Chasing Alana

05 | Alana's Story

*TW: small mention of self harm*

"Ashy."

There she was, walking towards the group with her dyed blond hair. She latched herself onto Asher's arm, smiling up at him with her signature fake facade that Alana could always see through.

Tiffany Burke.

The air around them grew tense as Alana felt herself stiffen. She had not expected Tiffany to be there, but lo and behold the woman was now standing in front of her. Surely, Marianne would've warned her, right?

As soon as Asher felt her touching him, he quickly shoved Tiffany's hands off of him. He, too, had no idea Tiffany was going to be there, seeing as Marianne would've never invited the one girl she hated so much.

He had broken up with her years ago, a little after Alana had left, so he had no idea why she was even acting as if they'd been dating for forever. Tiffany was still stuck in an alternate universe of delusion that Asher was still hers.

Tiffany pouted, her lips glistening under the light due to the layers of lipgloss she had applied. She turned her head, eyeing Alana with distaste before putting on a fake innocent smile onto her face.

"Alana didn't know you were going to come," she smirked, giving Alana a look once over. "It's so good to see you again."

Lies.

"It's... good to see you, too, Tiffany," Alana returned the fake smile, a smile that did not reach her eyes.

"Why are you here?" Asked Marianne bluntly, causing Tiffany to narrow her eyes at her. Marianne tended to be more on the blunt side when she was tipsy.

"Surely, you would have remembered to invite me— seeing as our dads are great business partners," Her tone was in between a sneer and sarcasm. And as usual, she was hiding behind her father— using that to her advantage.

Alana turned to give Marianne a look of disbelief, causing the latter to cough. Marianne hid a scoff that had accidentally come out, knowing that Alana seemed to be thinking the exact same thing as her.

"Come on, Lani, I want to show you around."

Seeing an opportunity to escape, Marianne grabbed Alana's hand and began to lead her away from the group. When they were finally away from earshot, she began to frantically apologize.

"I am so sorry, babe," Marianne felt a bit sobered up due to the appearance of the girl they both resented. "I promise I didn't know that the two-faced bitch was going to be here— I didn't even invite her. She's the last person I'd want here and I just- I don't even know how she found out about this. I think dad accidentally mentioned it to her dad and I'm just so so sorry. You know I'd never intentionally-"

"Hey, relax Mari," reassured Alana, putting a stop to Marianne's rant. "It's okay— really. I feel fine."

"Are you sure? Because I totally understand if you want to leave..." Marianne's voice trailed off, causing Alana to pull her into a hug. Alana understood how important this was to her best friend and she wasn't going to let the appearance of Tiffany ruin this for Marianne.

The simple engagement barbecue may have seemed no big deal, but it was the first step closer to her getting married to the love of her life. Marianne spent days planning the barbecue, going out of her way to decorate her new home, even asking Alana for opinions on food choices and decor.

"I'm sure," promised Alana, lightly squeezing Marianne. "I mean, I was a little surprised to see her, but I'm not scared of her— not anymore."

"And you shouldn't be. She has nothing to threaten you with or hold against you— if anything she should be scared of you," added Marianne, letting go of Alana as she lowered her voice. "How's everything going with Lee by the way?"