Chapter 1: Irony

A Chapter by Emunah June.

It's ironic, really. How I met my soulmate the day of Brother's wedding.

Vows had already been exchanged, and now everyone was ballroom dancing to the soft, classical music flooding the chapel. I stood in the back, my glass of white wine already condensating on the outside. My fingertips were wet as I drank.

"Having fun, Al?"

I hadn't noticed how Brother and Koda had danced their way over to me. He had one hand wrapped around her porcelain hip while the other was wrapped om her shoulder. He was happy, you could tell. I smiled at him, setting down my drink. "Yeah, of course I'm having fun. What makes you think I wouldn't? Congratulations again, by the way," I say, smiling the best I can. Brother smiled back at me, then waltzed away, attached to his bride's hip. I grunted. I hated lying to him.

Truth be told, I WASN'T having any fun here. Everyone was dancing with someone--except me. I was alone.

As usual.

Brother always got the best of everything.

I drank another deep gulp of my wine and thought back to what today REALLY was. Brother's wedding.

With the girl I liked.

Brother had gone away for two years--two WHOLE years without any warning. This had left Koda in tears. She felt like she had done something wrong, like it was somehow her fault that he went missing. And who had been there to comfort her? ME. Who was there to tell her everything would be okay? ME. I was there, not Brother! so, in a sense, I felt like it was unfair. How did he, the man who had left without warning and made Koda feel useless, get to be the one who got to marry her? It was dumb, unfair, and I wanted compensation. I wanted to find a girl so pretty that Brother would put his marriage on the line just to get to kiss her once.

Sad thing is, I dont have very good luck with girls.

Hence, today. Brother's wedding. With the girl I liked.

I let out a sad sigh as I took in another drink of my wine. I was almost out.

Figures.

Nothing seemed to be getting any more exciting, so I decided to leave early. I grabbed my coat off the rack and just turned to leave when Brother stopped me. "Yo! Al, where ya going? We haven't even cut the cake yet," he said, trying his best to be friendly. Even so, I could tell that being away from his new wife for five seconds was too long. I placed a hand to my stomach. I figured if I've already lied this long, I could keep going. "I, uh, don't feel very good. I'm going to head home. Save a piece of cake for me will 'ya?" I asked. Brother smiled weakly, almost as if it pained him to watch me leave. "Uh...sure. Just be careful okay? Heavy traffic today."

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