I stood at the front of the tent on the lawn with the other four bridesmaids and held a bouquet of white hydrangeas. I watched my little sister walk down the aisle on our dad’s arm in a dress that cost more than my car.
I smiled in every picture.
I want you to know that. Every single one. If you look at Brittany’s wedding album, you’ll see me smiling in all of them.
I know how to smile.
Then I drove home. Four hours, in the dark, in my Malibu with the heater on high in June because the air conditioner was broken too.
I got back to my apartment above the hardware store at two in the morning. I hung up my sage green dress in the closet.
And I sat down at my kitchen table and studied for a pharmacology test.
Beta blockers. ACE inhibitors. Calcium channel blockers. I made flash cards until the sun came up.
