Page 45 of Heart to Heart
“Well, Jay, maybe it’s time to request some overtime, eh?”
“Trying to eliminate the competition, since your plan failed to land you a spot on the group date?”
And there it was.I knew better than to hope for total silence from Bianca.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said, keeping my eyes trained ahead.
“That little stunt you pulled with the horse back there—the whole damsel in distress thing. Just like the stumble with the cake. You know you look ridiculous, right?”
My blood began to boil, and I could physically feel my blood pressure rise. Getting into a fight with Bianca hadn’t been on my Bingo card today, but I guess there was no better time than the present.
“Really?” I asked, turning around to face her in the seat behind me. “You think I forced the horse off course and had him meander down the side of a cliff, where one wrong move could have sent us both tumbling to our deaths?”
“It is kind of strange how these things keep happening to you and only you,” Juliette said with a shrug.
“Well, I can assure you that I’m not suicidal.”
“Oh, don’t be so dramatic, Avery,” Bianca scoffed.
“I’mbeing dramatic?” I asked incredulously, in an ironically far more dramatic tone than I’d intended. “Excuse me?”
“All she’s saying is that the things that keep happening to you seem a little too convenient, is all,” Courtney said.
Did all the girls feel the same way?The others in the van, Charlie, Macie, Eleanor, and Amelia, all looked vexed, their lips drawn together in a tight line, refusing to make eye contact with me.
“Let me tell you something that’s a little too convenient,” I said, feeling anger building to a crescendo. “What’s convenient is the fact that my shoe just so happened to break as I was walking to meet Tristan, whereas before, it had been perfectlyfine. I wonder who would have the motivation to sabotage the competition?”
“Oh, please,” Bianca answered, seeming more bored by my assertion than accosted. “Like I have the time to go through your things and destroy your clothes. With their poor quality, they’re bound to fall apart, anyway.”
“If you haven’t gone through my clothes, how do you know the quality?”
Bianca rolled her eyes. “Because I’m a fashion coordinator for Versace. I can spot a knock-off in my sleep.”
“What about Brittney Q.’s Dior dress? Are you telling me she cut her own strap so she could free-boob her way to a spot?”
“First of all, her dress isn’t really Dior. It’s a very convincing knock-off, but a knock-off, nonetheless, and I can assure you that I had nothing to do with that, either.”
Wait. If Bianca had nothing to do with the wardrobe malfunctions, that meant there was another sociopath in the mansion.
“Trust me, Avery, when I beat you, it’s simply going to be because I make the most sense for Tristan and not because of some gimmick I’m using to garner voter sympathy.”
One thing I learned from dealing with the mean girls in school was that no matter how much confidence they tried to project, underneath that poise, they were as unsure of themselves as the next person. Sometimes, even more so. The same had to be true for Bianca.
“Why are you so afraid of me?” I asked Bianca, as I was met with wide-eyed stares from the others in the van as the van itself jerked slightly as though I’d surprised even Jay.
Rattled, but only momentarily, Bianca returned my volley. “Excuse me?”
“If you’re so confident that you’re going to be the last woman standing at the end of this, then why do you care whatkind of scheme I may or may not be concocting or how many ‘sympathy’ votes I may be getting? You and I both know, having watched this show before, that the people with the craziest or sob stories may make it through half the season, but they never make it to the end. If anything, you should be blowing me off, knowing that I’m only shooting myself in the foot if you truly believe I’m manufacturing stupid things like broken shoes and cantankerous horses. But you’re not. And why is that, Bianca?”
Bianca began to open her mouth, but before she could provide some snide response to my question, I beat her to it.
“You know what? I know exactly why it is. You’re worried. You’re worried that maybe just this once, the quirky girl is going to beat the homecoming queen.”
In the back of the van, Charlie and Eleanor exchanged a look at each other that screamedOh shit.
“So, if that’s true, Bianca, instead of doing everything you can to tear me or anyone else in this competition down, maybe you should focus on yourself and make sure that you’re not only the choice that makes the most sense, but also the one who stands the best chance of winning. Especially seeing as the villains in this show never make it to the end, either.”
Still fuming, I turned back around, angry I’d let someone like Bianca get to me when, normally, women like her barely moved the needle on making me lose my shit. The competition, the isolation, the homesickness were all getting to me, and we were still only at the beginning.
