Arianna Smith's Arc

Chapter 22 of 23

The gossip post sat open on Arianna's phone. One blurry photo. Two garment bags at the gate. A single question underneath: "Secret wedding?" Arianna stood outside the chapel, still in her green gown, and felt her stomach drop. The high walls had stopped the cameras. They had not stopped the guessing. If she waited, strangers would write her story for her. Kylie leaned over her shoulder. "They don't know anything yet. It's just a photo of two bags." She said it lightly, but her hand tightened on Arianna's arm. Arianna knew that grip. It was the same fear from the night the restaurant photo leaked. Kylie had been burned before by people telling her story without asking. "They'll ask the label next," Arianna said. "The label will spin it. They'll say the wedding hasn't happened. Then they'll try to stage it for Friday." She looked at Kylie. "I don't want them deciding how people find out we're married." Kylie went quiet. "So what do we do? We can't un-post it." "We get in front of it," Arianna said. "We tell it ourselves. Right now. Before anyone else gets the chance." Her hands shook. She pressed the phone flat against her skirt the way she had pressed them in the chapel. Then she lifted it and opened the camera. Kylie stared. "Live? Like this?" "Like this." Arianna stepped back so the stone chapel and the little steeple filled the frame behind them. "Red gown. Green gown. The real thing. No stage. No sponsors." Kylie laughed, surprised, then grabbed her hand. "Okay. Together." Arianna tapped the screen. The number watching climbed fast. She held up her left hand so the ring caught the light. "Hi. I'm Arianna. Some of you saw a photo of two bags at our gate." She took a breath. "They were wedding dresses. We got married today. Just us, here, with our own words." Kylie leaned into the frame. "No label planned this. No cameras were invited. I married the person who never once lied to me." She kissed Arianna's cheek. The comments poured in, too fast to read. Arianna ended the stream. For a second neither of them moved. Then her phone buzzed. The label. "CALL US. NOW." She almost laughed. They had wanted Friday. They had wanted the show. Now there was nothing left to launch. The gossip account posted again within the hour. This time it only shared Arianna's own video, with four words: "Well. They confirmed it." The secret was out. But it was out in their words, not anyone else's. Kylie pulled her close outside the chapel door. "The world knows now," she said. "Everyone." "Good," Arianna said. Then she thought of the label's message still glowing, and the Friday event that now had no purpose, and a cold worry crept in. She had taken the story. Now the label had to answer for losing it.