Finally I spot Henry’s car and meet him to get his gear. That’s my job for the night. I get to follow Henry around with his bags and bags of stuff, just in case something doesn’t work or he feels like swapping lenses. The ol’ funeral suit is getting a lot of use these days. The belt has to be tightened a little more and the jacket’s a little big now, but it’s not too noticeable. I hope.
Jordyn pulls into the space next to him. When she steps out of her car wearing an elegant silk dress—and it’s not even black, it’s the rich dark blue of the sky just before it turns black—I stop dead. Not just because of the dress, but because she’s made herself up to look like a normal almost-eighteen-year-old girl. Actually, she looks pretty damn beautiful.
“Shut up,” she warns before I have a chance to compliment her.
“Can you believe it?” Henry chuckles.
“I thought she was someone else,” I say.
“You guys are so funny.” She scowls as she takes a bag from the trunk.
“Allow me, m’lady.” I bow to her as I reach for the strap.
She smacks my hand away and shoves past me toward the front door.
Henry and I are both chuckling as we follow.
“I’m amazed she agreed not to wear all that shit on her face,” Henry says. “Wish she knew how beautiful she was without it.”
“Me too,” I say. Then I see Henry smile to himself with a certain gleam in his eye. What’s with everyone jumping to conclusions about us? I have to set him straight. “I mean, it would make her life so much easier. The kids at school aren’t very nice about it.”
“Yeah. I think that’s why she does it. To keep everyone at a safe distance,” he says. “I’m just glad the two of you are gettin’ on so well. It’s about time she had a friend.”
He says “friend” but “boyfriend” is clearly implied. I’m about to correct him, when the father of the bride introduces himself.
After the most elaborate and expensive wedding ceremony I will ever attend, I follow Henry around so he can switch lenses at will. Right now he’s in the middle of the dance floor shooting the couple.
I find myself watching Jordyn. She doesn’t look like she’s having fun. I have the sudden urge to put my camera to use, when a young guy who was in the wedding party sidles up to her. She’s shooting pictures of the cake. I click off some shots as the guy flirts with her until she’s finally smiling. I want to hug him for it. And I’m getting it on film! I have actual proof that she can smile! Then another guy, the first guy’s friend, joins them. He’s a little more ambitious with his flirting. He finds ways to touch her with the ol’ “Can I see your camera?” trick.
Henry switches his lens once again and asks me to tell Jordyn to take a break.
I slowly move to where she’s talking to the guys. She’s still smiling, but I can tell the second guy’s bugging the shit out of her.
Her face lights up when she sees me. “Hey.”
“I’ve been ordered to tell you to take a break,” I say.
“Great.” She hands me the camera and takes the first guy’s hand, leading him onto the dance floor, leaving guy number two holding his dick.
“She your sister or something?” guy number two asks.
“Clearly,” I say.
“Oh. Cool. Well, your sister’s totally hot.” He obviously doesn’t get sarcasm, or that she’s half Malaysian and I am unmistakably not.
I follow his gaze to where Jordyn’s dancing and flirting and laughing. She really is beautiful. I hold up the camera she handed me and take a few candids of her and the guy dancing. Was she always this beautiful? I have to talk her into ditching the vampire look for good. She’d have guys lining up around the block. But then I’d have to really start bulking up again in order to ward off the assholes.
Henry waves me back over and, this time, he switches cameras and lenses. I wonder what the difference is.
Jordyn taps my shoulder.
“You want your camera back?” I offer her the bag on my shoulder with a grin, wondering when she’ll see the shots I took of her.
“Sure, but, actually, do you want to get some air?”
“After you.”
The grounds are landscaped to perfection. The focal point is the pergola that I’m sure is used in the outdoor ceremonies. Off to the side is a little man-made waterfall with stone benches surrounding it.
“Why’d you stop dancing with that guy? You looked like you were having fun,” I say.
“Did I? I’m not even sure I know what that looks like myself.”
“Yeah. You were, like, smiling and everything. It was scary.” I sit on the wall next to the waterfall.
She shoves me playfully, sitting herself. “Mike’s pretty cool, we used to kind of hang out or whatever but . . .” She kicks her feet out and in, out and in. They don’t quite touch the ground. It’s adorable.
“But?”
“He always asked me not to look how I normally look when we did stuff where he might run into his friends.”
“Henry thinks you do that to keep from getting close to people.”
She stares at me, her expression unreadable. Is she going to hit me? Scream at me?
“Well, then why the hell didn’t it work on you?” she says with an intensity that cuts me.