The banquet hall was decorated with the most delicate flowers and luscious white silk. Caterers dressed in black and white swiftly passed by crowds of guests who were engaged in mindless mingling.
Dana anxiously wiped away the champagne residue on the corner of her mouth with the pristine white cloth. Her newly touched-up lips left a smudge of redness. She sighed. The weather in St. Louis was particularly unbearable in the summer. She was anxious that she had to skip an important conference 1000 km away. Her phone had been blowing up all morning. Her companion was anxious in a different manner. His quiescent nature rendered every social situation somewhat uncomfortable at first.
She texted her friend Yasmin, while replying to the last 5 emails. She anxiously tapped her high heels. Yasmin was one of the few friends she kept in touch since middle school. Proudly open and queer, yet conserved and wildly religious, Yasmin painted a picture of contradiction. Chicago was merely 400 km away, across two state lines, while Dana had to take an early morning flight to cross the northern border. Dana frowned. Why was she late?
Next through the door was Olivia. Dana quickly waved, while praying the grouping was intentional and not randomized. The fashion in wedding was now the encouragement of mingling and networking. Dana knew she’d be on the first flight the next morning and would rather the bride blessed her with an easy night of conversations. Olivia had been steadily climbing in her career in architecture. Sometimes Dana would see Olivia’s building while on business trips to Atlanta. Despite small and intimate, Olivia’s design had always been outstanding. Olivia did not bring a plus one. She showed up in an artistic and alternative dress with eccentric pattern. In lieu of high heels, Olivia chose a pair of yellow flats. Dana rolled her eyes in her mind but welcomed Olivia with a warm smile, “Thank god you are here! I’m bored. I don’t know anybody.”
They exchanged small chatter about their career. Dana updated Olivia on her current marital and career status. She introduced herself with a smirk. A married 35-year-old with a gleaming career, she thought of herself as every career woman’s dream. Olivia refused the champagne offered by the waitress and started to list her upcoming projects. A rising star in the architect world, Olivia chose a more demure but not less exciting life: Frequent visits to art galas and social events with celebrity, yet she continued to be dedicated to art and not finance. Dana hammered Olivia’s on her relationship status, in which she replied, “I’m too busy to settle down.”
While Dana and Olivia were engaging in rounds and rounds of more competition than conversation, Scarlett walked in with Leah. Dana raised her brows. These two had been flown in from China. They were both followed by their husband. Dana knew them from the pictures. Scarlett married a young music professor looked particularly handsome in the tuxedo he normally posed in. Leah met an older but good-looking heir to some state fortune through her parents and got married in less than a year. Dana jumped up and gave both of them a quick hug and allowed the men to initiate their side conversation. “It’s been so long!” Dana had not seen either of these women in at least four years, “How are you?”
Scarlett went and started describing her music education career. As a young university post-doc, she had been fighting the university politics to finally get the professor position. If all things went well, she would be a full-time professor the next fall. Dana passed the hot tea Leah ordered instead of champagne, while she started to describe the headache of a new mother. After her chronic illness had taken away most of her energy, Leah had dedicated her life into raising her child. “A lucky son. " Her eyes glistened. Dana quickly swallowed the last drop of champagne in her glass and added to the conversation, “my daughter started speaking when she was only 10 months, but boys start slow.”
Finally, Yasmin was here. Dana sighed with relief. Yasmin walked in with her usual child-like demeanour. In a dark blue suit, she had an older lady in her arm. Yasmin married her wife after years of turmoil. Her wife starting seeing her before ending her previous marriage. After playing the role of the other woman for many years, Yasmin finally came out on top and became the official spouse. Outside of her tumultuous love life, Yasmin was the producer of a TV station. Last year, Yasmin gave Dana a tour of the studio. As an ex-filmmaker, Dana felt the immense guilt that she left art behind, while picking up a quick call outside the recording studio.
Yasmin hugged everyone and sat down the name tag with the leaf symbol. Dana laughed, “Don’t you hate these stupid labels?” Yasmin laughed loudly, while Leah shrugged, “They are kinda cute.”
Then came the maid of honour, Yara. She covered herself in a muted yet gorgeous pink gown decorated with carefully designed flowers. Dana forced an awkward smile. When Yara got married, Dana was left out of the invitation along with Yasmin because of their collective animosity towards the groom. Dana disliked Yara’s husband, who was their middle school classmate that had once expressed interests in several other girls simultaneously. Unlike Yara who was born with a silver spoon under her short dark hair, her husband grew up dirt poor. He could hardly afford the ring on Yara’s fingers. Dana cursed him under her breath, but refused to display any discomfort. Yara had no stable job, but somehow was always travelling the world with her mom’s bank accounts. Dana and Leah looked at each other with a knowing glance. They both disliked Yara to a certain extent.
Yara smiled, “so glad you guys came! Especially Scarlett and Leah, all the way from China. How was the flight?” Leah was just about to speak while Scarlett took over the mic quickly, “Torture, but Hazel is getting married. We ought to be here!” Do we? Dana murmured to herself. They haven’t spoken for at least four years. Hazel was the prettiest girl in the group back in the day. Her smile had all the guys in the school mesmerized. As an ugly duckling herself, Dana had always been jealous of Hazel’s popularity. Despite growing attractive herself, Dana was still unsettled by how the amount of bullying in middle school had exacerbated her competitive nature. It must’ve easy being pretty and perfect all her life. Dana chugged another glass of champagne. Hazel had been working for an ad agency doing copywriting with her talent for language. Her soon-to-be husband’s father owned a business that made millions. A luxurious wedding. Dana thought of her own intimate yet casual wedding and moaned at the waste of money.
Dana looked around the table. Yasmin had her arm around her wife. Still in their honeymoon stage. Dana frowned, while watching her own husband across from her indulging in an impassioned yet random conversation with one of the other husbands. Olivia and Scarlett exchanged knowledge on education and art. They had always been the artsy type. Leah was quietly sipping on her hot tea while Yara bragging about the child-free life she led with her jobless husband. Dana touched Leah’s hand, “How is your health?” Leah looked up, “Better!”
The ceremony soon started. Hazel came out in a laced mermaid dress. Every inch of the dress was covered in shimmering crystals, and the delicate laces interlaced with the shines ever so perfectly. “You know my wedding dress was a simple white dress that barely cost 100 right?” Dana whispered to Yasmin. “I didn’t even have a wedding.” Yasmin laughed. Dana remembered the little wedding dinner at a small restaurant, where Yasmin shed a tear while talking about the absence of her parents. Dana sighed, watching Hazel finishing her vows while wearing that huge rock on her fingers. Hazel looks especially stunning with her bejewelled thick dark hair. The tear marks on her cheek made her look vulnerable and lovable. The emotion of the ceremony moved the entire room of guests. Even Dana felt the soreness surrounded her eyes. Yara got up and gave a quick speech. Yara and Hazel met the same time as the rest of them. As girls with broken families, they formed a much stronger bond. Yara made sure to mention the table they used to dine at in the cafeteria and expressed awe of the presence of every single member. “Can you believe it?” Olivia broke the silence, “it’s been more than 20 years. And we got to meet again. ”
It had been more than two decades since the seven of them became friends. The world had not stopped spinning for a single second. Dana had gone through several career changes and climbed the corporate ladder to where she was today. Yasmin fought tooth and nails to marry the love of her life, despite having almost everyone in the world against their marriage. Olivia pursued her dream and never in one second doubted her ability in architecture. Scarlett played the politics and finally got closer to what she deserved. Leah went through a tough time with her illness and now had a beautiful family of her own. Yara chose love over the prejudice of others. And Hazel, despite going through many difficult years as a child of an alcoholic mother, believed that she could be happy and deserve someone who loved her. Today, they had gathered together once again. Despite the long history of conflicts, animosity, and cliquey infighting, they sat together, each accomplished in their different way. Even though they had not been friends for at least one decade, they still led their separate yet full life outside that lunch table they used to sit together at. Who knows when they would be together again? Life had been consuming every single one of them’s energy.
Back in the days, similar to the plot of Mean Girls, they were the popular-ish girls in the school. Hazel, Yara, and Leah were the three prettiest girls in their grade, smart and beautiful. Dana, Yasmin, Scarlett, and Olivia were the ugly ducklings who were unique in their own ways. Hazel and Yara would talk about the boys who sent the love letters. Despite equally pretty, Leah had always distanced herself from the other two pretty girls. Leah, Dana, and Yasmin had their own tight-knit clique, roaming around campus by engaging in brainless banters. Scarlett and Olivia were the outsiders of the lunch clique, but their presence always added new gossip to the mundaneness.
Their unexpected friendship had all kinds of twist-and-turns. Dana remembered Yara tore up her diary with Hazel’s name after Hazel getting a love letter from a boy Yara liked. Yasmin and Dana also fought viciously over celebrities or that one female classmate Yasmin fell head over heels for. Leah frequently made snarky comments on Yara’s flamboyance. Dana rolled her eyes at Hazel’s ploy to get more boy’s attention that she was already getting. The table broke up multiple times throughout that three years. Eventually, the seven people lunch table became a rarity. Yara moved to a fancy school far away. Dana, Yasmin, and Leah started their own lunch table. Scarlett and Olivia found their new home during this hour. And Hazel floated between different tables. The last time they shared a table like they were doing at this wedding would be at least 18 or 19 years ago.
Through the two decades of on-and-off friendship, the seven of them got into enough trouble with each other. Yara’s rash decision to elope and Yasmin’s secret love affairs had ruffled a few feathers. An all-girl friend group could not devoid itself of gossiping and small fighting, but they grew to tolerate the little friction among each other, knowing they had established a friendship larger than themselves. The connection between them seven was beyond simple joy and support. It became the only reminder of the innocent days of middle school. They fought through all the trouble to remain connected. Despite not speaking for at least four years, Hazel remembered to gather all of them for a night of booziness and celebration. Despite the drama and the busy schedule, all six of them decided to drop everything and show up. Dana knew that she did not catch a flight, and spent a suspiciously large amount of time bickering with the TSA agent so that she could simply show her respect. In some way, she was delighted to be here. These women reminded her of her pubescent years as the awkward and chubby girl who dared to dream big. They reminded her the little secrets they used to share and the childish fights they engaged in to show how much they care for each other.
Dana soon had too much to drink. Yasmin’s silly jokes started to fade away and become the blurry background noise. Hazel soon came over. Dana stumbled and grabbed her into a tight hug. “Congratulations.” She mumbled, “thank you for the invitation.” Hazel laughed, her laugh still as crispy as it was back in the days. “Thank you all for coming.” Dana remembered Hazel used to see her off the bus, and yelled to the crowd “Please stay alive! " in an attempt to embarrass the already-awkward teen Dana. “Please stay alive and live harder.” Dana cheered to the table. The women who understood the joke burst into laughter. Dana looked around the table, she hadn’t been the jokester of the group for many years after her serious focus on career and usual character as the intense woman. All of a sudden, she was transformed to that table in the cafeteria, being roasted by the other five while being self-deprecating.
Dana’s husband reminded her that the flight was early the next morning. Dana put down the last glass of champagne. Yasmin explained she and her wife had a hotel room booked for the weekend. “Love that for you. I have to fly back to Toronto for an important meeting.” Dana drunkenly slammed down her drink and rested her head on her husband’s shoulder. “Bye all! See you at the next wedding!” The table turned around and started at Olivia, the only single woman among all of them.
Olivia laughed, “or the next funeral.”
Dana stepped into the cab. The city draped its bright neon light on her barely open eyelids. She murmured to herself, “I should’ve never come. I’m going to be so hungover tomorrow.”
This piece is dedicated to the six of us who are destined to suffer longer and the one girl who left too early. While we are growing older and apart, she remains beautiful and youthful in our slowly fainting memory. I wish I had a chance to say goodbye. On that subway we used to take, I jokingly told her that she would marry a gorgeous, successful man in a white suit. Her slightly curved lips told me that all that she ever wanted. Throughout her life, she dreamed to be loved and adored, yet the world has failed her by showing her unbearable cruelty. Well, she got to get married to a man she loved in this story. Not only that, her wedding was luxurious and stunning, accompanied by all of us, wishing nothing but happiness for her, just like she dreamed. And yes, I will try to stay alive for as long as I can, as I promised.
Photo by Beatriz Pérez Moya on Unsplash