred.
Miss managed to key in the address and schedule a ride. She shoved her phone into her back pocket and leaned against the wall to wait. She tried to remember the layout of the ranch, where the buildings were and where they might hold a wedding. It had been a minute since she and Jeremy had taken a ride, but she remembered well enough. Probably. She’d figure it out.
The car pulled up, called her name from the window. She pushed off the wall, yanked open the car door and dropped into the seat. Miss spent the drive with her head leaned against the window, the cool glass surprisingly pleasant against her skin. She’d think of a plan when she got there.
The ranch was more or less how she thought she remembered it, except now it seemed like a car was jammed into every nook and cranny on the property. She told the driver to drop her off as close as he could get and wondered when the hell Jeremy got this many other friends. She certainly didn’t have this many people; she could count the number of people she liked on one hand.
The driver stopped in front of the double doors and she waved to him as she staggered up from her seat. The Crown still swimming in her head made the transition difficult, but she managed it. As the driver pulled away, she caught that look the bartender had, something between pity and concern and she was in no more a mood to deal with it than she had been then. Miss grunted and turned to greet the…usher? Guard? Blacksuited guy in front of the double doors to the church.
“Good evening, my dear sir,” Miss started, oblivious to the fact that it wasn’t even noon, “might I request a visit with the groom?”
The UsherGuard gave her that same look and considered his reply carefully.
“Are you on the guest list?” He said slowly. Miss’ plastered on smile grew dark and bitter, just like her thoughts.
“I should be, you know. I’m his Best Friend, and I have every right to be at this wedding, more than, than her!” Miss pointed at some lady she didn’t recognize trying to sneak in beside her. “You don’t even know Jeremy! I did keg stands with him!”
The lady ducked into the venue as quick as she could in a mermaid dress and heels. Really, she couldn’t have picked a more impractical outfit for a ranch wedding. Miss went to follow, more accusations dripping from her lips, but the UsherGuard stepped in front of her.
“Ms, I am going to have to tell you to leave,” he said, gently herding her back and away. Miss jerked away from him and raised her voice.
“I’m not going anywhere! I’m attending the service and you cannot stop me!”
The UsherGuard grimaced at the volume and opened his mouth to probably tell her to keep quiet, when the Rat Bastard Man himself came running out of the double doors.
“Miss? What are you doing here? I thought I told you not to come!” Jeremy, in his tux, a red bow tie slung around his neck, a fucking horseshoe pin on his collar, asked her angrily. Miss gave him a bitter smile.
“Oh yeah Jerbo, that’s why I’m here. See, I don’t see why I can’t come to your big day. I have as much a right to be here as anyone, especially random weirdos who’ve obviously never been on a ranch before.” She folded her arms and made her voice sassy. Jeremy sputtered for a moment and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Yes, I heard you met my dad’s girlfriend.”
“Your dad picks up a random floozy and she gets to come to your wedding, but I don’t? Your best friend?” Miss demanded. Jeremy grimaced as her voice rose to a yell, and peeked over his shoulder at said floozy.
He started to say something, sputtered out a syllable or two, and cut himself off. “Okay, come, come with me.” He grabbed her elbow and pulled her off to the side. Miss went willingly, ready to finally have it out. Jeremy dragged her out of earshot from the door before letting go of her elbow and pinching the bridge of his nose again.
“Look, I’m sorry I didn’t invite you, but this is exactly why!” He whisper-yelled. Miss scowled at him like a scorned child and folded her arms.
“I wouldn’t be drunk if you had invited me,” she muttered. Jeremy groaned.
“The fact that you’re here, making a scene, when I explicitly told you not to come because you might make a scene—”
“Is why you should have invited me,” Miss finished the sentence.
“No! It’s why we’re not friends anymore!”
Miss’ scowl deepend and she stared him down. Jeremy backpedalled.
“Look, it’s not that I don’t care about you anymore, it’s that…you don’t seem to care about me. I mean, did you even try to get to know Lucy before deciding she was trying to steal me? Did you even care that I was getting married before I said you couldn’t be a part of it? Did you think for a second about respecting my wishes, rather than just rolling up drunk out of your mind?”
Miss glared at him and nearly bared her teeth. “Did you think about me when you brought her into our lives? Did you think about how that would affect Me at all?”
Jeremy sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose again, the tired irritation written across his face.
“I shouldn’t have to ask you about every person I meet, Miss! I have a life outside of you!” His voice raised to a yell briefly before he regained control and brought it back down to a harsh whisper. Miss folded her arms and glared at him. Jeremy sighed and put his hands on his hips, staring right back at her. After a moment of staredown, he relented and sighed again.
“Look, I’m gonna have them call you a ride. Just go home, Miss. Please.” Jeremy gave her that look from the bar and started to walk away.
“Oh no, I am Not leaving!” Miss shouted after him. He didn’t respond save for hunching his shoulders and quickening his pace back to the church. A crowd of people had gathered at the doors, their expressions a smattering of concern and offense. Miss started off after him, intent on making sure he knew how much she cared about him. “Hey, I’m not done with you!” She called as she tried to jog to catch up with him. Her feet had other ideas, specifically that of meeting with each other and sending her flying to the ground. She hit the sidewalk with a grunt. Her head swam even more than it had been before. Something dripped into her eye. Someone, UsherGuard maybe, ran over to her and pulled her up by her shoulders, asked her something she couldn’t hear over the pounding in her head. The crowd had come to surround and she fought them off, shoving against the arms of whoever had picked her up and pushing out into the fresh air of the parking lot. Miss’ feet were still a couple, so she decided that right here was a pretty good place to sit down. Miss pulled her knees up to her chest and buried her face in them, the sunlight suddenly way too bright and the murmuring and footsteps of the departing crowd way too loud. She could see their faces even now. The look. The one that made her feel like a fucking kid.
The pounding slowly faded, leaving just in time for an ambulance with piercing lights and sirens to pull up and be way too loud and bright all on their own, no need for the sun. Paramedics got out and started to fuss over her. Miss batted their hands away and tried to stand; her feet failed and she fell onto the shoulder of a guy. They coaxed her to the back of the ambulance, sat her down inside and said something about getting her checked out. As the paramedic closed the doors, Miss got one last glimpse of Jeremy giving her that look. That fucking look.