Chapter 15

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Hello!! I'm back at school, and inspiration is already flowing through my veins. That was cheesy, but I'm so excited to get updates out to you all!!


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I couldn't stop rubbing my eyes.

The last time I had been up before dawn was a family vacation to Florida for a week. I tried to scrub the memories away when I rubbed my eyes next. I was outside a little early, only five minutes or so, and Beatrice was right on time.

I smiled—well, grimaced—when her car turned into the parking lot.

"Hey!" She cheered excitedly after I'd opened her passenger door. My thigh screamed in protest when I crouched down into her car.

"You look miserable," Beatrice teased. I did, in fact, feel miserable, but seeing Beatrice in her little yellow sundress had brightened my mood.

"Yeah, I'm never up this early," I responded. "Aren't you cold?" No, it wasn't winter in Portland, but the temperature overnight and in the early morning always seemed to drop lower and lower.

"Nope! You ready?" Beatrice motioned for me to put on my seatbelt before she pulled away from the front of the clubhouse.

"You look gorgeous," I turned to her. She smiled but didn't take her eyes off of the road.

"Thank you."

"Where are we headed?"

"You'll see," Beatrice smirked. "You've been asking me out for so long it was amazing to see your face when I asked you out."

"I was like that because you said I had to be up this early!" I scowled. Fog was eerily creeping across the dark road and it was barely light at all when she pulled into a dirt parking lot.

"Where the hell are we?" I slowly stood out of the car and glanced around. There were a few birds chirping, waking up and fluttering about. Beatrice pulled on a jean jacket and grabbed a large bag from the backseat.

"Come here," she motioned with her hand. Surprisingly, she wrapped her hand in mine. I stopped us and reached around with my other hand to grab the bag from her hand. She smiled and moved to wrap her arm around mine instead of our hands.

"Lead the way."

This was exactly where I wanted to be. The smell of Beatrice's perfume blew past me and her arm was soft against mine. The woods around us was silent as we walked and eventually landed on a flat area, absent of trees, and the sun was just peeking over the horizon.

"Wow," I whispered into her ear. She laughed softly and pulled away, opening the picnic basket in my hand and taking a plush blanket out. She laid it on the rough ground and was sitting down before I had set the picnic basket in the middle of the blanket.

"This is one of my favorite places. My dad took me here all the time when I was a kid," Beatrice murmured. She sent a quick smile my way and began to unpack the basket full of food and silverware.

"You and your dad have an amazing relationship," I commented as she pulled two neatly packaged breakfast sandwiches out of the basket. She set those down and reached for a large, plastic cup of fruit.

"I never knew my mom," Beatrice admitted, "but my dad is perfect. I don't have this...sob story that usually comes with losing a parent, but dad and I have always had a great relationship."

"He really seems like a great guy," I smiled. She pulled out the silverware and napkins before closing the basket back up again. It was so large and square that we were able to use it as a small table.

"What about you?" Beatrice popped a piece of watermelon in her mouth before reaching for her sandwich.

"What do you mean?" I pretended to play clueless.

"Well, you know my family pretty well," Beatrice set her sandwich down after taking a bite. The sun was almost halfway over the horizon. "Tell me about yours—if you're okay with it."

"Yeah, um...I don't have a great relationship with them," I answered. she hummed and focused more on her sandwich than she did me. I was grateful for that. It took a lot of pressure off of my shoulders.

"I had this fascination with the MC growing up but my parents lived a perfectionist life. I didn't want to continue living that way, so when I was eighteen, I admitted to my parents that I really wanted to join the MC. They tried to push me into school, but I insisted. They kicked me out the same day," I finished with a loud breath.

"Wow," Beatrice seemed stunned into silence. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I actually bumped into them not too long ago for the first time in about ten years," I explained. I finally took my first bite of the breakfast sandwich and groaned in appreciation.

"That must have been intense," she murmured.

"It was."

"How did it go?" Beatrice asked gently.

"It went better than I thought it would," I shrugged, "my mom wants me to call her."

"If you ever want to talk more about it, I'm here," she smiled. I nodded at her gratefully and widened my eyes when a burst of light appeared on her face. The sun had finally and completely peaked over the horizon and was shining completely on her.

For one second, Beatrice was glowing. After that her hand came up to cover her eyes as she chewed her last bite of food.

"Gorgeous," I muttered under my breath. She must have heard me, because I could see the reddening of her cheeks underneath the sun's glare.

"Finish up," Beatrice laughed at the look on my face.

"We should probably head back soon."


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This was a short chapter, but more coming soon!! Things get a little...hectic in the next chapter. ;)

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