“I already have the movie on,” Bella said, pouring coffee and arranging cookies on a plate. “Brad Pitt at his hottest.”
“Which one?” Anne kicked her shoes off then went to help Bella carry the mugs to the living room.
“Legends Of The Fall. All I remember is crying several times and how hot Brad is. Ever seen it?”
“Yep. A long time ago.” Not a movie that would be good for her to watch at the moment. But, since Bella wanted to see it, and since she had never told her the entire truth about Finn, she couldn’t explain why she preferred watching something else.
“It’s so freaking sad,” Bella said, wiping a tear midway into the movie. “They loved each other, but she married his brother.”
“I need to pee,” Anne said.
“Speaking of relatives,” Bella said when Anne came back from the bathroom. “Remember I told you that rumor from school that Avery was trying to snag that old crush of hers, Jordan Delaney, because she brought him to judge at our Model UN? Now they say he’s with your friend, Hope.”
She remembered. Knowing the Delaneys, she couldn’t imagine Avery with him, but if Avery was dating, maybe, just maybe …
She extinguished that thought fast.
“Really? I just saw Hope recently. God, we need to expand the gene pool in this town,” Anne muttered. Jordan Delaney was Luke Delaney’s brother, and Luke was Libby’s fiancé.
“I know, right?” Bella laughed like she had when Anne had told her years before outside the Echo nightclub, that she had just experienced the best kiss of her life with Finn.
“There are so many good kissers out there, Anne. Trust me. You’ve just begun. You need to kiss more people. Simple statistics,” Bella had said back then.
“And who’s they?” Anne said now. “It’s always they say. This town is full of gossips. You can’t do anything without someone knowing and talking about it.”
That was why she had never confided in anyone, not even in Bella, about her and Finn beyond what Bella already knew.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“We’re going out to the Echo club tonight and I don’t want to hear a no,” Bella announced as soon as she picked up the phone. “It’s near Wayford.”
“Will they let us in?” Anne asked. She had come back home from Chicago for spring break, and Bella had called her almost immediately.
“Yes. But they won’t serve us. Do you have an I.D.?”
Anne chuckled. “Not a fake one.”
“We’ll manage.” Bella laughed. “There are so many new faces since you left. We’ll find you a boyfriend.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll find one for sure. Maybe more than one.” Bella laughed again. Like a butterfly that only had a day to live after months of chrysalis, Bella grasped at her newfound social blooming after high school.
Anne had dated two guys in college, but it hadn’t lasted long and hadn't even been close to Bella’s stories.
Soon after they reached the Echo in a cab, Bella met a guy she had a crush on.
“I’m going for one dance,” she said.
She soon disappeared, leaving Anne to stand alone on the sidelines. There were no seats available, and though she wore a pretty, little black dress, she felt like a fish out of water in this crowd. Most were older and hung out in groups.
After a while, she couldn’t see Bella on the dance floor anymore. She pushed her way through herds of clubbers and bystanders, thinking she’d suffocate if she weren’t tall.
She had no cell phone and neither did Bella.
Going to the foyer at the entrance and waiting there seemed like the best solution. Bella would have to pass through it at some point.
The foyer was a large, atmospherically-lit, carpeted space with a smaller bar than the one next to the dance floor. The music was loud out here, too, but it was less crowded. Sofas in various sizes, shapes, and colors were scattered around, creating a Mad Hatter’s living room ambiance. Most of the seats were taken by groups of people; some sitting, some standing, drinks in hand, chatting and laughing.