Chapter 47 - The Only Person in the World I drove to Senior Lake before the sun had set, and waited . . . and waited . . . and waited . . . it was past midnight, and I was losing hope, when a familiar figure finally appeared.
"
Bianca? You came! I, um . . . I got you flowers."
"
Kara," she answered gently, taking my hands in hers, "
you know this isn't going to work out unless you tell Miles about us. If you could break up with him for me, then we could be together. I don't want to be the girl you cheat on your boyfriend with."
"
I want to, truly I want to. Nothing would make me happier than to be your girlfriend. I want us to be dating, then married, and I want us to have kids together . . . it's just not possible. Between my family and my boyfriend, it won't happen."
She stiffened, with anger and hurt clear on her face and turned to leave. "
Then I don't know what I'm even doing here! I'll just be going now, if that's okay with you and your--"
In that moment, I knew what I had to do. What I wanted to do for the rest of my potentially immortal life. And for once, what I did was right and perfect and beautiful.
They knew, when I went in to class. The article was everywhere, and there was a blurry picture of a neon-green girl and green-gray girl kissing by the lake. I could hear the whispers, and everyone was staring at me, but I hardly even cared.
He knew, too. He confronted me after class and asked if it was true. And I lied, again. "
I wasn't cheating on you--the picture was faked, obviously! Who's Bianca Frink, anyway? Oh, that girl? I barely know her! Maybe she pretended we were having a thing for publicity? At any rate, you're smart and sweet enough to trust your own girlfriend, right?"
Even my naive boyfriend wasn't completely convinced. It was fine, though. That night, I went to another party and thoroughly reassured Miles that I loved him, only.
The next morning was graduation, and I basically stood outside the stadium and waited with a guilty conscience. The universe is against me.
I played guitar all alone for hours, feeling like the only person in the world. I wish I was the only person in the world--I wish Bianca and I were the only people in the world. Then, everything would be perfect and Miles wouldn't be hurt and my family wouldn't be surprised. There wouldn't be people to point at me or paparazzi to shout questions or passerby to snap pictures on their cell phones.
I was the first one in line to receive the diploma. Of course there were whispers, and whistles, and laughter, but I kept my head held high. Who cares what these idiots think, anyway? They're going to die someday, and I won't.
The night before, I had dreamt of the day of my graduation. Literally. In one dream, Miles met me outside the stadium, with us both in our robes, and we stood together and talked quietly and kissed, enfolded in each other's arms until the truck came to drive me home.
In another dream, more of a nightmare, I searched for Bianca. I left the ceremony and looked everywhere, just wanting to see her one last time. I checked the library, where she spends much of her time.
I knew, desperately, that I had to find her before it was too late. But the robes weighed me down, entangling my legs and feet as I sprinted through the night. I staggered through the door to find Bianca . . . dead. Dried up from the inside, out.
The dream ended strangely, with me flirting with a pretty blonde named Sheryl who reminded me of the Sheryl from home, but much prettier. She was sweet, and friendly, but flirting with her made me feel sick in the pit of my stomach.
Worry not, for the real thing was much nicer. Remembering the awful nightmare, I avoided Miles after the ceremony and instead tracked Bianca down. She agreed to one last date almost before the words had left my mouth.
We drove to the park, the park where we had gone for our first-ever date that seems so long ago.
Somehow, I had remembered to bring my portable stereo, and set it up on the grass with the music playing softly. We danced together, hands held tightly, and I could see Bianca's beautiful dark eyes glimmering with a coating of tears.
Or perhaps it was only my own reflected crying that I could see.
Towards the end, I tried to be happy for her sake. I laughed, and twirled, and kissed her again, but we both knew it was all fake. I was going home in an hour, and Miles would visit Sunset Valley the next day to meet my family, all of whom expected a proposal and wedding soon after. I hadn't even told anyone at home about Bianca . . . how could I expect them to understand?
