Dreamchasers

Chapter 10 (2)

Beth secretly moved toward the girl more, attempting to get a more unobstructed view of her.

The girls' facial features and outfits appeared more and more clearly as the distance slowed down between Beth and her. Now, Beth could see that she had round metal and gold earrings on both of her ears. Her eyeshadow was golden-brown. Her body fit perfectly into that black dress and pointy shoes. The act of lifting her hands was graceful and composed.

"Hey, dear...are you one of the artists here?" The girl was standing in front of Beth, staring at her with light blue eyes.

"Ah, yes! I came with my friends. They are not here at the moment, though."

"Your flower crown looks pretty on you." The girl adjusted the tilted flower crown on Beth's head. "What's your name?"

"Beth Clementine."

"Oh...you are Beth. I have heard about you." The girl put her hands on Beth's shoulders. "You are at Laurel Prep, right?"

"Yea. To be honest, you make it sound like we met somewhere before. Have we?"

"Ah, no. I wanted to meet you, though. Nora and Owen told me about your life here at Laurel."

"How do you know about my host parents?" Beth was surprised. In a couple of seconds, she realized that this girl, who looks like a sister figure to her, could be the one person she had admired. "Wait...I have a question that I'm not sure whether to ask. It might be embarrassing..."

"Not at all. Go for it!"

"Okay. Phew...Are you by any chance Bianca?"

"Yes, I am."

Beth almost pushed herself forward as if there were thousands of butterflies flying in her stomach right now. Her instinct was right—this elegant girl standing in front of her was her inspiration and muse, embodying all the ideal traits that she had dreamed about. Yet she never had the courage to message her online or ask about her contact information from Nora and Owen. She never expected to meet Bianca one day. Yet Bianca was standing in front of her, looking at her work, and talking to her. Right now.

"OMG! So nice to meet you!" Beth stared away from Bianca, trying not to have herself feel embarrassed by her sharp yet tender stare. "I...I HAD ALWAYS BEEN A HUGE FAN OF YOUR WORK!! They are simply breathtaking!"

"Thank you. You are doing great as well."

Beth wasn't sure if Bianca said that as a true compliment or simply out of politeness. However, that didn't matter. For Beth, what mattered was that someone finally noticed her achievement just as those of Simone and Julianna; that 'someone' is exactly the person she looked up to.

"Bianca, why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be in school during this time?"

"Oh. This week is our fall break. As part of the fall break, I decided to be a student volunteer at this museum for me to decide if an internship in art history is right for me."

"Sounds horrific! Can I know more about how your Lisette life is going? Do you want to grab a meal with me, Nora, and Owen sometimes as well?"

"I would like to do that. However, my schedule is tight for this break. If you want to find out about college life for young artists, I will go to an artist gathering dinner next Wednesday. You are very welcome to come with your friends."

Without hesitation, Beth accepted Bianca's verbal invitation with a nod before they bid goodbye. As she watched Bianca walk away from her, her body shivered with anticipation, as if every cell in her body was screaming a capitalized YES.