Page 1 of Say It Isn't So

Chapter One

Bianca

two years ago

All eyes weregoing to be on me.

I looked down at what I was wearing one more time and fixed my girls so they wouldn’t spill out. It was no use, though, because the straps holding up the top might as well have been made of floss.

It didn’t bother me that the top of the dress would grab attention.

What bothered me was not knowing if they’d think:wow, those deserve a medal of honor, orwow, one is bigger than the other.

Which was true, by the way. Ugh, that did it—I had to change.

“Come on!” My older sister, Allegra—or Allie as she was affectionately known by us sisters—called to me, popping her head into my bedroom with one hand on the doorframe. “Everyone’s here and the guest of honor is nowhere to be found. Mom and Dad didn’t throw you a graduation party for no reason, you know.”

I rolled my eyes as dramatically as a mean girl at school who was looking down on the science geeks.Big deal, I graduated college.

My gaze was trained on the full-length mirror sitting in the corner of my room, which was fit for a princess. What would it have been like if I hadn’t owned a mirror at all? Then I wouldn’t have had to be subjected to my imperfections. I once watched a dystopian movie where they only got so much time to look in a small mirror before it was covered up, and that was that.

I rolled my tongue over my teeth in full-on concentration mode. Yeah, the no mirror thing wouldn’t have worked for me. “I’m not ready,” I finally confessed.

Technically Iwasready.

Hair? Check.

Makeup? Check.

Dress (ignoring the whole super thin straps thing)? Check.

Stilettos? Check.

Before she could leave, I ran over and tugged her into my room like she was a ragdoll. “Wait! Come here. How does this look?” I asked, pulling at the straps again.

“You look hot, just like you’re supposed to in this dress. Stop fussing with the straps.” She pulled my hands down, dropping them at my sides, and leaned on my white oak dresser, obviously waiting for me to see it her way.

I looked down, brows furrowed. “Are you sure?”

“You’re twenty-two with a great rack. Of course! Now, let’s go,” she insisted, then walked to the door.

Fine, she’d won this round, I thought to myself, and followed her.

Our two other sisters were waiting for me by the time Allie and I got to the top of the staircase.

Maria, my oldest sister, was holding a camera, a big smile on her face. “You look like you just graduated college a year early,” she exclaimed.

You see, Maria was the most sentimental one of us all. Perhaps it came with the territory of being the oldest, or because of those scrapbooking classes she took with our mom. Either way, if anyone knew how crazy sentimental she got, it was my sisters.

I chuckled and peered over at Allie before looking back at Maria. “I didn’t know there was a look for that.”

Maria nudged Perla, my youngest sister, whose focus was on her phone, texting someone. “Perla,” Maria called to get her attention, since the nudge clearly wasn’t working. “Back me on this one.”

Allie snickered. “I don’t think Perla is paying attention.”

“What?” Perla finally glanced at me and gasped. “Oh.” She came close and touched the straps on my dress. “Dad’s going to freak when he sees you wearing this.”

He would, wouldn’t he? Which meant that my boyfriend, Joey, would love it, right?

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