Bianca's POV

I woke up to the sound of thunder.  It was dark, so I lay there for a bit until another clap of thunder sounded and Marcus jolted awake.

"What's going on?" he asked.  I went to look outside and saw nothing but rain.

"It's a storm," I said.  "I don't think I can go out, I'll get lost."

"It's a good thing I wasn't very hungry for dinner last night, seeing as you brought me like twenty snacks, so I kept my dinner," Marcus said. I blushed.

"Ok, I may have gone overboard on the helping out thing, but at least it means we have food now."

"Hear hear," Marcus said, handing me some berries.

A few hours later it was still raining. Until this point, Marcus and I had been passing the time by me reading to him, but my throat got dry, and we decided to take a break.

"So, what should we do now?" I asked.

"Um, how about 2 truths and 1 lie?" Marcus suggested. "I feel like I don't know you very well, and since we're stuck together we should get to know each other."

"Ok," I agreed, thinking that we had nothing better to do.

"I'll go first since I suggested it," Marcus said. "Let's see, how about this. I've been to Spain more than five times, I have a dog, and I have a little sister."

"Um... Is it the first one?"

"No, it's actually the second one."

"Oh." I'd figured the second one was the most likely one. "So you've been to Spain more than five times?"

"Yeah, um, my dad lives there, and I go to visit him when I can."

"Your dad lives in Spain?"

"Uh, yeah, he moved there after my parents, um, split up."

"Oh." I didn't want to push the subject, so instead I changed it. "And your little sister?"

"Yeah." His face noticeably brightened. "Her name's Hannah, she just turned 7 a few weeks ago. She likes playing pretend and her favorite animals are bunnies."

"She sounds adorable."

"She is. I miss her," he added.

"Alright, my turn," I said, to distract him more than anything. "I have two cats,  my favorite animal is a leopard, and I have a brother."

"The third one?"

"No, the first.  My brother's name is Daniel. He's in college now. We used to be pretty close, but now I don't see him much." I smiled remembering times with my brother.  We had been inseparable, but once he started high school he decided hanging out with his little sister "wasn't cool."  He started acting embarrassed whenever I was around him and his friends.  That really hurt me, and I guess that's really when I started trying to be popular at school.  I figured that since I wasn't popular with my own family anymore, I should become popular at school instead.  Looking back on it now, my brother's rejection really had a big effect on me.  It turned me into the person I am today, a stereotypical mean popular girl.

"Marcus," I said into the silence that had fallen, "I'm really sorry for how I treated you before, and the argument we were having, and everything mean I've ever done to you."

He looked surprised.

"Bianca, you don't have to apologize to me."

"But I want to.  I've been such a jerk to you, and that's not right.  It was shallow of me to hate you because of how you look, and I want to tell you that I know that now.  You're not a bad person at all.  So please, even if I don't deserve it, will you forgive me?"

He looked at me then, with such a determined expression in his eyes, and he spoke.

"Bianca, I already have."