Chapter 1

After the photographer finished, Claire pulled Ryan in for a marathon of selfies, snapping dozens before finally letting him off the hook.

Then she tried to rope Ethan in, but he laughed and protested, "Come on, Claire, we've got stuff to do later. Let's wait till the wedding day; you can take all the photos you want then, alright?"

Claire pouted, "That day's gonna be a madhouse. All the cameras will be on the bride. Who's even going to care about snapping pics of me?"

Ryan smirked, keeping it casual. "I know you love taking photos, so I made sure there'll be a photographer just for you, all day long. Snap as many as you like."

Claire's eyes sparkled. She threw her arms around Ryan's neck and gushed, "I love you to death!" Then she skipped off to change.

I stood there, stunned, and turned to Ryan. "So who's going to take our wedding photos if the photographer's just following her?"

He waved it off. "Isn't there a videographer filming everything? We can pull some stills from the video."

"Are those even going to look good?" I asked. "Photographers catch all the best moments."

He just shrugged, totally unfazed. "What's the point of those photos anyway? After the wedding, they just end up gathering dust somewhere. Claire's only a bridesmaid once; let her have something to remember it by."

Ethan chimed in, "Yeah, if you really want some photos, just have the photographer do a private shoot for you after the wedding. It's no trouble at all."

I looked at the two of them, one was my childhood friend, the other was the guy I'm supposed to marry.

But right now, they were both on the same team, and all their attention was on Claire.

Claire likes this, Claire wants that, Claire never gets the chance

What about me?

It was not like I got to be a bride every day, or wear a wedding dress, or have all eyes on me for once.

They didn't even bother to ask me; they casually gave away half of what should've been my special moment.

I always swallowed it when they favored her, always let her take the spotlight.

But this was my wedding, a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Was I really supposed to step aside again, even for this?

By the time I snapped out of it, they'd already changed.

Ryan glanced at his phone. "Ethan and I have some stuff to deal with. We'll give Claire a ride home, you can just grab a cab."

As he reached the door, he turned back and said, "Oh, and let the makeup artist know to come early that day. Have her do Claire's makeup just like the bride's; she needs to look great for the photos."

"You'll get your makeup done first, then Claire. Let her sleep a little longer so she looks fresh."

He said it so casually, like it was the most normal thing in the world.

With that, he closed the door, and their footsteps and laughter faded into the distance.

I stood there, staring at the wedding dress I'd spent two months picking out, shining so bright under the lights it almost hurt to look at.

I'd imagined it a thousand times, walking down the aisle in that dress, saying "I do" to him in front of everyone.

But now it was just hanging there, right next to that satin mermaid dress, like it was laughing at me for ever believing I could be the star of the show.

I'd been looking forward to this wedding for so long, spent ages getting everything ready, even spent days picking out the perfect flowers for my bouquet.

But in the end, what was the point?

Claire didn't have to do a thing, and everything I wanted became hers, like it was hers all along.

The photographer, the makeup artist, both hers.

My fiancé was hers, and even Ethan was hers too.

So what was left for me?

Absolutely nothing.

I looked down at my phone and opened the chat with the makeup artist.

I started typing something, then erased it.

Started again, and then erased it again.

My fingertips hovered above the screen, shaking a little.

Finally, I hit send.

[The wedding's off. You don't need to come for makeup. Keep the deposit. Sorry.]