When I woke up it was the morning of the next day. My room was bright and I couldn’t open my eyes because of that but when I tried to lift my hand to shield my eyes I discovered there was someone holding it. For a moment I panicked thinking I was back in Mainland, restrained. But when I opened my eyes it was Siobhan and she had tears in her eyes.“Siobhan?”She threw herself at me and hugged me tight. “You are alive! I was worried. I was so worried I was never going to see you again.”I hugged her right back because I had missed her so much. My heart ached at the thought at I could easily have died and never seen her again. But when I released her and saw the bandage on her wrist my heart lurched.“Oh my God Siobhan, what did you do?!” I asked sitting up.She cried and told me what happened and as I listened I found it increasingly hard to believe what she was saying. There’s no way I can be Edna and Anton’s daughter. And Siobhan had tried to kill herself because of that?I felt so so
“It’s a bikini, just tie the strings, Bianca.” Siobhan, it’s pronounced ‘Shiv-awn’, spoke through the phone in a high pitch. I could hear the blast of the music station and the splash of the beach waves through my phone. She was probably posed in one of those magazine poses she copied off the numerous fashion magazines in our hotel room and it worked because guys fawned over her. The boys hanging around our umbrella flexing their muscles in a game of beach balls probably didn’t even notice I was gone. Siobhan was enough to hold their attention. She’s just that pretty. I had to leave because the stringy bikini she insisted I wear had decided to come undone just when I was about to join the boys in their games. Now here I am behind an abandoned ice cream kiosk trying to fix it myself. I tried once again to get a firm grip on the strings holding the front and the back together and once again it slipped off my fingers. “Need help with that?” a voice said suddenly. Throwing a glance ove
“You really need to try and dress a bit better, Bianca,” Siobhan whined. “What am I going to do with you?”It was hours since we left the beach and we were back in our hotel room looking nice and tanned. Siobhan was holding out a little peach dress, eyeing it with a critical eye. She looks good in whatever she wears though. Me the other hand, I was just trying to look for something to make my boobs look a lot bigger. And no it has nothing to do with that idiot who called my boobs small!“I try!”“Yes, you do. When are you not wearing sweats and old t-shirts,” she rolled her eyes. Digging into the box of clothes at the foot of the wardrobe she pulled out a white summer dress with floral prints with an exposed back and tossed it at me. “Wear this instead. Mom and Dad must be waiting downstairs already.”Since Siobhan and I became friends her parents became mine and mine hers. She had instead of vacations together so during summer and spring breaks we were either going on exotic trips wi
“Andre Rios, uhn?” Siobhan asked. I recognize that tone of voice. Believe me, there are many suckers who have been drawn in by that sweet tone. She knows how to enchant you and make you fall for her. It’s a rare gift she possesses that I don’t. My idea of flirting is probably poking my fingers in my eyes if I want to do that thing where I put my hair behind my ear while looking up from beneath my lashes. But Siobhan on the other hand excels at that kind of thing. We were in a golf cart of some sort. Well, it resembled a golf cart only difference is it was much bigger so Siobhan and I sat in the back while Andre drove. Andre. That’s a pretty name for a rude dude like him. Siobhan leaned her head to one side and locked eyes with him through the mirror. “That’s a nice name. Do you know any hot clubs around here?” “There are many but won’t your friend tell on you? She does look like the killjoy type.” “Bianca? Nah Bianca would never do that. Actually we are not kids just so you know,
“Who are you chatting with?” Siobhan turned her phone over to hide the screen. She looked up and smiled guiltily. “No one.” We were packing our things to return home for school. It was the last day of the summer vacation after all and school resumes in 3 days. Siobhan’s mom had called our room that the driver was on his way to take all four of us to the airport. After the dinner disappointment the other night both Mr. and Mrs. Hayes had made it up to us by getting a contractor to work on a new swimming pool in their house back at Hudson. For as long as I can Siobhan has wanted her own swimming, who knew all she needed to get it was her parents disappointing her for dinner? Turns out the business meeting her dad had skipped dinner for was successful, hence the promise of a swimming pool. I look forward to taking dips in it though. Siobhan had begged me to promise not to tell her parents about the club even though we barely spent ten minutes in there. I hadn’t even taken a sip of my c
As soon as the plane landed at the airport Mr. Hayes called a taxi for me to go home even though Siobhan protested that I should go home with them. We actually share a room in her parents' house. It had been an oversized princess-styled bedroom before until she got her parents to renovate half of the room for me. So now instead of just pink walls, pink wardrobes, pink closets, and everything, one half of the room was done in pink, that was her side of the room while the other side was purple, that’s my side. I had my own bed in her room, my closet, and everything. Even the bathroom now had half of it done in pink and the other purple. It’s an understatement to say that Siobhan’s parents' house is a home away from home for me. Although in my parents' humble home, we couldn't do all those restructuring and renovations since we are not so rich so when Siobhan comes around we enjoy sleeping on the floor while pretending to be camping in a forest.“Siobhan honey,” her mom said gently. “I’m
In the next days – actually just Friday and Saturday, Siobhan and I did our resumption shopping, sponsored by her parents of course. We actually didn’t need much but Siobhan will take advantage of any opportunity to buy new stuff. We spent the resumption night in my house in our pretend camp on the floor binging on chocolate and watching summer romance movies and yes she spent more time talking about Andre than she did watching the movies. Everything I know about Andre, I know against my will.I can honestly do without knowing a person like him exists because with the stories Siobhan tells me I can’t help but worry. But I guess I should be happy that he hasn’t sent dick pictures to her yet. If he does and she shows it to me like she usually does, I’ll probably puke.Dad came up the stairs to check on us – dad adores Siobhan. I’m his princess and yes she’s his boss’s daughter but of all my friends he loves Siobhan the most.“Is it safe to come in?” he asked.“Yes, dad,” Siobhan yelled.
The next morning I stood in front of my mirror adjusting my necktie. The plaid skirt stopped mid-thigh with my thick pantyhose covering what skin the skirt couldn’t. My white shirt was tucked into my skirt. Once I was done with my necktie I pick my blazer and wore it, attaching my Head girl badge on the left side. Time to go out there and lead. I met Siobhan just coming out of her apartment with one of our classmates, AdeShewa – Shewa for short. She smiled and waved at me. “Morning!” They both came over so we could walk together. Shewa playfully flicked at the badge. “I always thought Jessica was going to give me this,” she laughed. “I thought so too, I thought you guys were friends. And Annabel Reed did nominate you for Head girl didn’t she?” Siobhan asked. “Yeah. I did play a vital role in getting Christian and Jessica together and she betrayed me like this.” Shewa shrugged. She was always smiling, displaying her deep dimples so I knew she was joking. “But we will all agree tha
When I woke up it was the morning of the next day. My room was bright and I couldn’t open my eyes because of that but when I tried to lift my hand to shield my eyes I discovered there was someone holding it. For a moment I panicked thinking I was back in Mainland, restrained. But when I opened my eyes it was Siobhan and she had tears in her eyes.“Siobhan?”She threw herself at me and hugged me tight. “You are alive! I was worried. I was so worried I was never going to see you again.”I hugged her right back because I had missed her so much. My heart ached at the thought at I could easily have died and never seen her again. But when I released her and saw the bandage on her wrist my heart lurched.“Oh my God Siobhan, what did you do?!” I asked sitting up.She cried and told me what happened and as I listened I found it increasingly hard to believe what she was saying. There’s no way I can be Edna and Anton’s daughter. And Siobhan had tried to kill herself because of that?I felt so so
Andre’s POVIt was a lot of hours since we got the call from Carol. Anton already had the money ready. The rest of the group had gone to freshen up but I was told to stay back at the hospital.“But, Mr. Hayes, Carol wants me. That’s the only condition she offered for releasing Bianca, the money doesn’t matter.”“I will not leave you to her mercies. You are the only link I have to your father and if I must do something right, I will take you under my wings and look after you like a son. But I want you to stay here and look after Siobhan, make sure she doesn’t try to hurt herself again, and talk to her when she wakes up.”I nodded my head but I was still worried.“What if Carol doesn’t…”“I have enough money to bribe her to leave you alone. I can only hope she accepts it and leaves you alone for good.”Tears filled my eyes as I doved into his arms for a hug. He hugged me just as tight.“It’s the least I do for what happened to your father. Now stay back and keep Siobhan safe.”“Yes, sir
“I’ve got a call,” he announced to everyone else. We all gathered together, forming a small circle. He waited until everyone was there before picking the call. The phone wasn’t on loudspeaker but I strained my ears to hear what Carol had to say. Of course, she demanded money and made the request I knew she was going to make. Give me Andre Rios.When Anton dropped the phone from his ear he sighed.“Well?” Cole asked impatiently.“She will let Bianca go for a price and in exchange for Andre.”Four pairs of eyes turned to me, three of them curious to know why Carol would make such a specific request.It was Cole who voiced the question. “Why does she want you?” he demanded. “What do you have to do with this?”I started to answer truthfully but Anton interrupted me. “He has nothing to do with it but we will give her the money she wants and negotiate for him,” he pointed at me.Cole wasn’t convinced with his answer but the look in Anton’s eyes was one that demanded respect for his decision
Bianca’s POV“You said this was Siobhan Hayes!” Dez argued.“I said this is the girl, don’t put words into my mouth, Dez. And try not to argue with me. What did you learn?”Carol had sent Dez out early to scout for information around town. She wanted to be sure the police weren’t on their tail. But Dez didn’t have such good news.“The news is, one of the students missing from Edwin and Co., the Head Girl, is Bianca Davis and she was last seen in the company of a gang woman in Mainland.” Dez, though short had the build of a boxer and from the scars on him, I could see he has been in his own fair share of vicious fights. If I tried to escape how many steps would I take before he overpowered me?I didn’t even want to think about escaping. I just prayed silently that some miracle would happen and I would be allowed to go home.Carol listened to Dez for a moment and then nodding her head, looked in my direction.“Turns out you are causing a whole lot more trouble than I expected.” She turn
The next morning after a sleepless night I heard a knock on my door. I sat upright in bed thinking it was Siobhan. I was ready to confess now but first I needed to call Carol.But when the door swung open it was not Siobhan that was standing there, it was Edna. Her eyes were puffed and red and she looked extremely vulnerable.“Can I come in?”“It’s your house ma’am, you can,” I responded humbly climbing out of the bed. She walked over and sat gingerly on the edge of the bed. I joined her not knowing what to say or do.“Do you think I am a monster?” she asked. Her hazel eyes stared into my soul. I know what color Bianca’s eyes are, they are hazel but they definitely didn’t look like this woman’s. Yet…the possibility was there. “You are Andre, right? My daughter’s classmate. Tell me, Andre, and be honest with me, do you think I am a monster?”“You did exchange a child for one of the craziest reasons I have ever heard, anyone would think what you did was insane. But you cared for Siobhan
“When we couldn’t have a child I resorted to drastic measures…”“Yes, you invited me to your mom, Mrs. Hayes, under the guise of a friendly invitation, drugged me, and assaulted me in the hopes of getting pregnant when you feared your husband was sterile. You almost destroyed my marriage!” Bianca’s dad yelled holding on to his wife protectively.Judging by Siobhan’s reaction to the news this was the first time she ever heard of it. Her mouth hung open and if Anton hadn’t been holding her she probably would have fainted.“I apologized for that,” Edna moaned softly, her voice croaked. “I know it doesn’t change what I did but I regretted my actions that day, I felt like a monster for almost destroying you, and believe me even now I regret that decision.”“Yet you made another terrible decision, Edna. When does it end? The lies, Edna, when do they end?”“They end now. I’ll tell you what happened.” She sniffed. “Years after we got over that unpleasant issue I found out why we couldn’t have
Bianca’s POVIt’s hard not knowing what your abductors want from you.Well, I wasn’t blindfolded so I could see everything going on and one thing I realized was there was no way out for me. There was nowhere to run to when we were on the road and when we bypassed security and got to Mainland, Carla pulled out a gun and made sure I kept my lips shut as we made our way to town to a house she said belonged to Andre’s dad. It was a nice house but as we walked past rooms and halls I could see that it was lacking financially.How many more lies, Andre?Thinking about him broke my heart because I didn’t know what to think. Just last night we confessed our love to each other and found comfort and pleasure in our bodies. What was he hiding even then? Why wouldn’t he tell me?Even though my heart fought hard against my doubt it felt like everything was a lie. He and Carla – if her name is Carla at all, had it all planned. The ease with which I was taken out of school shows careful planning. Als
“Who is he?” Was Anton Hayes’s first question as soon as we got into the house. Siobhan’s mom had grabbed her almost as soon as we came out of the car, hugging her and crying as she kissed Siobhan’s hair and face.I think that was about the same time Mrs. Hayes noticed me standing there with my small luggage. Her eyes were hazel unlike Siobhan’s and very curious as she took in my appearance.“He is my classmate,” Siobhan said. “He lives far away so I offered him a place to stay. He can stay here right Dad?”Anton was staring at me a little too closely and I felt uncomfortable but then he grunted and I guess that means yes. A housekeeper came to carry our bags and I suppose she was going to prepare a room for me too.“What happened?” Mrs. Hayes asked, going back to hysterical. “The school suddenly called and asked that all students should be taken out of school. It’s all over the news but no one is saying anything. What happened?”Siobhan shared a glance with me and as she had been doi
“Please don’t!” Carol cried, putting her hand up.to stop him. “I will go with him, Alex. I will go to Edwin and Co. with him and get Siobhan back.”Alex stopped moving. His eyes were glazed over and he continued to stare at my pathetic state on the floor with Carol cradling my head on her shoulder. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t look like he could utter a word as he stared in a trance. I coughed and blood sputtered out of my mouth. Carol cleaned it up her face etched with worry lines.“I d-don’t…” I managed to say.“You have to.” Her voice was firm, her tone strong. “Come let’s get you away from here,” she said as she helped me up. I took a few steps, grunting in pain as I did and came to stand in front of Alex. He didn’t move out of the way but Carol steered me away from him and helped me as I walked away from the room.I heard a thud and went I glanced back Alex was on his knees on the floor. I looked away but I didn’t hear his sobs as he cried and wondered how he could have beat