It's Lust, Not Love

Part 29

Rowland’s POV

Dear Rowland,

Ana has a boyfriend? Are you sure? She told you that herself? Who is he? Tell me EVERYTHING, please Rowland! I really need to know. I know Ana and I are apart and therefore over, but dating already? I wish I was there! I feel so helpless. She is all I can think about, but I guess it’s not the same for her. As long as she’s happy…

Sincerely,

Lewis

 

 

Dear Lewis,

Yes, Ana does have a boyfriend. I’m so sorry, I know how much she meant to you. I think he’s a high school boy. She told me she loves him. I think she’s pretty happy too. Once again, sorry Lewis. This must really be terrible for you.

Sincerely,

Rowland

Poor, gullible little brother.

Ana’s POV

“Anabel, sweetie, are you awake?” Marissa. Oh, joy.

“Not really. What do you want?” I snuggled into my covers. Please don’t make me get out of bed, please don’t make me get out of bed, please—

“Get out of bed. You’re coming wedding dress shopping with me!” I groaned.

“Oh, come on. Be more enthusiastic. You get to meet all my best friends and it’ll be a girls’ day out! Doesn’t that sound fun?” Please just kill me now.

“No!”

“You’re coming whether you like it or not, Anabel Lee, so I suggest you get out of bed this instant and get dressed and ready. You better be in the car ready to go in 15 minutes!” I sat up to see her literally skipping out of my room. I just glared at the spot where she had been standing for a while before hauling myself out of bed. Stupid soon-to-be-stepmom.

Marissa and 3 of her friends were waiting for me in the car. They didn’t pay much attention to me, but I had no problem with that. They sounded pretty icky to me, anyway. Marissa introduced them to me while driving.

“Ok, Anabel, this is Bridgette.” She pointed to the girl sitting in the passenger’s seat. Bridgette had brown curly hair and was tiny. She looked anorexic. She didn’t even glance my way.

“This is Lulu.” She gestured towards the girl sitting to my right, a blonde bimbo if ever there was. She had bleach-blonde hair, a fake tan, and she definitely had gotten a nose job and a boob job. She smiled at me with teeth that had obviously been whitened.

“And this is Margaret.” Margaret had fiery red hair and green eyes. She was the only one who looked slightly decent.

“Hello, darling!” She had a strong Boston accent. I mumbled a hello, not in the mood to converse with anyone.

“Honestly Anabel, you should really improve your people skills! Being shy won’t get you anywhere in life!”

“Thanks, Marissa. I’ll keep that in mind.” She opened her mouth, probably to tell me not to be a smart-mouth, when Margaret asked,

“Didn’t we just pass the bridal shop?” Marissa swore under her breath and did an illegal U-turn before parking.

Some of the wedding gowns inside the store were gorgeously simplistic, but of course Marissa wanted the most extravagant one available. She picked out three and went inside a dressing room to change.

When she came out in the first gown, all her friends Ooed and Ahhed. I wanted to throw up. There were so many ruffles and the sleeves were so puffy you could hardly see the bride! It was ridiculous.

The second one was hardly better. It was too short and tight but it had an extra long train. It made Marissa look like a whore, but she received catcalls from all her friends and I disgusted look from me.

The third one was by far the best. It was simple; strapless and flow-y. It actually wasn’t too bad, but only Margaret and I liked it. Lulu preferred the whore-ish one, while Bridgette liked the ruffle one. It took about half an hour of debate, but in the end Marissa went with the ruffles.

Lulu, Margaret and I sat in a moody silence the whole drive back while Bridgette and Marissa chatted excitedly in the front.

Marissa dropped me off at home, not even thanking me for going along dress shopping with her, told me she was going to a bar with her friends, and sped off. Good riddance!

I walked into my home, glancing around to see if my dad was home when I noticed Amber sitting on the couch.

“Amber?”

“The door was unlocked.” She said as an explanation to how she got in.

“What are you doing here was what I was actually going to ask.”

“Oh, right. Well, I’m trying to make a life-changing choice.”

“And what choice would this be?” I asked, sitting down next to her on the couch.

“Should I go to UCLA or USC?” She grinned at me.

“Oh my god! You got in?”

“Uh huh!”

“Have you told Pat yet? That is so cool!”

“You’re the first person to know. But I can’t make up my mind which to go to. I’m leaning towards UCLA though.” She tilted her head to the side, deep in thought. “I think UCLA’s colors would look better on me, too.” I giggled.

“And that’s why you’re my best friend!” We discussed colleges for a little while (I had no clue where I wanted to go), before she got up to leave.

“I have to go tell Pat the news. I’ll see you tomorrow!” I walked her to the door, and as she was walking out a car pulled into my driveway; Rowland’s car. He got out and walked to my front door. When he passed Amber, she gave him a dirty look. She still hated him for tricking me so long ago.

He came up to me and held out his arms, asking for a hug.

“What’s up, Rowland? Why are you here?” He let his arms drop.

“What, no ‘hello’ or even a hug? Eh, doesn’t matter. I have some bad news. Can I come in?” I let him in and got him a drink while he relaxed on my couch. For the bearer of bad news, he didn’t look to upset about it.

“So what’s the news, Rowland?” He took a long drink before answering.

“I got a letter from Lewis, just a short thing and it didn’t have a return address or anything.”

“Lewis contacted you? Is he alright? Did he get to…his destination…safely? Does he miss me?” I fired questions at him, excited.

“Just calm down for a sec, Ana.” Rowland placed his hand on my arm, but I shook it off. “He’s alright, he got to Australia fine, but Ana…he got a new girlfriend.”

Rowland’s POV

I felt sort of guilty about lying to Ana, but it had to be done. The pained look on her face almost killed me; she shouldn’t feel that way about Lewis, she should only feel that way about me.