Because it had been both my fault and Zac’s that we had grown apart over the years, but Boogie had been right: you had to work on friendships and relationships, and there was only so much that could happen since I’d basically given up and retreated. Because of her. And maybe if I’d even remotely kept trying after I’d initially given up, he would have reached back out toward me with both hands.
Either way, she had been an asshole, and I wanted her to know that I hadn’t forgotten her words and deeds.
That was when a sliver of a thought of Zac seeing her hit me right in the chest. Of seeing her and remembering that they had dated for a little bit. Of the chances of him still finding her attractive and rekindling something.
But… oh well. If he wanted to start up a relationship with someone like her again all because she was beautiful, then… whatever. It would be on him.
But this, this was about me.
Pushing my shoulders down—I’d slipped my costume back on—I stood exactly where I was and said her name. “Jessica?”
The woman instantly looked at me in the reflection of the mirror, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion. She paused, like she was thinking about it, like she wasn’t sure if we knew each other and she’d forgotten, but answered after a second, “Yes?” She turned around, that confused expression growing on her still-pretty features.
Zac doesn’t have time for you anymore, sweetie. He has things to do, and he’s too nice to tell you that. Maybe if you tamp down how needy you are with him….
“My name is Bianca,” I told her, not expecting her to remember and not surprised when she didn’t react at all. “We knew each other a long time ago. You dated my friend Zac.” And just in case she had dated more than one Zac, I went into details. “Zac Travis.”
I had never in my life seen in person someone literally go white. I was pale and got even more pale during the winter, but I had nothing on her then. Not even close.
Then something else slid over her face. Fear. Panic.
Did she remember what she’d said?
Well, I wasn’t going to risk that she didn’t know what I had carried around word for word for the last ten years. “I don’t know if you remember, but you told me—”
She took a step back, bumping into the washbasin in a way that seemed like she didn’t even feel that she had. “Oh shit,” she whispered under her breath so low I barely heard it. “I’m sorry.”
She was already apologizing before I could even remind her of what she’d done? I’d been waiting for this shit for years. “Do you remember what you said to me?” I asked her as her hands went to the edge of the counter, like she was trying to hold herself up.
“I—I—shit. Shit,” the woman stuttered. “I’m sorry, I forgot. I… I forgot. I meant to only do it for a little while…. For a couple months, but I for-forgot until now…. Shit. Shit, shit, shit,” she echoed, staring at me with wide, fearful eyes that made zero sense.
What the fuck was she talking about?
“You only meant to do what for a little bit?” Did she have me confused with someone else? Had she been ugly to another person in Zac’s life? One of his cousins, maybe?
But she didn’t respond, because she was too busy chanting, “Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit,” under her breath as she lifted her hands to her face… and then dropped them suddenly.
Drama queen much? I’d had this planned for years. I’d lain in bed and worked out my speech a long time ago, ready for just this opportunity, and now she was trying to turn it around and make it about her? Nuh-uh.
“You said things to me. Do you remember? You told me I was—”
The pretty woman shook her head, face still paler than pale, and took a step forward. “Look, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for what I did. I shouldn’t have come—”
My mouth ran off before I could stop it. “Yeah, you should be. You were mean. I had just been a kid and you—”
She put up a hand, like to try and keep me away from getting too close to her. “He loved you so much, and I was just jealous, and I’m so sorry—”