“What do you mean?” Kat had thought out her outfit very carefully. She was wearing a pale green dress that made her dark hair look even darker and her green eyes pop. She had on a soft white cardigan to cover her bare arms. It was conservative and cute, perfect for a wedding, but it certainly wasn’t a bridesmaid dress. She didn’t want it to compete with the bridal party.
“You have on a sweater that makes you look like a nun,” Renee informed her. “Your hair is up in a business-only ponytail, and you have the most sensible shoes I’ve ever seen.”
“I brought different shoes for the reception,” Kat said. “I just wanted to be able to run around the ceremony and not twist my ankle or anything.”
“See, responsible,” Renee said. “Take a look at Jennifer. I mean, right now she’s wearing what I told her to wear, but she didn’t bring a purse.”
Kat laughed. “That’s crazy. There are no pockets in that dress. Where’s her phone?”
“Left cup.”
Kat looked her over. With a dress that fit her that tightly, she was kind of surprised that she couldn’t see a square outline, but she had a lot going on in that area. “And what if we go to a bar after the reception? Where’s her ID? Her cash?”
“She’s not going to need money. If she goes to a bar, there will be plenty of guys ready to buy her a drink. And if she brought anything else with her, it’s in the right cup. But maybe she didn’t bring anything else.”
Kat was in awe. “Well that’s pretty irresponsible.”
“That’s kind of the point. I bet Jennifer’s going home with someone tonight, because she’s the kind of girl that Brian is looking for.”
Kat glared at her. “Well, I can be fun, too. Crazy even.”
“Sure. Right.” Renee didn’t look like she believed her.
“I can!” Kat insisted. “I’m tons of fun.”
“You are fun, but in a quiet, non-crazy way,” Renee replied. “You’re fun for board-game night.”
Kat tilted her head and glared at the bride a little harder. “Not true.”
Renee shrugged. “Bachelorette party.”
“What about it?” Kat asked. “I was fun.”
“You spent most of the party holding drinks for everyone else,” Renee replied.
“I didn’t want them to get spiked or anything,” Kat told her. “That’s being a good friend.”
“But you never let anyone else hold your drink so you could go party,” Renee countered. “You then spent the whole night shuttling people home so they’d have a safe ride or holding back hair while girls puked.”
“So you’d rather they drive home drunk?” Kat crossed her arms.
Renee shook her head. “No. I’d rather they call a cab. It was a party, Kat. You were a guest, not the designated driver or the one responsible for us. You were supposed to be drinking and dancing on table tops. You chose to spend the party being the mom instead of taking body shots.”
“There were body shots?” Kat didn’t remember that part of the night.
“My point exactly.” Renee gave her a half-smile. “It’s not really a bad thing, but I don’t think you know how to let your hair down and have a good time.”
Kat chewed on her lip. She hadn’t even realized that she had done that. It had just been her natural reaction to make sure everyone was having a safe, good time. Suddenly, all the words people used to describe her popped into her head: pushover, wallflower, boring, stick-in-the-mud, responsible, adult... shy. Kat didn’t think any of them really fit, but yet they were all used when people asked about her.
“I do know how to have fun,” Kat said, more determined than ever. “I’ll show you.”
Renee’s eyebrows raised. “You will?”
Kat nodded. “I’m going to be wild tonight. Fun Kat. You’ll have to drag me off the tables because I’m going to be dancing on them.”
Renee’s nonplussed expression didn’t change. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
A spark of anger flared up in the pit of Kat’s stomach. She was going to show her friend that she was wrong.