My name is Rose and I’m 15. I’m in the process of getting ready for my cousin Craig’s wedding. The ceremony starts in an hour but I’m almost done. I just have my hair left to do. My peach knee high dress and white flats are perfect for the occasion but I’m not fond of weddings. They are so long and boring. All you do there is sit and wait around for the Bride to arrive and when she does, the ceremony is so long. They kiss and then we’ll head off to the reception. Receptions are bearable as there is food and drinks to keep yourself occupied or dancing but I’m not a dancer so won’t be taking part.

The other reason I don’t particularly like weddings is because it encourages my Mum to think about my wedding. She already is on at me almost every day to get married but I can’t think about marriage right now, I am only fifteen and haven’t got any experience with boys. I don’t think I am ready to get engaged with that kind of thing at this young age. Maybe when I have finished my education, I can start thinking about relationships but my Mum doesn’t seem to listen when I tell her I am not interested in getting married.

As soon as I had finished getting ready, I headed downstairs to find Dad looking handsome while suited and booted in black but Mum was nowhere to be seen which was no surprise. She takes ages getting ready to go out even if it’s to the corner shop. ‘You never know who you might meet whenever you go out. It’s best to look decent at all times’ are Mum’s famous words whenever she’s asked about taking long to get ready. I’m not trying to be funny here but who the hell is Mum going to meet going to the corner shop and at her age? Who is she trying to impress when she is happily married to Dad? I understand why she tells me to always look my best in case I meet a potential boyfriend but no boy my age is going to propose to me. No one marries at my age anymore. Mum and Dad married when they were 18 but my grandparents married at 16. Mum wants to carry on that tradition with me but I am not interested in marriage, I haven’t even been with a single boy and she already wants me to find a husband. It’s ridiculous.

Mum’s been nagging at me ever since I can remember to look my best. She makes sure I get my hair trimmed every month at the salon and get my nails done every week in the school holidays. Since I was 14, I haven’t been allowed to leave the house without any makeup on even at school where makeup is banned. Mum makes me wear clear makeup which you can’t really see like clear mascara, light pink lipstick and a thin layer of foundation. I think that is absurd, who am I going to meet at school? Sure there are some cute boys there but they all have girlfriends and if they were single, I wouldn’t date them if they asked because I’m not interested in dating.

Dad has said nothing to me about marriage so I know he isn’t going to force me to marry or something but the rate Mum is going, it looks like that is her next move.

“You look lovely Rose,” Dad complimented.

“Thanks, I like your suit,” I replied. “Mum not ready yet?”

“Nope,” Dad replied. “Do you want to wait in the car for her?”

“Yes, “I agreed and Dad and I left the house to wait for Mum in the car. We knew from past experience not to ask Mum how long she would be because she got angry for disturbing her. I don’t particularly enjoy waiting around for Mum and I know Dad gets fed up too but what can we do? Mum can’t be argued with when getting ready. I’m a teenager so I’m the one who should take ages because my looks are more important to me than her looks are to her. Older people care less about how they look because they have had years to accept the way they look while us teenagers are still coming to terms with what we went through in puberty.

Mum finally joined us in the car half an hour later dressed in a red dress that left her arms bare and legs on display, her hair was pinned up and her feet were covered in black heels. Dad’s eyes went wide for a second before telling Mum how beautiful she looked and she gushed happily. I personally think that outfit is too young for her with the amount of skin it is showing and there’s no surprise Dad can’t keep his eyes off her.

“You excited to meet some nice boys today?” Mum asked me.

“No,” I replied.

“You should be because you like nice today having made the effort,” Mum said as she looked me up and down. Pervert. I don’t know whether to take her remark as a compliment or insult because she said I looked nice having made the effort. Does that mean I look like crap every other day except today? “Boys are bound to notice you and who knows, you might meet your future husband,”

I glanced at Dad sitting beside me in the driver’s seat and rolled my eyes as if to say ‘here we go again’ and Dad smiled with understanding while Mum went on and on about her marriage expectations.

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