“Oooh, you look beautiful,” Charlene cooed as she entered the room, bringing in the wedding dress.

Marlene was sitting in front of the dressing mirror, poised like a queen. She wasn’t dressed yet, wearing just her underwear and a chiffon night dress to cover her up, her hair washed and ready to be prepared.

The other women in the room hurried Charlene so that they could help her to dress. It was the whole bridal party: all eight bridesmaids, all dressed in lime green satin dress that was not flattering either of them, but went well with Marlene’s color scheme, the mother dressed in an expensive olive costume that was so fitted that it looked it was made for a woman 20 years younger. Marlene had her own hairdresser, the most expensive one in the town of course, and a make-up artist. She would not do her make-up or hair.

“Beautiful.” “Exquisite.” “Amazing.” The bridesmaids flock were voicing their praise. Except for one, Marlene’s younger sister.

“Kitty, bring some bobby pins so Carly can fix Marlene’s hair,” mother asked her. Kitty just nodded. She was happy to leave the room pretending doing something useful. She was sick of the staged sweetness, the showing off of money.

Kitty left the room in hurry. She ran to the kitchen, trying to avoid all the people, the decorators, the wedding party. The house was busy with last minute preparations for the ceremony that was planned to start in three hours in the garden. Kitty was right when she predicted earlier that the ceremony would be delayed. Then, that was to be expected anyway. Her family spent enough money not to let the opportunity slip through the finger.

She poured herself a glass of water.

“You look real beautiful,” Marshall complimented. He was standing in the doorway, assessing her from head to toe, ignoring the people who could see them. Then, no one pays attention to the groom on the wedding day.

She looked at him disgusted.

“Don’t bother,” she dismissed him.

“Kitty,” he tried to stop her as she passed him, but she just avoided him. Kitty didn’t understand how she could have ever fancied him. Then, he was handsome and she was naive and Marlene was, well, stupid.

She ran into her room manically searching for bobby pins in her drawers. She found just ten. It had to be enough.

She walked quickly back to Marlene’s room.

“It took you some time,” Marlene greeted her when Kitty gave the bobby pins to Carly.

“I was not sure where they were,” Kitty said instead of an apology.

“Typical,” mother muttered. The rest of the bridesmaids flock joined in to judge her. Kitty was not surprised. This was her big sister’s day. Well, it seemed like every day was Marlene’s day.

Kitty watched how Carly started to work on the hair, Charlene was arranging the dress around her. She looked like a cake.

It was an expensive dress, Marlene insisted to go on a trip to buy it in one of those fancy wedding saloons in New York, Atlanta was not enough. It was the same saloon the bridesmaids' dresses were from. They cost as much as Kitty’s college tuition for the whole academic year. She was the only bridesmaid who didn’t go — she spent the last summer working day and night so she could afford to go to the college. She was not eligible for any stipends, except the ones based on her merit. Still, Marlene didn’t forgive her.

“What are you doing?” Marlene was on the verge of crying.

“I am sorry, I just need to make a few tweaks, we don’t have enough pins,” Carly apologised, trying to calm Marlene down. Kitty saw the supposed catastrophe. Something was not going according to the plan. Her perfect prom dress, perfect boyfriend, perfect wedding. So much perfection, it was suffocating Kitty down.

“I can’t have this hairstyle, it’s a disaster!” Marlene said in between her sobs.

“Marlene, enough. It’s just hair. This is your dream, remember?” Kitty tried to calm her when she realised no one in the room was willing to face her sister.

“You don’t understand. You are just one little jealous girl,” Marlene accused her.

Kitty had it enough. Was she jealous? Was she interested in her sister’s perfect fiance who flirted with anything female that moved? Or did she want to have a flock of friends who didn’t have a thought of their own between them? Did she want to become the lady of the house, forever trapped in the theatre production about happy family?

She was becoming sour though. There was no harm for her to leave for college a day earlier. And so she just left them there.