Marley's Twisted Arranged Marriage

“Got any fours?” Andy asked me while five cards rested in his hands. He was staring at the cards as if willing them all to pair up on their own so he could win.

“Go fish, loser.”

He groaned in annoyance and threw his hand down onto the deck of cards inbetween us with a loud smacking sound. I held back a laugh at his overreaction. It wasn’t my fault I had a little sister that loved to play Go Fish and just so happened to become a master at the childish card game over the years.

“Why are you so good at this game?!” He demanded while he glanced at back of the two remaining cards in my hands. I shrugged and pretended I was just lucky.

Andy and I were waiting for Caroline and Conrad to finish getting ready so we could go shopping for wedding dresses.

Something about the Mooreson family made them all take forever to get ready to go somewhere.

Thinking of the Mooreson family reminded me of Damien and our run-in the prior night. It made me physically shudder and Andy gave me a questioning look before setting down his cards with a sigh and giving me a knowing look.

“What’s wrong?” He asked in a soft and concerned voice. I dropped my eyes to the ground so I didn’t have to look him in the eyes while I lied.

“Nothing.”

“Marley.” His voice was so disbelieving that I wondered how, for a second, I could’ve tried to pull off lying to Andy. But I still had to try to act nonchalant. I didn’t want him to hurt Damien.

“There’s nothing wrong, Andy. You’re overreacting over absolutely nothing,” I said while my eyes wandered to anything but his face.

“Then what was with the shiver and disgusted look on your face just a few moments ago?” He crossed his arms over his chest in a smug way. A way that said you’re-not-winning-this-battle.

I had to admit, he had me there. But I wasn’t going down that easily.

“It’s cold in here.”

“Really?” He asked, still not persuaded. He stood up and moved across the room in front of the thermostat and read over the temperature. “It’s 80 degrees in this room.”

“I have a naturally low body temperature….” I mentally slapped myself for coming up with such a lame excuse. Andy sighed annoyed and came to sit in front of me again.

“Will you just tell me what’s wrong with you? I won’t tell anyone else,” He attempted the puppy dog eyes on me in hopes that it would soften me up into tell him. Not gonna happen.

“It’s nothing I can’t deal with myself.” I promised. He still wasn’t having it.

“Just tell me! I swear I will force it out of you!” He exclaimed.

“Oh and how would you do that?”

A smirk spread across his face after a moment of thinking. “I’m gonna kiss you unless you tell me.”

“If you kiss me I swear you won’t have lips to ever kiss another person again.”

“Is that threat?” He raised a brow and smirked while leaning closer to my face.

I glared and shot back, “Yes,” Without any hesitations.

“Well, if you haven’t noticed,” Andy started in a soft voice, leaning closer slowly with a smirk stretched across his face. “I don’t really care if you threaten me. I just want to know what’s wrong so I can help.”

I placed my hands on his shoulders and tried to push him away. “I can handle my problems on my own, Andy. I don’t need you guys constantly up my ass about my troubles.”

He wasn’t fazed. “If you don’t tell me, I’m gonna have to kiss you,” He said in a sing-song voice.

I leaned back until my back met the bed and I mentally cursed myself for arguing with Andy earlier over who gets to sit against the bed. Andy’s taunting look grew more defined when he noticed my predicament.

“Just tell me what it is, Marley. I only want to help,” He whispered as his minty cool breath blew across my face. His eyes were challenging and I knew he didn’t want to have to kiss my dilemma out of me, but he was absolutely determined to know. He was a nosy punk.

“Don’t do it,” I said as my eyes narrowed at him. His face was merely inches away from mine.

His mouth got closer to mine and he flicked his eyes down to my lips before returning them to my eyes once more. “I’m getting closer, Marley. You gonna tell me what’s got you down now?” He asked again. I placed my lips in a tight line for a moment. I really didn’t want Andy to kiss me, but I didn’t want to tell him what happened last night either.

“Damien kissed me again.”

Andy’s expression dropped from his face as he gaped at me. He was silent for a few moments before he dropped his eyes to the ground and went back to sitting in front of me as I let out the breath I didn’t know I was holding.

“You’d think he would realize it by now,” Andy murmured while toying with a loose string on the bottom hem of his shirt and avoiding eye contact with me.

“Realize what, exactly?” I asked unsure. I stared at his solemn expression. He looked different. I’d never seen him so upset and helpless…. So vulnerable.

“That he’s hurting everyone he loves by doing this to you.”

His smoldering ocean blue eyes penetrated into mine and I realized his eyes were starting to water. He went on when he realized I wasn’t going to say anything. I was waiting for him to go into detail about what he said.

“He’s hurting Conrad because I know that Conrad doesn’t like to be so offensive to his own brother, but he’s just sick of Damien fixating himself on Conrad’s girlfriends. He’s hurting his parents because they’re terrified of him. They’re terrified he’s going to truly hurt someone just to get what he wants. Did you know he threatened Caroline when she told him to back off of Bethany when she was still around? She’s been afraid around him ever since.”
My eyes widened. How could you possibly threaten your own mother? How could someone have the guts to potentially put the person that gave them life into danger? Even if my parents didn’t act like they loved Grace and me, I would never intimidate them like that. I knew better.

“He’s hurting you, most importantly. I can tell you hate him doing this crap to you and making you feel disgusting like this. And I know you don’t want to hurt him – you’re too nice for that. He just doesn’t understand. He thinks you’re in denial about liking him. He thinks he can put you out of your ‘denial’ if he convinces you enough.

“He’s hurting me, too. I hate seeing him all obsessed and crazy like this. It’s not the Damien I’m friends with. If you haven’t noticed, I don’t really hang around with him anymore because he just isn’t the same. But it sucks because when Damien isn’t like this, he’s the coolest guy. He’s so much fun to hang around with. It makes me upset when he acts like this and it hurts because I’m in love with the idiot.”

My jaw dropped and I stared at Andy like he’d just told me he was pregnant. He was in love with Damien?! As adorable as that was, I couldn’t say it because I knew it would just make him more depressed. Why didn’t he tell me this before? Does Damien know?

“He doesn’t know. How could I tell him something like that? We’ve been friends since we were in the seventh grade. Plus, he’s too busy being crazed over you to even pretend to care about me. If I told him he’d just brush me off.” He looked back down to the string on the hem of his shirt and started fiddling with it again.

I felt a pang in my chest as I watched Andy grow more and more upset over this. He was in love with his best friend who was obsessed with me and I loved Conrad who is my stalker’s brother.

Talk about drama.

Reached my hand out and grabbed his hand that was messing with the small fabric on his shirt. He looked up at me and my chest constricted when I saw the salty tears running down his cheeks.

“Look, I’m going to be honest. I can’t say I know how you’re feeling right now because I really don’t. I can’t relate to you in any way and I honestly shouldn’t be the one you’re confessing to since I really have no experience in the area of love besides Conrad and me…. But even there I’m pretty hopeless. Anyways, I know that you’re really upset over this and I hope you don’t blame me for any of it. I want him away from me just as much as you do and if it helps, I think you two would make a great couple. But you’re right, he is too blind to see what’s right in front of him. And that’s you. He’s too blind to realize he’s missing out on a great chance with an amazing guy. And that amazing guy is you.”

I had to give myself props for coming up with that whole speech in a matter of seconds. Even if it didn’t put Andy in a better mood, I would still feel somewhat proud of myself for trying. I was never one to be an inspirational speaker.

Andy fumbled with his thumbs and pretended to be engrossed in the small hand movements as he thought over what I said. After a few moments of silence, he raised his eyes to mine.

“You really think so? I don’t know if he even likes me like that. We’ve been best friends since forever and we’ve had sex a few times, but it was all just lust. I don’t think he’d ever think of me as commitment material.”

Although I already knew Damien and Andy had hooked up since Conrad had told me so long ago, it surprised me to hear it from the source himself. I didn’t think people admitted to hooking up so easily like that.

“My theory is once I’m married he’ll realize I’m gladly taken and back off me. That would be your cue to confess your undying love for him and you two can live happily ever after and adopt pretty babies.” I smiled cheekily trying to lighten the mood and cheer Andy up. It worked, I realized, as I saw a small smile spread across his lips.

“Are you guys playing Go Fish? Why did you play without me?! I love that game!” Conrad was standing I the doorway eyeing the deck of cards in front of us. I rolled my eyes at him.

“Maybe if you hadn’t taken so long to get ready, we would include you.” I shot back and walked over to him, throwing my arms around his neck lazily.

“Well it paid off didn’t it? I look like a stud muffin.” He smirked down at me and pecked my lips.

“Sure you do,” I rolled my eyes and smiled. Caroline entered the room, fully dressed and looking to perfection in her classy dress and simple heels.

“Are we all ready to go?” Caroline asks as she glances at each of us. We all nod our heads simultaneously and make our way out to the car.

**

I was already tired and I hadn’t even tried on a dress yet. Just looking at the dresses was energy-draining enough when I imagined how many times I would be slipping into dresses, twirling for inspection, and taking harsh criticism from the people I loved.

Just dandy.

Caroline had three different employees following us around who were all carrying about ten dresses each in their arms. She plucked every dress that I touched or looked at off the racks and tossed it carelessly over her shoulder, where an unfortunate employee would catch it before it hit the ground. Conrad and Andy were waiting in the lobby of the store, where I would model my dress for everyone when I put it on. They were lucky – just sitting on the overly plush couches with their feet up and having desperate employees meet their every whim so we would leave with an over-priced dress and they would be happy with more money in their pockets. Caroline wasn’t even glancing at the price tags.

Not that it mattered anyway. I’m paying for my dress.

And I wasn’t saying that in a bad way. I wanted to pay for my dress. I knew that my parents and Conrad’s parents were taking care of the rest of the wedding – which was supposed to extravagant. I mean, they were going all out. I knew it would take a big bite out of both of their funds, so I wanted to do my own little favor.

Plus, it would make me feel even guiltier if Caroline paid for my dress after taking me shopping that day at the mall. She spent so much money on me! Way too much money.
I finally saw a dress that really caught my eye and pulled it off the rack. I raked my eyes quickly over the dress and smiled lightly. I decided to hold onto this dress myself so I didn’t lose it in the mass of dresses the employees were holding.

I turned around and Caroline, along with the four other employees buried in dresses, scuttled to a stop directly in front of me.

“Uhh I think I’m ready to try these on now,” I said. Caroline turned and gave the workers a meaningful look and they scurried off to find a dressing room to dump the abundance of dresses in.

Caroline smiled at me before retreating back to the lobby to be with Conrad and Andy until I showed them the first dress I would try on. One of the employees found me and led me to a fitting room, where a woman was there to help me get in and out of the dresses.
I set my chosen dress off to the side so I could try it on later. Maybe I would end up liking another dress even more.

“Hi, my name is Stephanie! I’ll be here to help you out with putting on your dresses and helping you out on what would look best on you,” A woman in a white blouse and beige skirt that reached her knees greeted me once I was settled in the rather large room. She was taller than me in her sky-high heels and I felt jealous that she was able to wear those heels so effortlessly. She stuck her hand out to shake mine and I placed my hand into hers. Her complexion was darker and her dark brown hair was past her shoulders, curled in large ringlets. She reminded me of Beyonce with the way she looked.

“I’m here to make your trip much simpler. It looks like you have quite a plethora of dresses to try on,” She said while glancing over the piles of dresses. “But it’s okay! We should get started if we want to finish soon!” She clasped her hands together and strolled over to one of the dresses, taking it out of the plastic covering and unzipping it.

“I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable about any of this. But, you will have to strip down to your undergarments so we can get you into the dress,” She said and I gave her a reassuring smile before I slipped my shirt over my head and tossed it onto a chair.

“I’m Marley, by the way.” I said as I worked out of my jeans. She smiled at me.

“Well, Marley, you look awfully young to be getting married! Congratulations on finding love at such a young age,” She beamed at me and I blushed as I moved toward her.

“Thank you. He’s absolutely amazing – completely swept me off my feet the first time I even met him.”

Okay, so I lied. The truth was that I wanted rip Conrad’s throat out when I first met him. But she didn’t need to know that.

“Which is he? The blonde one or the black haired one?” She pressed. “I saw them come in with you and your mother when you first arrived here. They’re both lookers,” She winked and I chuckled as I slipped the dress over my torso and situated my arms through the see-through sleeves. I promised myself I wouldn’t get a dress with sleeves, but if it looked well enough on me, I would definitely go for it. The neckline was in the middle of my chest and it looked awkward.

“He’s the blonde one. His name is Conrad.” I replied as I smoothed out the dress.

“This looks good on you. The waist line really brings out your curves,” Stephanie commented as I stared at my reflection in the mirror. I wasn’t fond of the dress, but I still had to show it to Conrad, Andy, and Caroline.

I made my way out of the room and through the store, out to the lobby where Conrad and Andy were playing rock, paper, scissors while Caroline talked to the store manager. I was unnoticed until Stephanie strode out from behind me and cleared her throat rather loudly, gaining all attention.

“This is Marley’s first dress. May I say just how well this dress hugs her hips?” She said and glanced at Conrad, which made me laugh. I stepped onto the platform which had a tri-fold mirror in front of it while the couches holding Conrad, Andy, and Caroline were behind me.
Everyone was quiet. Conrad looked uneasy, Andy looked appalled at the way the dress looked, and Caroline was shaking her head.

“Well, I think the silence answers it all. NEXT DRESS,” I said forcefully, keeping my head down as I rushed back to the dressing room with Stephanie in tow.

The next three dresses all had awkward necklines and were either too puffy or too flat in the skirt. I didn’t feel like we were getting anywhere with the dresses I was trying on. I finally decided I wasn’t getting a dress with sleeves since they all looked strange on me.
I sorted through the dresses and tossed aside all the sleeved dresses and made a pile for sleeveless dresses that I adored.

My gaze flickered over to the dress I had picked out myself earlier. Should I try it on now? It sure would save a lot of trouble and time if I liked it enough to get it….

I finally decided to go ahead with the dress and handed it over to Stephanie so she could take it out of the plastic covering and unzip the zipper. She held it open and I slipped my feet through first as she pulled up around my body and secured the zipper in the back. It fit perfectly.

The dress was sleeveless and clung onto my body until the waistline. From there, it cut loose into a flowy skirt that spilled down my legs and onto the floor around my feet. I hadn’t wanted a train on the dress for fear that it would get caught on something. The skirt gave an illusion of a tear from the waist down to the bottom hem, but the under layers of the skirt showed so it wasn’t an opening. There were beaded patterns all across the dress, except the ‘torn’ under skirt that showed. On the top of the dress was a border of black beads, matching the bottom hem and waist line of the dress. It fit like a glove and I felt perfect in it.

“This is, by far, the best one. It looks absolutely stunning on you!” Stephanie exclaimed while she opened the door for me to model the dress.

I made my way out to the lobby and started giving this dress a second thought. Strapless did show off a lot of skin…. I didn’t want people to think of me as easy or anything. Especially at my own wedding. And now that I thought about it, the black beading did look weird against my pale skin. And the dress might make my hips look to wide, what with the way it clung so closely to my body….

I hadn’t realized we’d made it back to the lobby before Stephanie pulled me over to the raised platform and I stepped on, scrutinizing myself in the mirror once more. I unconsciously smoothed my hands down my sides as I turned around and studied everyone’s expressions.

Conrad was gaping at me, his eyebrows slightly raised and his jaw dropped. His eyes raked over my body over and over again as he sat frozen in his spot. Andy was beaming at me, his head nodding slightly. His eyes met mine and he winked. I slowly let my gaze drift over to Caroline. She seemed the most speculating of the three. Her hand was tucked under her chin, her eyes slightly narrowed and her pink lips pursed in concentration as she moved closer to me slowly. Her eyes moved up and down my body as she circled around me. I dropped my eyes to the ground, too upset to listen to the criticism that was bound to come. Caroline’s hands felt over different parts of the dress as if she was testing its ability to look good. She held up the skirt and examined the beading closely for a moment before she dropped the fabric from her hands and returned back to where she was previously sitting on the couch.

It was a long silence. She was thinking something over, I just didn’t know what. My gaze faltered from her and slowly rested on Conrad who was smiling in amusement at the situation. He stood up, whispered something in his mother’s ear, and pulled away to look at her. She nodded and smiled and Conrad looked back to me while making his way toward me. His eyes roamed over my dress once more before he reached me. The flush on my cheeks was definitely noticeable against my pale skin – not to mention I was wearing a white dress.

He smiled at me and sort of laughed once through his nose as he raised a hand and gingerly put it to my cheek, his amazing eyes boring into mine.

“She loves it on you,” He whispered and I let out a giant breath or relief that I wasn’t even aware I was holding. I twirled around to face the mirror once more and Conrad slipped his arms around my waist, resting his chin on my bare shoulder.

“It looks absolutely amazing on you, you know. This is definitely the one.” One of the employees moved toward me and picked up the skirt, examining something before heading over to a different section of the store with Caroline in tow.

Stephanie moved toward me slightly. “Marley, are you ready to change back now?” She asked uncertainly. I unraveled from Conrad’s grasp and planted a kiss on his cheek, then moved over in front of Andy. I leaned down and kissed his cheek, too, and he smiled and winked. I rolled my eyes as I followed Stephanie back to the dressing room.
Stephanie unzipped the dress and helped me out of the bundle of fabric as I searched for my jeans and shirt. Once I spotted them on a chair, I slipped them on and smiled to Stephanie, who was gathering my dress into the plastic covering.

“Thank you so much for your help today.” I smiled at her and she smiled back.

“It’s no problem, I’m paid to do it,” She laughed slightly and we walked toward the section of the store where everyone else was waiting for us. I saw everyone over by the registers.

Once we met up with Caroline, Andy, and Conrad, I start digging around in my purse for my wallet.

“Marley, what in the world are you doing?” Caroline asked when she saw me rifling through my bag.

“Looking for my wallet,” I replied shortly stopped when Conrad placed his hand on my arm

“Why are you looking for your wallet? We already paid for the dress.” An amused smile spread across his lips. I gawked at him until I fully registered what he said. Then I scowled at Caroline.

“Caroline! I wanted to pay for the dress! You guys are spending way too much money on the wedding as it is,” I exclaimed as Andy grabbed the dress, slung it over his shoulder, and we started walking out.

“Absolutely not! I’m not letting you pay for your wedding dress. Think of this as a gift. I love you Marley, and that’s why I don’t want you to have to pay for it.” She held my hands with her small and fragile ones as she looked into my eyes. I huffed in response.

I wasn’t happy that Caroline had spent even more money on the dress, even though she was paying for most of the wedding. I wanted to help out the one way I could – dip into the stash of money I had been hoarding since I was in second grade – by paying for my own dress.

But now that plan was ruined.

And I was pretty damn sure Caroline and George wouldn’t let me pay for anything in the wedding.

We all climbed into the car and started on our way back home. My mind wandered to Andy and his predicament with Damien. I wish Damien would just see how awesome Andy was and leave me alone for him. Then everyone would be happy!

We pulled into the driveway after a few more minutes and I noticed another car in the driveway – one that I’d never seen before. I was usually pretty fond of each of the Mooresons’ cars and knew which ones they owned and which they didn’t, but this one was completely unfamiliar.

Everyone else seemed to have noticed the car too, judging by the confused looks that loomed on everyone’s faces. Andy snatched the dress in his arms and we all made our way to the front door. I kept wondering about the car that nobody seemed to recognize. Maybe Damien had a friend over?

I just hoped his friend wasn’t as crazy as him.

We all trampled into the house and our unspoken questions of the mystery car were answered when we noticed a petite looking girl sitting on the couch, across from Damien, who was chatting away and laughing. She was absolutely stunning with her medium length reddish hair, bright green eyes, and slender yet curvy figure. She looked up when she heard the door closing and her eyes immediately locked with Conrad’s as her face slowly grew into a smile.

Conrad’s face was nowhere near as happy and serene as the girl’s. He looked shocked and nervous and there was disbelief in his eyes.

“Bethany?” He breathed out. It suddenly clicked. This was the girl Conrad fell in love with all those years ago. The same girl who was also stalked and pursued by the very same man she was just laughing with.

The same girl who left without even a good-bye and shattered Conrad’s heart.

She beamed and nodded before running over to Conrad and embracing him. He stood awkwardly with his arms at his sides, staring down at the girl who clung to him like white on rice.

Without another second’s hesitation, she tilted her chin up and kissed Conrad right on the mouth.