Extra! Extra! America’s Next Great Author Volume 3 (Week 6)

For some miraculous reason I made it through week six of ANGA. I was so convinced that I was going to get eliminated this week, I had already mentally prepared myself for the worst since the day they announced the prompt.

First of all, by now the competition was down to six and we were put into three teams of two for a team challenge. We had to write about two different characters both witnessing the same event, one person starting the story and the other one ending it. I got paired with Avahline this week and we wrote about a couple getting married (Victoria was with Adam and Lori was with Tierra).

I unfortunately was away for a couple days this week because I was visiting my friend Serenity at the county fair, which basically left me about six hours to write my piece on Friday night. This is why I was prepared to get sent home this week.

This was the most nerve racking week for me and it didn’t help that the results got delayed a day because the judges were having a problem. However, after reading the judges reviews on the top and bottom pieces I think I understand why they were having an issue.

I’m pretty sure that each of the judges picked a different team for their top and their bottom pick, which was a problem considering there are three teams, and three judges. So everyone’s pieces were pretty much ranked equal for the week.

The end results for the week were also pretty strange as well. Usually there is one winning team, and one member of that team wins overall for the week. It did not go like that at all.

So, Lori ended up individually winning for the week (as expected, she’s won every challenge since the second one). Adam and Victoria won overall as a team, with Victoria tying with my partner Avahline for second place and Adam getting third place. Me and Tierra (who was Lori’s partner) were placed in the bottom for the week, with Tierra being sent home, which made me sad. Tierra has been one of my best friends throughout the competition this year and last year. She actually came in third place overall in ANGAv2 so I was surprised to see her leave so early. She’s still really positive and supportive of everyone even thought she got eliminated, which is awesome.

Read my partner Avahilne’s first half of the story here: http://figment.com/books/807352-ANGA-v3-Challenge-6-

And here is my entry for week 6

Well there goes my freedom…

I brought the shot glass up to my lips and I felt the burning liquid make its way down my throat. I slammed it down on the table before waving the bartender over to give me a refill. I wiped my lips on the sleeve of the tuxedo that had cost hundreds of dollars to buy, but at this point it seems like pocket change to me. We had already spent thousands of dollars on the damn wedding…

“What are you doing here?” I heard a distant voice shout from behind me. The voice sounded familiar but I couldn’t exactly place it with a face. The bartender refilled my glass and I immediately slammed it down, feeling the burning liquid slide down my throat and numbing my senses.

Before I could wave over the bartender to refill my glass, it was pushed away from me as I felt a hand clasp down on my shoulder.

“That’s enough,” I hear the voice say to the bartender. Only after seeing his face do I realize that the voice belongs to my best man Donny.

“What’s going on my man,” I say while slapping him on the back. “Care to join me for a drink?”

“I think I’ll pass” he said as he took a seat at the bar next to me. “Do you want to explain why you are sitting at a bar when your wedding is in an hour?”

“Can you blame me?” I responded to him. “I’m about to lose my freedom and there’s no getting it back.”

“Where did this come from? You love Caitlyn and you’ve never said anything remotely close to this before.” I could tell by the tone of his voice that he was surprised to see me here. He shouldn’t be. I always spent my time around bars before I met Caitlyn. Before I met Caitlyn. That seemed like an eternity ago.

“Well I guess this last year and half has opened my eyes to what marriage is really like. Always tied down to one person, having to ask permission before you do anything, always having to buy fancy  expensive things to keep her happy, where’s the fun in that?”

I heard Donny sigh as he clasped his face in his hands. “I need you to listen to me very carefully. That may all be true, believe me, I would know. Meredith and I have been married for two years now and marriage comes with its ups and downs, but believe me when I tell you that everything is worth it if it’s for the person you love.”

Love. It was a strange word, always tossed around like it meant nothing. What meaning did it even have anymore? If it was a term people threw around for the sake of anything, what did it really mean to tell Caitlyn that I loved her? What meaning did getting married have if half of marriages ended in divorce?

“Well what if I don’t love Caitlyn. What if this is just a fling and I’m going to be over it in a few months.”

“You’ve been together almost three years now. I think you would’ve picked up on it by now.”

“I just don’t know anymore.” I mumbled. “It’s almost if I don’t want to make a commitment that I won’t be able to follow through on.”  In sickness and in health, rich or for poor, better or worse, until death do us part. That’s a big commitment to make to a person.

“Look. I know better than anyone how much you love Caitlyn. Before she came around, you were like…well you were like this. Always just hanging around at the bar, drinking your life away. When she came into your life, it was like you had become a new person, although it did take you a while, and you can still be an ass when you want to.”

“Thank you,” I told him while slightly laughing. “That’s really encouraging.”

“I mean, look at you now, this is not the person that Caitlyn fell in love with, but I know that you care about her. You wouldn’t have taken the time and effort to propose to her if you didn’t.”

I love you and I couldn’t imagine the spending the rest of my life with someone else… I said that didn’t I? It was too long ago to remember the day exactly, but I had definitely said those words.

“You’re already married so you’ve already gone through this.” I said to him still looking down. “Did you ever have these thoughts, or is it only me?”

He laughed at the statement before he answered. “I would be lying to you if I said I didn’t have these thoughts myself, although I wasn’t as dramatic about them as you’re being.”

“Who says I’m dramatic?”

He raised an eyebrow at me. “Look at yourself for a second. You’re a runaway groom drinking his worries away an hour before he’s about to tie the knot.”

I let his words sink for a minute and slowly came to a realization. He was right. What was I doing here at a bar drinking the time away like it was nothing. I hadn’t been to a bar in years. It was all because of Caitlyn. Caitlyn. I did it all for her.

It was at that moment when all of my doubts subsided. I loved Caitlyn. I wouldn’t have gotten this far if I didn’t. I wouldn’t have stopped her while she was walking down the street to give her her scarf back. I wouldn’t have brought her to the middle of Central Park and gotten down on one knee to publicly profess my love for her. I wouldn’t have put thousands of dollars into a wedding with blue napkins and elaborate centerpieces if I didn’t care about her.

Another realization also hit me at this time. She loved me back. Even thought I might have had doubts in my head, her love for me would’ve never wavered. She wouldn’t have put up with all of the nights I came home late from the bar. She wouldn’t have broken down in tears once I popped the question. She wouldn’t have spent months looking for the perfect dress to make sure I thought she looked beautiful today. Shit. Could I have been a bigger idiot?

“What am I doing here right now?” I moaned while I let my head drop down onto the bar.

“Don’t worry, word hasn’t gotten out to Caitlyn that you’re missing yet.” I heard Donny laugh at me. “I don’t blame you entirely. It’s a big commitment, promising your life to someone else, but I know that you’re ready for this. I’m sure you and Caitlyn will be happy together. I’ve known you long enough to know that.”

I sighed as I stood up from by seat at the bar. I handed the bartender a wad of cash before I began walking towards the door.

“Where are you going now?” I heard Donny shout after me.

“To my wedding. I’m not going to let my future wife wait for me to get there.”

It was a strange feeling watching my future wife walking down the aisle. All eyes are on her, and almost none on me, but that doesn’t matter. She deserves all of the attention, not only from the guests, but from me as well. Donny stood next to me as my best man, and he really deserved that title. He helped me come to my senses about something I should’ve never had doubts about. I heard the gentle and delicate tune of Ice Dance playing in the background. It’s a rather unusual choice for a wedding song, but it was still beautiful.

As I watched her escorted down the aisle by her father, I couldn’t help but smile. I might have had my doubts before, but now I knew that this day was meant for us. This marriage isn’t for me, but it’s for her. It’s about making sure that she always comes first in life and that no matter what, I will love her, until death do us part.

As she reached the front I watched as her father gave her a kiss on the cheek while giving her hand over to me. I knew that this must have been a big moment for her father. He was basically handing over the life of his daughter to another man. He would no longer be there to protect her; that was my job now and I would make sure that I would fulfill that job to the best of my ability. As I took a hold of her hand, I squeezed it, a gentle reminder that I would be there for her, not only for today, but for the rest of her life.

The ceremony began, but I barely heard any of it. The minister’s words went by in a flurry, coming in one ear and going right back out the other. I knew what he was saying was meaningful, and Caitlyn made sure she picked out the passage specially, but my mind was focused on other things. I couldn’t take my eyes off my future wife. She looked beautiful in the decreasing light from the setting sun. I looked over and I found silent tears beginning to fall down her cheeks. I smiled, not at the fact that she was crying, but because I knew this moment was important to her, and it would have to be just as important to me as well.
            The vows finally came around and the minister addressed me first. I took a deep breath as I began the phrase that would seal my fate for the rest of my life.

            “I take you Caitlyn Fray to be my wife, to have and behold from this day on, for better or for worse, for richer, for poor, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, from this day forth; until death do us part.” After I finished I looked up and the minster asked the final question, that would seal not only mine, but our fate together forever.

            “Do you take her to be your lawfully wedded wife?”

            I answered him without the slightest hesitation.

“I do.”

~ K.M.D.