Friday night, I sat on my couch, a bowl of Captain Crunch in one hand and the remote in the other; it had been a long week, the longest in my entire life. My apartment hadn't been cleaned all week, I had been too busy. The kitchen table was piled high with papers I needed to grade, it was my first week at work, my first week as an honest to God teacher.

Teaching English was fun, don't get me wrong, but I had been dumb enough to assign an essay and give a quiz over the summer reading, all of which sat awaiting my red pen, but right now I had other things to concentrate on, the Broncos pre-season was on and I wasn't going to miss this one.

A commercial for Coors Light came on, causing me to immediately crave a beer that I probably didn't need, but I knew there was one in the fridge. I walked through the living room and into the kitchen where I caught my reflection in the window above the sink, what a sight I was. My hair had been down all day, and when I had gotten home I threw it into a messy bun. I had been wearing the usual casual Friday clothes, jeans and a sweater with the Tigers logo on the front, and I looked exhausted. No wonder I was home alone with my cat and a bowl of Captain Crunch.

I grabbed the beer and headed back from the couch where the pre-game was just starting, I hadn't been keeping up with football too much lately, I had been too preoccupied with work and making sure the fact I was a new teacher didn't make my students walk all over me. I had told them not to even try and go there, I had been a high school student once, and I had also told them I knew the school like the back of my hand; yes I was working at Ridgeway.

One of the girls had asked me if I was married, and it caught me completely off guard, I guess most 23 year olds were thinking about that, well it wasn't like I hadn't been, I had been engaged for a long time, 3 months, to a guy I had met in college. His name was Tim Johnson, he was a business major, but things hadn't worked out, and truthfully I didn't mind. Tim was boring, he had no sense of adventure, and he thought it was fun to go antiquing, he didn't even like football.

Before I made it all the way to the living room, I grabbed a stack of papers, figuring I could grade them as I watched the game, I was a woman, and I could multi-task. I sat back down and the pre-game announcers began to discuss the rookies the Broncos had picked up this year, truthfully I didn't care much about them, I just wanted the game to start. I leaned back and stretched out my legs. I grabbed the first essay and began to read, it was terrible already, I took a drink of the beer, wondering what my students would think if they knew I was watching a football game and drinking a Coors as I graded their papers. I scribbled a note on the margin of the paper I was grading, hoping that the rest were better than this.

I looked up at the screen; the Broncos were starting to line up for the opening kick-off of the game. I smiled as I watched, it was only pre-season, but I loved football, I always had, although there hadn't been much time for it lately. I looked back down at the essay when my phone rang. It startled me, and I almost spilled the beer all over the essay. I ran to pick it up, and I was drawn away from the game.

"Hello?" I asked into the receiver, almost completely sure it was Megan. She was the next in line to be married, and I had been chosen as Maid of Honor. This title had me almost as busy as work, Megan called me constantly asking for my opinions and urging me to find a date, or informing me that her fiancé Jake had a great friend he wouldn't mind setting me up with.

It had been the same story since Tim and I had called it quits. Sherry had been married for a year and Ellen was engaged, I was the only one in the group that was single, and the one who got paired up with the groom's little brother or bachelor uncle Bob.

"Kara, can you squeeze in a dress fitting and lunch tomorrow?" I heard Megan's giddy voice on the other end of the line. She was one of those brides who wanted her bride's maids to bond before the actual ceremony, too bad the majority of us have known each other since high school.

"Sure, why not." I said, frowning at the T.V, there was no way I was going to get her to shut up, when Megan was talking about her wedding, Megan was the only one talking, and concentrating on football would be too difficult with her constant yapping about pink or lavender. I walked into my bedroom and flopped backwards onto my bed. I kicked off my slippers and listened to Megan talk.

"Jake says that the reception should be at a sports bar, but I think he was joking, at least I hope he was joking, because I want it at a nice country club. Do you think he was joking?" she asked, it was amazing how fast she could talk. At least Jake wasn't a complete waste of human flesh, he unlike Tim or Sherry's husband Steven liked sports.

"Yes, I think he was joking." I replied dully into the receiver, although I wish it would be at a sports bar, at least there would be some way for me to escape the constant bombardment of blind date offers.

She continued to talk on and on about the wedding, and setting me up with Jake's college roommate, and I continued to refuse. Why did I need a date anyway? I was perfectly happy the way I was. Well I was too busy to really think about guys, so what did it matter?

Finally I looked up at the clock, it was almost nine, she had been talking for an hour, and my phone bill couldn't handle this for much longer.

"Megan, I'll see you tomorrow, I have to go." I said in between yawns, I truly was tired and I had to get some rest before tomorrow and a day spent with the bride's maids.

"Okay Kara, if you change your mind about Kyle let me know." I heard the phone click. Kyle, what kind of guy was named Kyle? Kara and Kyle sounded horrible; there was no way I was going to be set up with a guy named Kyle.

I walked back out into the living room, the stack of essays still sat on the coffee table, the T.V was on, but it was the post-game, and I didn't care to watch it after missing the game. I reached for the remote and hit the power button; I was too tired to care what the score had been. I walked towards the door and made sure it was locked and the deadbolt was in place. Then I threw the empty cereal bowl in the sink and the beer bottle into the recycle. Finally I switched off the light and walked into my bedroom.

I threw on some pajama bottoms and a t-shirt, the brushed my teeth. I turned off the light in the bathroom and crawled into my bed. I stared at the ceiling for a long time, thinking about how busy I was. The apartment was never going to get clean at this rate, there was no telling how long the lunch date and dress fitting was going to take, and on top of that I had to grade papers. Maybe I could take a stack with me, I didn't have to pay attention while the other girls were getting fitted, and during lunch I could slip one or two in.

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I squinted in my sleep as the sun hit my face, I tried to cover my eyes with my arm, but there was no stopping the sun from pouring into my room. I sat up in bed and looked over at the clock; it was 7:30, which gave me time to clean up the house a little bit.

I walked into the kitchen, I wasn't hungry and I was sure I could wait until lunch to eat, so I started to unload my dishwasher in order to re-load it with the pile of dishes that had accumulated in the sink. Then I wiped down the counters with a cloth and 409, and then the microwave. My oven needed cleaning too, but that would have taken too long. Then I moved to the living room where I straightened the pillows on my couch and threw away a few things that had been lying around.

Later I moved to the bathroom and then to my bedroom, and then to the laundry room. The apartment was close to being done when I looked up at the clock and saw that it was almost 11:00, that gave me a half hour to get ready for lunch.

I hurried into the bathroom and took a quick but refreshing shower, then quickly threw on a pair of jeans and a blue tank top. It was still August, so the weather would be warm for awhile longer. I threw my hair into a quick ponytail and dug some black sandals out of my closet. There was no need for make up today, who was there to impress?

I quickly poured some food into the cat dish and filled the bowl with water, poor thing I was the only company she had. I grabbed my purse, which I had stuffed with a few essays and a water out of the fridge and headed out the door. My car was parked a few feet away from the entrance to my apartment complex, and I jogged over to it, I was running a late.

The restaurant wasn't too far away, and it only took me a few minutes to get there. I parked my car and hurried inside, I didn't even have to ask the hostess where Megan and the maids were sitting, and I heard their laughter from across the room.

Megan looked up at me and smiled when I got to the table. "Why are you late?" she asked quickly. She wasn't mad; she was just too nosy for her own good.

"I was cleaning." I said simply sitting down then took out an essay and a pen.

"What are you doing Kara?" Ellen asked looking at me from across the giant round table. I looked around at the group; Sherry, Ellen, Megan and Megan's twin cousin's stared back at me.

"I'm really sorry, but I have to grade these, there's no way I'll finish before Monday unless I work on some now. Just keep talking, I can multi-task." I looked back down at the essay in front of me, the first mistake popped out at me, it was only a page long, and the requirement had been at least two pages. At least it would be one less page for me to read.

"For real Kara?" Sherry said before taking a sip of her drink. "You're that busy?"

"Well, I guess it can wait." I said looking around the table. I put the papers and pen back into my bag, the wedding would be here and over soon, then I could go back to my regular schedule. I was sure most of the students didn't want to see their grades anyway, as long as I got the quizzes done tomorrow.

"Good; anyway. The rehearsal dinner is going to be the night before the wedding, which you all know is August 22. It's going to be casual, then we'll eat at Jake's parent's house, they're barbequing for everyone." Megan began clasping her hands together. I had no idea why this was so important; I had heard it at least a thousand times before this. "Then, the next morning we'll all meet at my parent's house where my Auntie Carol will do our hair, and we can do our own makeup. Then we'll get to the church in a limo and meet the rest of the party, then I'll be married!" she squealed, I couldn't wait until she was married and this was all done and over with.

"Sherry, of course you will be paired with Steven, and Ellen with Lance, Kara, we'll pair you with Kyle of course." She winked at me. I looked up at the ceiling and pretended she wasn't saying this to me; I was beyond sick of hearing about Kyle.

We sat for awhile longer then drove to the fitting. I was glad to be alone in my car away from the other girls, it wasn't that I didn't love them all, but they were on a totally different wave length than I was. I wasn't planning a wedding, I wasn't married, and hell I didn't even have a boyfriend.

I pulled up in front of the dress shop; it was a small expensive designer place. Personally I didn't like the dresses at all, they were too fancy. All covered in lace and bows and sequence. At least I wasn't paying for it. I walked inside, Megan, her mother and her cousins were all already inside and Ellen and Sherry weren't far behind me. I sat down at one of the chairs next to Megan.

The shop was brightly light and there was a display of dresses all around the room. A squat woman in a green shawl came out from behind the counter and greeted Megan and her mother warmly.

"Your dress is ready my dear." She said smiling as she led Megan into the dressing room. I looked over at Ellen who was inspecting a long flowing white dress that was the simplest in the whole store. I knew she was looking for her own wedding, but didn't say anything while we were here with Megan. Sherry sat down next to me and smiled. Ellen soon joined her.

"Oh, Kara did you catch the football game?" Ellen asked with a grin on her face, immediately followed by a swift kick from Sherry.

"No, Megan called and I got dragged away from it. Why?" I asked; there was something they weren't telling me.

"Oh nothing, we were just wondering." Sherry said with a fake smile.

"Don't lie to me. I've known you two long enough to know when you're hiding something from me." I said raising my eyebrow, but there wasn't time for them to explain. Megan had appeared from the dressing room sporting a huge white wedding dress and veil; it probably weighed more than she did.

"Oh you look beautiful!" Megan's mother said jumping up and clapping her hands. Truthfully I thought she looked like a giant marshmallow, but I wasn't going to say anything.

"Kara, you get to try on your maid of honor dress now!" she squealed looking from the mirror. "It's different from the other dresses!" I took a deep breath, I really didn't want to try on a dress and be accused of having a flat chest or anything similar. I walked into the dressing room and put on the dress that had been given to me.

The dress was a hideous shade of lavender that made my skin look paler than it already was. I looked in the mirror, surprisingly the cut was flattering, despite it being 2 or 3 inches too short and having an ugly band of sequence along the chest. I stepped out of the dressing room awaiting the approval of the rest of the girls.

"Dear, dear you told me she was tall, but not this tall." The woman said to Megan as she tugged at the bottom of the dress. "This is going to be a tough one to fix, but I think I can do it." I walked back to the dressing room and put my clothes back on, I could care less how long it took that lady to fix the dress, all I wanted to know was what Ellen and Sherry were hiding from me.

One of the twin cousins went into the dressing room, although I didn't know which one it was, however, she was slightly larger than the other. I sat back down next to Sherry and gave them a stern look; it was one that I had given my students for throwing gum on the ceiling.

"Wow, do you use that one at work?" Ellen laughed. "I would never disrupt your class Miss. Anderson." I continued to glare at her; I needed to know what they weren't telling me.

"Sherry, tell me please." I said looking her straight in the eyes as the large twin stepped from the dressing room, the dress was snug across her stomach and the dress maker made a sound of disappointment under her breath.

"It was just a good game." Sherry said looking towards the second twin who looked spectacular in the dress. The twins stood next to each other, it must have really sucked to be the larger twin.

"Don't lie to me." I glared, the twins were marching back towards the dressing rooms, and I knew that either Sherry or Ellen would be fitted next. I hoped it was Sherry; Ellen was never very good at secret keeping.

"You over there, the one with the hideous shoes, you're next." The woman said; sure enough Sherry had worn a pair of high-heeled boots that no one had ever been very fond of. She gave a quick look towards Ellen before she disappeared behind the dressing room door. I turned to Ellen and grinned.

"Spill it." I said, simply looking at her it was clear she was busting at the seem trying not to tell me what it was.

"Have you been paying attention to the Broncos rookies?" she said slyly looking away from the dressing room as if Sherry was glaring at her through the wooden door.

"No…should I?" I asked; worried to what I should have been paying attention to. Sherry walked out of the dressing room causing us to look up at her. She looked even paler than I did in the dress, and I felt bad for her. At least she was married and didn't have anyone to impress.

"Just look at the rookies." Ellen said smiling at me, I knew that was the best I was going to get while Sherry was present, and at least I had some sort of clue as to what was going on.

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I walked into my apartment; it was only 5:30, which gave me more time to grade papers before bed. I threw a frozen burrito into the microwave and pulled out my lap-top. I had to look up the Broncos rookies if it was the last thing I did.

The internet browser seemed to move slower than ever and I couldn't concentrate on the essay in front of me. Finally the homepage opened and I searched for Broncos rookies. The browser was still creeping slowly. I had no idea what could be such a big deal and I heard the microwave beep. I switched on the T.V and walked back into the kitchen. I put the burrito on a plate and grabbed a fork. I looked over at the lap top still moving slowly. I set down the burrito and went to grab a glass of water.

I filled a glass with water from the fridge. Hoping the computer would be done when I got back into the living room I quickly headed towards the couch, but I didn't have to wait for the computer, what I had been looking for was staring at me from the T.V screen.

I let out a small yelp and the glass of water dropped to the ground causing the cat to run away in fear.