Eternity

I found my best friend Jenn sitting in her normal seat in our English class. It turned out that each of us needed it to graduate at the end of the semester, and we had no clue about it. She was slumped over a book; what looked like a Nicholas Sparks book. Typical.

“Let me guess,” I said as I sat in my usual seat that was next to hers. “You’re desperately trying to finish this book because if you don’t, you’ll absolutely die unless you find out whether the characters fall in love and live happily ever after. I can tell you exactly what happens. Boy likes girl, girl likes boy, and they fall in love. The end.”

Jenn looked up slowly from her book and glared at me, and quickly returned to reading the rest of the page before placing a note card in as a bookmark and looked back up at me. Before she could say anything, I continued.

“But, in the case of Romeo and Juliet; boy likes girl, girl likes boy, boy and girl fall in love and die.”

Her expression didn’t change when I stared at her with wide eyes when I said ‘die’.

“And I see we’re having an absolutely delightful day. Why so giddy, my dear?”

“Well,” I began and purposely lifted my left hand to scratch my nose, exposing my engagement ring. Jenn didn’t miss a beat.

“Holy shit!” She exclaimed and grabbed hold of my hand, staring intensely at the diamond on my ring. People turned in their seats to see what her outburst was about, and soon turned back to what they were doing. “When?”

“Last night. I didn’t want to call you; I thought I would be way better in person. I was right, huh?”

“Wow. That ring is so amazing! I’m really happy for you,” she smiled and wrapped her arms around me tightly.

I had never felt so happy in my life. And sharing it with my best friend made it feel even better. I couldn’t wait to tell her the best part. Well, the best part about it for her.

“And I’m gonna need you to help me pick out some bridesmaids dresses. Your maid of honor dress has to be better than the others.”

At this point, as I let go, I was pretty sure her jaw was touching the floor. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to spring this news on her when we were about to start class.

“I’m your maid of honor?”

“Hell yeah,” I nudged her in the shoulder. “I couldn’t bear thinking about getting married without my best friend by my side. No way! Of course you’re gonna be my maid of honor. It just wouldn’t be right for you to be a bridesmaid.”

Her smile was from ear to ear and it gave me a warm, fuzzy feeling; like a peach in a microwave. She was about to continue a small rant about how excited she was, but our professor walked in and started the lesson for the day. Jenn and I kept glancing over at each other and she kept pointing to my ring with a big smile on her face. I kept nodding my head and mouthing ‘I know’.

Class passed by slower than we had hoped and I was glad for that because I was saving my energy for how Jenn was going to react once we were out of the classroom. And I was so thankful that I had the opportunity because she practically tackled me to the ground when we got outside.

“You’re getting married!” She exclaimed and wrapped her arms around me, getting tighter and, therefore, cutting off my breathing just a little bit.

“Jenn,” I breathed. “Seriously, please don’t kill me. I’ve only been engaged for one day. If you’re gonna smother me, at least let me enjoy the week.”

“Sorry,” she said and pulled back. “I’m just so excited for you! Can I throw your bridal shower?”

“Well, duh! That’s sort of your job,” I explained.

She smiled and I could see all her teeth showing as she did so. I loved seeing her excited like this. The past year had been rough on her with her father trying to become part of her life again; her mother as well. She slipped in and out of depression constantly, and the way her face lit up when I gave her the news made my day.

“So what’s to be done first? Should we go look for a dress for you?”

“Jenn?” I leaned against one leg and crossed my arms.

“Yeah?” She looked at my innocently.

“How about I talk to Joe about setting the date of the wedding, and then we’ll talk about actually planning the wedding. But, for right now, let’s just…” I pause, not being able to think of something to say. Instead, I grabbed her hands and jumped up and down, with her doing the same.

People passing by stared at as oddly, but we could care less.

“You’re getting married!”

“I know!” I shouted with excitement.

We finally stopped and started to laugh at how ridiculous we were. Here we were, twenty-one years old and jumping around like idiots. It felt good to know that we were now twenty-one and we would be graduating in about two months. Seniors; finally.

Jenn decided to change her major to my major since she had taken most of the classes, and we were both accepted into a program at a prestigious law firm located in Princeton. Joe and I hadn’t talked it over yet, but I hoped he would decide to let us stay in New Jersey. It was where I lived my whole life, and I wasn’t too big on the idea of giving it up.

I was done with class for the day, and so was Jenn. I planned on making her go dress shopping that day anyway. As soon as we started leaving, Joe came up behind me and scared both Jenn and I slightly.

“Ladies,” he said and we both turned around to see Joe holding two single roses; one red and one yellow. “Yellow for Jenn and red for my love.”

“Sometimes your romantic side is really lame,” I laughed and took the flower; Jenn took hers and smelled it with a smile.

“But it’s a sweet romantic side,” she cut in. “Thanks, Joe.”

“You’re very welcome,” he replied. “Shouldn’t you two be off dress shopping or something?”

“That’s what I’m planning,” I said. “So we should be going.”

“Okay, then,” he kissed me softly, and I could feel his lips turn up into a smile, as did mine. “Love you, and I’ll see you tonight.”

“Love you,” I waved to him as he left.

“And you thought he was lame?” Jenn joked and I pushed her playfully.

Sometimes love seemed pretty lame, or at least the things that he did seemed lame, but I absolutely loved it.

For the rest of the day, Jenn and I frantically searched through the few malls nearby to find a good dress store. It was a fairly unproductive day, as far as dress shopping goes.

“By the way,” I said to Jenn as we left the mall and started the journey home. “You’re coming tonight.”

“What? No! Why?”

“We’re gonna tell everyone, and I need my best friend there with me too,” I smiled and her eyes lit up. Gosh, I love her.