Family Wedding Drama

Mom gave me a hug as Dad came over to caress my hair, and he whispered, “Sweetheart, it’s okay. We had no idea you’d been feeling this way. But I don’t think now is the right time or place to have this kind of discussion.” He gave me a tissue to wipe my face, and for a moment I was calm.

He’s right, but at least I had the chance to let them know how I’d been feeling, after all these years of quiet resentment toward Yancey.

She only shook her head. “You’re being so dramatic, it’s pathetic. Just a minute ago, you called me a whore! How can you even live with yourself?”

“I’m doing it just fine without you,” I said snarkily. “At least I’m not rushing into a marriage I’m financially unprepared for!”

She groaned in frustration. “This is why you and I don’t get along.”

“Oh, is that so?” I snapped. “You think that’s why we don’t get along? Or is it really because you keep secrets from me all the time?!” I went to the DJ’s table to grab the microphone to make my own little announcement to everyone. “Ladies and gentlemen, I need to let you all know, Yancey here has been keeping secrets from me. She kept her seven-month relationship with Christian a secret from me!”

That led to numerous gasps; amazing how this news shocked people.

“That’s right. I didn’t even know she and Christian were dating, until she randomly decided to broadcast her engagement news to all of America on social media, leaving me—her only sister—the last person to know!”

Everyone gasped again even louder, then muttered to themselves, wondering if it’s true. Even Mom and Dad looked astonished. “Yancey, is this true?” Dad asked. “Did you really keep your relationship a secret from your own sister?”

“Y-yes…” Yancey’s face was red like a tomato. I bet she’s feeling embarrassed to be called out on her bluff. “But, you know…” She couldn’t speak; she knew she had no excuse.

“Why would you do that?” Mom asked her, then she turned to me. “Taylar, is this true? Before dinner that night, did you really not know about her and Christian?”

“No, I didn’t.” I smirked at Yancey. I was winning this game. “I had to pretend to show my support, even though it hurt me inside that I never knew about their relationship.”

“That’s not fair!” Yancey cried. “I told you the real reason I kept it from you. It’s because I wanted Mom and Dad to get off your case about when you’ll find the one someday, or when you’ll get married. I told you I did it for you; why are you throwing that back in my face now, Taylar?”

“Just to spite you, that’s why!” I screamed louder than expected, at the top of my lungs.

Before Dad interjected, Christian came up to us, glaring at Yancey. “Wait a minute… How long into our relationship did you finally tell Taylar about us?” he asked her, his arms folded.

“Chris, I… I’m so sorry.” She put her hand on his shoulder. “I didn’t mean to keep it quiet from Taylar.”

“No, but you did, and that’s not fair to me,” he snapped. “Paul and I have a close relationship where we tell each other everything. I told him every single thing about you and me and how I planned to pop the question. And you kept our relationship a secret from your own sister? Now you expect me to laugh and share our first dance together and go through the rest of our life together, acting like it’s okay to keep secrets from each other? Am I supposed to be okay with this, Yancey? How dare you!”

I didn’t expect him to feel so hurt, but I was relieved that he directed his anger at the person who rightfully deserved it: Yancey.

“Chris…” A few tears ran down her face as she tried to give him a hug, but he resisted.

“Don’t touch me, and do not call me Chris!” he insisted. “You don’t get to call me that. Maybe this was a mistake, Yancey.” Everyone gasped when he said that, unsure of what he really meant—wondering if he’s saying the marriage was already over. “I need some time to myself, so please don’t come after me. Just give me my space for now by staying the hell away from me, okay?” He stormed out of the room before any of us could say anything or go after him.

Some people began shaking their heads, talking among themselves, probably wondering what this “crazy” family was up to—ruining what’s supposed to be a fun occasion for our families.

Yancey glared at me before leaving the room. At the same time, Julia and her crew returned, as if awaiting some long-expected drama to unfold from her shocking revelation she had no right to disclose. “Party ruined already?” She smiled haughtily, as if she did the world a favor by doing something so unremarkable.

“No thanks to you,” I snapped.

She scoffed. “So, you’re mad I revealed your little secret, but don’t you see how I feel the same way about my brother sharing every little Schroeder family secret with you—a complete stranger to my life? This is karma, right, Taylar? I bet Darrin told you a shitload of stuff about our family… Like our mom’s brief illness, for one. Am I right?” She shook her head without giving me the chance to reply. “Of course he’d reveal something like that to you. My twin brother the blabbermouth! When does he ever learn?”

Mom, Dad, and Lyndsay gave me baffled glances. “What’s she talking about, honey?” Mom asked. “Their mom’s illness?”

With the cat now out of the bag, I had no choice but to let Lyndsay know. “Mrs. Schroeder had gone for a lumpectomy back in April. Darrin said she goes for her mammogram every year, and this time, the results happened to pick up on something. I… Yeah, I didn’t…”

Lyndsay jumped in. “Wait a minute. So, you knew all along his mom had been sick? When exactly was this, T.B.?” She folded her arms, glancing suspiciously at me.

I sighed. “That morning, when Darrin messaged me to meet him for breakfast at Caffe Vittoria. I kind of lied to you when I said he wanted us to talk more about Julia. Which we did—but at the Public Garden. While at the cafe, we just talked more about his mom’s diagnosis.” An awkward moment of silence as Lyndsay began putting two and two together in her mind. “I’m so sorry,” I added. “He didn’t want me to tell you.”

“Got it.” She nodded, though I sensed her hurt. “You choose to stay loyal to him instead of just telling me the goddamn truth, as if I’d go around spilling it to outsiders.”

“Lynd, don’t take it personally.” I scoffed. “He asked me to keep a secret for him. I couldn’t betray his confidence, and you know that.”

“Yet you felt the need to tell me all about his childhood abuse, anyway.” She muttered, rolling her eyes.

At that moment, Julia yelled, “The nerve of you to tell that loudmouth bitch!” I turned around and saw her addressing Darrin.

“Jesus, Lyndsay, I didn’t even want to tell you!” I snapped. “You’re the one who kept pestering me to tell you what we talked about, even though I kept insisting I didn’t want to share his secrets. About his childhood abuse or his mom’s diagnosis. I’m not obligated to tell you every single intimate detail my boyfriend tells me in confidence. You’re single, and you have been for a while since that loser Chad, so I don’t owe you an explanation for anything I choose not to tell you.”

Wrong choice of words.

“Wow, Taylar.” She shook her head in disgust. “Rub my single status in my face, why don’t you? Choosing to keep secrets for your boyfriend, even if it means lying to me, as if I couldn’t be trusted.” She took a small breath to calm herself.

“I’m sorry,” I said softly. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

“No, that’s right. You really shouldn’t have.” She put her hands on her hips.

“I don’t understand what the big deal is. You’re the one who gave me your blessing to take a chance with him in the first place, and now that he and I are becoming closer and sharing personal secrets with each other, you’re mad I didn’t tell you this one thing? Were you ever really okay with the time I spent at his house that night, or was it just pretend for you, Lyndsay? Tell me the truth.” I challenged her. At that moment, I heard Julia yelling at Darrin, asking him how many times I’d “slept over” at his house.

“Are you serious right now?” Lyndsay rolled her eyes. “I’ve been nothing but supportive of your relationship, Taylar, and this has been obvious all along! I just felt like you needed to include me in your little discussions so I’m not completely in the dark. It’s almost as if you don’t see me as someone who’s trustworthy enough to keep important secrets.”

I scoffed. “Never once have I said that, and I don’t appreciate you putting words into my mouth.”

“Of course you didn’t have to say it directly. Because now, you’re using this event as an opportunity to say everything you’ve ever kept inside for the longest time, right?” she snapped. “I’m glad you don’t think I’m reliable enough for you to confide in me about anything. I can see why you and Yancey have such a strange relationship with each other—you’re too blunt, and it’s scary.” She walked out of the room before I could say anything else. In all the years of our life, Lyndsay and I had never fought, even something as minor as this. In just a few words, I managed to ruin a lifetime’s worth of friendship. I was really ruining this event, huh?

Everyone continued murmuring among themselves, clearly fascinated by the spectacle taking place. I knew they weren’t here to be unexpected witnesses to the Barrenfeld-Schroeder family drama—which had now just heated up in ways we couldn’t have predicted, but what could they do about it?

Darrin eventually got up from his table, came up to me and pulled me outside of the room for some privacy in the lobby area. “Did you really mean what you said back there? About never wanting to get married?”

Was that the only thing he took away from everything I just said? “So what if I meant it?” I shrugged nonchalantly. “How do you feel about that?”

“I just…” He sighed, then took a deep breath. “Taylar, I know you, and I know you can’t possibly mean that. I know you only said that just to spite your family… Which you made abundantly clear. But I want you to know I’ll always be here, no matter what.”

“What’s the difference, anyway?” I snapped. “Your crazy family obviously doesn’t approve of us, not even your Bridezilla sister. She’s the one who stirred up trouble. Ask her yourself, if you don’t believe me.”

He took another deep breath. “What did she do now?”

“Let’s see… What did Julia do now? I’ll tell you what she did, Darrin. She’s being an impossible bitch! This whole day is ruined because of her. She’s the reason none of us can play fairly with each other or get through the day peacefully while sharing a reception venue together. She has an attitude where she acts like she’s better than everyone else just because it’s her day, but it’s Yancey’s day too!”

“I know, I hate that. But did you really have to go so far as to reveal her most personal secret I told you in confidence—about her heartbreak with Rocco? That’s very mature of you to use her biggest heartbreak in her life against her.”

He didn’t know the whole story, so I might as well explain it to him. “Last night when we were here for the rehearsal dinner, she told me to my face Yancey was too young to think about marriage at twenty-three. Which I know we all agree is true, but Julia had no right to say that. And just before we all came into the room not too long ago, I was in the ladies’ room with her and her friends, and she literally said it was an awkward inconvenience to share the room with Yancey and my family. She said that, Darrin. Her friends were there—I think one of them was named Felicia, so if you don’t believe me, ask Felicia.”

He was amazed. “She seriously said that?”

“Yes, she did, and I had no choice but to use her heartbreak with Rocco against her. She’s clearly bitter because Yancey found love at twenty-three, and she got her heart broken by Rocco at twenty-three. That doesn’t give her a right to take it out on Yancey or my family. She deserved everything, Darrin. Your twin sister is mentally unstable and out of control, and like I said before, she needs to be kept on a tight leash. Sharing this day with her has proven to be totally impossible, but as usual, you’ll always take her side. Just like you didn’t even do shit when she slapped me in public in front of our families when we were all here trying to sort out the booking mix-up!”

“Taylar…” He said calmly.

“Don’t ‘Taylar’ me!” I snapped. “I am through being the emotional punching bag for you and your crazy family just because Julia has been through hell in her life. A lot of people who go through childhood abuse don’t go around demanding constant attention, thinking the whole world owes them shit. I don’t owe her shit, not after all the things she’s said about Yancey. You need to stop defending her and make her realize her words and actions have consequences!”

We turned around, there stood Julia, her arms folded. Had she been listening the whole time?

“Why did you think it was a great idea to confide in her about our trauma?” she asked Darrin. “Now she’s using it against me in the worst possible way. Whatever.” She scoffed, rolling her eyes, not giving either of us a chance to reply. “I can see where your loyalties really lie.”

“Shut up,” I told her. “You’re not so innocent yourself. You said terrible things about Yancey, and Felicia and your friends were there, so you can’t even deny it now. For your sake, I really hope you and Antonio have many years of misery together and he leaves your sorry ass someday. He does not deserve a woman like you.”

Julia groaned as she walked off, making her way to the ladies’ room.

Darrin said to me, “You need to calm down, Taylar.”

“Don’t fucking tell me to ‘calm down’,” I snapped.

“I’m not trying to be an asshole, okay? I’m saying this because you have a heart condition, and I know firsthand what stress can do to the heart. It’s awful for your heart, and you’re clearly in a stressful situation you have no control over. So, I’m asking you politely to calm down and take a few deep breaths before you can say or do anything else you might regret.”

I wasn’t going to take another breath. “You’re not my doctor or my father, so I don’t have to answer to your commands. You’ll always defend Julia because you didn’t even ask her if she really said any of those things about Yancey, even though her friends were right there.”

He held my hand. “Taylar, I didn’t say I don’t believe you. Of course I’ll ask Julia if it’s true what she said, and I know she and her friends were in the ladies’ room together before you all came out at the same time. But you shouldn’t put too much pressure on your heart. Just try to relax, drink some water, and take some time to yourself before the event starts.”

I shook my head. “I’m not gonna stay for this sham event where Yancey is favored over anyone else. I regret being here, and most importantly…” I glanced at him straight in the eyes. “I regret being in this relationship with you because of your crazy family who is not willing to accept us.”

“Don’t talk about my family like that,” he snapped.

“Why not? It’s the truth and you know it. They’ll never accept us, and neither will your crazy twin sister. It’s probably a blessing in disguise that I don’t want to get married because I’d never marry into your crazy family, Darrin.” I stormed back inside the room before he said anything else.

The emcee was speaking when I grabbed the microphone from him. “Sorry to interrupt again, ladies and gentlemen, but I’m afraid I won’t accept this sham marriage by Yancey and Christian. I’m done feeling like the black sheep of my own family where Yancey gets all the attention for being the ‘perfect’ daughter with the realistic career goals of becoming a lawyer. I’m done feeling like my voice was never heard for the longest time, and most importantly—” I took a small breath. “I’m done feeling like the second-best to Princess Yancey. As of now, I’m completely disowning myself from this fucked-up family.

“Wanna toast to something? Toast to a lifetime of two, financially unprepared 23-year-olds who have no idea where they’ll see themselves in what—50 years or some shit. I’m out of here, and don’t even think about coming after me.” I took off my corsage, tossed it on the floor and stormed out of the ballroom without even looking back—ignoring all the glances and whispers among Mom, Dad, and everyone else.