Six*

Sometimes you have to act like nothing is bothering you. You have to act like everything is fine, even if everything is not fine.

“Okay. Everyone's here.” Sasha said once Shelby and Lulu got in the RV. “We need to go over ground rules.”

“What are we, 5?” Drew asked staring at Sasha.

“No, but this is a rented vehicle. So it needs to go back, the same way that we find it. So rule one, no fucking spilling shit, or you're gonna have to clean it up yourself. Two, no sex until we get to Vegas. Yall can all keep it in your pants until then, if I have to. Three, have some muthafuckin' fun.” Sasha said with a smile.

“WOOT WOOT!” Liz said from the table.

“Okay, now there's a map that has mapped out the route that we're taken, and has labeled our rest stops. And I made a chart that says who is driving, when, and for how long. We had to break it up so that we get to Vegas in less than a week. The chart is placed on the fridge, next to the picture that we stole from Shibbz.” Sasha said laughing. “Lets have some fun bitches!” She yelled raising her glass of juice and walking to the drivers seat, with Chanel sitting next to her.

Bre looked over at the table, where Shelby sat with all the guys, as Liz read a magazine next to her. “You think they fixed things?” Bre asked turning to see Liz peep over her magazine.

“From the looks of it, yes. But they might just be putting on an act for us.”

“You don't think they'd do that to us, do ya?”

“I have no fucking idea about them two anymore. I've stopped trying to figure them out years ago.” Liz said turning her attention back to the magazine.

“Anything interesting?”

“Not even close.” Liz said tossing it across the little coffee table in front of them.

“Have you done any planning for you and Denny's wedding?”

“No, he just asked me last night.”

“I already had Dan and I's wedding planed before he asked.” Bre said laughing.

“Damn. A little ahead of yourself?”

“I knew he was going to ask. He just had to wait until I was 18.”

“True.”

“But I didn't have as many decisions to make as you will.” Briana said looking at her feet swing above the floor.

“What do you mean?”

“You're going to have to figure out a seating chart for your wedding, reception, bridal shower, rehearsal dinner. Everything. Because you can't sit half of your friends with the other half. And Shelby's family, who is also Denny's family, seen all the shit your mother once said about Shelby, and all the shit Vici and Brittany also said, so they can't sit near each other.” Bre said looking over at Liz.

“Fuck!” Liz said realizing all the things she forgot about.

“All I can say is good luck.” Bre said walking into the bathroom, as Liz rushed to the drivers seat, sitting on the floor between Nellz and Sasha.

“Hello my love.” Nellz said looking at her.

“I have major problems.”

“What?” Sasha asked looking at her quickly.

“I have to plan a wedding, and I have to make sure that no one kills anyone else.”

“Oh shit.” Chanel said noticing what Liz was getting at.

“I have to make sure my mother is no where near you guys, Shelby, or any of Denny/Shelby's family. I have to make sure my sister and Shelby aren't close, and I don't even think I'm going to invite Brittany. I'm going to have to make seating charts for fucking everything!”

Shelby's head shot up once she heard Liz say her name. Once she realized what she was talking about, Shelby tried to quickly get up without being noticed, her heart racing fast. She rushed into the bedroom at the end of the RV. Lulu noticed what happened, and he quickly followed Shelby. He knocked on the door, and walked in when Shelby didn't answer him.

She was sitting at the end of the bed, bent over, breathing heavily. “Shibbz, what's wrong?”

“Liz is talking about the wedding.” Shelby replied, trying to calm her breathing.

“And?”

“And everyone that's going to be there.”

“And? Ohhhh.” Lulu said catching onto what Shelby was afraid of.

“She's going to be there.” Shelby said when her breathing finally returned to normal.

“Shibb..you're gonna be okay.”

“I haven't seen her since our final confrontation at fucking Burger King Lu.”

“You're strong.”

“But to see her again...I don't even want to think about! I'm going to have to go through all the pain again...all the anger, hatred, all the tears.”

“It's one day Shibbz.”

“It's not just one day Lulu. There's the wedding, reception, bridal shower, bachelorette party, and then her baby shower. And once a fucking year after that.”

“Shibb, you're not going to be alone. You're gonna have Sasha by your side for all of them. And I’ll be there for the parties and shit.”

“But I don't want to see her Lulu. I don't even want to fucking think of it all. I really don't.” Shelby said as Lulu put his arm around her and pulled her close to him.

“Shel, it's going to be okay. You're strong and you can handle this.”

“I don't know. She hurt me Lulu. She left me when I needed her most, and even when I still was her friend, she was replacing me. She caused me so many fucking tears, and so much fucking pain I can't even fucking describe it. And when I thought it was all done, they just kept fucking bringing it up. I lost 3 of my closest friends, and they made it seem easy. They made it seem easy to fucking walk out of my life, to not give a fuck about me. They even went on to talk all this shit about me, making me feel like I'm gross. They fucking called me a slore when I was a fucking virgin. Like, they were my best friends and then they weren't. They went from talking to me, to talking about me, acting like I was a fucking joke! A fucking joke! Like I had to laugh all their comments off, hearing everyone say I was the bigger person because I wasn't sitting around talking shit about Vici, Amanda, and Brittany. And for awhile I believed them. But I realized that the only reason they did that was to let out their pain, while I held mine in, thinking that that is what was best for me. I honestly never told anyone how I felt because I didn't think it mattered. People had already chosen sides, whether they heard my side of it all or not, and it didn't even matter what I had to say. No one gave a fuck about what I had to say.” Shelby said looking up at Lulu.

“She was hurt too Shibbz.”

“And I fucking understand that. That's why I didn't add on to it by talking shit about her. But she didn't fucking care about me anymore, and she went on to talk all this bullshit about me, when she knows damn straight that I did not hook up with you that night in the sowing room.”

“Shibbz, just let it go.”

“I already let go Lulu. I let go of my best friend, 2 of my closest friends and every single memory I ever had with them. I let go of listening to Ne-Yo, I let go of playing with Bratz dolls, I let go of stuffed animals, I let go of writing stories for awhile, and having sleepovers. I let go of Channing Tatum, I let go of just going to the store to try on clothes and take pictures. I let go of the best friend title, because I will never be able to call another girl my best friend. I can't even look at a fucking duck or a taxi the same way. Look at a cupcake, or a lawn gnome. And why? Because she was my best friend Lulu.”

“Have you talked to Shibbz about all of this?” Nellz asked looking at Liz.

“No. I don't know what I'm going to do. Neither Vici nor Shelby wants to see each other, but they're two of the most important people in my life. They're both going to be involved in the wedding, in the baby's life, but they can't stand each other. I thought it was hard years ago, it's just getting harder now.”

“I think you have to sit down with each of them and just tell them the deal. Tell them that this is your wedding, and if they want to be apart of it then they're just going to have to deal with the other person. This is your fucking special time, and they're just going to have to grow up about the situation and deal with it. It is not going to be all about Vici, or your mother. It's going to be all about you, Boo. And you need to tell them that. I'm pretty sure Shibbz understands, cause she's always been supportive of your family, and she never stooped to their level.” Sasha said as Lulu walked up to them.

“Hey Lu.” Chanel said looking at him.

“Hey. Cuzzo, I need to talk to you.” Lulu said pulling Liz away and onto the couch.

“Whats up?” Liz asked sitting down next to him.

“I think you should bring Shelby and Vici together before the wedding.”

“Huh?”

“Like, have them talk shit out and squish whatever they have bottled up, so that your wedding will go over smoothly.”

Liz laughed. “You're not serious, are you?”

“Yeah...”

“Litho, you're insane. Shelby and Vici are never going to be able to fix what happened between them, and they can barely move past it. I'm not going to bring that shit up again, because I know that neither of them wants to do that. They hate even hearing about each other. They may have been best friends one day Lu, but they're not anymore, and I'm not going to stab them both in the back by doing that shit.” Liz said getting up and walking away.

“Then I’ll do it without you.” Lulu said walking over to the guys at the table, and joining in their game of poker.

Drew got out of the booth, and walked over to the couch where Briana was sitting, playing with her phone. “Hey.” Drew said sitting next to her.

“Hey Andy.” Bre said looking at him.

“Whatcha doing?”

“I was hoping Dan would call, but he hasn't.”

“Ain't he like over seas or some shit?”

“Yeah. It's just wishful thinking.”

“You can come play poker with us if you wanna.”

“No thanks, I think I'm gonna go take a nap with Shelby.” Bre said standing up.

“Iight.” Drew said as Bre walked away.

“Rejected!” David yelled as the guys laughed.

“Shut the fuck up!” Drew said.

“She's married! You better back the fuck up!” Liz yelled looking at the guys.

“Oh Liz.” Ace said laughing and putting more chips in the pile.

“No! That shit might not be fucking important to you guys, but it's important to us girls. And if you hit on Briana one more time Roy, I’ll call Carmen.” Liz said looking at them.

“Whatever Boo.” Drew said turning back to the guys.

“Rejected.” David whispered as they laughed.

“Hey Twin.” Bre said walking into the room where Shelby was laying down. Shelby snored loudly, and Briana continued to speak. “Twin. I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't know when Dan is coming back, and I'm falling apart without him. He's like my rock...like Lulu is your rock. I hope you guys really did fix everything that happened between the two of you, because I can tell that you both love each other. He looks at you the way Dan looks at me, and that's real.” She paused and laughed at herself. “I'm talking to you like you're going to respond to me...I know it might be crazy, but some how talking out loud about it all, even if no one is listening, makes things a little bit better. I know that Dan is going to come home, and I know he's going to be okay. Because my man is strong, and he will survive.” Bre said laying down on the other side of Shelby, their back facing each other. “I really hope he does...”