That Last Little Spark

By 8:30 the next morning, every member of the bridal party was up and moving around. Jess had been the first one awake...or so she thought...at 7:15, in the bathroom carefully removing the gauze from her feet. Surprisingly, she found that it didn’t hurt her at all to walk, and with the help of that medicated lotion that the doctor had given her, the scars and cuts on her legs weren’t as noticeable anymore.

She showered quickly, knowing that there were at least five other people who had to shower before 10:30. When she opened the door in a button down shirt and a pair of pajama pants, Erica was standing there, rubbing her eyes and yawning.

“How much do you love me?” she asked.

“Depends. What am I doing?” Jess rubbed her dark hair with her towel.

“You know that Starbucks across the street?” she asked with a grin.

“Blended Lemonade?” she teased her, already knowing that that’s what Erica wanted.

“Please?” Erica smiled as innocently as a child.

“Sorry, Jess. I beat you to it.” Ashleigh closed the door with her heel. Her hair was wet as well.

“When the hell did you take a shower?” Jess asked in surprise.

“You do realize that this room has 2 bathrooms, right?” Ashleigh teased. But a series of knocks on the door cut the teasing short.

“Oh my god, that can’t be everyone already!” Erica rushed to the door and let out a shriek. “It is!” she exclaimed.

“Calm down, Sleeping Beauty, and get your ass in the shower. I didn’t use up all the hot water, so don’t worry. We’ll take care of everything out here, you concentrate on getting clean and pretty, okay?” Jess instructed as she walked over to the door while Erica nodded and shut the bathroom door.

“Sorry we’re early but we wanted to set up everything for hair and makeup.” One of the two women apologized. Her nametag said Trisha. The other woman’s nametag said Madison.

“No problem. Most of us are up anyway.” Ashleigh waved her hand.

“Is Erica awake yet?” Madison asked.

“The bride-to-be is in the shower.” Jess nodded as she walked into the connecting room where Kelsey was still asleep in the bed that she and Jess had shared. Chloe was asleep in the other bed, having the entire thing to herself last night after winning the coin toss.

“Wake up, bridesmaids!” Jess whacked Kelsey with a pillow first, then Chloe.

“You both need to shower, and the hair and makeup ladies are here. Erica’s already in one of the showers, so one of you better get in the other one!” she ignored the insults and curses of the two tired girls and walked back into the other room.

“She’s already a Bridezilla and she’s not even engaged.” Chloe stretched and remarked once she couldn’t see Jess anymore.

“Yet.” Kelsey smirked and pushed her tangled hair out of her eyes.

“I heard that!” Jess yelled from the next room, rolling her eyes. But soon the sound of a hair dryer filled the room and she couldn’t hear the two girls as their conversation continued.

“But I can’t imagine Jess ever being a Bridezilla.” Kelsey shook her head and pushed the blankets back.

“I wonder if Bam’s ever going to ask her.” Chloe wondered out loud and slipped out of her bed.

“I know he will. Hopefully soon, if Jess will open her eyes all the way. I mean, they were friends in high school, even if we haven’t talked to Bam or the rest of our friends in a few years. And it’s so obvious to see how much he’s still hung up on her.” Kelsey explained. “You wanna go first? I still have to shave my legs.” she added at the end.

“Sure. I won’t take that long. And besides,” Chloe flashed a wicked grin. “It’ll be fun helping her plan her wedding.” she winked.