The group message appeared on my phone at 11:47 p.m. on a Tuesday.
Beach ceremony moved to this Saturday. So excited everyone’s already here. Can’t wait to celebrate Jessica’s big day.
I stared at my screen in my Seattle apartment, my wineglass frozen halfway to my lips.
Saturday.
As in four days from now.
As in a completely different date than the June 15th I had marked in my calendar, requested time off for, and booked flights around.
My fingers flew across the keyboard.
Wait, what? The wedding is this Saturday? I have it down for next weekend. My flight isn’t until the 14th.
The three dots indicating someone was typing appeared, then disappeared, then appeared again.
Finally, my mother’s response popped up.
Check your email again, sweetie. We sent the update weeks ago. Everyone got it.
My stomach dropped as I opened my email and searched “wedding.”
Nothing.
No update. No change of plans. Just the original save-the-date from eight months ago, clearly stating June 15th.
I called my mother’s cell.
Straight to voicemail.
I tried my father.
Voicemail.
Jessica.
Voicemail.
My younger brother Tyler.
Voicemail.
The panic was starting to set in when another message appeared in the group chat, this time from my Aunt Linda.
Can’t believe Maya’s going to miss her own sister’s wedding. But at least the rest of us made it work.
I read that message three times, each reading making my blood run colder.
“Made it work.”
Like this was some scheduling conflict I’d failed to navigate.
Not a deliberate exclusion I was only now discovering.
That’s when I noticed something odd about the group chat itself.
I scrolled up to see when it had been created.
March 15th. Three months ago.
I looked at the member list.
Mom, Dad, Jessica, Tyler, Aunt Linda, Uncle Robert, both sets of grandparents, Jessica’s fiancé Blake, his parents, Jessica’s three bridesmaids.
What happened next changed everything… FULL STORY on the next page.
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