Chapter Text
All blood drains from Regina's face as she reads across the two words 'Janis 'Imi'ike' listed in bold midway down the invitation list Cady had copied her into. A sickening twinge of nausea trails up from her stomach and leaves a very distasteful feeling in her throat.
Considering it is going to be a relatively small wedding, with only the couple's respective friends and close families, makes Regina question a lot of things. But then again she supposes Janis and Cady had been quite close in high school and obviously Regina hasn't been keeping track of how friendly they are with each other now. And once upon a time, when she would fall asleep at night thinking of her future wedding, Janis used to be in the picture as a bridesmaid or something. So Regina can't blame Cady, really. And after all, it is her wedding.
Before she can stop herself, she's unlocking her phone and finding Cady's contact, thumbing a very rushed and frantic text. Adrenaline high on - fear? No, Regina George isn't scared of Janis 'Imi'ike. That would be extremely lame. And weird, very weird.
Regina:
Just checking Janis' name isn't a typo?
The 'seen' text pops up almost immediately, bubbles appearing and then disappearing.
Cady:
Uh, no?
Regina goes to type back another quick response when her entire phone is vibrating harshly against her hand. She presses over the green accept button, sighs softly and puts the phone to her ear.
"What do you mean? Did I spell her name wrong or something?" There's an alarmingly high amount of panic to her tone, one that stabs guilt into Regina for being so caught up on the tiniest detail possible (Janis), whilst Cady is loaded with preparation for the wedding in a few weeks.
"No," Regina says far too quickly, "I don't think so." She adds, but she's one hundred percent sure that's how 'Imi'ike is spelt because- well, because she just knows.
"Why then? Is there an issue with the list? Oh god," the panic seeps through the speaker like a disease "wait, send it back to me, let me check it over again."
"Cady," Regina says sharply and she hears the other line seem to calm down already, "stop worrying, I'm sorry for bringing it up." Her cheeks are now burning with embarrassment. "I was just confused, that's all."
"Confused? About what?"
"About, uh, Janis being on the list. But it's fine now, we've sorted it."
She scrolls through the rest of the invitations, mostly relatives she doesn't know, but she doesn't think anyone else would ring as loud alarm bells as Janis' name did.
"So," Regina hums, "what is she doing nowadays?"
"Oh, uh," the question seems to put Cady at ease, which is exactly what Regina intended to do, whilst also subtly digging for answers that have definitely not been on her mind a lot recently. "She's been doing art, mostly. A freelancer I believe, she's just recently sold her most expensive piece, actually. I don't know the details though, you should definitely ask her about it at the wedding."
Yeah, Regina thinks, won't be doing that.
She briefly wonders if Janis thinks about her as much as she does. But the thought doesn't linger as she squashes it from spiralling. "That's cool," Regina lamely replies, she can even hear how distracted she sounds.
"I have to go now, Aaron and I have to go and do some cake testing soon. I'll see you on Saturday for the bachelorette party? Janis won't be there, she said she has to be in a different state for an art gallery."
Regina feels her tense muscles visibly relaxing at the thought. "Yeah, see you then."
The line goes dead after an enthusiastic goodbye from Cady, leaving Regina alone to drown in her thoughts. Janis definitely shouldn't be taking up too much of her brain power as she is, and she hates it.
She just has to avoid Janis at all costs over the course of the wedding. Easy job. She's been doing it most of her life anyway. How hard can it be?