"Yewr cousin's lookin' for yew," Bianca spoke from her spot in the doorway of the washroom.
"What for?" her soft voice carried over to Bianca.
"'ow am I suhppohsed ta knohw?" Bianca shrugged and walked over to a shower stall. She walked past the bubble bath that Rosë had herself buried in, and found her eyes trailing to the slender pair of legs that were sticking out of the bubbles. They were long and sculpted pieces of work that were crossed at the ankle up against the wall. Her toenails on her stubby toes were painted a deep purple color and she was staring intently at them as she wiggled them.
Bianca tried to understand what was so interesting about her wiggling toes, but couldn't think of anything worthwhile. She then stripped herself in the changing area and walked to the back shower, where she was able to see Rosë through a crack in the wall, not that she meant to do that.
Bianca lathered shampoo onto her hands and tried to think of what had her watching Rosë like she did. She glanced through the crack back at the girl to see if anything about her would tell her anything that would help her find an answer to her question. She only saw the tops of the girl's knees because the petite girl had slid under water.
Bianca began to massage the shampoo into her hair and went to turn back around when Rosë came up from underneath them. The Posh Totty wiped the soap out of her eyes and smoothed back her wet hair. Bianca could see the tops of her chest rise and fall now, because the bubbles had begun to thin out.
Bianca tried to understand why it was that she couldn't take her eyes off the light brunette girl – they tried to strangle each other twice in the same day. Bianca cast her eyes away as the girl sat up all the way baring her chest to the room.
"Hey, Bianca?" Bianca heard Rosë call out.
"Yeah?" Bianca asked with attitude.
"I'm sorry about what I said to you earlier." The Posh Totty muttered.
Bianca froze for a moment at the sound of the apology, not sure what to say in return. "I-It's alright," Bianca told her. "I said suhm pretty nahsteh fings tew." She told her. The Rude Girl paused for a moment thinking a little harder on all the insults that had been flung back and forth between the two. "Sumfink seemed ta bee getting' tew ya. Is everyfink alright?"
"Of course," Rosë replied.
"Yew're lyin'," Bianca commented.
"Excuse me?" Rosë asked astonished.
"I sehd yew're lyin'." Bianca spoke. "I can hear iht ihn yewr voice."
Rosë sighed softly, "Zoë's not my real cousin."
"Huh?" Bianca asked confused.
"A few weeks before I turned fifteen, a friend of mine invited me out to her family's cabin on the cliff side as a birthday present. Her boyfriend had a cabin that was close by that he and his family was staying in at the same time. One day while I was out there I stumbled upon him cheating on her with another girl.
"When I got back to the cabin and told her she was shocked and angry and went over to his cabin to confront him. When she came back she had his handprint on her face and she was trying hard not to cry. I told her to tell someone and she got mad at me, started ranting and raving about how he had just gotten really angry, and it wouldn't happen again, and that I was only saying that to try and break them up because I had always been jealous of their relationship.
"Which I wasn't," Rosë added in, "Their relationship was shitty even when it first started.
"Anyway, I called my mum and dad after that happened and asked them to come and get me." Rosë's voice had become thick with depressed emotions. "They never got to the cabin."
The Posh Totty sniffled. Bianca smoothed her hair out over her shoulder.
"They had been bickering about some asinine topic, and in the one moment my dad looks away from the road he misses a turn and drives right off the cliff side." Rosë stopped talking for a moment. "I stayed with a friend of my mum's while they searched for them."
Bianca looked through the crack at Rosë who was now curled into herself, arms wrapped around her knees that were pulled into her chest. She rubbed at her cheeks with the heel of her palm. "They found them the day before my fifteenth birthday." A sob racked Rosë's body as the girl rested her forehead on her knees.
Bianca quickly rinsed her hair, dried herself off, and then wrapped her robe around her body. She walked over to Rosë and knelt down beside the bath, and awkwardly tried to sooth the girl until she spoke again, "I got sent to St. Trinian's because Millicent, my mum's mate that I had been staying with, Zoë's aunt, could no longer fight to keep me enrolled at Cheltenham. I got picked on because of my anti-social behavior."
"Dew yew steel tawk tuh dat gawl?" Bianca asked her.
"Not really," Rosë sniffled, "But I know she ended up breaking up with him."
"'ow dew yew know dat?"
"He's the boy from the cafe." Rosë muttered.
"Ihf yew knew 'e wuz a prihck, why'd yew meet 'im aht duh cahfeh?" Bianca asked confused, and kind of angry at Rosë for having such poor judgment.
"It was Millicent's attempt at trying to marry me off so she no longer had to deal with me." Rosë spoke with a sniffle.
"Wewl, Millicent's aan obliviouhs twaht." Bianca told her. Rosë chukled sulkily.
"Come ohn," Bianca told Rosë, "Geh yawself dried aand drehssed."
"Why?" Rosë asked.
"Yew'wl see." Bianca told her walking over to the night clothes she had brought down for herself.
X
A few moments later Rosë walked out in a Burberry spaghetti strap tank with matching girl boxers and a pair of cream colored, cable knitted socks that came up to her knees. Pulled over the outfit was a fluffy, dark purple robe with something that was making one of the pockets stick out. Her light brunette hair was wet and stringy down her back.
Bianca made a gesture for the girl to follow her, and the Posh Totty did so quietly. They snuck down several hallways, and nearly got caught by the English teacher, Miss Dickinson, before they made it to a set of double doors. Rosë furrowed her brows in confusion. "Where are we?" the posher girl whispered.
Bianca pushed open one of the doors and gestured for Rosë to go first. Closing the door behind her, Bianca told the girl, "The kitchens." Bianca grabbed two mugs and went about making hot cocoa.
Rosë took a seat at a table that was set up in the kitchens. She glanced around at the large area before her gaze fell back on Bianca. The dark skinned girl felt her rival's cousin's eyes on her the entire time and tried to hide the flush that was brought on for some unknown reason.
When Bianca finished making the drinks she brought them over and placed one in front of Rosë. Rosë smiled gratefully at her and took it into her hands.
"Why wuz iht gehttihn tew yew so bahdly tuhday?" Bianca asked.
Rosë sighed sadly staring into her hot cocoa, "It was three years ago today."
"Oh," Bianca remarked awkwardly. Rosë chuckled at the Rude Girl's awkwardness.
For the next hour in a half Rosë and Bianca lost track of time and forgot what was going on around them. They forgot about the rings, the Fritton treasure, AD1; they forgot about their families, friends, and/or anything else that seemed to matter before then.
It was nearing two in the morning when the two girls finished up their hot cocoa that had gone lukewarm by then. Rosë took Bianca's empty mug and walked over to the sink. The light brunette went about washing them out, and felt Bianca's presence get closer as she walked over to dry them.
When they were finished, Rosë turned to Bianca and smiled. "Thank you," she told her.
"For wha'?" Bianca asked slightly confused.
"For cheering me up," Rosë told her. What happens next is what leaves Bianca frozen to her spot after Rosë has left.
Rosë stood on her tip-toes, placed a hand on Bianca's shoulder for balance, and placed a kiss to the dark skinned girl's cheek. She then lowered back onto flat foot, took her hand from Bianca's shoulder, and walked back to the dorms.
Bianca stood there for a moment, shocked, her fingers running over where Rosë had kissed her, a sudden rush of realization flooding her brain. She gets it. She finally gets what's been staring her in the face since school started. She finally understands the rush of attraction that filled her when she first laid eyes on Rosë in the dorm room earlier that year.
She was in love.
She then wonders if that's why her attitude went sour and she became a horrible, nasty person. Had she started to realize she liked girls and didn't want to face it? She knew very well now that she liked them, but never, ever had she liked a girl as much as she liked Rosë.
Pulling her hand away from the spot Rosë had pressed her lips, Bianca quickly made her way down the hallway until she was caught up with Rosë. And before the light brunette girl could say anything, Bianca pushed her up against the wall and pressed her lips against hers.
The kiss was hard, and passionate, and quick, over before the two of them could really realize what was happening. They stared each other in the eye in shock for a moment before quickly straightening out their night clothes and heading up to the dorms.