CHAPTER ONE: KINDLY JOIN US
May 20th, 2020
All was well in the life of Gemma Perry, that is - until she got a letter in the mail which she didn't know at the time, would change her life. She was sitting at her cedar wood desk in her small, two bedroom New York apartment before hearing a familiar voice from down the hall.
"Mail," her best friend and roommate, Marcie, yelled upon walking into Gemma's bedroom.
"If it's just another bank statement," Gemma rolled her eyes, not even bothering to look at the mail in her roommates' hands, "then throw it away."
Marcie eyed the white envelope covered in tiny pink bows suspiciously, knowing that Gemma would surely be interested when she placed the envelope in front of her. Aside from packages from Amazon and bank statements, Gemma hardly ever received any mail. She opted for everything to be paperless, and sent to her email. Only extremely important mail, would make it into her mailbox.
"Kindly join us for the wedding of - " Marcie began reading the beautifully wrapped invitation, which she probably shouldn't have opened without Gemma's permission. She didn't care though -- because the second she saw mail with Gemma's name on it that wasn't an Amazon package or a bank statement, she was intrigued. Marcie knew it wasn't right to go through her friends' mail, but she couldn't help but wonder what was inside of the thick, white envelope.
Gemma turned around in her chair abruptly. She yanked her earbuds out, pausing the episode of American Horror Story that played on her laptop screen.
"Did you open my mail?" she asked, her eyebrows perking up as she tried to see what Marcie was looking at. Gemma's roommate covered the envelope with her free hand, a devilish grin shadowing her face.
"Only because you didn't seem interested," she responded, uncovering the envelope once more so Gemma could take a better look. Marcie sat on the end of Gemma's bed, and with no hesitation, Gems scooted her computer chair closer to Marcie.
"Who the hell is getting married?" she laughed, grabbing the half open envelope from Marcie. "My brother has only been with his girlfriend for a year - "
Her jaw dropped as she eyed the name written on the perfectly printed invite. Not only had she not talked to this person in years; she also thought this person completely hated her.
"Who is it?" Marcie asked, curiously, noticing Gemma's sudden change in demeanor.
"Avery," her tone was breathy, as the initial shock of the name printed in cursive hit her like a ton of bricks.
"Avery?" Marcie questioned. It had been a long time since she heard the name, Avery.
"My best friend, from - " Gemma stopped herself. "My old best friend, from Michigan."
"You had a best friend before me?" Marcie joked, immediately earning a glare from Gems. "Sorry," she rose her hands in defense, knowing the topic of Avery was frustrating for Gemma.
Avery was Gemma's only friend throughout childhood - up until their senior year of high school. Gemma was antisocial throughout her teen years, hence why Avery and her siblings, Olivia and Jax, were the only people she ever hung out with. Although this may bother most people, Gemma didn't care. She was fully content with her group, despite two of those people being her siblings whom she lived within ten feet of.
While Gemma took regular high school classes during her last year of high school, Avery was granted permission to take college classes at the University of Michigan. Little did Gemma know, this would change the course of their friendship forever. After meeting a group of sorority girls during her first semester of taking college classes -- Avery basically left Gemma to rot. She was fully content with her new, older friends. Despite Gemma's efforts to find her best friend in the new person she'd become, there was no use. As soon as Avery entered that college, as a mere senior in high school, she was gone -- and the new version of Aves emerged.
Gemma was devastated. She didn't try to reconvene her friendship with Avery when the next year, after graduation, she joined her former best friend at the University. Given Avery took classes the year prior, the two never crossed paths. And although Gemma saw Avery once or twice at the bookstore, or the Starbucks just off campus, she never tried to mend the broken friendship.
But now here she was, four years later, holding a wedding invitation with the words Kindly Join Us for the Marriage of Avery Nelson, written in bold, cursive letters.
"Why the fuck is Avery Nelson inviting me to her wedding?" Gemma asked, shaking her head in confusion. She tossed the invitation on the ground, feeling the urge to stomp on it. It had been years since her friendship with Avery ended, but she couldn't help but still wonder, even four years later, what exactly had gone wrong for her only friend to drop her and act as if she never even existed.
"Maybe she's sorry?" Marcie suggested, knowing vaguely of the entire situation between Gemma and her former friend. When Marcie first laid eyes on Gemma on her very first day at Pratt Institute, and noticed how incredibly lost she was with a giant tourist map in hand, she knew she needed to take the fresh New Yorker under her wing.
"You're not from New York, are you?" Marcie asked the struggling girl, who held tightly onto her map given the windy August day.
"Just transferred here," Gemma attempted to smile, slightly panicked because she was already late to her first class, intro to film, and she could not find the building anywhere. "Um, could you tell me where Johnson Hall is?"
"Let me take you," Marcie offered. "I was new here once, too. It's a lot to get used to."
"Thank you," Gemma smiled widely, shoving the large map into her bookbag. She wasn't one to talk to strangers, though when one is alone in a new city, talking to one couldn't hurt.
Ironically enough, Marcie was heading to the same class. She was a fashion major, though decided to take intro to film as an elective to fill her schedule. After that day, the two became instant friends. Marcie, a New York native, showed Gemma all the best spots. One year later, after countless sleepovers and study nights, the two were inseparable. When moving out of the dorms, it only made sense for them to get an apartment together. In the last year and up until now, just a few days after graduation - the two lived in their small but manageable, two bedroom apartment.
"I don't think so," Gemma laughed, falling back onto her bed. Marcie picked up the invitation, now out of the envelope, eyeing it carefully.
"It doesn't say the groom's name," Marcie giggled, wondering if the invitation was even real. "It only says her name."
"Weird," Gemma sat up, reaching her hand out. Marcie placed the paper in her best friend's hand, watching her carefully as she eyed it. Despite not knowing the entire backstory of Gemma's friendship with Avery, because she did not like to talk about it - Marcie did know that Gemma was still somewhat hurt about what happened all those years ago.
"According to this, she's getting married in August."
"Hmmm," Marcie pondered on the thought. She joined her best friend on the bed, eyeing the small printed details of the invite. "Should we go?"
"Hell no," Gemma declined, almost laughing at her friend's offer. Sure, she could go home for a bit to visit her family, despite just seeing them for her college graduation less than a week ago. She hadn't been home to Michigan since Winter break, it being four months since she last visited her home state. She didn't feel the need to head back, given she just saw her family, here in New York.
"Listen," Marcie perked up, an idea springing upon her. "We just graduated. We both don't start our jobs until after the summer is over. Why not spend the next few months in Michigan? There's nothing holding us here at the moment."
Gemma thought about the idea for a brief moment. She loved New York. There wasn't anything in Michigan that made her want to go back. She was completely content living out her last summer before the post-grad world caved in on her. New York was her home -- she didn't want to spend her last summer before adulthood officially began, in a place that haunted her. She loved Michigan - but only because her family was there. If given the chance, Gemma would not go back.
"Nope," she declined. "I'm good, here."
"Gems - " Marcie tried to persist but was cut short, by her roommate who walked out of the room while shaking her head. Marcie rolled her eyes, throwing her body back onto Gemma's bed. Gemma was stubborn. She always tried to get her way, and when she had her way, she would do everything in her power to keep it. Marcie wouldn't be able to convince Gemma, but she knew of someone who could.
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That night, Gemma sat in the living room with a bowl of popcorn in one hand, and a bottle of sprite in the other. Now that she was graduated, and had months before she would be starting her new job as a film agent at Silvercup Studios, she didn't know what to do with herself. Ever since she graduated merely four days ago, her post-grad nights consisted of binge watching American Horror Story, and eating more snacks than her body could handle. Typically, Marcie joined her on her AHS binges, considering Gemma managed to hook her roommate onto the show after landing her eyes on Cody Fern. Although the two had seen every season at least twice (aside from Roanoke, they don't talk about that one), the two roomies always watched their favorite show, night after night. Gemma saw Marcie's light on in her bedroom, wondering what exactly she was doing, though she had a feeling her friend would join her soon.
Marcie walked out of her bedroom a few minutes later, with her phone in hand. A smirk crept across her face, though Gemma didn't question it as she was too invested in the love triangle between the characters in Coven. Sitting on the couch beside her roommate, Marcie opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by the sound of Gemma's phone ringing.
"You should answer that," she motioned towards Gemma's vibrating iPhone. "It's your mom."
"How did you know that?" Gemma scoffed, grabbing her phone and swiping her thumb across the screen, without hesitation. She did not give Marcie the chance to respond before speaking into the phone. "Hello?"
"Gems!" Gemma's mother, Gayle, enthusiastically spoke through the phone.
"Hey, mom." she placed the phone between her ear and shoulder, pausing the episode she'd seen a thousand times before. "What's up?"
"I know we just saw each other a few days ago," Gayle laughed. "But I was wondering if you wanted to come home for a few days. I'm planning a surprise party for your dad on his birthday in a few days, so I'd love for you to be there. Bring Marcie, too!"
Not once when her family was in New York, did Gemma's mother mention anything about her dad's birthday. Typically, her parents didn't throw parties, but the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. Her dad was turning fifty, which was a milestone. Of course Gayle decided to put together a last minute party idea, since you only turn fifty once.
Gemma sighed. She didn't want to risk going back to Michigan -- but she knew she couldn't miss her father's birthday, especially if her mother was making a huge deal about it.
"Sure, mom. Sounds great. I'll start looking into flights."
As soon as the words left Gemma's mouth, she swore she could hear Marcie mumble, yes, under her breath. Not sure if she heard correctly, Gemma decided to ignore her suspicions.
"Okay, love. Oh, your sister is calling me. I have to go!"
"Okay - "
The line was cut off before Gemma had the chance to say goodbye. Tossing her phone onto the couch beside her and grabbing the remote to exit out of Netflix, she sighed.
"Pack your things," she groaned, clearly not thrilled. "We're going to Michigan."
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a/n: welcome to chapter one! I haven't written a story in third person in a long time, and I am very much so looking forward to trying it out again!! <3
I wanted to make this chapter longer, but I liked how it ended lol. Hopefully my chapters will be longer in the future, I know I am not the best when it comes to writing long ones!
anyways. thank you for reading, I am very excited to share this adventure with you!
vote and comment <3