I froze. I wanted to give in to that kiss to spite Bianca, but the pain Heather had caused me didn't let the kiss last more than a couple of seconds. I gently but firmly pushed her away, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand to remove her sickly-sweet lip gloss. My hand shimmered with leftover glitter. That's when I noticed I hadn't taken off the bracelet Bianca and I exchanged.
"Sorry, hehe, too soon, I know!" Heather said in a cute tone, not removing her hand from my knee.
"It's not too soon, Heather. It's too late. Let's pretend it never happened. Thanks for the ride, and thank you for the gift. That was really sweet of you. Maybe we'll see each other around," I said coldly, trying to get out of the car with my school backpack and the pink mammoth.
"Mel..." Heather whispered.
"What is it?" I asked, not hiding my irritation.
"Mel, can I use your bathroom? I really need to pee."
"You could pee at home."
"It's almost an hour's drive home, and it's Monday — there might be traffic."
I scowled. I wanted to dive into a bath filled with fizzing bath bombs Jess always bought from Blush and stay there forever. Maybe if I stayed in the water long enough, I'd grow gills and a tail, and then some sea queen would find me, make me her lover, and protect me from everyone.
"Hey, Mel. You still with me? Where did your conscious go? Please, just a few minutes and I'll be gone."
"Okay, but make it quick," I relented. Just hoping Mom and Jess weren't home.
"SURPRISE!!!! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🥳"
In shock, I stumbled back into Heather.
Everyone was there: Mom, Jess, Ishani, Lamar, and Alisha.
I was so stunned I couldn't say a word.
"Happy birthday, happy birthday!" They all started shouting and hugging me.
"We missed you while waiting!" Ishani said.
"No, we didn't, Ish. We had so much to do, we barely made it in time!" Lamar confessed.
"We skipped school!" Alisha said happily.
"I don't think that's something to be proud of, Alisha," Mom said, kissing me on both cheeks and smearing red lipstick on me. "And who do we have here? Is that little Heather? How have you been? I haven't seen you in so long! Give me a hug!" Mom went to hug Heather, who seemed to be enjoying all the attention. "How did you end up here?"
"I couldn't miss such an important event!" Heather said slyly. "I came to Mel's school with a gift!"
"How sweet of you!" Mom exclaimed.
"Yeah, really sweet," Jess muttered. My sister wasn't thrilled by Heather's presence either. She eyed Heather like a wildcat sizing up a rival.
"I'm speechless!" was all I could manage.
"We're not just here to wish you a happy birthday but to apologize," Ishani said earnestly, noticing that Mom was peppering Heather with questions about her parents and school.
"Yeah," Alisha whispered.
"We shouldn't have put so much pressure on you. You just moved, new school, new people..."
"You probably had a panic attack, right?" Ishani said with a doctor's confidence.
I didn't bother correcting her. "Something like that," I said.
"I'm sorry. Let's talk about it later, okay?" Ishani noticed Jess eavesdropping.
I nodded, still overwhelmed by everything around me.
More updates and bonus chapters on my patreon 🗿 Bianca's POV (part 1)
I'm almost done with INFLUENCER BO B💋TCH:
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
New updates:
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
