Chapter Text
Bianca liked to think that what she was doing was noble. It was a word she was certain meant “good intentions” or “doing the right thing to make everyone happy”. She’d look it up in the dictionary. Maybe. But getting Kat a date would definitely make everyone happy. Her sister would finally realize that being an angry feminist didn’t mean you had to hate all men. Especially cute ones with Australian accents. A boyfriend would make Kat happy. It’s what Bianca thought anyway. She couldn’t be sure. She wasn’t allowed to date. Not yet anyway. So, yeah, back to the whole noble thing. It was noble, because if her dad finally saw how happy dating made Kat, maybe he’d calm down and be happy himself. Maybe even forget about Mom. Bianca, of course, would be happy because Kat dating Patrick meant she could date Joey, and having Joey on her arm would boost her status at school. She’d be part of a power couple like Posh Spice and David Beckham. Joey being a babe didn’t hurt either.
And Cameron. Well, he’d get over her. Bianca was helping him too. Because instead of letting him pine away for her while she strung him along, it would be over quickly. Using Cameron would be like ripping off a band-aid. No painful dragging it all out. She was doing him a favor; he’d be fine. It was a totally noble thing to do.
Tonight was the night. A party. With Joey! “It’s just a party, Daddy,” she’d said with a straight face, adding a little whine to her voice, hoping to play into his sympathies.
“And Hell is just a sauna,” was his reply. He was always dramatic like this. She blamed her mom. Her leaving had triggered some primal need in him to protect his daughters from the big bad world. Bianca never thought much about her mom anymore. But she did leave behind some nice pearls. Pearls Bianca was wearing tonight with her cute red dress. Maybe that’s what set him off. No, it didn’t matter. Everything set him off. Hopefully, that would change soon.
For whatever reason, Kat decided not to be a freak for once and agreed to go to Bogey’s party with Patrick Verona, which, according to the rule, meant Bianca could go. A fact she had to remind her dad of several times before he gave in. But not before making her wear that fake pregnancy belly. In front of Chastity!
“Your dad is seriously messed up,” Chastity said as they got into the backseat of Kat’s car.
“Tell me about it,” Bianca agreed. It was true, but Chastity didn’t have to rub it in. And besides, he’d been normal before. It wasn’t her dad’s fault his wife had a midlife crisis and bought a one-way ticket to Europe. Bianca wondered if she was still there. They hadn’t heard from her in two years. An email wishing Bianca a happy birthday had popped up in her dad’s AOL three weeks past her actual birthday, but that could’ve been sent from anywhere. She brushed her fingertips along the pearls resting on her collarbone.
“So is your sister really dating Verona?” Chastity asked Bianca. The angry woman scream-singing from Kat’s stereo drowned out her voice, keeping the question between just the two of them.
“That’s the plan,” Bianca said, glancing up front. Patrick was smiling as he talked to her sister. Kat’s face wasn’t visible, but Bianca imagined a scowl on it. “Just hope it works out between them, because you know, my dad’s rule.”
“What about Camdon? Won't he be at Bogey’s party too?”
Bianca shrugged, not bothering to correct Chastity getting Cameron’s name wrong. “I’ll let him down easy.”
When they got to the party, Bianca immediately separated from her sister. Kat had made it possible for her to be there, but that didn’t mean they had to stay together. Not with all these people from school around anyway. And Kat hated Joey. If she knew he was the reason Bianca wanted to go, things might get weird. Bianca definitely didn’t need a scene between them smearing her reputation.
Joey wasn’t hard to find. She just followed the trail of guys who tried to glom onto him, hoping his popularity would rub off. Which was kinda her thing too, but less pathetic, because she was already popular. Joey greeted her with a smile and draped his arm over her shoulder. Chastity looked jealous.
But Bianca couldn’t avoid Kat forever, even at a party this size. Joey, like the dreamy idiot he could sometimes be, made things worse by showing off that they were together. “Hey, Kat. Look who found me,” he called out to her.
Bianca inwardly groaned, but tried to act unaffected and brushed past her sister like nothing was wrong. “Wait,” Kat said, reaching out.
“Please do not address me in public,” Bianca replied, shaking Kat’s hand from her arm. It sounded harsh, but she needed to end their fight before it began. Kat was going to ruin her chance with Joey.
“But there’s something I need to tell you.”
Yeah, like how Joey was superficial and would only use her. Bianca knew that. She was using him too. Kat might have a self-righteous worldview, but Bianca had her own goals for happiness. “Look I am busy enjoying my adolescence. So scamper off and do the same.” She scanned the room for Patrick and found him nearby. “Maybe you could start by having a drink and paying attention to your date like a normal person.”
Joey nudged Bianca’s elbow and then linked his with hers, before they walked out of the room together. She hoped Kat would take her advice, otherwise the plan between Patrick, Joey, Cameron, and Cameron’s nerdy friend might crumble. Come to think of it, she’d seen that friend prancing around earlier, but not Cameron. Bianca kept an eye out for him though, because despite thinking that letting him off the hook was noble, she still felt a tiny bit guilty and was not eager to hurt him. He was sweet in his own way. Just not Joey material.
And what exactly was Joey material? Hot. Popular. Rich. A little full of himself ... well, maybe a lot full of himself. She could deal with that. He was a model and actor. That came with the territory. No one could get anywhere important in life without confidence. Okay, but he could at least pay some attention to her. She was finally wearing her super cute red dress that had hung in the closet for months. The one she bought anticipating this very moment. Her first real date. Joey hadn’t mentioned it or the way she’d styled her hair. Chastity had at least given her lip service back at the house. “Oh, you look so cute,” she had gushed in that fake voice of hers.
But Joey couldn’t even give her the bare minimum. It was fine though. She could listen to him go on about another commercial gig, this one for ... hemorrhoid cream? Ew! Bianca eventually left after Joey began showing her poses from his underwear ad, but only because when she said, “Hey, uh Joey, I’m thirsty,” he’d told her where she could find the drinks. In all the ways she’d imagined her first date going, getting her own drink had not been part of the fantasy.
“Is it just me, or does this party all the sudden suck?” Bianca complained to Chastity as they stood near the bottom of the staircase. She was on her way back up to see if Joey was still posing but stopped after seeing Cameron underneath a nearby archway. His eyes locked with hers, and he smiled.
“Something tells me it’s going to suck a lot more for Camden in a few seconds.”
Bianca ignored Chastity- who sounded much too gleeful about the whole thing- and smiled back at him. “Hey,” she said.
“Hey,” Cameron repeated, looking shy but hopeful as he used his hand to push back his floppy brown hair. Ugh! This was going to be more painful than she thought. “So uh, y-you, really look amazing,” he stuttered. “Red is a good, uh, color on you.”
For a split second, Bianca was sure the room grew quiet. Like one of those scenes out of a movie, when something profound happens. “Thanks,” she replied, hating how her smile pulled from sham plastered grin to genuine in seconds.
“And we all know I look amazing.” Bianca glanced behind her and saw Joey making his way down the stairs, wearing a smug grin. After reaching the bottom, he pulled on her elbow until she fell against him. “Bianca, let’s go, we’re all congregating around Mr. Cuervo,” he told her, his arm snaking around her back, in a clear show that they were together. Her stomach knotted watching Cameron’s face fall, but Joey being here was actually a good thing. He was taking the job of breaking Cameron’s heart from her. She wouldn’t have to do or say anything hurtful.
“I’ll see you around, 'kay,” Bianca said, looking back as Joey pulled her away, trying her best to spin Cameron’s pained look into a positive. Tomorrow was the start of a new day for him with the band-aid ripped away. He’d get over her. This really was all for the best. Although, maybe not as noble as she originally thought.
Bianca found herself outside, hanging around a large group of people, but feeling very much alone. Joey was inside, part of a different group that was cheering Kat on as she table danced. Clearly she’d jumped headfirst into being normal. Getting trashed at parties was a teen movie cliché, and her sister was playing the part of stereotype by being blitzed out of her mind. No way sober angry feminist Kat would be caught dead table dancing at a party. Patrick would have to be their DD. After a quick search, Bianca found him helping Kat walk off her multiple drinks, and felt a pang of jealousy. Not that she wanted to be drunk. She’d only had one beer, and that was enough for her. No, it was the way Patrick was caring for her sister. Joey barely noticed Bianca unless he was trying to show her off to the right people. Look who I’m with. Ta Daah! As if bragging and then forgetting she was even there.
He did come looking for her eventually. Chastity was hanging off his arm. Unlike Bianca, it seemed she’d had more than one beer. “A bunch of us are heading over to my place. Wanna go?” Joey asked.
Bianca really didn’t, and for once was thankful for her dad’s over-protectiveness. “Oh man, I can’t. Curfew.” Joey was too drunk to notice the lack of disappointment in her response, and seeing an opportunity, Chastity swooped in to take her place, leaving with Joey instead. Bitch. It looked like Bianca was stuck here until Patrick finished helping Kat. Last time she’d seen them they’d been walking towards a swing set in Bogey’s yard. Bianca headed in that direction but hesitated when she saw Cameron. He looked miserable and gave her a passing glance as he walked by. “Having fun?” he asked, sounding just a little bit accusatory.
It was a rhetorical question that she answered anyway. “No.” Bianca felt just as miserable as he looked, like she was disappearing into the sea of people around her. A small, insignificant thing, who wasn’t really as popular as she thought and took for granted the people who wanted her around for the right reasons. “Cameron, wait,” Bianca said, an impulsive idea taking over. He turned around slowly. “Can I get a ride?”
Cameron reluctantly agreed but on the drive home all her attempts to apologize failed. She was definitely whelmed with what she’d done to him and how she might try to fix it. Thoughts bounced around in her head; none of them sticking to form the right string of words that would show how bad she felt. It was Cameron who eventually broke the silence after parking near her house. “You know, just because you’re beautiful doesn’t mean you can treat people like they don’t matter.” Bianca felt the sting of truth, but also the kindness in how he framed it. Cameron still thought she was beautiful even if her heart was ugly. “You never wanted to go out with me, did you?” he asked.
“I did, but …”
“Joey was a better option?”
Bianca didn’t answer.
“Look, I really like you. I defended you when people called you conceited. I helped you when you asked me to. I learned French for you. And then you just blow me off. Like I don’t matter.”
“I think you matter,” Bianca quietly said, before deciding that showing him her apology was more persuasive than telling. She kissed him. Her first. His stunned look as she pulled away was totally worth her taking the risk, and he still seemed unsure of what had happened between them as she got out of his car.
“See you in school on Monday,” she said, waving goodbye.
“Uh, huh,” Cameron answered, sounding dazed, which made her giggle.
After watching him drive away, Bianca walked towards her house, wanting nothing more than to avoid her dad, but when the squeak of the front door hinges announced her presence, he predictably sprang into action. An eternity passed as he forced her to answer a hundred and one questions about the party, all of which she knew were coming and had rehearsed for.
“Daddy, I’m tired,” she said with a yawn. “How many more times can I tell you, it was boring. So boring I came back before Kat because you know, she wanted to stay, being into all things lame.” She laid the apathy on thick and finally her dad accepted that she was, in fact, still his innocent little Bianca. Ironically, Kat the table dancing queen probably wouldn’t get nearly as much grief from him.
Once inside her room, Bianca kicked off her heels, removed her mom’s pearls, but stayed in the red dress Cameron had complimented, before falling backward onto her bed, making a little excited noise as she crashed down. Now this felt noble, or maybe more like epic. Doing something she wanted to do, and not just because it would improve her status at school, felt … good. She still wasn’t sure how to deal with Joey, but for now, it didn’t matter. Bianca had kissed a boy for the first time and it was for all the right reasons.
Later, before Kat came home, Bianca snuck into her sister’s room and stole the dictionary she always kept on hand for writing. Kat was such a nerd for writing angsty poetry. Bianca had read some. She thought they weren’t so bad, but would never tell Kat this. She already held so much power over her. Bianca wouldn't give her the satisfaction.
“Noble,” she read quietly, sitting cross-legged on her bed. “Possessing, characterized by, or arising from superiority of mind or character or of ideals or morals.”
Hmmm. Maybe not yet. But Bianca wanted to try.