Away she goes.
I told Ben to make sure I got to sit at the end of the aisle.
My mom says that Emily and I shared a crib in the church nursery when we were babies, so technically I could say I’ve known her all of my life. But it wasn’t until years later, when I moved back to Florida, that we really became friends. Her boyfriend used to pass her poetry between classes, and we’d huddle in the band room to laugh over stolen lyrics and bad, generic lines.
Emily was a procrastinator like me and we ended up going to same college orientation – the last possible orientation you could schedule – three days before school started. Which was probably how we ended up with the same class schedule that first semester, how we got to sit next to each other in each class (alphabetically, I had always been right behind her), and how I met her future husband that first week of school.
She went to Italy. I went to New York. We drank more on fake IDs than we did when we finally turned 21. We dressed up for each others’ themed birthday parties. We’d meet up to gossip about old classmates. We were so glad we made it out of that town.
It wasn’t hard securing an end seat, it was a small party anyway, but we left that awkward number of empty seats in the middle. I took out my camera and waited.
It felt like forever, waiting to see that first glimpse of her turn the corner. I was torn between looking at her or turning around to catch the groom’s face. I decided on the groom, and knew the instant she came into view. He looked scared. I turned to look at her. She looked scared. And happy. They looked really, really happy.
I took in what I couldn’t at my own wedding, during which everything was a blur except Ben’s face, and the pieces came together. I watched as the groom locked his hands together and rocked on his heels. I watched her flounder once she was empty-handed of her bouquet. She fingered his jacket sleeve until finally wedging it around the crook of his elbow. I knew how he must of looked, I knew how she must of felt. I watched as their entire concept of reality changed before them. I watched them make the best decision of their life.
I snapped my camera and smiled back at my friend.
