Uninvited guest

It all started when my mother told me I could invite a friend to my cousin's wedding... in front of another friend.

She squashed her potato nose to her face with her pointer finger and said; "Nina wants to go!" And seeing no way out of it without sounding like a jerk, I had to bring her.

I had wanted to invite my best friend, Ash, who actually knew my cousins. Nina had never met a single one of them, but I was determined to make the best of it.

That lasted all of two minutes. She started complaining on the car ride, that the drive was too long, and that was only the beginning.

The first night, as I'm trying to rest before waking up at six in the morning to have my hair tortured by another cousin with claws for fingernails before the big ceremony (I was in the wedding), and she spent the entire night crying to her boyfriend about how homesick she was.

Then why did you beg to go?

The next day, she was aggravated at me for not spending more time with her. Between the photos and the ceremony, I barely had any time to eat. Let alone worry about how she felt. My anger towards her was steadily growing as the hours ticked by, with every complaint and sigh.

After the ceremony, which was beautiful, we all cried, even me, I hid from her. I'm not proud that I hid from her whining, but I definitely do not regret doing so. Neither did the headache I was nursing.

I was with my newly married cousin, his new wife, and the rest of my cousins in their room playing card games and drinking games. I had been in there for an hour when in walks my mother.

"Nina is in the room crying by herself. I feel I have to say to go hangout with her." My mother wasn't pleased with her attitude, either, but as a mother she felt she needed to try.

My cousin filled my cup with peppermint schnapps, and I disappeared into the haunted library (another thing on her list of complaints) to avoid her until she cried herself to sleep.

She complained the whole way home... on the phone to her boyfriend, knowing full well we could hear every word.

I can't say I ever spoke to her again after dropping her off at her house. That was one bridge I was thrilled to burn.