Harper's Rules 1 & 2

Chapter 27: Harper

"I'm so excited!" Mrs. H. gushed, her arms completely stuffed with what looked like all possible wedding dress options clutched into her chest.

"This is the girl who tried on just one dress and chose it for Homecoming," I reminded her as my eyes roamed over delicate lace, silk, satin, tulle, and probably to Ellie's horror, organza. "How many have you got in there?"

"I..." Mrs. Harrison's dark brown eyes, same color as Ellie's but flooded with chagrin, dropped to her armful of pillaged rack scores. "...might have gone a little overboard. But my baby, my only baby girl, is getting married!"

"And we both know Logan would marry her if she wore nothing at all..." I paused and the corners of my lips curled up at Ellie. "Which I bet is his vote if I checked with him."

The three of us stood in J's Bridal, a downtown Santa Cruz shop, surrounded by soft turquoise walls, bridal pictures, and an entire wall of accessories. Mrs. Harrison had flocked straight for the racks of dresses in the bridal store because I'd never seen so many veils, tiaras, wraps, or even jewelry that wasn't in a jewelry store.

"And I just want something... simple," Ellie finally spoke up from where she stood near a wall rack of dresses on hangers. Her empty arms fell limp at her sides and her round eyes threw me a silent 'help me' plea. "Especially now that we have a change in plans."

"Ellie" Her mom screeched and I caught an armful of white fluff that she threw it into my chest and clapped both palms to her cheeks. "Are you... pregnant!?"

Wow, that took a sharp turn.

"No!" Ellie cried out, almost as shrilly, with enough extra volume since the other shoppers, all three of them, shot their gaze in our direction.

At the 'Kill me now' Ellie look, I coughed slightly and nodded at a strapless, curved neckline A-line dress with four layers of chiffon that fluttered when I nudged the hanger with my right elbow. "What uhh... about this one? It's a little plain but add a nice belt and it could work."

"That's... per - really nice," Ellie caught herself, pulled the dress toward her, and draped it over her breasts. No floor sample's length would've worked for Ellie's short height but she gasped when she looked at the tag.

"Great, it's a marked down floor sample -" she started when her Mom huffed.

"Good afternoon, Gianna, oh and this must be our bride Ellie?" A shorter, slightly plump, older woman with round glasses walked up towards us.

If she knows Mrs. H. by first name, how many times has she been in here?

Technically, the three of us had been here before, when Ellie and I had gotten our Homecoming dresses our senior year of high school. I'd also gotten my prom dress from here and swallowed tightly at that bittersweet memory.

At the time, Jake and I had called off our highschool version of the fuckbuddy arrangement. He planned to take both Ellie and me to prom, but pulled up solo in Dad's driveway. We'd had an absolute shit time, spent less than an hour at the dance, and headed to the beach.

If I thought hard enough, I still remembered the damp, cold sand between my bare toes and the warmth from Jake's jacket around my shoulders. We only talked, well, Jake talked and I listened. He'd been distraught after he'd punched out Ryder's lights, nearly lost his football scholarship, and saddled all of us with silence under an NDA that bought Ellie a second chance at UW.

That night, Jake unnecessarily promised me that he wanted to change the toxic, destructive parts of himself.

"I'm an awful person," he'd rasped out and pressed a damp cheek into the back of my neck. "As much as I want to blame it on Ellie's assault, it's my own damn fault."