Chapter 6:

Bianca's hands were trembling as she reread the letter from her mother. She could not believe what she saw on the paper before her. Just then Eliot walked in.

"Hey, Bi…are you alright? You're really pale."

"I'm fine," she lied hiding the letter.

"How'd it go with the lawyer?"

"It went well; she was nice."

"Are you sure you're OK, Bi? You seem shaken up."

"The lawyer gave me a letter from my mother. It has some heavy stuff in it, that's all."

The letter said to tell someone I trust. Maybe I should tell Eliot. She looked at Eliot and considered telling him. Not yet.

"What kind of stuff?"

"Nothing really, I just thought I'd never hear from her again and it shocked me a little."

"Oh, ok."

The phone rang in the room, "I'll get it," Bianca said quickly.

"Pronto," she answered the phone.

"Bianca Giordano?"

"Si, chi e' questo?"

"Hai ricevuto una lettera oggi?"

"Si, ho ricevuto una lettera da mia madre."

"Sono un amico, possiamo parlare inglese per favore?"

"Yes, of course. You are the friend my mother wrote about in her letter?"

"Yes, I am a member of the Priory of Sion. My name is Eric Kelly, I'm sorry for your loss. We believe that someone knew about you mother and started the fire to kill her. We must discuss your protection, Miss Giordano."

"Please, call me Bianca or Bi."

"OK, Bianca, we here at the Priory believe that America would be safer for you than Italy. Is it OK with you to move there permanently?"

"Um," Bianca thought for a moment, "Yes, that's fine with me, but can I stay at the school I'm in now?"

"Of course, we have members in Dallas who would be happy to adopt you. We'll make all of the arrangements for you. You don't need to worry about anything."

"Will I have to change my last name?"

"No, not if you don't want to."

"Thank you," she sighed, "One more thing, I have chosen someone, but I'm not going to tell him yet."

"Take your time, Bianca. Just tell everyone that you're going to live with a distant cousin who coincidentally lives in Texas."

"OK, is there anything else I should know?"

"I will be at your parents' funeral to protect you there. We can discuss more in person."

"Thank you, Mr. Kelly."

"Eric, and I will see you tomorrow. Good bye Bianca."

"Bye," she hung up the phone.

"Who was that?" Eliot called from the other room.

"Just a friend of my parents'," she lied, "They said my mom has a cousin in Dallas. I'm going to be living with them."

"That's great! We'll still be in school together!"

"Yeah, I guess there really is a bright side to every situation."

"So," Eliot said more seriously, "you ready for tomorrow?"

"As ready as I'll ever be, I suppose…"

"Do you need any help getting everything set up?"

"No, some friends of my parents are doing everything. They don't think I should have to at my age."

"You shouldn't. That's nice of them. I'll be there with you, if you need me tomorrow."

"I know, thank you again, Eliot…you really don't have to come."

"I want to be there for you, Bi, you're my best friend. So is there a burial or something afterwards?"

"No, there aren't any bodies; it's just a memorial tomorrow."

"Oh…are you going to be OK?"

"Yeah, I just wish…never mind."

"No, what?"

"I wish people would stop apologizing. 'Sorry' isn't going to bring them back."

"I know, Bi, but it's just something people say."

"I know," she half laughed, "it just seems weird to me."

The funeral was shorter than Bianca expected. Eric Kelly was there. He was younger than Bianca expected. He couldn't have been older than 35. He was about 5 foot 10, (which was much taller than Bianca's 5 foot 2), he was thin; he had light brown hair and blue eyes. He pulled Bianca aside for a few minutes to talk privately about her adoption. It had been finalized quickly (the Priory has a member that works at the agency). She was also a US citizen because her mother was (the Priory had someone in that office too). Everything would be ready by the time Bianca's exchange program was over in March. She could meet her adoptive family before then if she wanted. Everything was going to be OK after all.

Eliot and Bianca had to take a flight back to Dallas that night. The flight left at 9pm. They fell asleep about two hours into the flight and woke up back in Dallas. Emily picked them up at the airport and asked about their flight.

"Bianca, how are you doing?" Emily asked like a mom would.

"I'm doing better," Bianca replied, "It turns out my mom's second cousins live here, in Dallas. I'm going to start living with them when the exchange program ends in March."

"That's great, Bianca!"

"Yeah," Eliot said, "and Bianca and I will still be in the same school."

"That's awesome, you guys," Emily said.

They got back to the house pretty late and went to bed without unpacking. School wasn't very fun the next day.

"Bianca," another girl asked her in the hall, "is it true?"

"Is what true?"

"You and Eliot ran off and eloped?"

"What? NO! Who told you that?"

"Jeromy said—,"

"That explains it…please tell people it isn't true. Eliot and I aren't even together; we're just friends."

In history, Jeromy walked passed Bianca and asked, "How's your husband, Bi?"

"Go to hell, Jeromy! My parents died and I had to go to Italy for their funeral, and you start a rumor because Eliot scared you. I've started to tell people it's not true already."

"Watch it, Bianca, Eliot isn't here to save you this time."

"He doesn't need to save me, I'm perfectly capable of defending myself!"

He just laughed and walked to his seat before Mr. Williams walked into the room.

After class, Mr. Williams asked Bianca to see him after school.

Bianca found Eliot in the hall before Italian class, "Did you hear what Jeromy told everyone?!"

"Yes…I'm going to kill him."

"He didn't even react when I told him the real reason we were gone!" she started to tear up, "What did I do to him, Eliot?"

"He's just an ass, Bi, there's no other reason. You didn't do anything wrong. I'm gonna fix this."

"Eliot," Bianca started.

"What?"

"Non fai niente di stupido, per favore."

"I won't."

"I'm serious, Eliot, don't get yourself kicked off the football team or expelled or anything."

"Football season is over, Bi," he joked.

"Then just don't get expelled or suspended, OK?"

"Fine," he fake pouted.

Bianca rolled her eyes as they walked into class.

Eliot kept an eye on Bianca and Jeromy in gym class. After gym, Bianca went to see Mr. Williams.

"Hello, Bianca, have a seat," he said as she entered the classroom.

"Am I in trouble, Mr. Williams?"

"No, not at all."

"OK, so why did you want to see me?"

"I'm your 'mother's cousin'," he winked as he placed the sir quotes.

"Oh, you're in the Priory, you're the one Eric told me about."

"Yes, and that's why this is the school you were placed in for the exchange program. They knew you would be in my class so I could look after you."

"I guess that's why there's a fleur-de-lis on your bowtie? It's cool by the way."

"You noticed that? Very good, Bianca!"

"Yeah, it was on the letter that my mother left me."

"I see. I wanted to make sure you were OK; you seemed upset in class today."

"I'm fine," Bianca sighed, "Someone started a rumor that Eliot and I ran away and eloped and it isn't true. We weren't here because we were at my parents' funeral! I just don't understand how someone could do that."

"Who was it?"

"It doesn't matter. I should go; Eliot is waiting for me to walk home."

"OK, Bianca, I'll see you tomorrow in class."

"Oh, Mr. Williams, thank you for everything you're doing for me."

"Bianca, it is an honor to serve the brotherhood, and the descendant of Mary Magdalene."

She left the classroom and Eliot was waiting down the hall, "What was that about?" he asked her.

"Nothing important, just making sure I didn't need any notes I missed, he also wanted to make sure I was OK," she lied.

"Oh, that was nice of him."

"Yeah, I love his class too. History is so fascinating to me, anyway. I'm going to take his class next year, I think."

"I think I will, too, everyone says he's a great teacher."

"He really is," Bianca said, "and it turns out he's my mom's cousin, the one I'm going to be staying with."

"Really?

"Yeah," she said.

"That's cool!"

They got back to the house and did their homework. Nothing interesting happened for the rest of the night. Bianca went to bed early. When should I tell him? Probably soon. What if he doesn't believe me? I guess I could just show him the letter. Bianca you're talking to yourself again. I know.

A/N: Hey everyone, not sure if I clarified this, but Bianca and Eliot are in their junior year of high school. Just wanted to address a review I received about an eidetic memory not being equivalent to intelligence. I'm completely aware of that, but Bianca credits her memory with some of her intelligence.