“No, Bee knows better than to put me anywhere near Tom. I’m with the groom’s brothers and some of his cousins.”

“Wait—are you sitting with the hot brother?” Hannah asked, moving her hands from her stomach to her chest and clasping them over her cleavage. “Are you sitting with Jimmy Fee?”

“I don’t know,” Vicki said. “Why? Who’s Jimmy Fee?”

“The groom’s brother,” Hannah said, jealous again. “I met him when I got here. He’s gorgeous, and so is his girlfriend. He’d be played by Justin Timberlake, I swear. Please, take mental notes for me.”

“Will do,” Vicki promised, just before giving Hannah one last look of concern. “Hannah, are you sure you’re okay? You look…warm. What kind of pill did you take?”

“Just a Benadryl. I’m fine. I’ll visit you at the table in a few. Go have fun.”

“Okay,” Vicki agreed tentatively. “Come get me if you don’t feel well.”

Hannah winked and turned around so she could find her place at the bridesmaids’ table. She walked to the empty seat between Dawn and the nice bridesmaid, Lisa, with whom she’d spooned at the bachelorette party months before. Next to Lisa was Lisa’s fiancé, a pale redhead with a spotty rash on his very thick neck. Cory Monteith from Glee, Hannah thought. Lisa’s fiancé scratched the skin around his collar, grimacing as it turned dark red. “He gets heat rash,” Lisa whispered to Hannah, noticing that Hannah was staring. “It’s so humid today and his suit is suffocating.”

“Honey,” Cory Monteith snapped, embarrassed as he heard his betrothed diagnose him as if he were a child.

“I’m sorry,” Lisa responded meekly. “I just wanted to explain…”

Hannah looked away to avoid the conflict.

On the other side of the hydrangea centerpiece was Jackie the abandoner, who picked at her salad in silence. She looked up, her eyes meeting Hannah’s.

Jackie’s mouth puckered as she raised her eyebrows.

“What’s wrong with you?” Jackie snapped at Hannah. “You look like you’re about to pass out.”

“Nothing,” Hannah responded, confused. She didn’t understand what Jackie was talking about. She was sweaty but awake, wired and excited.

Hannah tapped her right toe under the table, trying to release some of the energy she felt welling up inside her, but it wasn’t enough. She felt trapped, too static in her chair, desperate to get up and run instead of waiting patiently as country club servers continued to place plates of salad in front of each guest. Hannah had the sudden urge to kick something or to yell. Her arms, which were at her sides clutching the chair beneath her, had a mind of their own. They longed to reach for the ceiling. She imagined how good it would feel to hop on an elliptical machine at her gym back in New York.

“So, Hannah, you work in movies?”

Hannah wiped her sweating forehead and looked over in the direction of the voice, which echoed in her ears. It was Jackie’s new boyfriend, Will, the ear, nose, and throat doctor. He looked to be about thirty-five. He was balding and had a nice smile. Christopher Meloni from Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, she decided. Will’s teeth were bright white. Hannah found herself counting them in her head. There were at least ten visible teeth. She squinted, trying to get a look at his incisors.