CHAPTER ELEVEN
BIANCA
“Bianca? We’re here, honey.”
Someone’s shaking me slightly, and the house comes into view as I open my eyes. I become that much more aware because there’s no way I slept through that entire ride.
“Kate. Bianca. Little help back here!” Josh raises his voice as I drag myself out of the car. The sequins glitter under the night sky as my dress rubs against my skin rather uncomfortably. The dinner had gone longer than I thought it would, but I maintained my smile as he showed us off, and he received praise after praise. He hands me my bag and I walk inside the house, bending slightly to take my heels off. In my room, I throw the items across the space as I flop onto my bed, still somewhat tired.
Mentally, emotionally, physically, all of the above.
Said bag stares back at me, the organized person in me wanting to take all my stuff out and put it away. Though, exhaustion wins this time. I force myself up, starting on the zipper of my dress, my body screaming in relief as I let it breathe. I hadn’t brought any formalclothes with me to orientation, hence, they rushed to buy me a dress before the business meeting.
My phone chimes, my heart catching. I eye the email notifications from Mella Colta. My eyes skim over the words.
Hello, Bianca Harrison,
Thank you for attending Mella Colta’s new student in-person orientation! We hope you enjoyed your experience and gained helpful information that you can use as a future member of the MC community. Please be on the lookout for other announcements, and see you in the fall!
A flicker of excitement starts in my chest, and even with everything that’s gone wrong, I refuse to let it taint the fact that I’m going to my dream school, that I was accepted into a prestigious program that I thought was a pipe dream. As I throw the wretched dress in the back of the closet, I hope I never have to wear it again. I grab some pajamas and shrug into them.
Plopping back down, I grab my phone, and I know I shouldn’t. I really, really shouldn’t, but I do. My fingers spell out Liam Parker, and after some scrolling on social media, I see his now-familiar face and click on his profile. Jamie always pushed me to look him up, but I never did. The mere thought of looking at his profile, and possibly findingsomething, would’ve made things that much worse.
Every single photo is of tattoos, and after stalking him for a few minutes, I realize he designed and inked all of them. I smile; he was always the better artist between the two of us. I look at his tagged posts, seeing other people raving about his work, and happiness fills me. I wish that this wasn’t new knowledge to me. I wish I had already known he was a tattoo artist. I wish his friends had already known who I was. I wish we were a part of each other’s lives like we once were.
A shriek cuts through the house and my heart drops. Throwing open the door, I sprint down the hall and find Mom standing in front of the opened front door.
“Hey, Kate.”
Standing in the doorway is Ana—Liam’s mom, Ana—with her hair in a messy bun and in a two-piece pajama set.Mom has her hands over her face in shock and my eyes flit between them. Ana seems nervous while I stand there, looking at them, and her expression falls. Sporting a sheepish smile, Mom wraps her old friend in a hug.
“It’s been too long, Ana,” Mom mumbles.
She squeezes harder. “It really has.” Ana looks over at me, shock coloring her face. Nervousness courses through my veins as they pull away, but Ana keeps her eyes trained on me.
“Bianca?LittleBianca?” I nod, as does Mom, while Josh looks at the exchange, pensive. She comes closer to me, almost as if she’s imagining me. She moves the hair away from my features and then a grin spreads across her face.
“You know, I really missed you, cupcake.” I break into a grin myself at the little accent she has when she calls me “cupcake” and hug her tightly.
“I missed you too,” I say, and she pulls back with a laugh. The moment is broken when Josh clears his throat, and we all look at him.
“I’m so sorry, how rude of me. I’m Ana Parker, a friend from the past.” She holds her hand out, and Josh silently inspects it before he hesitantly accepts it, muttering his own introduction.
“Kate’s boyfriend?” She looks at Mom for confirmation, and she leans on him. Ana grins once again. “Oh, Kate, I’m so happy for you!” Mom smiles widely while I observe Josh; the grin he sports has a hint of something else in it.
“Yes, yes. Listen, Ana, right? We just got back from a rather exhausting trip, and we’re all heading to bed. You understand, right?”
All our eyes widen, and I move to stand next to Ana. “Josh, I haven’t seen her in years,” Mom almost begs, but when he swings his gaze in her direction, her expression falters. Though, before he can say anything, Ana interrupts.
“It’s okay, Kate, I understand. It was great to see you guys, and to meet you, Josh.” He nods and walks off while Mom closes her eyes in embarrassment.
“Ana, I’m so—”
Ana holds up a hand and shakes her head. “You’re fine, Kate. I couldn’t resist coming to see for myself if you guys were really here.”
My smile only widens and Ana glances over at me. “I don’t know if you still want to hang out, but I live in the next subdivision over, and well—I would love to have you over.” Mom nods and hugs her, but I stay back. The invite seems to only be for Mom, and I have no idea why that stings. Though, it makes sense ... “Both of you.” I look up at that, and her eyes tell me she’s sincere. She grabs both of my hands and looks at me deeply. Her eyes commanding all my attention, and the memories of this exact look have me reeling. “You’re always welcome, no matter what.” A couple of tears bead in my eyes, and I turn my head to wipe them on my shoulder. She pinches my cheek before walking off. When she reaches the end of the walkway, she turns and gives us the biggest wave and an air kiss. Mom closes the door and we look at each other, both shocked. Shocked this happened, shocked that after five years, Ana still wants us to be in her life.
Liam’s going tolovethis.
