Shane exhaled loudly and shook her head, refusing to look at Dana anymore.  “Well, since no one seems to object, we’ll – ” began the justice of the peace.

“***** it,” Shane murmured, getting to her feet.  “I object!” she shouted loudly.  Heads turned once more.

“Shane, what the ***** are you doing?” Dana hissed angrily, pulling on Shane’s arm.  Carmen was pulling on her other arm.

Shane waved them off.  “This wedding has to stop.  Alice doesn’t love him.  She’s in love with someone else.”

Gasps punctuated the air.

“Stop it, Shane,” Dana warned, her voice rising and her emotions getting ready to get dangerously out of control.  Tina was watching her sympathetically, while Bette looked on in disapproval.  Jenny had turned around and was staring at Shane with wide eyes, and Kit was nodding in agreement with what Shane had to say.  Carmen appeared nearly as mortified as Dana felt.

“Shane,” Alice said quietly.  She paused a moment, and then her face crumpled, a single tear sliding down her face.  “Why?” she managed to croak.

Dana buried her face in her hands, her skin hot and head pounding.

“Alice, you know this isn’t what you want,” Shane pleaded, stepping past Carmen and out into the aisle.  “I tried to keep quiet, but I can’t just sit here and let you ruin your life.”

“Enough!” Dana suddenly exclaimed.  “Just shut up, Shane!”  Having said that, she pushed past Carmen to the aisle and began to run away from the wedding.

“Dana, wait!” she could hear Shane call from behind her.

She ignored her.  She just kept running, until finally Shane’s calls grew faint and the scene behind her disappeared from view.  Sand had began to collect in her flats, making them heavy, and Dana kicked them off, leaving them somewhere in the sand without any heed.

She continued running until finally she had to stop to catch her breath.  She stumbled down to the surf, plopping down in the wet sand, not caring that she was ruining her dress.  She brought her knees to her chest and then dug her toes into the moist sand and let the cool water wash over her feet.  As the tears began to escape her eyes, she reached up to wipe them, pulling away a hand with black smudges on it.  Dana reached up and used her fingers to remove any traces of the smeared mascara before crossing her arms on her knees and laying her forehead on her arms so that her wet face stared down into the sand, tears falling off the end of her nose and making little holes in the sand.