The Bridesmaid

John trudged into his house late on a Friday evening. He had taken the morning off of work to take the GRE for a third time, and then had a long day making up the work he had missed that morning. He was exhausted, but at the same time he was enthusiastic over finally getting good enough scores to get him into grad school. He stopped and grabbed a pizza on his way home because there was no way in hell he was going to cook dinner after such a strenuous, but worthwhile day.

He walked into his kitchen and grabbed a bottle of Captain Morgan and Coke and poured himself a drink.

"Man," he thought to himself. "I can't believe I made it through. If only I had been more motivated to study, I would probably be in grad school by now. Oh well, at least I finally passed it." He raised his glass in a toast. "Third time's a charm." And downed the glass.

John walked to his cabinets and grabbed a plate, then set two slices of pizza on it, filled his glass with coke, and headed to the living room. He flipped on the TV, and turned on his computer as he ate. As soon as his computer booted up, he logged into Facebook. Immediately, he got a message from his college roommate, Mark.

"I got some good news." Mark wrote.

"Me, too, actually. I passed the GRE." John replies.

"Congrats." Mark replied. "I got engaged."

John nearly choked on the Coke he was drinking when he read this.

Coughing, he quickly typed "Holy shit, dude. Really?! She said yes?"

Mark replied simply. "Yup."

"Congrats, man!" John responded.

A few months later, as the wedding drew nearer and preparations were being made, Mark and his bride-to-be, Sarah, were deciding on bridesmaids and groomsmen. Mark was generally laid back, but Sarah wanted the wedding to be perfect. He was not looking forward to helping her pair up bridesmaids and groomsmen, especially since he thought his part was done.

While Sarah was talking about the plans and who was with to be with whom, Mark kind of zoned out.

He was brought out of his reverie when Sarah turned to him and spoke. "We need one more groomsman."

"Why?" inquired Mark.

"Because" responded Sarah "I've done all of the pairs, but I still need someone to walk with Doe."

"Your college roommate?" He asked, slightly puzzled.

"Yes!" She responded, as if he should have known better than to ask. "She was able to clear her schedule and come to the wedding. You know we're pretty close and I don't want just anyone walking with her."

Wracking his brain, Mark says "I think I know who I can ask."

"Who?" Sarah quickly shot back.

Confused by her quick response, and fearing backlash he responds with "I'll ask John." Before she can say anything, he defends his answer. "We were roommates senior year. He's about the only one of the four of us I still keep in touch with and we're pretty good friends. He's a little goofy, but a good guy."

Feeling satisfied with himself, Mark awaits her response.

"Was he one of your frat brothers?" She inquired with a tone that indicated the only correct response was "no."

Dumbfounded by her question, Mark snaps "why does that matter?"

"Because" she snaps back, with a tone indicated that he's now on thin ice. "Doe is not your average girl. She'd go to parties and only occasionally drink and was not one to just jump in bed with someone. Matter of fact, I don't think I ever saw her go home with a guy or bring one back to our place. She was always there for me when I needed someone, and therefore I want to pair her with someone that's on her level."

"Well, that's why I picked John. He wasn't in the frat, and he didn't bring girls back. I know he wanted to, but his standards were too high. Plus, admittedly, he could be a little awkward at times. He's a good guy, Sarah. Always there when someone needed to talk, and usually had pretty good advice."

"Well, ask him then." She replied in a much calmer tone. Mark just looked at her. "Now would be nice. I want to get this done."

Mark picked up his phone and texted John.

He quickly typed out "I know this is really informal, but do you want to be in my wedding? The old lady has informed me that I need one more groomsman." And then hit send.