35. Cherise
Chapter thirty-five
Cherise
Itook a long calming breath and walked back into the reception alone.
The music hit me first. Laughter. Glasses clinking. The low hum of conversation like nothing had happened. A few glances my way, but nothing dramatic.
Like they hadn’t just witnessed a Jerry Springer-level altercation.
Cool. Great. Totally normal wedding activities.
My eyes found Grace.
She was glowing. Radiating with that just-married kind of happiness, tucked into Logan’s side.
God, I didn’t want to do this.
I started toward her, my stomach twisting tighter with every step.
“Grace—”
She turned before I could finish, and her face lit up.
She wrapped her arms around me in a hug.
As if nothing was wrong.
As if I hadn’t lied to her for an entire week.
“I’m so sorry,” I blurted into her shoulder. “I never meant for any of that to happen. I just—”
“Hey.” She pulled back, hands on my arms, steadying me. “Stop.”
I blinked, stunned.
“You don’t have to explain,” she said softly. “I already knew.”
My thoughts came to a screeching halt. “Wait… you knew?”
She nodded, a small smile lifting at her lips. “Not right away. But I figured it out quickly.”
“How?”
“Because Derrick has never looked at you the way Leo does.”
I felt a rush of heat to my cheeks.
“And because,” she added, bumping my shoulder lightly, “the man you brought this week? Way funnier. Way nicer. Honestly, he made a shitty Derrick. I think he forgot that he was supposed to be an ass hole. He was definitely an upgrade.”
A laugh broke out of me.
“I’m serious,” she said. “I just… let you have it. Because I could tell that you were happy.”
My eyes were starting to gloss over.
“I wanted that for you,” she said gently. “I wanted you to be happy.”
My eyes began to burn.
“I’m so sorry for ruining your wedding,” I whispered.
She shook her head. “Don’t be. This entire week was amazing, because of you.”
She leaned in, lowering her voice. “Besides…the fight added a little excitement. Poor Nonna was about to fall asleep.”
My eyes flicked to Grace’s grandmother just before her head nodded off and she snapped back awake, in utter shock.
We both lost it for a second, laughing.
She pulled me into another hug, squeezing me tight.
“Hey,” Logan called, stepping up behind her, already loosening his tie. “I am sorry to interrupt, but I believe I have a garter to retrieve.”
Grace groaned. “Don’t you dare use your teeth, my grandmother is here.”
“No promises,” he said, smirking.
She smacked his chest, laughing as he grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the dance floor.
I watched them. Relief settled in my chest for exactly two seconds before feeling someone tap me on the shoulder.
I turned slowly.
Savannah stood behind me, arms crossed, watching me as if she were waiting for me to say something. Do something.
For once… I didn’t have the fight in me.
I exhaled.
“You win. I’m a fraud,” I said. “You have a better life. So go ahead…laugh it up.”
Savannah’s expression was…off. Not her usual dose of smug.
I glanced down.
Silence stretched as I braced myself for it. For the smug smile. The jab. The I told you so.
But it didn’t come.
When I looked back up… Savannah looked confused. With a splash of something else. Almost sadness.
She hesitated.
Then blurted out, “Greg is a stripper.”
I stared at her.
“…I’m sorry, come again?”
“A stripper,” she repeated. “Like…pole. Music. The whole thing. I was embarrassed to tell everyone. Especially you.”
I blinked again, trying to process that.
Then I tilted my head.
“You know what… his moves at the luau were a little too spot on.”
Savannah groaned, dragging a hand down her face. “I told him to tone it down.”
“What about all the gyms?” I asked, curious. “You made it all up?”
“No, that part’s real.”
“How did that happen?”
She paused. “Well, he makes a decent living as a stripper; you saw how good he was at the luau.”
“This is true.”
“He also kind of had a pole incident, sued, and used the settlement to buy his first gym…and it just snowballed from there.”
I stared at her with a stunned look on my face. “Stop your lying.”
“Nope, he was at the top of the pole, it collapsed, and he fell on some poor old lady.”
“Shit, was the lady ok?”
“Yeah, she was a tough old broad. Said a hot stripper falling into her arms? Now she could die happy.”
There was a beat of silence.
Then we both lost it.
Like full-on, can’t breathe, tears in your eyes, laughter.
“You can’t make this shit up,” I said, doubled over laughing.
She shifted, her voice quieter.
“Point is…I’m a fraud, too.”
I glanced up at her.
“And…” She hesitated, looking down for a second before meeting my eyes again. “I’m sorry.”
I stilled.
“For always trying to compete with you,” she added. “For making everything a thing when it didn’t have to be.” She paused. “And…the video.”
My chest squeezed tight.
“So, you’re finally owning up to the video?”
“Yes. I was mad. Jealous. Everyone loved you, and I was always the villain. Losing cheer captain to you sent me over the edge. I filmed it and sent it to Mandy. I was blindsided when she spread it to the whole school. That wasn’t my intent.
At the end of the day, I was wrong, and I regretted it ever since. I am so sorry, Cherise.”
I said nothing.
“I would have told you back then,” she added, attempting a weak smile. “But I was pretty sure you’d kick my ass.”
I stared at her.
Then my hands flew.
I latched onto her overly processed hair, yanked her down, and dragged her across the floor while Savannah screamed bloody murder.
The crowd gasped and ran toward us.
“This is for humiliating me in front of the whole school, you little bitch!” I yelled as Savannah desperately tried to pry my hands out of her hair.
Grace ran to me, wrapping her arms around mine, trying to pull me off of her.
“Cherise! Cherise, stop!”
“No, Grace! She deserves every second of this. She literally just admitted it. She leaked the video! I knew it!”
“Cherise.”
I blinked.
“Earth to Cherise,” she said. Except it wasn’t Grace.
It was Savannah.
I snapped back to reality. “What?”
“I said I never told you back then because I was sure you’d kick my ass.”
My eye twitched.
“You’re not wrong,” I said with a dry laugh. “I definitely would have.”
She smiled. “So…what’s stopping you now?”
I opened my mouth.
Then closed it.
Because the truth was…nothing.
Grace said a fight made the wedding exciting. I could drag Savannah right now. Give them a real show they would never forget. I could say everything I’d wanted to say years ago. I could make her feel even a fraction of what she made me feel back then.
But for some odd reason.
I didn’t want to.
I let out a breath.
“All my life,” I said, “I felt like I had to fight for everything.”
Savannah’s brows lifted.
“For attention. For respect. For a place in the room.”
I shook my head slightly.
“I thought if I didn’t stay on my guard, if I didn’t clap back, if I didn’t prove I was better…I’d get walked all over.”
I met her eyes.
“But I’m tired. I don’t want to fight anymore,” I said. “And I don’t need to be better than you…or anyone else.”
I shrugged lightly.
“I just want to be me, and be ok with that.”
Savannah stared at me.
Then let out a small laugh.
“Wow,” she said. “Is that growth I see?”
“Don’t get used to it,” I muttered.
She smiled.
“So…does this mean we’re friends again?”
I deadpanned. “No.”
She blinked, taken aback.
“But,” I continued, “I can take you off my hit list.”
Her eyes widened. “You have a hit list?”
“Yep, and you were next.” I gave her an evil grin.
“Okay… I’ll take that,” she said quickly.
There was a beat.
“I think this is the part where we hug?” she offered, stretching her arms out.
I made a face. “You touch me, and you’ll lose an arm.”
She laughed, dropping her arms. “Figured I’d give it a try.”
I held out my fist.
She bumped it, then turned, heading back to Greg, who was absolutely dancing like the stripper he was across the dance floor.
I shook my head, smiling.
Then I sat back down at the table.
Let my gaze drift.
To Grace and Logan, wrapped up in each other as if nothing else existed.
To Miles and Tessa, laughing quietly, like they were in their own little world.
To Savannah and Greg, somehow…working.
Everyone was blissfully happy.
Everyone…but me.