Chiara [PUBLISHED] ✔️

Seven

"And then, she told me if she were Maeve, she wouldn't have let me go!" I shouted, attempting to open the wine bottle screw. Steph bought three bottles and one of them was already gone.

The sun set entirely and the day was over. The fact it was Monday didn't stop me from drinking tonight. I didn't really like alcohol, but sometimes I needed something to take the edge off. Especially now, when so many things were on my mind.

"Don't read into it, Jackie. It's just an expression. Like when I tell you that you look totally bangable without your glasses. I don't really want to bang you." Bryan murmured, saluting with the plastic cup.

"Thanks, Bryan." I buried my face in my hands. "Good to know the only compliments I receive are either from you or my mom."

"That's not true." Steph jumped in, scrolling through Chiara's Instagram. "Didn't Chiara technically tell you that you look good without glasses?"

"Apparently, it's just an expression!" I sighed and leaned my head onto the bed behind me. We were on the floor in our room and we were very close to spilling the wine all over the fluffy, emerald-coloured carpet.

"Jackie," Bryan said my name gently, which meant he was possibly about to insult me or break down the cold hard truth, "If Chiara was gay, I would know."

"Then why does she keep touching me?" I raised my eyebrow.

"She touched you?" Steph squealed. "Where?!"

"My hand, you perv." I muttered.

"I don't know why she keeps touching you." Bryan said, "Some girls just like touching people, you know, hugging and whatever."

"Plus, she's dating Josh." Steph turned her phone to me just to prove something we all knew. The picture showed her and Josh kissing at some gala.

"Maybe it's a cover?" I squinted.

"Maybe she's using him for his money!" Steph suggested.

"Chiara has way more money than him." Bryan noted. "She is richer than God Almighty."

"I don't think God's wealth is measured in US dollars." I said.

"And Chiara's sexual orientation is not determined by your wishes." Bryan warned me and I nodded, knowing well enough I ruminated over something for absolutely no reason.

"Gosh, such a life is so unfair." Steph mumbled. "Look at this! Look at these parties and all these people! Hell, there's a picture of her with Billie Eilish!" Steph scrolled through the pictures like a maniac and I simply admired Chiara's beauty.

"She doesn't seem stuck-up, not like all other people that go here." I noted, remembering how embarrassed she was when she said she didn't understand the meaning of Gatsby.

"Don't believe everything you see." Bryan said, but leaned over Steph's shoulder to look at her phone. "She has a lot of clothes, though." He added wistfully.

"She has an inner pool and an outer pool at her home! You're legally not allowed to have a life this perfect!" Steph was overly exited.

"But she doesn't flaunt it." The wine made me defend her. "Compared to the other girls around her, you know?"

"She doesn't flaunt it?" Bryan repeated my sentence and rolled his eyes. "First day she returned, she wore Oscar de la Renta to school. If that's not flaunting, I don't know what is."

"Uh..."

Bryan narrowed his eyes, "That dress cost five thousand dollars, Jackie."

"How did you even recognise that?" I asked.