to her less…than…peppy response。
？。 。 。 maid of honor；？ Vanessa heard her sister？s voice say over the low hum of the microwave。
She sat up straighter。 ？Maid ofwhat ？？ she asked incredulously。 ？Who are you？ Where？s my
sister？？ Ruby cackled。 ？e on； you know you？re dying to wear a big Laura Ashley dress。？
Vanessa got to her feet just as the microwave beeped noisily。 No fucking way。
？So； will you do it？？ Her sister？s voice rang in her ears。 Slowly； she removed the mug from the
microwave； handling it carefully so that the water wouldn？t spill over and burn her。 Although
maybe a third…degree burn would get her out of any wedding…related duties。
Tempting。
Vanessa sighed。 She knew she couldn？t say no to her sister； even if Piotr did have horrible teeth
and bestiality issues。
？Yeah； fine。 Whatever。 I？ll do it。？ She took a sip of scalding coffee and promptly spat it out all
over her cargo pants。 ？But only if I can wear my own clothes？there？s no way in hell I？m putting
on one of those totally gay pastel bridesmaid dresses。？ She glanced over at Dan； who had pulled
the hot pink silk jumpsuit out of one of his mom？s bags and was holding it in front of his skinny
body as if picturing what it would look like on。 She mouthed； ？Sorry；？ smiling weakly。 ？I mean； so
totallylame ；？ she said into the phone； wiping her thighs with a ratty brown kitchen towel。
Ruby laughed； and Vanessa could hear her mumbling to
Piotr in the background in some insane language she couldn？t understand。 Probably Martian。
？Don？t worry about that。 The ceremony is a week from Saturday； a picnic kind of thing at
Prospect Park？so it？s totally casual。 Everyone？s bringing some food