In my editing, I've added another scene, at the beginning.
…
Bianca spent the next week painting, drawing, sewing, and creating artwork any time she could find a few spare minutes. No one could pry her new paintbrush from her fingers for anything. She sat outside continuously, creating trees, flowers, birds, and even likenesses of her friends, when they didn't realize that she was watching.
"Brian! Stand right there!" she called out during her painting session the morning of the party. Brian had ambled out of the garage, basketball in hand.
Brian looked at her incredulously. "Are you kidding?"
"No, the light is perfect on your face; it would make a great picture." When Brian didn't respond, she said, "What? Stop looking at me like I'm crazy!"
"You are crazy," he pointed out, shaking his head. "Want to play some basketball?"
"Are you trying to take me away from my artwork?" she accused.
"No, I just think it would do you good to have some physical activity and some actual human contact. I'm worried that you'll start talking to your paintbrush if you're left alone with it much longer."
Bianca laughed. "Maybe… just for a couple of minutes…"
"That's the spirit!" Brian grinned as she carefully laid down the brush and closed her set of watercolors.
He led her to their driveway, where the group split into two teams and fought to get the ball into the hoop. As Bianca had suspected, a couple of the boys were athletic and competitive, but most of them were uncoordinated and just plain goofy. If someone missed a shot, everyone else would harass that person to no end (in a good-natured manner, of course). There was a lot of rough-housing too, of course – the rules of the game of basketball or even common decency did not seem to apply. Bianca and Brian ended up guarding each other. She kept dragging him away from the action by the back of his shirt; he kept tickling her to make her lose her concentration. At one point, when Bianca was reaching for a loose ball, Brian actually scooped her up and threw her over his shoulder. Bianca shrieked and pounded on his back with her fists until he let her down, and she consequently collapsed on the ground, laughing so hard she was practically in a fit of hysterics.
The game continued for quite some time, growing more competitive as their scores edged upwards. Bianca realized that, after years of hard work, most of them were quite strong, and she was in over her head. She was certainly not the athletic type, she concluded as she tried to jump up to catch a rebound, bounced into Brian, and fell down, landing on her knee and acquiring a nasty little scrape.
"Oh my gosh, you're bleeding! I'm so sorry," Brian exclaimed, squatting down next to where Bianca lay in a heap, wincing and clutching her leg.
She shook her head. "It's not your fault."
"Come on, I'll help you get that cleaned up." Brian put his hands underneath her arms and lifted her up, then let her drape her arm over his shoulders as he helped her into the house.
He led her to the bathroom, where he hoisted her up on the counter and began to clean the wound up. Bianca cringed as he sprayed it with an anti-baterial solution.
"This will help it heal faster," he promised. He unwrapped a bandaid and smoothed the ends gently against her leg. His fingers were warm and firm as they pressed into her skin. She looked up, watching him calmly finish applying the band-aid, his face close to her knee. Then he looked up, his face close to hers. Very close.
Bianca's heart started beating a little faster. She could see a faint dusting of freckles across his tanned nose. His eyes, she realized, had little flecks of green in them. And his hair, it looked so soft. She wanted to run her fingers through it, but her head talked her hand into staying securely in her lap until she was quite sure of what was going on here.
He closed his eyes… he leaned forward…
"Hey, losers, when are you gonna get back in the game?" Jake's shout jilted them back into reality.
Brian jumped back just as Jake rounded the corner and appeared in the doorway. "Well, her knee's all fixed up, so…"
"Yeah, we should, um, get going…" Bianca slid down from the counter and stood awkwardly beside Brian. The two both began walking out and halted at the doorway, to avoid having to squeeze through the doorway at the same time.
"Uh… you go ahead," Brian gestured.
"No, you." Bianca practically shoved Brian through the doorway. He hustled out of there at practically a jog.
When Bianca saw the look on Jake's face, she muttered, "Oh, shut up."
"I wasn't interrupting something there, was I?" Jake whispered, raising his eyebrows in an amused fashion.
"I'm not even going to dignify that with a response," Bianca said haughtily, ignoring Jake's quiet chuckles as she sauntered out of the house. She was sure that it was comical to watch her try be huffy with a slight limp, but it did the trick. Jake didn't question her again.
The truth was, she didn't know. Was something happening? It had certainly felt like it, and this fact took her by surprise. She wasn't entirely sure she was happy about it. I mean, he was her friend and her housemate. She didn't want to risk that and lose her house and her friends, who were essentially her family. Plus, this was not exactly the romance she had always dreamed of. Bianca had always dreamed of finding her Prince Charming, someone handsome and charming and, well, perfect, who would come along and sweep her off of her feet. And while Brian wasn't unattractive, and he certainly had a boyish charm about him, he just… wasn't it. Though she loved him dearly as a friend, that was all it was going to be.
…
The fridge was stocked, the keg was tapped. The kitchen counter was heaped with food. Funky rock music played. The small house in the woods had not seen this much excitement since – well, back when Dave and Eddie's parents had hosted events. To those two, it was thrilling to see their home so full of life again. To the others, it was exciting enough just to have so many friends in one place. Everywhere people were milling, introducing, flirting. They overflowed out into the yard and onto the deck, where Matt and Trevor were flipping burgers on the grill and cutting up with their friends.
A group of the housemates stood at the base of the stairs, near the front door, greeting guests. Brian, Dave, and Jake were welcoming friends into the house with handshakes and hugs for their female guests. Corey was kissing cute girls on the cheeks and giving them directions to the nearest alcohol.
"This really is epic," Dave spoke once the party was booming. "I can't believe this many people fit into the house."
Corey opened his mouth to speak, but paused when he noticed that the two blonde girls he had his arms around were sneering enviously at the stairs. He turned his head, and the rest of the guys followed suit.
Down the stairs descended a voluptuous Bianca, complete with luxurious golden skin and thick wavy black hair. She had somehow managed to transform a t-shirt and a pair of old jeans Brian had passed on to her into a skirt and a halter top. "You really are an artist," Jake remarked. The rest of them could only nod in agreement.
When she got to the bottom of the stairs, Corey ditched the blonde girls, kissed her on the cheek, and said, "Start drinking."
Bianca cracked up. "You don't have a chance with me, Corey." She did, however, let her friends lead her to the kitchen, where Dave mixed her a drink.
"You deserve it. You've been busting your butt around her. Have a good time!" he urged, handing it to her. Bianca took a sip. It tasted good. If there was ever a time to drink, she reasoned, it was here, surrounded by the people she trusted. She began to meander through the room, introducing herself to people she didn't know, pausing to talk to her housemates, catching the attention of everyone she walked past.
…
Regina had waited until John was fast asleep in bed. When she was sure she heard him snore, she rolled out of her side and crept down to the living room. She reached underneath a couch cushion and pulled out the clothes she had stashed there earlier, proceeding to hastily change out of her pajamas into them. Pulling a small golden key out of her pocket, she unlocked a small drawer in the ornate secretary and felt around until she managed to lift the false bottom. With a sinister smile, she slipped a small bottle into her purse, locked the drawer, and headed outside. Her stealthy car hummed softly as it snuck down the street. John wouldn't notice a thing.
She found the seaside highway and twisted through the woods for some time before reaching the break in the highway where wretched Bianca and her male companion had disappeared just days before. She followed the bumpy gravel road for some time. Normally she would be horrified that her shiny car was gathering so much dirt, but she didn't even think of it now. Eager anticipation filled her mind; soon Bianca would be no more. Soon John would be hers. She was filled with such demented excitement that she could hardly contain herself.
Regina slowed the car as she reached the edge of some type of scene. It seemed to be some massive party or gathering – cars were parked everywhere, people were running around making noise, and in the center of it all stood a small glowing cottage. She turned off the motor and began to approach the house. With delight, she realized that this may turn out to be much easier than she had initially guessed. Most of the guests were so inebriated by this time of night that certainly they wouldn't notice she was out of place. She walked around to the back of the house and climbed onto an expansive deck.
"Have I met you?" some teenage boy slurred at Regina, startling her.
"I think we met earlier," she lied convincingly.
"Oh yeah, you know Dave, right?"
"Uh, sure. See you later," she answered, distracted. She stepped past him and opened the back door. People were crammed into the small, shabby house. Music blared. Completely unnoticed, she stood against a wall and scanned the crowd.
And there she was. Clutching a large red cup, a blonde boy telling her what appeared to be the most entertaining thing she had heard in her life, Bianca leaned against the kitchen counter. She touched his arm, set her cup down, and stumbled off.
This was too perfect. Regina walked calmly over to the counter and took the little green bottle out of her purse. Uncorking it, she shook a few drops into Bianca's drink, then turned and departed with a malicious laugh.
…
Guys flocked to Bianca, throwing out hands to introduce themselves. Many of them were quite handsome, she noticed. For the first time, she found that the presence of men made her flustered. However, the more she drank, the more her nerves calmed, until Dave had given her several refills, and she had no problem loudly chatting with anyone who approached her.
The room started to spin. She wasn't sure she liked this feeling. It became harder and harder to stand, so she started leaning on her friends. The room grew louder so she raised her voice. People became harder to focus on, and she wasn't quite sure what was happening.
Corey had his arm around her.
A dark-haired boy – Mark? Mike? Did it matter? – was talking to her. She was bored.
Dave and Trevor were standing on each side of her, introducing her to a friend, saying something about a stepmother.
Brian was talking to her. She couldn't understand what he was saying. It made her angry; she liked listening to Brian.
She was talking to a cute blonde boy.
She had to use the bathroom. She set her drink down.
She was drinking. She was talking to Brian.
She was sick. So sick. She leaned over the sink and Brian held her hair back. She was in pain. Her stomach – it burned. She was crying. Brian carried her up the stairs and placed her on his bed, then closed the door. She rolled around. So much pain. That was the last thing she remembered. The world grew quiet as she fell into a deep, peaceful, sleep.
