Chapter 1: Party Preparations

Even though it meant missing a few classes, I took a couple of days off from school to attend my older cousin Ginny’s wedding. Admittedly I was a little disappointing having been only assigned a small part in the ceremony as greeter by the guest book. So much for hopes of finally being a bridesmaid. Even so, I was looking forward to meeting old friends and relatives and hopefully have a fun time. There WAS one thing I was looking forward to the most though, and it was the primary reason for me leaving a couple of days early with school almost over - the bachelorette party. Until now I’d never been to one and knowing Ginny and the crowd she hung out with, especially her maid of honor who was setting up the party, I knew this just had to be a wild event! I’d heard some pretty crazy stories from other girls about bachelorette parties that they had attended and I had high expectations that it was going to be a lot of fun.

At 23, Ginny was four years older than me, almost five as her birthday was coming up in June, so while we’d hung around together at family gatherings we weren’t nearly as close as I was with Kristen, my cousin on my mother’s side who had just turned seventeen. In fact, when she found out I was invited Kristen was a bit miffed. Apparently she hadn’t been invited so I asked Ginny’s best friend Audrey, her maid of honor in charge of the party, why Kristen wasn’t invited. Since both of us were under 21 it wasn’t like it was because of any alcohol restrictions.

To my surprise, Audrey seemed somewhat amused by my question. She responded first by telling me it wasn’t the drinking age that was the concern as she’d rented a suite in the hotel where the reception was to be held and most people were staying there (including me). Then Audrey became rather cryptic, saying something about how the entertainment required everyone be at least eighteen. Apparently I must’ve looked a bit puzzled because she just giggled and refused to elaborate, leaving me to have to use my imagination as to what the “entertainment” was going to be! Well, I have quite a imagination to say the least.

Since my dad STILL wouldn’t let me have a car (don’t even get me started on that one!), my mom had to drive almost four hours to pick me up from school. The semester was almost over so it was going to be difficult missing a few days of class but hey, sometimes sacrifices have to be made.

As I mentioned, there would be rooms for everyone at the hotel where the wedding was being held so I wouldn’t be staying at my parents’ house. Kristen and I would be sharing a room although she wouldn’t be arriving until a little later, probably not until after the party. Even though Kristen couldn’t attend the bachelorette party there were still other things going on such as a wedding shower not to mention there would be a number of friends and relatives for her to visit with. We’d been talking on the phone about it for weeks and we couldn’t wait to spend the night together. She mentioned something about bringing a camera which perked up my imagination. Kristen had always been the one between us to do crazy things and get me in trouble so I could only imagine what she was going to come up with!