Wedding Season (1)

Mr. and Mrs. James Kincade & Mr. and Mrs. Don Chapman invite you to celebrate the joining of their children Richard Kincad and Karen Chapman in holy matrimony on Saturday, the fifteenth of February at the Church on the Hill. Reception to follow, at Bolero Lanes.

Did I read that right? Reception at a bowling alley? Seriously?

Rich and Karen were the fourth couple from HS to get married. First had been Zeke and Lilly - but they had practically eloped. Just a small family ceremony, and then postcards to all their friends from their honeymoon in Hawaii. I can't say I blamed them for it. Most of her friends hadn't cared for Zeke (we thought he was a bit of a stick-in-the-mud), and had made no secret of it. His friends... well, I still don't know his friends. Second were Gareth and Adie, married on April Fools Day in a wildly unconventional ceremony that would've inspired Dr. Seuss with its wackiness. Third came Mark and Christina. They had been married in Idaho, near her family, so I hadn't been able to attend. Rich and Karen's wedding was to be the first genuine, traditional, sincere (sappy?) ceremony in our circle. She had a wedding planner and everything.

But ... a bowling alley? I was skeptical.

As I finished reading the invitation, I realized I had bigger things to worry about.
Specifically, the response card.
Would I be attending. Er... YES! I'd had it on my calendar since the "save the date" came months ago. It was the line below the yes/no check box that gave me pause. The space to write in the name of your escort, so that you could be seated together.
Escort? Ugh! Date.

This was a problem.
For the last couple of years, even before we were a couple, Allen had been my "plus one." Clearly that wasn't going to work this time. Even if we were still supposed to be friends (his suggestion), I wouldn't ask. I might embarrass him with my silliness or something. No thanks. Not calling my ex-boyfriend to ask him to take me to a wedding.
Which left me precious few choices.

Lena wasn't going to the wedding. I could borrow Nick.
Um, no.
Taking my friend's boyfriend to a Valentine's wedding seemed like a really bad idea. Even if he was a nice enough guy. Besides, I couldn't imagine how that conversation would go.
    
Me: Hey, Nick... you got big plans for the third Saturday in February (the 15th)?
Him: Uh, no. I don't think so. Why?
Me: Well, there's this wedding I want to go to, but I don't have a date. Would you mind, terribly?
Him: Actually, uh, I think I have a root canal scheduled for that Friday. I'll be recovering.

OR

Me: Lena, would you ask Nick to take me to Karen's wedding?
Her: Um, sure, I guess. If you want. When was it again, since I wasn't invited, and don't really know?

Yeah. That wasn't an option.

There was Dave. He'd been a friend for years. He attended the same church as Allen, Jade, Lena and I, even though he lived on the other side of town. He was usually pretty shy and akward. He was 6'2" of arms and legs and one really awful mullet. Sometimes I thought he had other ideas about our relationship. Like when he called me on New Year's day and offered to "take care of" Allen for me. I hadn't even spoken to Allen yet, and wasn't sure what the real story was, so I just laughed Dave off. I tended to laugh him off more often than not.
However... he was a single man. Likely he'd be willing to be my plus-one.

Oh, yeah. That's a great idea. Invite a guy you aren't interested in who clearly IS interested in you to a WEDDING. Ugh! That would be cruel.

It was amazing how few single guys there were in my circle of friends that spring.