The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks - O What A Wonderful Wedding

Ronnie refuses to become too intimate with Will, as she know that come the end of summer, they will both end up going there separate ways, him to college, and her back to her original home. But Will longs to have something a little more serious between them. But I suspect he knows better than to argue with Ronnie, as he lets go and agrees with her almost always in the end. But he doesn't accept her refusal when he invites her to his sister, Megan's, wedding. Ronnie has never quite imagined herself as a sort of girl who would dress up formally for any type of convention, but she finds herself wanting to go so she is able to be with Will more often than never, as she may be separated from him sooner rather than later.

So she struggles to find a dress in the local stores to that with suit her, and she finally finds one good enough. She dresses herself up extravagantly, enough herself almost unrecognizable to her brother and father. "I don't know you, Ronnie told her reflection, turning this way and that. I've never seen you before. She tugged at her dress, adjusting it slightly. She looked pretty good, she had to admit. She smiled. And definitely good enough for the wedding... "You look normal again. But you don't look like my sister." "You look wonderful," her dad said quickly. Surprising herself, Ronnie breathed a sigh of relief. "Is the dress okay?" "It's perfect," her dad answered(pg. 300)." Ronnie was surprised by how much effort was put into the wedding, which was to take place at Will's grand home. Much like Ronnie herself, the place was almost unrecognizable. Will's mother had done plenty to make sure that the place looked absolutely picture perfect. "Ronnie had to admit the place was as spectacular as a movie set. There were flowers everywhere the hedge was trimmed to perfection, and even the brick-and-stucco wall that surrounded the property had been freshly painted (pg. 301)."

For once, Ronnie got to see Will the way she would expected him to appear with a background such as his was, and it surprised Ronnie by how much more amazing he looked "done-up." But even though she was with her true love, and that she knew that's all that mattered, being at a wedding wasn't something that Ronnie would like to do on a day to day basis. But much to her surprise, everything had gone well, until the thought of leaving Will soon made her feelings for him too strong to ignore, and Will starting leading her towards his father's boat. As they approached the vessel, Marcus made a surprise appearance, and decided it would be fun to "crash" the wedding. Will, knowing exactly what he was up to, tried to prevent Marcus from doing something irrational, and accidentally fell right into Marcus's trap. The two destroyed a reception tent as their fight unfolded, and Marcus, by getting a quick and unnoticeable getaway, left Will and an innocent Ronnie seemingly responsible for the damage.

The author described how Will was feeling as the recognition of just what Marcus had been doing all these years finally set into place. "Marcus hadn't tried to help her. He'd run away when she needed him, when she could have died. Will didn't care what would happen to him... He was beyond that now. This time, Marcus had gone too far." I can relate to Will's feeling of sudden intesnity and frustration towards Marcus. When I was younger, there were plenty of times where I thought that someone, who had been picking on me in school, had finally gone too far, and I knew in my gut just how horrible and mad it had made me feel. Although Will took it a bit more seriosuly than I had, I know what's it's like to, after so long, as Marcus had been against Will for a while now, to finally be able to resolve a problem.

After being seemingly disowned by Will's family, Ronnie leaves, knowing full well that her relationship with Will had come to an end far earlier than she thought it would have. I would have never expected that his mother would feel such strong hatred toward Ronnie. It seemed as though her stern reactions to Ronnie would turn out to be for a whole different reason altogether, and would have nothing to do with Ronnie herself. Will had tried to assure Ronnie that she would rub off on his mother sooner or later, and after hearing the way she quickly assumed it was Ronnie who had conducted the tent incident, and how she defined Ronnie by what class she came from, it hadn't surprised me that Ronnie was hurt. But when I read the words she spoke to Will's father... "Will you please tell Will that I said goodbye? And that I won't be seeing him anymore?" This surprised me the most. The fact that Ronnie felt as though because Will's mother didn't approve of her, she felt as though she had to run away from her relationship with Will made my heart rip into two.