"Hey, sister of the bride, wake up!" a voice calls from my bedroom door, and I wince as my bedroom light turns on. Blinking heavily, I search the room for the source of the disturbance, only to find Ava standing in the doorway. Her arms are folded across her chest over a flowy yellow blouse, and she's watching me with perfect pink lips curved up in amusement. I groan and roll away from her, covering my head with my blanket. "Oh no, you don't," she says, and in a flash, she rips my blanket off my body, leaving me a shivering pile of flesh and pajamas. "Seriously. Get up. We're leaving in twenty minutes."

My eyes flicker to the clock on my nightstand, and I see I've only been asleep for a few hours. "Ava," I whine as my fingers begin searching for another blanket. "What do you want?"

"Apparently," she says as she walks into my room and moves toward my bed, "there was some kind of mix-up with my dress. They couldn't do the alterations I requested. Which means I have to find a new dress as soon as possible in order for it to be ready for the wedding at the end of August. And since you and Viv are the only members of my bridal party who are in town, you are both stuck coming with me today. So get up."

I glare at her before rolling back over, but she's already one step ahead. She grabs my bare ankle and tugs, forcing me off the bed and onto the floor. "Ava!" I yell, now really ticked off. "Seriously, stop! I just got to bed a few hours ago! Can't we do this later?"

She flicks her blonde hair out of her face before saying, "No, we can't. It has to be right now. And what were you doing out so late anyway?"

I blink, trying to remember, when the memories of the morning hit me. Vale and I, relaxing on his car as we watched the sun rise over the mountains. His lips against mine, his fingers brushing my own blonde hair out of my eyes. A smile begins to form on my lips. But seeing my sister in my bedroom forces me right back to the present. "None of your business," I growl as I get to my feet, wiping the invisible dirt from my shorts.

Ava shrugs her shoulders. "Fine. Don't tell me. I don't care as long as you're in the car in twenty minutes."

My eyes turn to slits as I glare at her again. "And if I'm not?"

My sister smirks at me as she replies, "Do you really want to find out?" It's not a threat. Not really. But I know her, and I know how crazy this wedding has made her already. She's literally a step away from turning into a straight up Bridezilla. I don't say anything, and she takes my silence as an answer. "Great. See you in twenty, sissy."

I watch as she turns around and leaves me alone in my bedroom. My jaw is hanging open in disbelief. The absolute audacity of my older sister. I stare at my closed door as if she's still in the doorway. Then I sigh, knowing that even if I do try to go back to sleep, my mom will just come in here and wake me up again. So, shaking my head in frustration, I open my closet and pull out a cute blue checkered dress that ties up in the back, and make my way to the bathroom to get ready.

As I'm closing the bathroom door, I hear Ava's voice talking softly in the living room to who I assume is Viv. She only ever takes on that tone of voice when she's talking to our youngest sibling. Shaking my head again, I close the bathroom door and begin getting ready for the day. And in fifteen minutes, I'm all dressed up and somewhat ready to shop for wedding dresses. Which, by the way, I can't believe I'm doing again. It took Ava forever to find a dress she actually liked, and now we have to start all over? Unbelievable.

Everyone is in the car by the time I make it out the door, which isn't surprising at all. I slide in the backseat next to Viv, who gives me a shy smile as I close the door forcibly, making my displeasure known to everyone in the car with me. Viv winces, and I immediately feel bad. I give her a tiny smile in return, and this seems to settle her down.

"Here, grumpy," Ava says from the front passenger seat as she hands me a steaming cup of what I assume is coffee, as well as a bag of some pastry she probably picked up at a drive-thru coffee stand. I take a sip of the beverage and taste the spicy flavor of the cinnamon hit my tongue. Then I open the pastry bag and find a double chocolate chip muffin top. Okay. All is forgiven.

"Thank you," I say after my second sip of coffee, feeling the caffeine make its way through my bloodstream already. Ava smiles at me in the mirror, and it's not cocky or arrogant, but appreciative. Even though she forced me out here with her, I know she appreciates the fact I didn't give much of a fight. "So what happened with the other dress? Something about alterations?"

Ava sighs and rests her head on the headrest in what I assume is frustration. "I got a call this morning from the bridal store that's working on my dress. The alterations I requested couldn't be done. They said I could take the dress as it was in the store, but... well... that's not how I wanted it. So I told them to cancel the order, called mom, and we made plans to pick out another dress."

I think back to the day we went dress shopping last time, trying to remember the dress she ended up picking. How her face lit up when she came out of the dressing room. How she insisted it was the dress to my mom, even though it was well over budget. And I have to admit, it did look beautiful on her. An off-white sleeveless mermaid fit with a small lace train, it was truly the perfect dress for my older sister. But of course, Ava had to request alterations that couldn't be made to the perfect dress. Only my sister. I try not to be irritated though. I mean, she did get me coffee. So she must feel somewhat bad.

My phone bings in my little blue purse, and when I pull it out, I see a text from Vale. My heart skips a beat in a way it never has before. I smile as I pull the message up and read what he has to say. "I can't stop thinking about how beautiful the sunrise looked reflected in your eyes." Oh my God. A blush rises in my cheeks, and I bite my lip as I think about how I should respond to that.

"Who was that?" Ava asks, and when I look up, I see she's still watching me in the mirror.

"Vale," I reply quickly, not thinking about the fact that I should come up with a lie. My sister continues to stare at me, and I wonder if she knows.

"Oh, nice," she replies, but I hear an edge of suspicion in her voice. "What has Vale been up to lately?"

The only thing I can think of is making out with me, but I obviously don't tell her that. So I try to think of what he was doing before the night of the kiss. "Um, he's just been working at the restaurant and in the garage. You know, same old, same old."

"Has he got any plans for when the summers over?" my mom asks, and I can't tell if she's as suspicious as Ava or not due to the fact she's wearing sunglasses.

I shrug my shoulders. "Not really. Just doing what he always does. But he's starting to make pretty good money flipping cars, which is what he wants to do anyway. I think he's going to just stick with that."

Part of me is expecting them to ask about my plans for when the summer is over, but they don't. Because they don't really care. Honestly, I'm surprised they've even asked the questions they've asked this morning. But Ava's phone rings and takes the attention right off me and slaps it right back onto her. It's her fiancé, Owen, calling to find out what her plans are for the day. She goes into the whole debacle about the dress again, giving me enough time to formulate a response to Vale.

"I can't stop thinking about how warm your lips are against mine," I type out, hitting send before I even have time to think about it. This feels so naughty, keeping this secret from everyone. But it's fun, too. I give it a few seconds, staring at my phone screen waiting for him to reply again before putting it back in my purse. He doesn't have anything else to say, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, as we've just pulled up to the bridal store.

We spend the next several hours sifting through dresses as my sister rejects each and every one. After a while, Viv gets hungry for actual food, and my mom runs down the street to take her to a local sandwich shop in town for a quick bite. She promises to bring something back for us, and we watch her leave with our youngest sibling. If it were me, though, I don't think I'd be coming back. This is definitely not how I expected to be spending my day.

"So," Ava says as she moves beside me. She's supposed to be searching for her dress, but her eyes are on me as I sift through off-white fabric after off-white fabric, wishing I was anywhere else. "What's going on with you lately?"

I shrug my shoulders, not really prepared for the question. "I don't know," I reply quickly. "What do you want to know?"

She gives me a tiny smile and nudges me with her shoulder gently. "I don't know, Gen," she says, her voice tinkly as she continues to stare at me. "You're my sister. Is there anything exciting going on in your life? Any new boyfriends or... you know, stuff happening?"

Now she has my attention. I stop looking at dresses to glance up at her. A knowing smirk is plastered across her lips, and it makes me nervous. Like she knows something about my life that I don't. "Hmm," I reply as I pretend to think. The truth is there's a lot going on in my life. My best friend and I are secretly hooking up. I have this incredible opportunity to go to this amazing pastry school. And I'm working on earning the money for tuition. There's a lot I could tell her. And at one point, maybe I would've. We used to be very close. But that was a long time ago. Before Viv was born and Ava felt the need to act out, leaving me to be the invisible sister. Now I'm not sure how to begin opening up to her. She's like a stranger wearing an older version of my face.

"Not really," I lie, and I watch as her gentle smile fades just a bit. "Just living my life. Working and spending time with the gang." Okay, not exactly a lie. But definitely an omission, which is basically the same thing. She opens her mouth to say something, but before she can I pull out a dress and say, "This one is pretty. Kind of reminds me a bit of your other dress. Maybe this will be the one?"

I hand it to her, and for a second she just stares at it. Then she gives me a tight smile and says, "Yeah, you're right. I'll just go try this one on. Be right back." I feel kind of bad about lying to her, and I consider for a second stopping her and telling her everything. But she doesn't hesitate to leave, and I wonder if she was always kind of looking for an opportunity to get away from me. If maybe she was only asking questions to make polite conversation. The thought stings a little, but I don't expect any less anymore coming from this family. She's not the stranger here. I am. The black sheep. The odd one out. And to be honest, I should've known better.

By the time she comes out of the dressing room, my mom and younger sister are both back. The dress really does look like a less embellished version of the one she chose before, and so after hearing our opinions, she decides it's the one. Hopefully there won't be any more dress debacles, because I'm not sure I can handle another day of dress shopping. My sister pays for the dress, and I'm surprised when it comes to less than half her original budget. Then the four of us make our way outside, where we sit on the grass and eat our sandwiches together before heading home.

My mom and Ava chat away in the front seat, but every so often I can see Ava watching me. She doesn't say anything else to me. Doesn't ask me anymore questions. But I can see them in her eyes, and I'm starting to believe maybe she really did want to hear my answers earlier. Then the three of them drop me off at the house to go run some errands together, and once again I feel like the invisible one. I stand in the driveway for a few minutes, staring at the car as it leaves our neighborhood. For a moment I consider going back up to my room, but then I look next door and see Vale's garage door is open, like a warm hug after a rough afternoon. I shuffle over to his house, where I find him buried, once again, under the hood of the Dodge pickup truck he's been working on.

I take a seat in the chair he leaves in the garage for me, and I don't say a word. He doesn't know I'm here, which is perfect. It gives me the opportunity to just look at him. To take him in. My best friend. The boy I've known my whole life. The one I'm suddenly seeing differently. He's so unbelievably attractive, and I can't believe I never noticed it before. A smile plays on my lips as I watch his fingers work the tools he needs like he's been doing it his whole life. Which, I know, he has.

It's quite a while before he looks up and sees me curled up in my chair. His eyes light up in a way they have a million times before, and I wonder if maybe this was always where this friendship was supposed to go. If we were always supposed to find each other like this. He drops the wrench on the ground and walks toward me, and I feel that familiar pull in the pit of my stomach as he leans down and presses his lips against mine. In just seconds he's deepening it, exploring my mouth like it's a cave and he's a pirate searching for treasure.

The need for him is so strong as I run my fingers through his thick curly black hair, pulling lightly as he groans softly against my lips. Why does kissing him always turn out like this? Needy and passionate. I pull away suddenly, very much aware that the garage door is open and any of our neighbors can see us. He seems to read the concern in my eyes, because he leans down to my ear and whispers, "Want to get out of here with me?"

"Yes," I reply breathlessly, and he grabs hold of my hand, leading me out of his garage and to his car parked on the street. I don't know where we're going. And I don't really care. All I know is that I'll go anywhere as long as he's there too.

Author's Note:

So what do we think of Ava? I'll be honest, I really like her. She reminds me a bit of my sister-in-law, who used to wake me up on lazy summer days to hang out with me. So I guess I'll dedicate the character of Ava to Mary. Love you, my soul sister! (She won't see this, but it's the thought that counts.)

I've really been struggling with this story lately. This chapter took a bit to write, but I actually liked it when it was finished. But the next one seems to be taking forever, which is the reason for the slow updates. Cross your fingers that I figure out this next chapter soon. The good news is, once I'm done with the next chapter, I have a bunch pretty much ready to go. I just need to bridge them together. Sigh.

Thanks so much for reading! You know how much I appreciate it!
XOXO,
~Aly