11. Alison #2
“Custom.” Becca’s eyes light up. Bella continues.
“If your father’s going to be a pain in the ass about what you’re wearing, don’t lock yourself into something now.
Find a designer who can build it in stages.
Pick the fabric and the basic silhouette, then have the final structure and the fitting done right before prom. ”
Nobody speaks. Because — holy shit. Bella looks between us. “What?”
“Nothing,” Penny says quickly. Her eyes meet mine. A dress that isn’t finished until right before prom. A dress that can change with me.
Becca slowly smiles. “I fucking love you.”
Bella looks at her. “Understandable.”
I laugh. Bella’s eyes flick to me. Something about her expression softens for half a second. Then it’s gone.
She adjusts the book under her arm. “My mother knows someone in Manhattan. She does private fittings.”
Becca nods immediately. “Send me her name.”
Bella pulls out her phone. Of course Becca already has her number. I don’t know why that surprises me. Their families have probably been orbiting the same rooms since before either of them could walk. Bella types something.
Becca’s phone buzzes. “There.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t make it emotional.”
Bella’s mouth twitches. Penny watches the entire exchange with an expression I can’t read. Cat mostly looks fascinated. Bella starts away again. This time nobody stops her.
The bell rings before we can pull up another dress.
We gather our things. Penny and Cat head toward the science wing. Becca has a meeting with her guidance counselor before her next class, which leaves me walking toward English alone.
Bella is ten feet ahead of me. She glances back. Sees me. Keeps walking. Fine by me. I’ve never been alone with Bella Whelan. I’m not entirely sure anyone is supposed to be alone with Bella Whelan. It feels like something Edgewood should require a permission slip for. I almost smile at the thought.
We’re halfway down the corridor when she slows. Not enough that we’re walking together. Enough that I’m no longer ten feet behind her. For a few seconds, neither of us says anything. Then—
“Do you love him?”
I look at her. “What?”
Bella keeps her eyes ahead. “Victor.”
My stomach tightens. “What about him?”
“That wasn’t my question.”
I grip the strap of my bag. “Why are you asking?”
She shrugs. “Curious.”
“About my engagement?”
“Don’t make it weird.”
I stare at the side of her face. “You asked if I love my fiancé.”
“Okay, I care a normal amount.”
“What’s a normal amount?”
“Enough that I don’t want to watch someone marry a man she looks like she wants to crawl out of her own skin around.”
My steps falter. Bella keeps walking. I catch up. “I don’t—“
“Don’t.” I stop talking. She glances at me. “Don’t give me the Edgewood answer.”
“What Edgewood answer?”
“Good family. Good match. Good connections. Good future.” Her mouth twists. “Everybody wins.” I say nothing. “Except the two assholes actually getting married.”
Something about the bitterness in her voice catches me. “You don’t believe in arranged marriages.”
Bella looks at me like I’ve asked whether she believes in recreational drowning. “No.”
“Marriage?”
Her eyebrows pull together. “What?”
“You don’t believe in marriage?”
“Of course I believe in marriage.” I don’t mean to smile. Apparently I do. Because Bella notices. “What?”
“Nothing.”
“What?”
“I just didn’t expect that.”
She stops walking. “You didn’t expect me to believe in marriage?”
“I don’t know.”
“What the fuck do you think I believe in?”
“I really don’t know you.” That stops her. For a second, she just looks at me. Then something about her expression shifts. She starts walking again. I follow. “You believe in love?”
Bella looks genuinely offended. “Obviously.”
A laugh slips out. She looks at me. “Why is that funny?”
“It’s not.”
“You’re laughing.”
“Because I wasn’t expecting you to say it like that.”
“How should I say it?”
“I don’t know.”
Bella rolls her eyes. “I fucking love love.”
I stare at her. “You don’t exactly give off hopeless romantic.”
“Hopeless romantic sounds pathetic.”
“What would you call it?”
She thinks about that. Then— “The disgusting kind.” I laugh again.
Bella doesn’t. “I’m serious.” That shuts me up.
She looks ahead as we walk. “Completely fucking deranged. Ruin-your-life love.” There’s something different in her voice now.
No performance. No bitchy little smile. Nothing sharp.
“Someone looks at you and that’s fucking it.
Everybody else in the room could disappear and you wouldn’t even notice.
” My chest tightens. Ryan. “You’d burn everything down for them,” she continues.
“They’d burn it down for you. And neither of you would even have the decency to feel bad about it. ”
My mouth curves before I can stop it. Bella looks over. Her eyes drop briefly to my smile. Then back to mine.
“What?”
“That.”
“What?”
“That fucking face.”
My smile disappears. “I didn’t make a face.”
“You absolutely did.” Heat creeps up my neck. Bella doesn’t ask. That’s the strange part. She doesn’t ask who. Doesn’t tease me. Doesn’t demand anything. She just looks ahead again. “You don’t make that face when someone says Victor.”
Everything warm inside me vanishes. “Bella.”
“Don’t marry him.” I stop walking. She takes another step before stopping too. Slowly, she turns around. “What?” For once, there’s nothing mocking in her expression. No amusement. No boredom. No carefully sharpened edge. “Don’t marry him, Ally.”
My fingers tighten around my bag. “You don’t even know me.”
“I know enough.”
Something about those words makes my stomach turn. “Enough for what?”
“To know you don’t want him.”
“You don’t know anything about Victor and me.”
Her face changes. Tiny. But I see it.
“Don’t I?”
A cold feeling crawls down my spine. “What does that mean?”
“Nothing.”
“Bella.” She starts walking. I follow her. “What do you know?”
“Nothing you don’t.”
“Why do you care?”
She stops again. This time when she turns, she looks almost irritated. Not with me. With the question. “I told you.”
“That you love love?”
“Yes.”
“You barely know me.”
“So?”
“So why does it matter who I marry?”
Bella stares at me. Then shrugs. “Because you seem nice.” She immediately makes a face. “Don’t make me regret saying that.”
Despite everything, I almost laugh. “Okay.”
“And because Victor’s a fucking creep.”
There. My stomach tightens. “What do you know about him?”
Bella’s face closes. “Enough.”
“That’s the second time you’ve said that.”
“Then maybe stop asking questions you don’t want answers to.”
“I do want answers.”
“No.” The word is immediate. “You want out.” I go completely still. Bella does too. For one horrible second, I wonder if she knows everything. Ryan. The baby. Arthur. Tobias. All of it. Then she speaks. “There’s a difference.”
I swallow. “You don’t know that I want out.”
She looks at me. “Please.”
“What?”
“I’ve spent my entire life watching women smile beside men they fucking hate.” My heart beats harder. “Victor doesn’t want a wife.”
The hallway suddenly feels too quiet. “What does he want?”
Bella takes too long to answer. “Something that behaves.”
My stomach rolls. “Why would you say that?”
Her jaw tightens. “Because I’ve seen him.”
“Bella.”
Her eyes come back to mine. “Just…” She stops. Starts again. “If you have a way out, take it.”
My pulse pounds in my ears. “What makes you think I do?”
“I don’t.”
“You just said—“
“I said if.” She steps closer. Not threatening. Not invading. Just close enough that she can lower her voice. “And if you don’t have one yet, find one.”
I stare at her. “Why?”
Something shutters behind her eyes. “Because men like Victor don’t get easier after the wedding.”
Men like Victor.
Before I can ask, she steps away.
I stand there for another second. Watching her disappear around the corner. My hand moves unconsciously toward my stomach. I stop it before it gets there.
Bella doesn’t know. She can’t know. But she knows something.
Something about Victor. Something about the kind of man he is.
And suddenly I understand why Ryan looked at me the way he did when he told me Bella’s name was on that paperwork.
Why three girls from the same circle had forms started within days of each other.
Why Bella Whelan — who barely knows me — just looked me in the eye and told me to run.
I don’t know what connects us.
Not yet.