The Wedding Contract(38)

“You’re too weak. It’s been glued shut.”

After pushing and pulling on the lock I turn slowly and look at him. “Glued?”

“Yeah, look at the metal. There’s super glue all over it. You can see the white haze it leaves when it dries.” Nick points and then walks across the room to grab something while I stare blankly from the window and to the door.

She didn’t. Oh God. If Sophie thinks I might do something I’ll regret for the rest of my life, would she do this? I would have said there was no way, but I must have given her the idea. She locked us in here. I have to get out. I have to win. If I don’t show up at her wedding, I’ll be the worst best friend ever. Screw the bet. I can’t do this to her. I mutter, “I didn’t think she...” Panic laces my voice. Nick studies me speculatively. His eyes take in every detail from my rounded shoulders to the way my fingertips barely touch my lips.

“What? Tell me.”

I don’t know why, but I answer him. “I think Sophie did this.”

“No, she wouldn’t have. That’s insane.” Nick shakes his head. “It doesn’t matter anyway. We’re getting to that chapel. If we pull the lock off the frame, the window will open. We can call down for help or I can lower you down. Whatever you want.” I watch his face for a second, wondering why he’d help me. It’s like he can read my thoughts, because he says, “No matter what you think of me, I’m not a total asshole. I’m not ruining your friend’s wedding by neither of us showing up.”

Nick tries a pencil under the lock, but it crumbles under pressure—as do the next few objects he tries. He needs a piece of metal. That will pull it apart. “What if Sophie doesn’t want us there?”

“Then she would have fired us. She’s just trying to get us to slow down and stop fighting. If we get there at the last second, we can’t fight. She’s smart. I’ll give her that. What bride walks around with super glue?” Nick shakes his head and breaks another pencil. Shards of wood go flying.

I hand him a letter opener I found in the desk. “Try this.”

He takes it. “Thanks. This should work.” And it does. Although it bends into an L-shape, Nick is able to pry the metal lock completely free from the old wooden window. It was held in with little nails that go flying as it comes free. Nick grins at me and says, “Come on.” I step closer to him as he pulls on the sash.

It doesn’t move.

He pulls again and swears, banging his fist into the wall. “She glued it.” He curses again as his fingers trace the entire lower windowpane. The glue goes all the way around.

“No. She wouldn’t.” My voice is too high, too airy. I sound desperate and hurt. I guess I am. Nick steps back to let me see for myself. I trace the glue with my fingertips, panic building in my stomach.

Nick pulls his phone out and calls someone, but says nothing. A moment later he hangs up. “The front desk isn’t answering.”

“Sophie hi-jacked the desk clerk. She took her to the chapel. Is there a number for the chapel?”

Nick shakes his head and sighs. “No, there isn’t. Unless we want to break the glass, we’re trapped.”

I glance at the window. “It’s not going to break.”

“How do you know?”

“Because Sophie threw a wooden music box at me when we were little. I ducked and it hit the window. The window didn’t break.”

“So we use something heavy.”

“It was heavy. That thing was a brick, that’s why I didn’t just catch it. We both thought the window would break, but it didn’t.”

Nick looks desperate. His brow is covered in beads of sweat and he’s pacing the floor like a mad man. He runs his hand over his forehead and through his hair. With every turn he repeats the action. Something has him on edge, like this wedding is a life or death event for him. He mutters to himself, trying to think of other ways to get out of the room.

I grab my phone and text Sophie: I WON’T DO IT. I’M SORRY. PLEASE, LET US OUT.

I know in my heart she did this, but my friend doesn’t respond. I press my eyes together in frustration and throw my phone at the wall. The casing protects it so it just falls to the floor with a thump. Nick turns and sees me, tears forming in my eyes. “I’m going to miss my best friend’s wedding.”

I sit down hard on the edge of the bed. In this moment, I hate myself. I was willing to become someone I swore I’d never be, but Sophie saw it. I didn’t. She sacrificed her wedding pictures because her best friend was too dumb to listen. I ruined her memories. She won’t have any. I plant my face in my hands and try not to cry.