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Stacy looked away for a brief moment, her eyes widening from the question. She saw her own hand lightly shudder, intimidated.

She hadn't dated in years. The last time she had was back in high school, and that was only for a short while. She began to worry about what Samantha would think if she found that out. Her friend would be less than impressed for sure. Compared all the people that Samantha had dated, Stacy's love life was a barren desert.

The idea came to her that she should lie. She would make someone up, and impress her friend. Then later on, she could just make an excuse to why they can't come to the wedding.

She thought about it, but then decided against it. Stacy was a terrible liar. Samantha would be able to tell if she was dishonest. Perhaps it would be best to take the shame while it hasn't built up too much.

"I... I haven't dated since high school."

Stacy's eyes shifted from side to side. "Yeah. That sounds super." A presence of doubt came from her tone. She seemed very uncertain about Samantha's suggestion.

She looked back to the photograph of their younger selves. Highschool was far behind them, yet they still chose to have fun with one another. It felt like centuries had passed since those days. Though they stood side-by-side with one another, they were most definitely different. She began to mutter again. "Do you think there was a chance for me back then? Do you think I could've done something different? Maybe, I could've done something better."

"Excuse me.", she spoke up to Samantha, "I think I need to go powder my nose."

[Sorry that Stacy's been so angsty throughout these recent scenes. I'm trying to develop her as a character.]
[Btw, I have a strange idea just up ahead. If you don't like it, let me know. I'll get rid of it.]

Stacy trampled her way into the bathroom as a one-woman stampede. She quickly shut the door behind her, creating a loud noise as it collided into place.

Within the confines of the room, she just stood in there, looking worriedly into the mirror. "How did things get like this?", she quietly said, "How did I become so regretful inside?" She thought of her high school years, and the only one that she had ever dated.

She was a strange girl, short hair and masculine choice of clothing. She had sunglasses, and a rather deep voice. Stacy knew her a long time ago. They had many things in common, from their food tastes to their favorite activities. It was on these that Stacy decided to date her. Though her relationship with her didn't last for long. This girl had to transfer schools because her father had a new job elsewhere. Now Stacy was left all alone.

Fortunately for her, she still had a friend to fall back on at the time. That was Samantha. She had known her for even longer than her past girlfriend, and they were lucky enough to be going to the same high school together. Many times, Stacy had considered asking Samantha out, but she knew it wasn't to be. Samantha liked boys. She wasn't interested in dating another girl. All they would ever be to one another was friends.

"Was there a chance for me?", Stacy wondered to herself, "Could I have dated Samantha back then?" Well, if there ever was the chance, she was too late now. Samantha found a true sweetheart in Paul Latimer. And in three months, they were to be married. Who was Stacy to keep them apart?

She snapped her fingers in the mirror, putting on her best warrior face. She was going to support her friend's marriage with pride, pride in whom she felt close to. Perhaps, there was hope for herself in all this too. "The bouquet.", she said, "If I catch that bouquet, I could find a woman that wants to marry ME." It was all going to work out. She just had to assure herself that.

She remerged from the bathroom, feeling more chipper than she went in. "Sorry I took so long!"

[PLOT TWIST! Stacy's a lesbian, and she's had feelings for Samantha since high school. If you don't like this idea, PM me and I'll rewrite this bathroom part.]

[Btw, if we DO keep this idea, I like the premise that Samantha doesn't know about this. So she's trying to set her up with Mark, unaware that Stacy's not interested in men.]

[Perhaps as an added twist, Mark turns out to be gay too. lol]

As she tickled her, Stacy began to laugh uncontrollably. "Please! Stop it! That's too much!", she said playfully in between chuckles and breaths. She was now rolling on the floor as Samantha tickled her, a silly smile plastered to her face. It seems some things never changed, no matter how old you are.

"No thanks. I'm good.", she replied. It seems that now would be the time for Stacy to pick her piece. "I'll be the green trillby!", she said as she picked her favorite piece from the board. "This game looks like it'll go on for a while.", she said, "Are we gonna be playing this for the rest of the day or something?" Stacy chortled at the remark, though she wasn't entirely incorrect.

Stacy examined the board. To her, it was oh-so complicated. Some things were here, while other things elsewhere. She couldn't even think of an accurate description, and had to inner monologue in vague terms.

"Uhh... Sam, how do you play this game again?"

[I seriously don't know how to play this game. Maybe I should look it up?]

Stacy fidgeted with her piece. "Alright. How about we make it a little interesting? One of us picks college, the other picks career. And we see where it goes from there."

[I don't want to skip this scene ENTIRELY, but I think we could skip over major chunks of it. You may have to do a lot of the outcomes for me, as I still know next to nothing about this game. Sorry.]

[Also, I have a think it's a funny idea. What if Stacy is really good at the board game of LIFE, though not actually good at playing the real-world life? A similar thing could happen to Samantha, who loses the board game by a large margin, despite having more real-life success than Stacy. This scene can illustrate how different life simulations are to the real experience.]

[I leave it up to you if you want to go with any of these suggestions. You don't have to if you don't want to.]

"Then I guess I'll go with college.", Stacy responded, "So, would you like to go first? I'd like to get a good idea of what I'm doing. And what better teacher is there than example?"

[You've got a funny idea? It's time for me to get pumped about what you're planning.]

[Also, I have another idea that I hope you like. You remember how you wanted to have some scenes with Samantha and Paul, but we couldn't because we want to keep him offscreen?
What do you think of having scenes with them over the phone? That way, we can expand on their relationship without actually seeing him. We can hear Paul's voice, but his face and whatnot aren't revealed yet.]