Chapter
18
That night, shortly after Bianca
arrived home, the phone rang. She
checked the caller ID and smiled when she saw her best friend Brianna Chambers’
name. “Hello?” she said, answering the
phone.
“Hey, girl!” came Brianna’s perky voice. “What’s up?”
“Not much; just got home from dinner.”
“Who’d you go to dinner with?” Brianna asked curiously.
On the other end, Bianca rolled her eyes. “Just Howie and Krystle and Nick,” she
said. “It was nothing, Bree, and you
know it.”
“Hm… Nick, eh?” Brianna asked teasingly. “So it was Howie and Krystle… the
couple. And Nick… and you…?”
“Yes, but just as friends,” Bianca told her sternly. “I don’t like Nick like that, and he definitely
doesn’t like me like that either. I’m
not sure he even likes me as a friend, but that’s a whole nother matter.”
“Aw, Bean, don’t worry about it.
I’m sure it’s not that he doesn’t like you. He’s probably just shy or something. Or who knows – maybe he has a crush.”
“I’m not worried about it.
I could care less what Nick thinks of me, and even if he did have a
crush – which he doesn’t; he can’t stand me – I wouldn’t go out with him,”
Bianca replied stubbornly.
“Well, when are you going to start
going out with people?” Brianna asked.
“Brianna! It’s been three
weeks!” Bianca cried. “How could you
honestly think I’d even consider going out with other people?! It’s way too soon! I’m not even close to being ready for another
relationship! In fact, I don’t think
I’ll ever be ready!”
“Sheesh, don’t bite my head off, okay? I didn’t mean it like that… although you
can’t just dwell on this forever, you know.”
“I love AJ. And I miss
him. And it’s killing me, Bree. I think about him all the time… and I hurt
all the time. And it hasn’t gotten any
better since it happened. It’s gotten
worse actually,” said Bianca. “See, that
first week after it happened… I was numb.
Completely numb. But now the
numbness has worn off, and the pain has set in.
And it’s horrible. Not like you
would understand. But it is.” Her voice was thick, and she could feel tears
stinging her eyes yet again. She swiped
at them, furious at herself for crying again and furious at Brianna for causing
her to get upset. It wasn’t really
Brianna’s fault though; she cried at the drop of a hat nowadays.
“I… I’m really sorry, Bianca,” Brianna said meekly. “I didn’t mean to make you upset.”
“It’s okay,” Bianca sighed.
“Everything makes me upset. But
forget it, let’s change the subject, okay?”
“Okay…” said Brianna hesitantly.
“Well… the reason I called is Christmas.
You’re coming home, aren’t you?”
Christmas! Bianca has
nearly forgotten that the holiday was in less than two weeks. She wasn’t exactly sure how she could forget
when all the streets and stores were all decked out, and the TV was jammed with
holiday specials, but this year, the Christmas season brought her no joy. It would mark her first Christmas without AJ,
and while everyone else was bursting with holiday cheer, she was in misery.
“Yeah,” Bianca said dully.
Her parents had called the week before asking that same question, and
she had dutifully promised to drive back to North Carolina to spend Christmas
with her family.
“Well, how long are you staying?
Past New Year’s?” Brianna asked hopefully.
“Yeah, I could. Why?”
Bianca asked, inwardly groaning. It
sounded like Brianna had some party planned, and the last thing Bianca felt
like doing was partying.
“Because – the whole gang’s coming for New Year’s! Nicole, Louise, Hayley, Liz… they’re all
coming home!” Brianna announced excitedly.
Bianca smiled nostalgically at the thought of their old high
school circle of friends, who had scattered throughout the country like dust in
the wind – Bianca in Florida, Nicole in Alabama, Louise in Connecticut, Liz in
Illinois, and Hayley in California. Only
Brianna was left in North Carolina, where they had all grown up together.
“Oh… that’s great!” Bianca said, trying to sound as excited as
Brianna. In truth, although the prospect
of seeing her old friends was nice, she didn’t much feel like socializing.
“We’re gonna all get together and do something for New Year’s,
just like we used to,” Brianna went on.
“It’ll be a blast!”
“Yeah, that’ll be fun,” said Bianca with enthusiasm she did not
feel.
“Okay, so you’re in?
Awesome!” Brianna gushed, without waiting for an answer. “Well, I better go now, it’s time for Jason’s
bath. Talk to you later, okay?”
“Okay,” said Bianca. “Bye,
Bree.”
”Bye, Bean,” replied Brianna, and there was a click as she hung up on the other
line. Bianca hung up as well and put the
phone back in its cradle, wishing she could share Brianna’s excitement.
***
Three days before Christmas Eve,
Bianca decided it was high time to brave the crowded stores and get her
Christmas shopping done. She would be
leaving for North Carolina in two days and wanted to at least get presents for
Howie, Eddie, and the other friends she had in Orlando before she left. She could always finish up shopping for her
family and her friends who would be coming home for New Year’s when she got to
North Carolina.
Traffic was bad. It seemed everyone was out that day doing
some last minute shopping. Impatiently
waiting at the end of a long line of unmoving cars, Bianca turned on the
radio. As a cheesy ‘N Sync Christmas
song came to an end, a news brief came on.
And of course, even during the holiday season, it was bad news.
“The body of twenty-three-year-old
Becky Cooper was recovered early yesterday morning from Winnopega Lake, just a
few miles from her home. Cooper
disappeared eleven days ago from her home outside Orlando, Florida. Following an autopsy done on her body last
night, police have revealed that her death looks to be the work of the serial
killer known as ‘The Smiley Face Killer’, who murders males and females in
their late teens and early twenties and leaves his mark on them, a smile face
carved into their abdomens. The FBI has
joined Florida police to find this killer and are asking that if anyone has any
information, they should call the toll-free hotline at 1-800-764-5437. As you may remember, the Smiley Face Killer’s
last victim was twenty-three-year-old Backstreet Boys member AJ McLean, who was
murd-“
With an infuriated groan, Bianca
crammed a CD into her car stereo and quickly turned the radio off. The CD began to play. It was her “Platinum Christmas” CD, which she
had purchased the year before only for the Backstreet Boys song on it,
“Christmas Time”. By habit, she went
quickly past the Britney Spears and ‘N Sync tracks to track eleven. The sound of jingle bells and Brian’s
heavenly voice filled her car and allowed her to take a deep breath and keep
her composure. But when AJ’s solo came
up, tears welled in her eyes, and she knew she had made a mistake. She quickly switched to the next track, but
tuned it out, the lyrics to “Christmas Time” still running through her head.
Do you remember
Everything felt so right
When I held you close to me
Do you remember
Those cold Christmas nights
When we saw the world in
harmony
Yes, I remember, Bianca thought sadly, thinking of the previous Christmas, when AJ
and his mother had stayed with her family in North Carolina over the
holidays. Everything had felt so
right then, and AJ had held her close under the Christmas tree, and it did
seem like the world was in harmony.
Christmas had a way of making you forget your problems. But not this year. This year, her boyfriend was dead, and there
was no way Bianca was going to forget it.
***
