3
Throughout the reception, I ate little, feeling
heavy.
Seeing Emily happily marrying her loved one
was touching.
But thinking about my situation, my eyes
welled up.
During the interactive segment, the host
threw stuffed animals.
Jake quickly grabbed a Hello Kitty plush.
Hello Kitty was my favorite; our home was
<
filled with pink Hello Kitty items.
Some were gifts from him in college, others
were carefully chosen during our trip to
Japan.
Many were high–priced finds he’d tracked
down.
I gently wiped away my tears, about to stand,
but he gave the plush to another bridesmaid,
his eyes full of affection.
That look once belonged to me.
I froze, slowly sinking back, feeling a mix of
emotions.
How ironic.
But five years of relationship, how can it just
be abandoned?
I held onto a sliver of hope.
Perhaps Jake was just trying to anger me, to
teach me a lesson.
After all, this wasn’t the first time he’d done
this.
く
Desperately, I tried adding Jake again.
I sent a message: “Jake, I know I was wrong,
can you unblock me?”
I thought he wanted me to apologize.
But the message was like a stone into a well,
with no response.
Jake went to the restroom. I sat alone, feeling
complicated emotions.
Then, the bridesmaid approached, softly
saying, “I’m Taylor, tell me about Jake’s funny
stories.”
She looked at me and asked, “Has he ever
dated? What kind of girls does he like?”
I looked up, ready to respond, but she looked
away and paused.
She suddenly spilled her soda on herself.
I froze, staring blankly, unsure what
happened.
As I reached for napkins,
Jake rushed in from behind, pushing me
く
away.
I fell into the next seat, red wine spilling on
