Free Bad Bridesmaid by Portia MacIntosh Page A

wrong?’
    ‘Mia did it,’ Belle wails.
    ‘Mia, what have you done now?’ my mother asks me angrily.
    ‘I don’t know,’ I reply honestly.
    Soon enough we are joined by my grandma, who must have heard the commotion too.
    ‘What’s going on?’ she asks as she joins my mum in comforting Belle.
    ‘Mia has upset Belle,’ my mum tells her.
    My gran, who doesn’t look the least bit surprised, rolls her eyes.
    ‘You tell us what she did, Belle,’ my gran demands.
    I wait patiently to find out what I have said or done that is so horrible while my mum and gran fuss around my sister, drying her eyes and rubbing her shoulders.
    ‘She… she… she put my veil on me,’ Belle sobs.
    My mum and gran both stare at me.
    ‘I did,’ I reply timidly. I was only trying to help her out, did she want to do it herself or something?
    ‘Oh, Mia, how could you?’ my gran cries.
    ‘It’s because she knows she’s never going to be a bride because I made her my bridesmaid and she wants to take it out on me by ruining my wedding and my marriage and my life,’ my sister sobs without pausing for breath – and at such a speed that I’m still not sure what she’s talking about.
    ‘Can someone who doesn’t need to blow their nose explain the problem to me,’ I ask, annoyed that I’m being made out to be some kind of wedding-ruiner.
    ‘It’s bad luck for a bride to wear her entire outfit before the big day,’ my mum explains.
    ‘And you put my veil on me,’ Belle sobs. ‘It tempts fate.’
    ‘Oh! Shit, Belle, I’m sorry.’
    I had forgotten about her silly wedding superstitions, but surely she realises I was only trying to help her, and they are only silly superstitions after all, nothing is done and dusted.
    ‘So what do we do?’ I ask. ‘Walk backwards? Throw some salt around?’
    ‘Mia,’ Mum snaps. ‘Take this seriously.’
    I thought I was.
    ‘Ask her to leave,’ Belle sobs.
    ‘Mia–’ my mum starts, but I cut her off.
    ‘I can hear her! It’s fine, I’ll go.’
    As I walk towards the door my uncle comes charging in with more garment bags.
    ‘Sorry,’ he says breathlessly, ‘I couldn’t get rid of the delivery man. Did I miss anything?’
    Belle stops crying and for a moment everyone stares at him, wondering what he means.
    ‘I mean, did I forget anything? Or is this it?’ he backtracks.
    ‘No, this is all of it,’ Belle sobs.
    ‘Are you not trying something on?’ my uncle asks me quietly as I walk past him.
    ‘At this rate, I’m thinking a noose around my neck,’ I reply.

Chapter 11
    Today, I am officially persona non grata. With my sister crying hysterically in my bedroom, and nowhere else in the house for me to go without being treated like a turd in a swimming pool, I have ventured outside for a walk on the beach. The only problem is that because I was thrown out of my bedroom, I couldn’t get any shoes to put on – not much of a problem walking on the beach, but I’m fairly sure my little nightdress is not an ideal outfit for taking a stroll. What choice do I have, though? I’m not allowed in my room, my auntie doesn’t want me going anywhere near the kids, none of Dan’s family or friends want anything to do with me and if I stayed in the house Uncle Sleaze would only stalk me from room to room, drooling.
    So, a walk alone on the beach it is. It’s a lovely day today – nice and warm luckily, and the sun is shining bright in the sky. If I wasn’t so unprepared I could have kicked back here and done some work, or just topped up my LA tan that is fading by the day.
    As I walk I think about my sister and why she is upset. I do feel badly about what happened today but I didn’t intend to upset her or jinx her or whatever she seems to think I had in mind when I put that veil on her head. If Belle wasn’t upset about this she would still be banging on about me giving Dan a bad back, or upsetting the family by teaching the kids inappropriate language. There must be a bigger issue