I swear I could hear my heart beating as I looked into the full-wall mirror. We had just checked into the hotel, me and my bridesmaids, and I was in the honeymoon suite. Zayn and I aren’t using it for our honeymoon, but we aren’t leaving until the night after our wedding, so we decided to rent it anyway.
But that isn’t why my heart’s beating. Here, right here, it hits me full in the face that tomorrow night, I won’t be Julianna Moore. My name will be Julianna Malik, and I’ll be a Mrs. I… I won’t be thought of as just Julianna anymore. No; I’ll be forever thought of as Julianna, the one who was lucky enough to have snagged Zayn, a sexy pop star; but trust me, that fact still astonishes me to this day.
The ride over here from England killed me; 15 hours holed up on a plane. Albeit first class, and albeit with nine of my closest friends, but nonetheless 15 hours without taking a fresh breath of air from outside.
“Honey?” Zayn calls, knocking at the door to the suite. I grin and walk over, but Marie interferes.
“Um, no guys. You can’t see the bride before the wedding, darling.” Marie tells Zayn, and from where I’m watching through the peephole, shoves him gently. “Niall!” Marie calls. “Look, Niall, we’re going to have to share our room with this dude because he’s being a poop and didn’t reserve a room for himself beforehand. God Zayn, everyone knows you can’t see the bride before the wedding!” I see Marie huff and turn, storming down the hall. Unexpectedly, Niall turn to Zayn and starts talking to him. Well, it’s not a surprise that he’s talking, but more of what he says to Zayn.
“Look, man, I don’t think we can share. Do you think you can reserve a different room for tonight?” Zayn looks confused until it dawns upon him.
“Oh, Niall, you’re sick, man!” He groans and steps a few feet back. “But fine, if you want to be alone with Marie, I’ll just go get another room.”
“Thanks man,” Niall smiles, patting Zayn on the back. “Now I’ve got to go get some food…” He says, turning on his heel and walking after Marie. After Niall walks away, Zayn bursts into laughter.
“You are one piece of work, Niall. Seriously, it’s a wonder Marie wants to be with you.” He continues laughing until I offer my two cents.
“Hey, Zayn, Marie is the exact same way. It’s no wonder their relationship works out.” He stops laughing and turns to talk to me through the door.
“Well, it’s what I expected. Adios for now, love, I’ve got to find myself another hotel room.” He winks at me before stalking down the hallway, leaving me with some peace of silence. Of course, not for long.
“Jullllliiiiiaaaaannnnnnaaaa,” The girls call from outside my door. I open to find four girls and four guys.
“Hey guys,” I laugh as I catch their ridiculous expressions. They’ve all scrunched up their eyes and wrinkled their noses at me. “Dah-lings, come on inside,” I wink, letting them all walk past me.
“Alright Jules, you have a big day coming up tomorrow. This requires a special day of pampering. First, you’ll play video games with the boys.” Isabella announces, holding up COD®, Fifa®, and some others I couldn’t name for my life. I’m not a big gamer girl. “Next, you’ll be coming down to the spa with me and the girls.” She smiles and hands me a pink and grey spa brochure.
“We got the ultimate package!” Marie speaks up with a smile.
“SHUT UP MARIE!” We chorus, and she sinks into Niall’s arms with a dejected expression. He puts his arms around her and whispers softly into her ear. Secretly, I feel bad for telling her to shut up. After all, the information wasn’t that irrelevant.
“Shhhh, it’s alright baby.” Marie, being the strong and stubborn girl, didn’t cry. I could see the little droplets of salt water gathering at her saddened eyes, though.
“Don’t worry Niall, its normal,” she tries to tell him with a giggle. He holds her tighter, and I wish Zayn was here, but then again I don’t. I don’t want him to know what a mean person I am. I mean, look what we just did to Marie?
“So what else is on the menu for today?” I ask, mentally slapping myself. Marie is over there crying, because of me, and I don’t say anything. Well, it’s too late now.
“Well,” Isabella continues. “After the spa we have to get ready for the bachelorette party, and we can all do that together. Then we have to manage to get to sleep sometime.” Iz giggles as she says the last thing.
“Yeah, I agree,” I say, calming myself. But I can’t help glancing at Marie, who is still snuggled up against Niall’s chest. “We should all do each other’s make up like high school students!” I chuckle, but it would be something I’d enjoy. I’d get to be a kid before I’ve finally stepped out of that box completely.
“Okay, step one.” Isabelle announces, pulling COD® out of its case. She pops it into the Xbox and hands everyone a controller. Everyone but Marie gets one, because apparently she’s opposed to shooting people in games. Harry boots up the TV, does the settings, and we start playing.
“Yeah buddy!” Niall yells as he shoots the opposing army. I smile as I shoot down people too, but I can see Marie cringes away from the TV. One of Niall’s arms snakes around her and he kissed her on her head, but I know what we have to do.
“Marie? Are you alright?” I ask, setting down my controller.
“Woman, what are you doing?!” Louis asks, gaping at my controller. “One does not simply put down an Xbox controller!” He yells at me.
“Relax, Louis! Don’t you see Marie can’t watch us? Let’s just play Fifa® instead, alright?” I ask as I walk over and, without saving, pop the game out of the Xbox.
“Oh my lord woman, you could’ve at least saved--” Louis shouts before Larissa clamps her hand over his mouth. She shrieks when he licks her, but instead of letting him complain more, she covers his mouth with hers. After she’s done kissing him, she leans back and looks him in the eye.
“Now shut up, bloody idiot, before I punch you for being inconsiderate to Marie and Julianna.” She demands him, and he nods nervously.
“Marie, are you alright?” I ask the blonde who’s now been pulled into Niall’s lap again. She nods, and I smile. “Let’s play Fifa®, okay?” I ask, and she nods with a small smile. As we play, I come in first, and Marie comes in second, all the time. I know the boys are doing it, because I’ve seen them play, and they are much better than Marie and I.
“Okay, we’re done with that,” Isabella says, taking a deep breath. “Now, boys, you can leave- we’re going down to the spa. Go off with Zayn or something,” she says as she shoos them out of my room. As the leave, Liam pecks Isabelle and winks at her. Niall has a hard time letting go of Marie, and Larissa and Maritza are having trouble stopping kissing their boyfriends.
“Oh my god,” I groan, taking in the sight. “If you’re going to do that, take it to a room, will you? I don’t need to see you guys practically having sex on the floor!” I joke, moving my hands rapidly and making large circular motions to the couples. Larissa and Harry blush, but Maritza and Louis just answer, “Alright,” and drag their other halves out the door before Isabella stops them.
“Uh-uh, girls, we’re going to the spa. Go get a bathing suit, and no having sex before coming back here!” She shouts as they walk down the hall. Marie giggles and we give her a strange look. That’s when we realize Niall’s still here, hugging Marie.
“Niall, get out!” I shout, but he just shakes his head. “Look bro, you two are going to be banging tonight, I think you can leave her alone for a few hours.” He looks me in the eye, showing no embarrassment, and shakes his head no. “Fine, but we’re changing out bathing suits in here, so you better not be thinking of being unfaithful to Marie.”
“Don’t worry; we’ll be in the bathroom.” He says; finally I sigh and give in.
“Fine.”
Ten minutes later, we’re all changed, and we’re waiting for Marie to finish changing in the bathroom. It’s been six minutes already, and she hasn’t come out. We call her name, and I pound on the door. I glance the key on top of the door, and I grab it and open the door.
When we enter, we see Marie and Niall, who are thankfully still clothed, making out with each other. Marie is pushed up against the wall and she hasn’t even begun to change; her pink bikini is lying dejected in the floor.
“Oh god,” Maritza groans, causing the couple to turn and face us.
“Oh, hey guys,” Marie says, picking up her bathing suit. “I guess, if Niall leaves, I can change,” she says, winking at Niall. He shoots her a puppy face but leaves nonetheless. We back out of the bathroom, not saying anything to her, and shut the door behind us. I wait until I hear the lock click to speak to Niall.
“Mister! You have seriously got to stop. I don’t know what it is, but you can’t be getting it on in my freaking bathroom!” I screech, holding my hands above my head. “I mean, I don’t know why you’re suddenly not able to keep off Marie, but you’ve got to stop. One day you’ll have sex in public and monkeys will attack you; it’s not cool. Leave before I slap you, man.” He sighs and turns, but asks one thing before leaving.
“Why monkeys?”
“Because, they’re attracted to the smell of sex, moron.” He shrugs before shutting my door behind him. Three seconds later, Marie walks out of the bathroom.
“Monkeys, huh?” She asks, with a glimmer in her eye and a wide smile across her face.
“Hey, blondie, it’s true!” I say, before we put on our flip flops and head down to the spa. We walk into the green, gray and blue-schemed wing and I decided that for the next two hours, I’ll be relaxed. I won’t let anything bother me; I won’t think about the wedding coming up. I’ll just pretend it’s a girls’ day out; me and two of my closest friends.
~*~
“That. Was. Amazing!” Larissa squeals, pulling her towel out of her locker. I smile and pull my towel out of mine, smiling when I feel the warmth. I head towards the showers, dragging my bag behind me. Some girls are able to walk around butt naked in front of others, but I’m not one of those girls. I sigh as the warm water runs over my body, and I wash my hair gently. I hear Marie, Isabelle, Larissa, and Maritza talking as they change. They’ve all take their showers already; I wanted to wait to shower for a while, for no reason at all. I’m just odd.
“Julianna, hurry up!” Isabella calls from the changing room.
“Coming!” I call back, turning off the shower and toweling off. I grab my bag from the hall way and dress quickly, before towel-drying my hair and dropping my white towel off in the towel drop. “Where to next?”
~*~
“I can’t believe I’m going to a bachelorette party,” Marie says, blushing. “There’s…, it just seems so inappropriate!” She whispers, not looking anyone in the eye.
“Don’t worry, I didn’t hire any male strippers,” Larissa says, looking down at her notepad as we walk back up to my room. I slap her lightly, scolding her. “No, seriously,” she says, staring at me with an honest face. “when they asked if I wanted male strippers, I said no. We’re loyal, right ladies?” She winks and waits for me to unlock my room.
“Make up time!” Maritza says, pulling out five gorgeous dresses and a suitcase full of the stuff. We sit down, giggling, and let Maritza do our makeup after we’ve changed. I look out the window, and night has fallen. Where did the day go? Tomorrow, which is now less than four hours away, I’m getting married. Married. “Julianna,” Maritza calls me. “Julianna, it’s your turn.” I smile and sit down, admiring my silky white dress while she paints my face. I feel her apply eyeliner, then eye shadow, mascara, and blush. As soon as she finishes, I look up at the other girls.
“You look beautiful, Larissa,” I compliment the first girl I find. Her pale features are used to her advantage by using daring red lipstick to match her strapless, devil-red dress. Her brown hair is curled in waves, with a rose at the front of her head. She blushes, and then tells me how good I look. I laugh and look to find the other two dressed and smiling.
Isabella’s dress is black and purple, which goes out into an empire shirt without it going all the way to the floor. It looks rather good on her, because it heightens her beautiful coffee eyes. Her black hair is straightened, and it reveals her pretty heart-shaped face. She blushes after Marie says something. Marie. Her outfit is a sea green. It has a sweetheart neckline, with diamond-like stones embroidered into the top. It emphasizes her rather large… er… assets. It falls to right below her knee, hugging her every curve. I have a feeling Niall wouldn’t be happy if she wore that out; it revealed quite a lot, even though she looked gorgeous with her blonde hair curled and emerald earrings. But just as I go to complement them, Marie jumps at me.
“Julianna!” She cries, hugging me. “You have the most gorgeous dress, honey. It’s beautiful. The white does wonders for your skin, and dear, your make up is lovely. Man, what I would give for your perfect Asian hair!” She laughs openly.
Isabella agrees with Marie, and soon I have Maritza, Marie, Larissa, and Isabella surrounding me and telling me how pretty I look. “Just think about how gorgeous she’ll look tomorrow, holding Zayn’s hand at the alter!” Larissa exclaims. I shake my head and check the time.
“Guys, we have to go before we’re late for the party we’re throwing!” I cry, herding everyone out of the room. Before we leave, I shut off the light. I feel as if I’m shutting off the light to my single-hood, but even with the eerie feeling, I continue to get butterflies for tomorrow.
“Oh my god,” Marie states as we walk into the reserved hall and find thirty of my closest friends drooling over ten half-naked man. We all turn, and Larissa holds her head in her hands.
“How could they mess this up?” Larissa whispers. She looks to find the party planner she hired, a tall lady who looks to be made of something but bones, and pulls her aside. “Hi, uh, we sort of specifically didn’t hire male strippers for this party, Lynn.” The woman- Lynn- gets a sad look upon her face.
“Alright, let me handle this,” she tells Larissa, as she walks up to the stage and announces karaoke time. The males exit, picking up their clothes and money, and we all let out a breath.
“Woohoo!” Marie yells, running to the microphone. Soon enough we’re listening her sing Hey, Soul Sister in her off-tune voice. Next, Isabella runs on the stage and sings A Team. I walk up and sing Drops of Jupiter, which I swear is going to be the song played at my funeral. As I finish, the crowd cheers loudly and I smile while prancing off stage. This night, which I hadn’t planned on enjoying all that much, is turning out to be pretty good. Just as I situate myself in the crowd, Marie leans towards me.
“So, how hungover do you think the boys will be tomorrow?” She whispers, holding a beer in her hand. I glance at it, and she just shrugs my look off. “C’mon Jules, on a scale one to ten; how much do you think they’ll be out of it?”
“Eleven,” I answer, and we end up giggling in fits. Isabella comes over and doesn’t even ask; she just picks up a tiny glass of champagne and takes a small sip before setting it down. I eye the glass and take a sip, enjoying the sensation it has slipping down my throat. It burns, and makes me feel warm. I smile but stop, knowing I can’t be hungover tomorrow.
The night passes too quickly for me, and soon everyone’s leaving and it’s just me and the girls. Marie is giggling over in the corner, tipsy form having one too many beers. Thank god she’s not fully drunk, though, because I don’t think I could handle that. When she’s like that, she’s just so depressed and sad. Picking up pink streamers is Larissa, who I can tell is having trouble walking straight. Am I the only one who’s completely sober? I realize I’m not when I see Isabella, who’s also observing our helpless friends. Maritza is leaning on the stage, ready to pass out.
“Guys,” I call, beckoning to them. “Let’s go back to the hotel.” Everyone nods, and I have to support Maritza while Isabella supports Larissa. Behind me, I can hear Marie giggling.
“Okay,” Isabella groans, almost buckling under Larissa’s weight. To say the least, tae kwon doe for both of us was a long way in the past. We all pack into the limo I hired, since I obviously knew this was going to happen. I look into Marie’s eyes, and I see sadness. No, not now.
“The next time we do this,” she begins, “let’s make sure there’s no alcohol, alright?” I nod, and she slumps back in her seat, sulking. I look out the window for the remaining fifteen minutes, watching as we pass beaches, hotels, and homes. Hawaii is beautiful, and I couldn’t have pick a better place to get married. Then we’re suddenly back at our hotel, and I’m handing over Marie to a not-much-better Niall. Zayn isn’t there, thank god, so I won’t get yelled at again. Larissa stumbles over to Louis, who’s pointing at Harry. Maritza falls into Harry’s arms, and I pray they make it to their rooms okay. Isabella and I walk back inside, where Iz finds a very sober Liam. They kiss and I walk back to my room alone, wishing my friends weren’t enforcing the stupid “you can’t see the bride before the wedding,” rule. Looking at my bed, I pull back my covers and lie down. I feel a jolt of electricity as I remember that I’m still wearing my dress.
“What an idiot,” I reprimand myself, slipping into my PJs, and then washing my face and brushing my teeth. This time when I lie down in bed, I feel myself falling asleep easily. Today was really long, and I doubt I could last any longer.
“Hi Zayn,” I giggle, hugging my new husband. We smile and kiss, receiving applause from the audience of the reception, but something feels wrong. Something’s different. I twirl, looking for what’s not right, but when I finish the full turn, Zayn’s gone and so is the crowd.
“Hello, baby,” Adam whispers, his words seeping into my ears like poison and making me twitch. “It’s been so long… I miss you.” He whispers, before slapping. I watch his image fade into one of Zayn, who smiles down at me, but something’s wrong with his smile. They’re not his teeth- they’re-
“Adam,” I breathe as Zayn bites me, breaking my arm. “Go. Away.” This time when I look at “Zayn,” I see Adam in his features. I cringe away only to find myself chain.
“No, love. I missed you too much. We have a lot of lost time we need to make up,” he says sweetly as he kicks me and then punches my in the face. I can feel the blood running down my face; he had broken my nose, again.
“GO AWAY!” I shrike, struggling against my chains.
“No.”
“Julianna!” I hear someone yelling and shaking me. I open my eyes to find four guys bending over me, and cringe away. Adam would hurt me if I found out I was around guys.
“Go away! He can’t hurt me!” I cry, making their faces fall.
“Julianna, who can’t hurt you?” The cute one with curly hair asks. Wait, I know his name; Harry. Harry asked me.
“Adam,” I choke.