Filed to story: Once Upon a One Night Mistake Book PDF Free by Simone Shirazi
At that moment, the world seemed to freeze. There was no way this was happening. She wasn’t supposed to come back. Ever. She was supposed to stay away for the rest of her miserable existence, but apparently that wasn’t happening. Just like it hadn’t happened with Stick Girl.
“How soon is soon?” he hedged.
“My flight gets in on Monday. I’ll be back at Trinity on Tuesday.”
“Maybe I should consider leaving the country.”
“There’s no use avoiding me, Sebastian. I’m sure we’re bound to run into each other sooner or later.” The sound of voices calling her name and a few words in French that Sebastian couldn’t translate drifted over the line. “I better go. But one last thing.”
“What?” he asked impatiently.
There was a quick pause, and then, “I still love you, Sebastian.”
But he wasn’t going to let that get to him. Not again. “You don’t love anyone but yourself, Blair.”
The girl laughed. “See you soon.”
The line went dead with a soft click, and Sebastian lowered his phone, in a state of disbelief for the second time that evening.
The odds of both the girls he hated more than anything coming back into his life at the same time had to be astronomical. And yet there he was, stuck in a triangle of hate he’d never asked for.
He couldn’t believe his luck.
10
The Saga of Stick Girl & Cry Baby
Six o’clock on Tuesday morning came a little too soon for Taliana’s taste.
After two and a half months of freedom, it was finally time to return to the hell better known as school. In exactly two hours, she would be sitting amongst all the other trust fund babies that filled Georgetown Trinity to the brim, and she certainly wasn’t looking forward to it.
With a groan, she slapped at her bedside table to silence her alarm and stumbled out of bed to face the day. It took a good half-hour-long shower for her to wake up enough to realize she needed to get her ass in gear if she didn’t want to be late for homeroom, so after quickly toweling off, she scurried out of the bathroom to search for something to throw on. It was then Taliana spotted what looked to be a uniform on her bed, a souvenir someone must have deposited there while she was in the shower.
In the six years she’d been away from Trinity, she’d completely forgotten there was a uniform involved. Back in LA, she’d been free to wear her normal attire of shorts and t-shirts to school, but it looked as if those days were over. But the ensemble didn’t seem too bad: a simple white button-down shirt, blue plaid skirt, tie, and a blazer. While it wasn’t the best, it was definitely a step up from the awful pinafores they’d been forced to wear all through elementary school.
At least, that was what she thought until she actually put it on.
Taliana didn’t even have to look in the mirror to know she looked like the clich?d, dirty Catholic school girl. While the shirt and blazer were fine, the skirt was absolutely horrific. If the little detail that it was a skirt wasn’t bad enough, the fact that it barely fell to mid-thigh made her wonder if someone was playing some sick joke on her.
The thing was mere centimeters away from being indecent, and there was no way she’d ever be able to bend over in it. Squatting was definitely out of the question too, as was kneeling, causing her to question what she was supposed to do if she dropped something. Even walking too fast seemed like a bad idea, seeing as the fabric had the tendency to fly up even with the slightest breeze. Most days, Taliana didn’t mind being tall, but it sure made wearing certain clothes-like this skirt-pretty damn miserable.
Grumbling, she grabbed her bookbag, the blue-and-silver striped tie, a pair of black slip-ons, and stalked out of her room to join everyone else in the kitchen. In the chaos that was breakfast time in the Avilla household, Taliana didn’t expect anyone to notice her entrance. That morning, however, all eyes turned to her.
Though the TV was blaring in the background, it seemed like everyone had been stunned to silence. Katherine’s jaw had practically hit the ground, the twins were giggling behind their hands, and Taliana’s father looked uncomfortable.
“Is it really that bad?” Taliana questioned, even though she already knew the answer. “I could maybe throw on a pair of leggings underneath.”
“Leggings?” Marissa scoffed while her twin shot Taliana a disgusted look. “Um, ew. Besides, it’s like, ninety degrees outside. You’d burn up in those.”
“Yeah, but you can practically see my cooch,” Taliana pointed out, tugging on the hemline. “I’m going to end up flashing everyone.”
Taliana’s father groaned and ran hand over his face. “That’s not something I want to hear from my daughter.”
“Not something I really want to do either.” Taliana gave him a pat on the shoulder. “I think I’m shit out of luck until I can go buy some bike shorts though.”
“Language,” he warned tiredly, obviously not as concerned with her cursing as he was with the length of her skirt. “I suppose you girls should get going. You don’t want to be late on the first day.”
“Can I just stay home?” Taliana proposed, smiling hopefully. “You know, until I get a new skirt?”
“As much as I don’t want you leaving the house wearing that, you still have to go, kiddo.” He eyed Taliana’s outfit in distaste before meeting her gaze again. “Just don’t get arrested for indecent exposure, please.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’ll try my hardest not to.”
“Good,” he said, nudging her toward the door. “Now get out of here, all of you.”
After grabbing a granola bar off the counter, Taliana followed Vanessa to her car and crawled into the backseat. For the entire fifteen-minute drive, Taliana tried to stretch the fabric of her skirt enough to maybe give her another centimeter or so. Hell, she was so desperate that even a millimeter would have been good enough. Sadly, by the time they turned into the parking lot of Georgetown Trinity, she had little to show for her hard work.
“God, I missed this place,” Vanessa announced as she helped Taliana out of the car, looking happier than anyone should have been on the first day of school. “Well, I missed the people at least.”
Taliana frowned and glanced toward the front steps where students in identical uniforms were milling around, greeting each other after a long summer break. Though she wasn’t exactly new-hell, she probably knew most of the other seniors from back in the day-she still felt out of place enough to want to run in the opposite direction.
“Come on,” Marissa urged, tugging on Taliana’s tie. “Let’s go inside.”
If Taliana had the option of staying in the car for the rest of the day, she would’ve done it without hesitation. Unfortunately, she found herself being dragged across the parking lot toward the school. Marissa released her a few seconds later and then proceeded to shoot her a steely look.
“Try not to embarrass yourself today,” Marissa warned. “I’m a cheerleader this year, and the girls on the squad will totally tease me about anything stupid you do.”
Taliana had to suppress a laugh at how serious she was. “I’ll try my best.” She swung her gaze to Vanessa. “What about you? Will anything I do to embarrass myself affect you?”
Vanessa scoffed, waving a hand to dismiss the idea. “Oh please. Like my debate team cronies will even care.”
A bell sounded inside the building, causing the groups lingering outside to begin moving toward the front doors. With one last hard look in Taliana’s direction, Marissa turned and ran off squealing toward a group of girls with pink ribbons in their hair. Vanessa and Taliana shared a quick chuckle before Vanessa patted her on the back and took her leave with a handsome blond boy wearing thick-rimmed glasses. After both disappeared, Taliana fell into the flow of traffic and entered the unfamiliar hallways of Georgetown Trinity’s upper school.
She’d received her schedule a few days ago and had managed to memorize her first couple classes. After homeroom with Mr. Jones, it was off to English with Ms. Cohen, then to AP Latin with Mrs. Guston. It wasn’t a terrible morning schedule, but she certainly wasn’t looking forward to any of it.
She found her homeroom with little difficulty and settled into a desk near the back. The only people who even bothered to spare her a second glance were a few of the boys, whose eyes lingered longer than they should have on her legs. The final bell rang a minute later, and the teacher who’d been sitting behind his desk struggled to his feet with a clipboard in hand.