While Shanize walked toward the altar, I felt a knot form in my stomach. Weddings are meant to be happy times. I couldn’t ignore the fact that something was wrong. When I finally moved to lift her dress, I was shocked by what I saw.
Dave and I have been friends for more than 30 years. We had fun and laughed through the awkward parts of being teenagers together as we grew up. I was so happy for him when he told me he was getting married to Shanize, a beautiful woman he met a year ago.
That being said, I really didn’t think anyone could ever hold him down, but here we were on his wedding day.
It was almost too beautiful for words that the ceremony was. Her long white dress made her look like she was straight out of a wedding magazine as she walked down the aisle. Something wasn’t right, and I should have been lost in the beauty of it all.
I first thought it was just nerves. Don’t you think weddings are stressful? But as Shanize took one step, then another, I saw that she was walking funny. It wasn’t the calm and sure bride’s walk you’d expect. It looked like she was tripping because her steps were small and shaky.
She is Dave’s sister, Heather. I leaned over to talk to her.
“Do you see that?” I whispered and tried to keep my tone low.
Heather looked down the aisle with a frown. That’s why she asked, “See what?”
“Shanize,” I said, making a small chin movement. “The way she walks is off.” It seems like something is wrong.
Heather looked hard and then shrugged. “Don’t think about it too much.” Janice, she’s just scared. It’s a big day, you know. She smiled at me to make me feel better, but it didn’t calm the uncomfortable feeling I was having.
Perhaps. But I didn’t like the way Shanize’s dress moved. Was her dress too small? Was there something that happened before the ceremony? Even though I tried to ignore the thoughts, I couldn’t as she got closer to the altar. Not only were her steps slow, they were almost forced.
I couldn’t help but lean over again. “Heather, I’m sure something is wrong.”
Heather said in a sharp voice, “Janice, stop it.” “You’ll mess up the moment.” “Don’t cause a fuss.”
I turned my eyes back to the altar. Dave was there, and love was shining in his eyes. He gave me a thumbs-up and said, “Can you believe it?” when we looked at each other.
I smiled and nodded back at him, but something wasn’t quite right inside.
The more Shanize got close to the altar, the uneasy I became. It looks like I wasn’t the only one who noticed.
Someone whispered behind me, “She’s gliding!” in a funny man’s voice. Something about what you said made me feel very cold. I leaned in closer to Heather again, and my voice was almost a whisper. “Heard that?” Gliding? That’s the truth. The way she walks is wrong.
Heather hissed, “Janice, for God’s sake!” as her patience ran out. “You’re making Dave look bad.” Don’t act this way!”
But I had to keep going. As Shanize got closer, I looked closely at her feet to try to figure it out. The way her dress flowed wasn’t right. It got too much for me. Before my mind could catch up, my body moved.
I took a step forward and said, “I have to check.” As I backed up, I could hear Heather take a sharp breath. My eyes were fixed on the bride.
“Hi, Janet!” Heather hissed at me from behind, her voice tense with fear. It was too late, though. I was there already.
As I reached out, my hands were shaking because my heart was racing. As I bent over and raised Shanize’s dress’s hem a few inches, time seemed to slow down. I wasn’t even sure what I was expecting to see—maybe something wrong with her shoes or her clothes. But what I found didn’t make sense at all.
The whole church was stunned into quiet.
Something so strange and out of place was under the pretty white dress that I lost my train of thought for a second. Shoes for men. Big, shiny shoes for guys.
I blinked, thinking that maybe I was having a hallucination. When I looked up, no one was moving. No one moved. Shanize—no, this person—didn’t answer, but I did. I got on my knees again and looked better. When I saw the fabric of the suit pants, which was mostly covered by the dress, it made my stomach turn. Then my eyes quickly went up to the face.
It was then that I realized.
It wasn’t Shanize.
It was a man. A man with a wig and a veil over most of his face. But as I got closer, I could see the truth. My throat got dry. I stood there with shaky hands and looked into Dave’s eyes.
“Janice…?” As he looked at me, Dave’s voice faltered, and his happiness turned into confusion. “What’s going on?”
I didn’t understand what to say.
No one moved for a short time. Everyone in the church stopped moving and stared at the man at the altar who was dressed as the bride. The weight of what I had found hung in the air like a bomb ready to go off.
David had a pale face and wide eyes that kept moving back and forth between me, the guy in the wedding dress, and the confused guests. He fell backward and almost tripped over his own feet.
“What… “What the hell is this?” His voice cracked because he couldn’t believe it.
It sounded like a swarm of bees was filling the room with whispers from the guests.
The fake Shanize, the guy in the dress, stood tall with a smirk on his face. Ill-thought-out, he slowly pulled the covering off his head and let it fall to the ground. When the wig was taken off, it showed short, dark hair. The change was complete, and there was a lot of confused talk in the church.
His voice was full of smug happiness as he said, “Surprise.” “I bet you didn’t even notice?”
Dave blink, and his mouth moved back and forth like a fish out of water. He asked, “Where is Shanize?” with a voice that was barely coherent. “Where is she?”
The man, who was Dave’s best man, laughed and shook his head. “She’s gone, Dave.” Left a few days ago. Don’t worry, she knew this. “She asked me to do it.”
There were louder murmurs in the church, and I could hear people moving around in their chairs. It was like I was numb and couldn’t understand what I was hearing. What if Dave’s best friend, the one in Shanize’s wedding dress, knew about this?
Dave’s face turned angry and confused. “What the hell are you talking about?” “What did you do to her?” As he stepped forward with his hands clenched, his voice rose in fear. “Where is she?”
The best man waved his hand to calm everyone down, but his eyes were shining with pride. “Oh, she’s okay.” Do not worry. Her wish was for you, Dave, to feel this moment. She wanted you to understand what it’s like to be caught off guard.
Dave became even more confused. “Do you mean to say that?”
The best man smiled, but it was cold and sharp, and it didn’t reach his eyes. “Dave, she found out. This is about you and Vanessa. His voice dropped almost to a whisper, and the words he spoke were full of hate. “The bridesmaid you’ve been seeing behind her back?” He knew, Shanize.
The room lost its air. Dave had no color left in his face, and his eyes were wide with terror. “No, that’s not it,” she said. It’s not true.
“Oh, but it is,” the best man said in a mean voice. “She learned about it a few days ago.” She could have called off the wedding, but that wouldn’t have been fun. She wanted everyone to see the real you.
My knees started to hurt, so I grabbed the back of a couch for support. My thoughts were going fast. Dave? One of the girls and Shanize at the same time? There was Vanessa sitting just a few rows away. I looked over at her. She stared at the floor with her hands shaking and her face pale. She couldn’t look anyone in the eye.
Dave shook his head really hard. “No, no, this is not going to happen.”
But the best man spoke up, and with each word, his voice got louder. “This is going to happen, Dave!” You lied to her! You lost your chance at happiness for a quick hookup, and now you have to pay for it.
The room became a mess. People were screaming questions and talking over each other as they tried to figure out what had just happened. There were people who were ready to leave, and people who were shocked to see the man in the wedding dress still standing proudly at the altar.
When Dave looked at me, his eyes were filled with fear, as if I could save him from this nightmare. “Janice!” he gasped and reached out to touch me. “Please believe me.” It doesn’t look like this!”
I looked back at him with a broken heart. “What did you do, Dave?”
Once more, there was silence in the church. The best man’s cold voice cut through the air like a knife. “This is what you deserve, Dave.” Because of what you did to her.
He then turned on his heel, leaving Dave standing there by himself, broken, exposed, and hopeless.
This work is based on real people and events, but it has been made up for artistic reasons. To protect privacy and make the story better, names, characters, and circumstances have been changed. Any similarity to real people, living or dead, or real events is completely accidental and not on purpose by the author.
thecelebritist.com is the source.