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Sydney Vale

"She's going to regret saying that about me."

0 · 4,653 views · located in Manhattan, NY

a character in “Upper East Side”, as played by StarStruck

Description

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Full Name:
Sydney Victoria Vale

Nickname:
Syd {friends}

Birthday:
08/28/1997

Age:
17

Sexual Orientation:
Heterosexual

Grade Level:
12

Hometown:
New York, NY {0-17}

Character Role:
The Queen Bee



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Grandfather:
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Alan Vale {Age 72}
Alan has been Sydney's primary caregiver since she was born seventeen years ago. After his daughter, Alice, became pregnant after a one-night stand, he pledged that he would raise his unborn granddaughter better than he had his own daughter. At the time of her birth, Alan was married to his second wife, Kathy, and the pair raised Sydney in their Manhattan home as Alice gallivanted around the globe. Kathy passed away of a sudden heart attack when Sydney was only four, so Alan is the person that she has the strongest emotional connection with in her family. Alan is the breadwinner of the family, thanks to creating and producing Saturday Night Live and The Tonight Show.

Mother:
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Alice Vale {Age 40}
Alice may be Sydney's mother biologically, but she never stepped up to the role emotionally. She was and is too focused on her life as a socialite to commit to raising a child. As it has been for the past seventeen years, Alice stops by to visit Sydney sporadically a few times every month, mostly in between trips to Europe and the Caribbean, and occasionally to flaunt her daughter at parties in New York. Sydney has grown to secretly resent her mother and is finding it harder and harder to tolerate her absentee parenting style.

Father:
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Bryan Foley {Age 42}
Sydney has never met her father and knows nothing about him. Her mother met him when they were both young kids at a bar in Boston and their one night stand never went beyond that. He is now a high school principal in a Massachusetts suburb but has no idea that he has a daughter either, so any relationship between them seems impossible.


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Home Life:
As soon as she was born, Sydney became a cherished member of the Vale family, although her arrival wasn't planned or desired in the beginning. Her mother, Alice, was the only child of Alan Vale and the late Cindy Vale, a well-known couple in the entertainment industry. Unfortunately, Alice didn't do well in the spotlight and the endless amounts of money that she possessed led her down the wrong path. She knew that she would never have to work a day in her life and rather than invest her time in education or philanthropy, she threw everything she had into the party lifestyle. Cindy's scandalous affair turned divorce only made Alice act out more. Her reckless lifestyle didn't end when her teenage years did, but she manipulated her image into one of a socialite. Her parents' money supported her habits but they soon gone too out of hand for even them to approve of. Alice was drinking too much and testing her fate with drugs. She was lucky that the worst thing that happened to her was getting knocked up one night and finding out that she was pregnant with Sydney two months later.

Sydney's birth reconnected Alice with her father and his second wife, Kathy, but only so they could keep Sydney safe with them. The pair raised their granddaughter for four years, before Kathy passed away and Alan was forced to become the main caregiver to the toddler. He was the one to make her breakfast every morning, to bring her to church on Sundays, to watch her in her dance recitals and to tuck them into bed at night. Alan became her grandfather, mother and father in one. He went above and beyond his duties of a grandfather and although he did a great job as essentially being a single parent, she did miss out on having a maternal figure in her life. Her mother would come around a few times a month but all of her promises were empty. She never showed up for the first day of school or taught her how to ice skate. She wasn't there to talk to her about boys or how mean girls could be and it hurt Sydney when she became old enough to realize the absence. No matter what she did and how perfect she was, she was never good enough to keep her mother's interest. So, she garnered that desire for attention and perfection into her social life. Sydney climbed to the top of the social ladder and has no plans of letting go. At the top, she has control, power and adoration that she never got in her family life. Here, no one can hurt or abandon her because she's the one cutting people down.

Academic Career:
Sydney has always done well in school. Not only does she strive to maintain a perfect social image, but she also works hard to keep a 4.0 average. She's not extremely intelligent but has various private tutors who make sure she stays on top of her game, and when that doesn't work, she's never afraid to cheat on a test. She's captain of the lacrosse team and a member of the French club.

Future Plans:
Sydney dreams of attending Brown University, her grandfather's alma mater. She doesn't know what she wants to major in, but imagines that it will have something to do with business or behind the scenes entertainment, so she can follow in her grandfather's legacy.


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Personality:
Sydney has always been confident in herself and it's probably a major reason for why she has done so well socially. She isn't afraid to speak her mind and has no problem with public speaking, confrontations or expressing her dislike for someone or something. While she has a reputation of being a bitch, she is protective of her friends and stand by them as long as they're loyal to her. Part of this stems from the fact that she doesn't want people to bash the people she hangs out with, since she believes in the "you're judged by the company you keep" saying. However, she also truly loves her close friends and would never let anyone speak poorly of them if she can help it. The key word there is "close friends" though. Growing up in The Upper East Side, Sydney knows that it's hard to find true, genuine friends who can be trusted with everything. There are tons of social climbers, opportunists, back stabbers and fakes among the bunches of girls who attend prep schools and even though Sydney is at the top of the social charts right now, she is still somewhat cautious around some of the girls around her.

Becoming a Queen Bee hasn't been easy and Sydney has been involved in her fair share of cat fights. She says that she's too classy to ever physically fight a girl but that doesn't mean that her claws don't come out when someone insults her. Her calm and collected front seems to disappear when she's pissed off and she's known to insult people below the belt. It's not uncommon for her to start vicious rumors about girls and even guys. Even if someone only wrongs her slightly, if it gets back to Sydney when she's already in a bad mood, she'll do everything in her power to ruin that person's social reputation. Although her position at the top does give her a lot of power, it has also caused her to be somewhat paranoid. When everyone knows your name, there's always someone talking about you and Sydney always fears that someone's going to spread something about her that will cause her to lose all of her friends. With this in mind, Sydney's actions always seem to be calculated. Whether it's something as simple as inviting a weird kid to one of her parties or purposely talking to someone else's boyfriend, her actions usually serve a bigger purpose.

There are really three sides to Sydney. To the few people who she truly trusts, she's one of the best friends that they could have. She'll fight for them, support them and willingly give them advice whenever needed. The majority of people fall into her middle group of relationships. She's not best friends with them but maintains a fake, overly nice demeanor towards them until she knows whether she can trust them or not. Lastly, with those who have done her wrong, Sydney will get her revenge and then pretend that they don't exist. She'll confront them about the problem, seek social revenge and then never acknowledge them again. She's not the type of person who can trust someone who has betrayed her and rarely gives people second chances, so it's easier for her to completely ignore people who she has decided are no longer worth her time.

Hobbies:
Lacrosse ✿ Shopping ✿ New York nightlife ✿ Travelling

Bad Habits:
Judging people ✄ Spreading rumors ✄ Disregarding other people's feelings ✄ Seeking vengeance

Likes:
Hot chocolate ❀ Disney World ❀ Fashion ❀ Travelling ❀ London ❀ Her grandfather ❀ Money ❀ Netflix ❀ Friends ❀ The Hamptons ❀ Shopping ❀ Black tie events ❀ Her friends ❀ Constance Billard ❀ Brown University ❀ Paris ❀ White chocolate ❀ Baking ❀ Lemonade ❀ Margaritas ❀ Vanilla scent ❀ Pearl necklaces ❀ Lilly Pulitzer ❀ Shake Shack ❀ SoHo

Dislikes:
Spray tans ✘ Pigeons ✘ Subways ✘ Cigarettes ✘ Power outages ✘ Traffic ✘ Guidos ✘ Clingy guys ✘ Gaining weight ✘ Fast food unless she's drunk ✘ Watching sports on TV ✘ Horses ✘ Protests ✘ Beggars ✘ Being dismissed ✘ Iggy Azalea ✘ Milk ✘ The Midwest ✘ Orange juice with pulp ✘ Black coffee ✘ Valentine's Day


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Face Claim:
Vanessa Ray

Height:
5'4

Weight/Build:
Weight: 110 lbs
Sydney is fairly happy with her body. She's thin and has enough cleavage to give her curves, especially when she wears a bombshell bra. Sydney was never into sports as a child but does go jogging in the park or on a treadmill to maintain her weight. She sometimes wishes that she were a few inches taller but overall, she is okay with her form.

Hair Color:
Blonde

Eye Color:
Blue

Other:
Her earlobes are pierced twice each. She has no tattoos but is considering getting a small heart tattoo on the inside of her middle finger.

So begins...

Sydney Vale's Story

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sienna Alvarez Character Portrait: Vincent Mast Character Portrait: Sydney Vale
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Sydney was halfway through her waffles when Vincent finished his, and stood up to put his plate in the sink. Why did he have to love Sienna? Even if he returned the playful banter that she offered him, both of them knowing it had crossed the flirtatous line a few times, she knew that he liked Sienna more than her. He hadn't apologized for leaving with Sienna and whenever Sydney became too cruel when referring to her supposed best friend, he cut her off and changed the subject. It was as if he knew better than to admit he loved Sienna to Sydney, but loved her enough to not be able to hide it completely. It irked her and made her want him to stay longer, as if socializing with him more frequently would suddenly erase the history that he and Sienna shared.

"I should be heading out, now. My mom's coming in tonight for dinner, and if I'm a minute late, I'm sure she'll have the entire NYPD force out looking for me," he rolled his eyes. Going out to dinner with his mom was a valid reason for him to leave, and it reminded Sydney that she had her own plans for dinner as well. If he had decided to stay, there was no doubt that Sydney would have put off her plans with Sienna and Jane. She cared for Jane immensely and she was genuinely worried for their friend, especially after it was apparent that she was already lying about eating to them, but one more day of putting the confrontation off wouldn't kill her. It was probably for the best that Vincent had to leave, though, since it forced Sydney to put her friend before him. Not only that, but there was no telling what Sydney would have done next to prove to Sienna that she could have Vincent too, if they hung out for any longer.

She slid off of the bar stool to follow him towards the elevator door. "Well, tell Colette that I say hi, and that her son makes the best waffles I've ever tasted." The second half of the sentence had quieted into a whisper as she leaned towards him and offered him a kiss on the cheek. She very well could have pull him closer to her and kissed him on the lips, but she didn't think that she needed to do that to make her point clear. His flustered reaction was just what she wanted to see, even if he was more unnerved by what had just happened, than he was pleasantly surprised. When the doors closed and she heard the elevator behind them begin to desend, she smiled to herself. That couldn't have gone any better. Little did she know, but in that same moment, Tori was following Sienna's order and making the Facebook post, following the Tweet. Victoria might have been loyal to Sienna, but Sydney had loyal minions too, and she believed she had more of them than Sienna. That's why, when she returned to the kitchen and located her phone, she already had six messages from juniors who informed her of the posts. No one knew who ran either of the pages but after reading them herself, Sydney was now convinced that it was Sienna. She was the craziest girl that Vincent had ever been involved with, which said a lot, considering he had slept with half of New York. It made complete sense that after seeing the Snapchat, she would try to get back at Sydney. And in true, pathetic Sienna fashion, she had done it anonymously. It was disconcerting, but Sydney tried to downplay it, as she always tended to do with Sienna. She was confident enough to allow a small smirk on her face as she responded to Sienna's seemingly normal message.

To: Sienna
Me too. Omw now

Sydney arrived at the restaurant fifteen minutes later, and was seated at a table Sienna had reserved earlier that day. Neither she nor Jane were there yet, which didn't bother Sydney at first, but when two minutes turned to five, and five to ten, she was getting annoyed. She underestimated Sienna's pettiness and didn't suspect that she was purposely forcing Sydney to sit there alone while they were doors away shopping, and guessed that maybe Jane was trying to back out last minute.

To: Sienna
I'm here...

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Jane Lynch Character Portrait: Sienna Alvarez Character Portrait: Vincent Mast Character Portrait: Sydney Vale
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The guilt only came when Sienna caught Jane giving her another side-glance, a bit of nervousness and curiosity in her friend's gaze. She did not feel about the post at all. In fact, she was pleased. It would give something for everyone to talk about, especially when there was supposed to be a party tomorrow and everyone would be under the same roof. It would be an interesting affair. What she did feel bad for was dragging Jane around like a ragdoll. If there was one thing she had always wanted to be, it was better than Sydney - especially when it came to their shared friends. Sydney manipulated Connor's crush on her, Sienna just had to be nice to him. Someone needed to give the poor guy a break. Sydney was being extra bitchy to Piper that day? Obviously, Sienna needed to hang out with the model. And whenever Sydney chose to steal Jane away and drag her around just to prove a point to Sienna about whose friend the brunette was or simply because she could, Sienna would get upset because that wasn't fair. Jane deserved a choice, not to get discreetly bullied. Which was why, despite the nice shoe selection they had stopped at, Sienna decided that it was time to head inside the restaurant. She didn't want anything anyway.

"I doubt anyone expects random gifts from people she doesn't even know," she replied to her friend, leading Jane out of the store. Her phone buzzed twice, followed by two more incessant notifications, but she didn't answer it immediately. "Gotta stop somewhere after the photo shoot tomorrow, so if I get something, I'll say it's from us." She was only half-telling the truth. Sienna had already gotten Hailey two gifts on her own, but at least one of them she could add Jane's name to. And no, she was not going to include Sydney's name on a gift to one of her friends. That was stupid. While Jane was giving her bag to her family driver, Sienna finally looked at her phone, purposefully ignoring Sydney's. The others were from Tori and Esmee.

From: Tori
It's done. I even commented on a few tweets under the admin name. Hope this is wat u wanted

From: Esmee
R u fucking kidding me? Y would u do this?

From: Esmee
This isn't u, Sia. Ur being impulsive & angry. Come home. I have two containers of strawberry cheesecake ice cream from Ben & Jerry's.

From: Esmee
Plz, Sia. Ur better than this. Don't go to dinner w/ them. Make an excuse. Say u don't feel well. This was a sign that u don't need 2 b friends with Sydney anymore. Just come home, I'll make sure Hailey gets here and we can do a movie nite. Plz

From: Esmee
Sia...

Sienna only smirked at Tori's message. If there was one thing she was pleased by, it was her choice in minions. Regardless of what Sydney might have thought considering she had a plethora of desperate rich girls begging at her feet for even an ounce of attention, Sienna had a good number of minions on her own. Her most special one being Victoria. Tori was a sure-fire winner when it came to making one of the speeches at graduation, she was already being looked at by seven of the Ivy League institutions since the beginning of junior year, and she was the best person at Constance when it came to tech. She had helped Sienna on a few projects for school and was even the one person Sienna went to for edits on her cover videos whenever she decided to grace YouTube. The relationship had its manipulative repercussions, and only because Tori had tried to come for Sienna's friend, Charlotte, but Tori liked Sienna and Sienna liked Tori. Tori lived off of the drama of the popular crowd and Sienna, though she had never given anything on the people she loved the most, liked entertaining her. It was a great relationship when she thought of it and, while it still made her wary, she trusted Tori's control over the pages. No one had figured out who was behind it for the last four years. She didn't think it would happen any time soon. She also didn't think to message her sister at the moment. She didn't want her sister to guilt her or try to be a voice of reason. Not at the moment, anyway.

To: Sydney
Coming now. Saw these cute boots. U kno how that happens

To stall just a few minutes longer, Sienna crowded Jane for a cute selfie, making sure to add various hashtags like #shoppingbesties and #outwiththerealmvp. Small things like that combined with tagging Jane in the photo. It was enough to solidify that she and Jane had had a pretty decent time, despite her shift in mood, and it was obvious that she and Jane had not rushed to meet with Sydney. It was probably still unfair, considering Jane had not known that Sydney was waiting for the last ten minutes, but Sienna couldn't find it in her to care. And feeling extra petty, she sent one more text.

To: Vincent
I guess it's a good thing I don't really like waffles much, huh? lol

Turning her phone on silent, Siena slid it into her back pocket before leading Jane into the restaurant, barely a pause in her step when one of the staff members wanted to make sure they had reservations. Apparently, all it took was a frigid look from Sienna followed by a snap of her last name that had them working, what with one waitress asking if the girls would like white wine despite their being under-aged (that goes to show what money could do to an establishment!) and another leading them to the table. "Hey, Syd. You end up having fun at the spa earlier?" Or were you to busy sucking Vincent's dick to get a real facial, she almost added, taking her seat and waiting patiently for that wine. Esmee might have been right. She was beginning to feel too impulsive. And maybe even a touch violent.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Jane Lynch Character Portrait: Sienna Alvarez Character Portrait: Sydney Vale
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As Sydney waited for her friends, she allowed herself to read over the Facebook post, and the slew of comments that had appeared within the last fifteen minutes. She had lost her virginity to Vincent Mast, and no, she didn't want anyone finding that out. If Vincent had cheated on Sienna with another girl and then maybe a few months later, she had slept with him, it wouldn't have been as big of a deal. It still wouldn't have been an admirable act, but at least she wouldn't have been pinned as the girl who ruined the relationship. She could play the drunk card or claim that he came onto her and she couldn't say no, and less would be thought of it than the real situation. At the same time, she wasn't really intimidated. She and Vincent had kept the secret long enough. Apparently, he had confessed to Sienna last night, which made his apology visit to her make more sense. Of course he was trying to make things better before the storm hit, to lessen the blow that he expected Sienna to release on Sydney. But did Sienna really think that she was stupid? Now Sydney knew that she ran the gossip pages and didn't have the guts to confront her face to face. Sydney secretly preferred online warfare. It was less messy and gave her the ability to put her manipulative and calculated skills to work, while a face-to-face confrontation would more likely make her sweat.

When Sienna and Jane finally sat down at the table, she had half a mind to reference the post herself. She would do it discretely enough where it wasn't obvious that she was getting a dig in at Sienna to anyone besides Sienna. Her better side got the best of her, especially when her eyes set on Jane. She was the reason they were having this dinner in the first place and she wasn't going to let Sienna and her pathetic excuse at revenge ruin this. No, Sienna hadn't actually hurt her. She would have people questioning her about who she lost her virginity to, and obviously now assuming that it was Vincent, but oh well. She would squash that rumor when she felt like it, and then it would be over with. Sienna would lose once again.

"I didn't end up going. Clara called out sick and you know what happened last time I let someone else do my facials." Sydney had an allergic reaction to the lotion they used, and although it was completely out of the facialist's control, Sydney had to blame someone for the hives that covered her arms and legs a day before her sweet sixteen. It resulted in a law suit and the woman losing her job, and since then, Sydney had been more careful with who she let work on her. Or at least, that was the easiest way to acknowledge that she hadn't gone to the spa without explicitly confirming to Sienna that she had been with Vincent. Her snapchat already let everyone know that, and she didn't care - in fact, she wanted Sienna to know that too. The tauntingly unfazed smile that Sydney forced on her face, hopefully stressed that fact too.

Sydney distractedly skimmed the menu. She had a waffle with Vincent, and wasn't really hungry for anything more than a salad, but if they were forcing Jane to eat, she knew she needed to order something real too. "I'll have the Paccheri," she ordered when the waitress returned to their table to distribute drinks and take their orders. Sienna placed her order and then all eyes were on Jane. She could almost feel Jane's nerves herself, and it did make her feel bad. Sydney was offended that Jane hadn't shared her secret with her, and in her mind, was selfishly twisting the story to make herself the victim, but Jane was sick. It was apparent more than ever in the way that her eyes frantically searched the menu at the last minute, probably looking for something light and inconspicuous. "She'll have the same as me," Sydney jumped in, refusing to give Jane a chance to request something off the menu. She was beginning to see how her friend worked, and could recall many dinner trips last spring where Jane would order something off the menu. It was as if she had a list of safe foods in her head that she knew wouldn't alter her weight, and refused to eat anything aside from that.

When the waitress hurried off to place their order, Sydney smiled at Jane as if she had done nothing wrong, because for all Jane knew, she hadn't. "You had a salad for lunch, so I didn't want you to order another one. Besides, the Paccheri here is to die for." One look at Jane's uncomfortable expression made Sydney decide to put the social media incident behind her for now. She and Sienna had a bigger problem to deal with, and more importantly, Sydney wasn't ready to cut Sienna off until she knew that she could count on Jane being on her side. A Jane on the verge of being sent back to rehab wasn't going to cut it. "So, how was yoga? I haven't done a heat session there in forever."

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Jane Lynch Character Portrait: Sienna Alvarez Character Portrait: Sydney Vale
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Jane was satisfied with Sienna's response regarding Hailey's gifts and nodded in approval. She would expect random people to bring her gifts, but apparently that wasn't the case for everyone, and it worked to her benefit. She considered asking Sienna if she knew if Sydney was planning on coming to the party tomorrow, but quickly opted against it. If Sienna was upset, bringing up Sydney would only make that worse, and her lack of interest in the long line of shoes in front of them further suggested that something was wrong. Jane again, decided not to comment on it. Sienna could be just as transparent about her emotions as Jane, and she didn't want her friend to break down about a dress not fitting properly in the middle of the store. Instead, she eagerly posted for the selfies that Sienna directed and insisted that she send them to her as well. Jane never wasted the chance to post a good selfie, and since these ones were mostly shoulders-up, she knew there was a chance she looked halfway decent in them.

"We should just stop at the cafe down the block from your place and get salads or something. I'm really not hungry..." her voice trailed off to be inaudible as she followed Sienna, a few steps behind, into Armani Ristorante. The place smelled delicious and after eyeing the steaming meal on another table, Jane's appetite was clawing at her yet again. She could afford a small meal. She was unaware of the crackers she had been force fed the night before, and the apple alone wasn't going to hold her over all night. She decided to order an arugula salad. It probably wasn't going to be on the menu, especially not in the very plain way that she wanted it, but she was sure they would make an exception for her. She would pay the price of their highest menu item for it. She followed Sienna through the restaurant, feeling a bit more confident in herself. She was going to eat and finally satisfy her hunger pangs, and not give anyone a reason to hound her about eating.

That confidence shattered as soon as she saw Sydney waiting for them at the table. She was dressed in a typical Sydney outfit, Lilly Pulitzer probably head-to-toe, and a content smile on her face as soon as her eyes fell on them. It was no wonder that so many younger girls were intimidated by Sydney, because even as her best friend, Jane felt it sometimes too. That was especially true when she knew she had done Sydney wrong. After bailing on her for facials to hang out with Sienna, who Sydney had painted as a demon in their texts, she knew she had something to feel guilty about, and bit her lip as she took a seat in between the girls at the round table.

She had every intention of sticking to water today, since she was still hungover from last night and planned to be intoxicated again twenty-four hours from now, but Sydney's presence was enough for that idea to fly out the window. White wine would be her drink of the night, and she sipped from her glass quicker than she should have. Sydney explained to them that she didn't go to the spa because her facialist wasn't in, which was a reason that Jane preferred over it being her fault for bailing. "Oh my God, yeah, that was horrible. Thank God that woman doesn't work there anymore," Jane agreed. She partly needed to reassure herself that Sydney didn't hate her, and also knew that she would have had the same reaction had something like that happened to her.

When the waitress returned to their table, Jane was still set on ordering her off the menu, plain arugula salad until the very last minute. She got nervous and fumbled around with the menu, hoping that maybe she would discover something just as low-calorie on it. It would be less complicated than explaining why she had to get something that wasn't offered by the restaurant, but as her eyes desperately scanned the lists, Sydney answered for her. The Paccheri? Jane wanted to cry. She was sure that had at least a few hundred calories in it and she was already feeling risky by just considering ordering the salad! There was no way she could eat paccheri, especially not in front of the two girls who had metabolisms that worked at a speed of light. Maybe it wouldn't affect them, but a meal like that would cause her to gain five pounds, she dramatically convinced herself. But what was she supposed to do? Argue with Sydney that she hadn't eaten the salad earlier, which would lead to more questions that Jane didn't need, especially since she had said Sienna was the one bringing her that salad. She wanted to look over at Sienna and beg her to help her out, but she couldn't. Sienna wouldn't know what her pleading look meant, so she only smiled half halfheartedly and took another sip of the cool wine. "Sounds good."

The minutes before their food came out were daunting for Jane, who tried to distract herself with conversation involving their yoga and shopping trip and Hailey's party tomorrow. "Yoga was good, right, Sia? That room was honestly so dusty and it was really bothering my eyes, but besides that it was good." She allowed herself a few more sips of wine before the conversation switched to Hailey's party. "Are you coming tomorrow, Syd? Apparently we're supposed to wear shorts and just like, beach clothes basically. I got this cute neon dress from BCBG that I think will work, though. You left before I could show you it, but I want you to come over tomorrow after your photo shoot to see it," she said, directing the last part towards Sienna.

Sienna's earlier interaction with the restaurant staff must have reminded them who the girls were, because the food didn't take long to come out. Jane held back a grimace as her plate was set before her, because God, did it smell good. She so desperately wanted to dig in and clean her plate but she knew that the repercussions of that would be too much to handle. As the other girls began to eat theirs, she idly picked up her fork and moved things around on her plate, before setting the utensil down and picking up her phone. At first, she pretended like she was replying to text messages, but then she found something more interesting on her Facebook newsfeed. The gossip page that everyone in town followed had posted about Sydney. It wasn't directly about her, since she was only referred to as "the queen bee", but everyone knew who that was, and for those who didn't, the countless responses underneath tagging Sydney made that clear. "Did you guys see this post?" She slid her phone onto the table, unaware that both girls were well versed in what the post said. "What does it even mean? Like, Sienna, you're the only one who's ever had a real boyfriend out of us four anyway, and that was Vincent." Jane was clearly using it as a distraction from eating, but she was genuinely confused. She would never imagine that Sydney would sleep with Vincent, but he was the only person that would fit the 'best friend's boyfriend' role, so the post made no sense to her.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Jane Lynch Character Portrait: Sienna Alvarez Character Portrait: Sydney Vale
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When Sydney offered her explanation of her afternoon, Sienna fought to actually give a flying fuck. In fact, she was half-tempted to tell the staff to just go ahead and take the knives from the table because if they stayed, she didn't think she should be held accountable for her next actions. Humming in response to Sydney's words, Sienna sunk into her seat idly, sitting directly across from Sydney. She didn't feel the need to take the seat closer to the queen bee and she damn sure did not trust herself to be that close to the one person whose existence asked for violence. Which she would feel bad for eventually. However, for the moment, she decided to simply play it safe.

Instead of answering Sydney, Sienna turned her attention to the waiter and gave her order, changing the original one she had wanted when Sydney ordered the same for herself and Jane. The pacherri was nice and all, but Sienna could see herself vomiting if she ate anything resembling what Sydney had ordered. "I'll take the Anatra, thank you." The duck had always been such a tender and succulent item on the menu, and she had appreciated it the last time she was here. Besides, distracting herself with cutting something other than the blonde he sat across from might be enough for her to get through the dinner without actually cutting someone. And it seemed Jane picked up on that, or maybe she was worried about something else, for the brunette didn't leave them to their silence, filling it almost immediately. And to that, Sienna was grateful.

Sienna still did not answer, which she was sure her friends - no, scratch that! Her friend and the other chick - would notice eventually. Jane went on and on, and all she did was sip on the cool liquid in her glass, swirling the sweet elixir idly. Esmee was possibly right. That this was petty. Her coming to this dinner was just her being petty and being just as bad as Sydney. That all of this was a sign that she and Sydney weren't good for being with each other and it was probably best if she just left. However, it was too late and she would be damned if she ran away from Sydney. So, she smiled and nodded when it felt appropriate, only to appease Jane, and eventually caught Sydney's eyes. Then the smile dropped and her face fell flat. There was no glare in her eyes, just cold ambivalence. Her aura probably spoke differently and she wanted Sydney to feel the heat of her anger, the oppressive wave of her pent-up rage and hurt and how easily she could reach over the table and snatch Sydney by her face. Slowly, a smile forms on her face, still cold and absent of true mirth.

It was only when Jane brought up some message that Sienna's gaze snapped away from Sydney, only acknowledging her friend's words by another sip of wine. The food had just arrived and she caught on to the troubled expression on Jane's face. However, she wasn't going to say anything. Not yet anyway. She wanted to see what Sydney was going to say. What excuse she could offer. What bullshit Sienna was going to hear. Smirking and sipping her wine again, Sienna's gaze returned to Sydney, not even bothering to glance at the phone. "I have absolutely no idea. Why don't we ask the queen bee?"

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Character Portrait: Jane Lynch Character Portrait: Sienna Alvarez Character Portrait: Sydney Vale
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Jane didn't need to oppose Sydney's order for her to sense how tense she was regarding it. She also didn't need Sienna to confront her to notice how on edge she seemed to be, which only further validated Sydney's conclusion that Sienna was the one behind the gossip page. Even if it was going to be an inconvenience to crush the rumor of her sleeping with Vincent, she had gotten the reaction she was looking for out of Sienna, and that was what mattered the most. For now, at least. She tried to act unscathed by Sienna's unlikely silence as Jane went on and on about any and everything. Normally, Sienna was chatty too, and it was Sydney who could lean back and only offer a nod or a roll of the eyes every now and then when the girls got too dramatic. If Sienna wanted to sulk, then so be it. No one was going to throw her a pity party because she was realizing yet again, that she didn't own Vincent.

"Tomorrow?" Sydney acted like she had no idea what they were talking about. She had no desire to go to Hailey's party, especially after convincing herself that the bag of drugs stuffed in the back of her closet belonged to the birthday girl. However, she honestly didn't have anything else planned for the evening and if her friends were going... or if Sienna and Vincent were both going... then she knew she might just have to stop by. "Oh, Hailey's party? I mean, it's so last minute but I'm going to try to make it for a little while." When Jane continued, telling Sienna she wanted her approval on one of the dresses they bought, Sydney didn't hide her eye roll. "You're coming to Caudalie with me tomorrow, Jane. We already decided that earlier." Just like her food order, Sydney had no reservations in demanding that Jane do something. She didn't do it with the intention of being noticably controlling or possessive over Jane. It was just how she was used to acting with her, since she did think that Jane was sometimes unable to make the right decision for herself. She was sure that unlike Sienna, she always had Jane's best interest at heart, which was why, she reminded herself, she needed to stop thinking about Sienna and focus on Jane. One of them had to be the good friend here.

That thought came in handy after their food came out. Sydney and Sienna had both begun to pick at their meals and for the first few minutes, Sydney decided to ignore Jane's nervous look and the lack of food that was entering her mouth. She pretended not to notice as her fork spun around on the plate but never actually left it, or how Jane's attention drifted to her phone as soon as she was done playing with the food. Sydney had every intention of waiting for the right moment before confronting Jane, but petty Sienna pushed her too far.

Jane was the first to bring up the post, ignorantly yet innocently wondering aloud what the post was referring too. Sydney remained calm, allowing a small smile to make its way to her face as her eyes fell upon Sienna, and then back to Jane, who was now concluding that it didn't make sense because Vincent was the only "real boyfriend" of the group. She wanted to chuckle at that comment, since she wanted to believe that he was no more a real boyfriend to Sienna than he was to any of the other tens of girls he had probably claimed he loved. However, before she could work out a response alluding to it just being pathetic gossip, written by some pathetic and jealous wannabe, Sienna had to open her mouth. One of the first comments she made all evening, and it had to be one that would hit just the right nerves to have Sydney's smile falter for a second. She said nothing wrong, nothing that would make Jane agree that Sienna was being a bitch, but it was the tone of her voice... the way that she silently insisted to Sydney that she knew what was going on, that bothered her. She didn't know who Sienna thought she was talking to, but unless she wanted to make a scene in front of Jane, she needed to change the subject, and it just so happened to be at Jane's expense. "I have better things to do than to worry about what pathetic wannabes say about me anonymously online. Besides, we didn't come here tonight to talk about me. Didn't you arrange this dinner so we could figure out why Jane didn't tell us about her fun little summer at Timberline Knolls?" she asked, her voice mimicking Jane's innocence as she smiled coldly towards Sienna. It was wrong of her to bring Jane's issues up this way, but it was the first thing she thought of when trying to change the subject, and as long as she focused on Sienna, she didn't need to feel guilty for her squirming friend beside her.

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Character Portrait: Jane Lynch Character Portrait: Sienna Alvarez Character Portrait: Sydney Vale
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Sienna's eyebrows were raised as she stared at Sydney, watching the easy smile on the queen bee's face slowly drop. And damn, was that exhilarating! Sydney liked to tell herself that she had the upper hand on any and everything, that she could intimidate anyone. That she could control everyone. And that was where their problems started. Granted, if the Vincent thing had never happened, both girls would be singing different tunes. She surmised that she and Sydney would be better friends, actual best friends if they were really being honest. Sienna would be more inclined to play the role of the sassy friend who knew her "place" and Sydney would probably understood that as Sydney's second closest friend, the tough Latina would have no choice but to still have a mouth on her, regardless of who was queen bee or not. However, that was not the case. The case was that Sydney truly thought Sienna - who had never backed down to anyone a day in her life - was going to let this slide. That she wasn't going to feel. And that she would be just like Jane and do whatever bossy little too-tanned Barbie told her. Obviously, Sydney did not know her that well.

Sienna had to laugh a little, just a short one that ended in a fit of giggles, at Sydney's lamentation on the post having been by some wannabe. Weren't wannabes the same people whose admiration she thrived on? Wasn't it their devotion to her that made her powerful? That their perception of her made her this figure to be admired and hated and feared all at once? It was exactly that mentality that forced Sienna's hand. She did not have Victoria reveal Sydney and Vincent's involvement just to put it out there. Sienna was impulsive, but she was not idiotic. It wasn't the immediate reaction that she anticipated. It was the continued responses. The outrage from girls who had been called sluts by Sydney after all these years only to find out that she was as much of a skank as they were. A decrease of respect from girls who thought Sydney was the greatest since sweet cream ice cream. That was what she wanted. Was that technically starting a war? Yes. But unlike Sydney, Sienna was ready to combat with her either through words and/or violence. It just so happened that she knew she would win, without a doubt, with the latter.

Her smile didn't even leave her face when Sydney tried to turn the conversation to Jane, which inwardly prompted Sienna's protective instincts. This wasn't the way she had wanted to bring in Jane's disorder and she knew Sydney was being unreasonably selfish. She could have lashed out at Sienna. She could have played innocent. Sydney could have done a lot of things. But throwing Jane under the bus? No, that was uncalled for and she had half the mind to take the knife she had been slicing the duck with and hurling it at Sydney's face. "Oh, no. We, and I mean you and I were gonna do this eventually, but let's not pretend, Syd," Sienna said calmly, feeling way too at ease with staring Sydney dead in the face and smiling. "You do not get to act innocent here and shove Jane into the limelight like that. Not over this. Not when she deserves to get her questions answered." Unlike Sydney, she didn't feel like she deserved to know how Jane really felt or what her sickness entailed. She still understood, from the reading she had done, that people with disorders don't need people throwing it in their faces or demanding that they know every little detail about their lives. All of that came with trust and Jane only needed to know that they knew, and that both girls were here for her. So, she would be damned if Sydney pressured her friend just to be a cowardly bitch.

Leaning back in her seat, Sienna slid one leg over the other, her head held high and with her smirk growing into a rueful smile. "So, now that that's settled, why don't you answer her question, Syd?" Her voice was just as innocent as Sydney's, but instead of giving the blonde a chance to make up a response, Sienna flicked her gaze to Jane, gesturing to Sydney with a wave of the hand. "Actually, J, ask your friend how long she thought Vincent was gonna keep it from me that she fucked him behind my back? Oh, and btw, he told me the second I got back." Sienna's smile was wide and cruel as she added, "I guess he's not that loyal to you either, huh, Syd?"

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Character Portrait: Jane Lynch Character Portrait: Sienna Alvarez Character Portrait: Sydney Vale
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From afar, it probably looked like Sienna and Sydney were having a pleasant dinner, with Jane being the only one who didn't want to be there. Both blondes were smiling, their forms at ease, as if social combat was their day job. It was, in a way. Sydney was too used to rumors and threats to her power that would never be too shaken by Sienna. Even with the sensitive topic at hand, she didn't think that Sienna Alvarez could ruin her life or take her down. She didn't have it in her to be queen bee and that had been decided when Sydney took over the throne and not her. Sienna definitely had a mouth on her and a devious attitude to match it, but Sydney was the queen of this game just as much as she was of Constance Billard. Was Sienna that jealous that she had forgotten her boundaries?

Sydney remained silent as the blonde opposite her shot down her attempt to switch the conversation to Jane, and brought it in a whole new direction. Her smile rested on her face even after Sienna exposed the truth of her sleeping with Vincent. Inside, her emotions were churning and changing as every word came out of her mouth, but if there was any time that Sydney needed to remain cold and calm, it would be now. She would continue to put Jane's feelings on the sideline until she took care of Sienna, who apparently didn't want to make this easy on herself. "Jane doesn't need to ask me. You can do it yourself, sweetie, since you finally worked up the courage to say it to my face for once." She mockingly clapped her hands, applauding Sienna for finally growing a set of balls. If she had know about this from "the second she got back", she should have been the bad bitch she thinks she is and confronted her from the start. Sienna was clearly just as fake as she.

"For starters, I didn't tell you what happened that night because I didn't want to hurt your feelings. I was being a good friend because I knew that you were already suffering enough by being everyone's second choice to me, and I knew that Vincent coming on to me would have pushed you over the edge. You weren't as... emotionally stable back then as you are now." She brushed a loose strand of hair over her shoulder as she kept her eye contact steady with Sienna. Sydney didn't want it to come down to the two of them being forced to deal with their differences in the middle of a fancy restaurant, but Sienna had asked for it and she wasn't going to back down. "Secondly, Vincent never owed me his loyalty." She certainly didn't actually feel that way, but it was necessary to her argument. "He never was my boyfriend, but only because again, I was trying to be a good friend to you by rejecting his countless offers at a real relationship. I slept with him one time when I was a little girl and didn't know that love was anything more than boys with pretty eyes and deep voices. And yeah, I didn't tell you after and maybe I should have, but when I found out that he lied and you two weren't broken up, I didn't know what to do. And do you want to know why I didn't tell you about it after that panic passed, Sienna? Because I was trying to maintain this friend group. I didn't want this stupid little thing that happened years ago to tear apart our friends, and for someone who apparently cares so much about our friends," she glanced at Jane inadvertently, "I would have thought that you could have at least waited to be so fucking dramatic until we were in private and didn't have to drag anyone else into this." The volume of her voice hadn't increased, but the sheer fact that she was cursing showed that she was getting fired up. Maybe she should have played the innocent card to begin with, and saved Jane's feelings, but that was too late now.

She felt like she had effectively proved that Sienna was being a dramatic, psycho bitch who was trying to drill her for something that she couldn't be blamed for. And it was time to leave. It was time to leave because Sydney knew that Sienna was getting just as heated as she, and she had already hit her hard by rejecting the topic switch to Jane. Sydney didn't need to be challenged like that again because while she was good at holding her stone cold smile, she couldn't do that forever. Eventually, Sienna would strike the right nerve and she would fall apart like a child who didn't get their way in a toy store. She couldn't let that happen because it would prove that Sienna had won and her point had been made. It would only emphasize that Sydney really did know that she was in the wrong and that Sienna's act of revenge was going to bite her in the ass sooner than later.

"Come on Jane, I think we're finished here," Sydney continued, taking only one moment to catch her breath and make transfer her napkin from her lap and onto the table. If Jane dared to object or even hesitate, Sydney knew that she would fall apart, so she didn't give her an option. Her hand grasped onto Jane's wrist and she gave her a tug that was stronger than she realized, away from the table.

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Character Portrait: Jane Lynch Character Portrait: Sienna Alvarez Character Portrait: Sydney Vale
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The first two responses to Jane's inquiry regarding the post seemed civil and normal. She didn't pick up on the undertone as Sienna redirected the question to Sydney, or the pointed look that came with the "pathetic wannabe" comment. What changed the entire tone of the dinner for Jane, was when her own name was brought up. She had spoken up about the post to divert the attention away from her, and here it was, coming back at her in the worst way possible. All it took was for the name of her treatment facility to be referenced for Jane to freeze. There was no excuse, not even in Jane's countless book of them, that could fix this. They knew where she had been and why she had been, and clearly, they had known for longer than just a day. She didn't even open her mouth to respond because she had no words to say. She wanted to run away from the plate of food in front of her, run away from her two best friends, and run away from New York. She was beginning to think that her trip to visit her mother in LA needed to come this weekend. She wasn't so sure that a party in shorts and people wearing body paint would be fun, anyway.

Sienna stepped in, removing the need for Jane to respond at that moment, which was for the best since she had only just broken out of her horrified, frozen stare. Jane was too caught up in herself to hear most of what the girls were saying. Sienna defended Jane, and even if she was switching the conversation to put Sydney back in the hot seat for her own benefit, Jane appreciated it. Sydney went on to admit that she had slept with Vincent, which normally would have garnered a completely different reaction from the distant expression of bite of her lip that she offered. Even in her dazed and ruffled state, Jane knew this was bad. Sydney had slept with Vincent. Vincent. Why did it have to be him? Out of every guy in New York City, Sydney had to sleep with, and admit to sleeping with Vincent Mast. She had kept it a secret for so long, and even if it was Sienna who was bringing it up now, Jane wished Sydney would have continued to deny it. She was good at lying and at least then there might have been enough doubt in Sienna's mind that they could continue to pretend like it didn't happen. This wasn't good. She didn't think that Sienna was as emotionless at Sydney, and wouldn't have blamed her for finally severing her ties with Sydney.

Jane missed most of Sydney's tirade but caught on to her claiming that she was a good friend. "I fucked your boyfriend behind your back, but I was only doing it to protect you...", was what the few parts she tuned in for sounded like. The next part she caught was Sydney chastising Sienna for being so "fucking dramatic" and that was when she hoped that things would finally end. Sydney, in her floral print dress and white cardigan, relished in her prim and proper image, and a cursing Sydney only spelled trouble. It meant that she was angry, yeah, but also that she was hurt. She was a cornered animal using every last ounce of strength she had to win, and with Sienna sitting at the other end of the table, a composed smile still glossed over her lips, that only spelled danger.

Things never got out of control like this with Sienna and Sydney. Jane often heard both of them cutting the other to pieces but she could deal with that because it was never when they were both present. The underhanded digs that were typically exchanged between the blondes either went unnoticed by Jane, or ended when she sent a pleading look to whichever one seemed more reasonable that day. This was completely different and combined with how shaken she was about her own issues being exposed so thoughtlessly, she was on the edge of tears when Sydney yanked her away from the table. The wine glass that her fingers were anxiously toying with was knocked over in the process, but Sydney didn't seem to notice or care. Jane wanted to pull away. It wasn't with the intentions of necessarily siding with Sienna, because she hadn't caught everything that was exchanged between the two and really didn't know which had a right to be upset with the other. But, if nothing else, she knew that it was Sydney who had thrown her under the bus. If Sydney had a right to give her attitude over something as trivial as her skipping a spa day, Jane had a right to be upset over this! She could sit quietly while Sydney did a lot of careless things to her, but this was too personal for Jane to sweep under the rug.

They were only a few feet away from the table when Jane tugged her arm out of Sydney's grip. She refused to look her in the eyes, because Jane's eyes were now filled with tears and unlike Sydney and Sienna, she wasn't good at keeping herself composed. "I'll get my own ride home," she shot, not caring at this point if the trio were making a scene in the restaurant. Her eyes were clouded with tears and after a barely legible text was sent to her driver, she hurried out of the restaurant and waited on the edge of the sidewalk for him to pull up. She didn't want to talk to Sydney, Sienna, or anyone and was ready to burst into tears if either of them tried.

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Character Portrait: Charlotte H. Buchanan Character Portrait: Jane Lynch Character Portrait: Sienna Alvarez Character Portrait: Sydney Vale
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If the smile on her face said anything, Sydney would be on the ground dead in a matter of seconds only to have the moment replay over and over again until it sated whatever part of Sienna that longed to beat her face in. If anything, her smile seemed to only grow wider until by the time Sydney had stopped with her little speech, Sienna was full out laughing her in her face. All she heard were excuses and Sienna was past the point of caring about what recently non-virgin Sydney had to feel. She had felt her sympathy back then, understood the main culprit in the entire affair was Vincent. And had cursed him out and shoved at him and said a lot of things to him. Did that make Sydney free from blame? Hell no and Sienna would be damned if Sydney continued with that mentality.

"Bravo, Sydney," she purred clapping her hands. Sienna did see the way the conversation was affecting Jane and was going to feel horrible when all was said and done, but it was out in the open now. No need to pretend anymore. No need to hold back. So, she didn't. "I mean, I gotta say - the way you make yourself a victim...I mean, fuck, that's...that's talent right there. I mean, I seriously don't know how you can even stand to face every day looking at yourself in the mirror and hearing yourself try to rid yourself of any blame in all of this. I mean, seriously, you were being a good friend? God, that's rich coming from the girl who demanded loyalty without question or compromise. Who never wanted anyone to lie to her while she kept secrets of her own. That doesn't sound like a good friend, Sydney. It sounds like a dictator and an even worse one because you could have squashed this years ago since I apparently didn't have the balls to say anything, as you so eloquently put it." Sienna had to laugh again. She knew she was going to lose someone she once cared about, but maybe it was time to stop treading the line of being friends and enemies. Obviously, especially given the way Sydney was trying to paint the picture, they really had not been friends for a long time. And for once, it didn't fill her with grief. It did not make tears well up in her eyes or this feeling to arise in her chest at the thought of losing Sydney indefinitely. Somehow, she had a feeling she lost her the second she found out Sydney slept with Vincent.

"Because you were a good friend when you looked me dead in the face as I cried to both you and Jane, but it never occurred to you that I deserved to hear it from you? You were a good friend to me even when you brought Vincent up randomly in conversations he had no business in. When you make random commentary about my any and everything that you could get your hands on? Were you a good friend when you became 'the only girl he would make waffles for?' When you probably fucked him hundreds of times after we were all together?" Again, she laughed, but it was more bitter. She didn't know about them sleeping together honestly, but it felt plausible and Sienna was on a roll. "No, a good friend would have told me, regardless, because I could have forgiven you. I wanted to, so bad. But you didn't say a word and then you suddenly turned this into some fucking rivalry - as if I had done some imaginary misdeed to you. Call me selfish for bringing it up now. Say that I am overdramatic and self-centered, please, I implore you. But know that at least I can own up to it. And that's a hell of a lot better than a girl who didn't have the balls to be the "big bitch" she wants everyone to fear."

It happened in a blink. Sydney rose and grabbed a hold of Jane, practically snatching her up and causing the table to shake a little. Even Jane's wine glass had fallen over. Sienna was on her feet in seconds just as Jane seemed to snatch away from Sydney, and Sienna had to blink because it was rare that Jane ever said anything or did anything that was truly against what Sydney wanted to do. It didn't say that Jane was on Sienna's side because the brunette surely stormed out of the restaurant, but it was enough to make Sienna smirk. She assured the nearest waiter that things were fine and to put everything on her tab. Not even at all put off, she ghosted beside Sydney, stopping beside her only for a moment to look her dead in the eye, "Don't bother excommunicating me. I can do that myself." It was mean, the smirk on her face. She wasn't satisfied and she had never wanted it to be the way it was, but this was the end and she was done pretending like she was one of Sydney's bitches. Sienna only took a long look at Sydney's face before remarking, "And here I thought for a second that I was actually in awe of you. That I wanted your crown." She shrugged. "Too dingy and faded for my tastes anyway." She didn't care about what Sydney had to say next because she was already heading out the door. She saw Jane at the end of the other street and wanted so badly to comfort her friend, but it wouldn't suffice. Not when things had just gotten out in the open. Besides, and it was a selfish thought, but Sienna wanted her own comfort and she didn't know if she could count on her favorite brunette. All she could do was send her friend a text as she kept walking.

To: Jane
I am so sorry, J. I didn't want 2 talk about this like this. I didn't want u 2 have 2 b put on the spot like that and I am so sorry. I understand if u don't wanna talk 2 me rite now, but I'm here 4 u regardless.

Shaking her head, she decided to continue down in the opposite direction, walking aimlessly for a good ten minutes. She honestly had no idea why she was simply loitering around New York, not really aware of her surroundings until she found herself at Central Park, idly staring at the trees that loomed over her. She didn't regret saying what she needed to say to Sydney. That much was apparent and for the first time in a long time, she felt like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. It wasn't as if she were untouchable for the vulnerability was present, gnawing at the carefully constructed countenance she had set upon herself. It threatened to break at any moment but damn it all, she was free! She didn't have to worry about holding her tongue to Sydney anymore. Hell, she didn't even have to acknowledge her presence if she so pleased! It was satisfactory only in that sense...but what happens now? Did she still have Jane as a friend? Piper? Connor? The sudden wave of loneliness almost prompted her home to the arms of her sister and maybe Hailey, but she needed someone else. Someone she had known she could depend on and whom she might actually be able to talk to. Hands shaking with an emotion she didn't want to acknowledge, Sienna pulled her phone back up and texted out a message.

To: Charlotte
I'm sorry if I'm bugging u. I kno ur usually busy and I'm so sorry. I just really need a friend rite now. Can I come c u?

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Character Portrait: Jane Lynch Character Portrait: Sienna Alvarez Character Portrait: Sydney Vale Character Portrait: Connor Harkins
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It was impossible to Sydney to keep her jaw from dropping, even just slightly, when Jane yanked her arm away from her. She was trying to protect Jane from Sienna and her toxic vibes and now she was pulling away from her?! Luckily for Sydney's ego, she didn't turn to the arms of Sienna, but it still hurt that she couldn't already flaunt Jane's alliance with her. She caught a glimpse of Jane's face briefly as she passed her and stormed out of the restaurant, and the result had Sydney biting her own lip now. Jane was upset, which honestly wasn't uncommon in the girl who was the most emotional of them, but Sydney knew that she had a real reason to be upset right now. While Sydney could push some of the blame on Sienna, she knew she had to accept some of it too, in this instance. Jane was older than both she and Sienna but she was undeniably the baby of the group, the one who needed to be cushioned from the drama and pettiness. After Sydney bringing up her eating disorder, she knew that the emotional toll that this friend drama would take on her would be even more severe, and she felt guilty. Away from Sienna, who she hadn't even responded to when she make a pathetic response about her crown being "dingy and faded" (As if!), she allowed her straight face to fall into a frown. Sydney desperately wanted to run over to Jane and apologize, without Sienna there to see it. She wanted Jane on her side, yeah, but she also wanted to make sure that Jane was okay and make it up to her. Before distancing herself from the restaurant, Jane had shot that she would get her own ride home, and Sydney decided to let her. She wouldn't chase after her just yet, when her emotions were boiling over more visibly than anyone else's.

She texted her driver, who arrived in a record two minutes, but waited inside the car to pull off until she saw Jane step into her own car. "Take me home," she ordered before sending the privacy screen up and resting her head back on her headrest. What did I get myself into? Sienna was right that Sydney refused to accept any responsibility out loud, but she didn't think that she could accept responsibility publicly. In order for her power and position to remain untouchable, she couldn't apologize for anything. She was never in the wrong, because she was allowed to do whatever she wanted without any objections. It didn't mean that she had no conscious or was heartless, like people claimed, because when she was alone, it hit her. Like now, as she sat in the back of her limo with tears silently streaming down her cheeks. She needed Jane, but it had been made clear that she didn't want to be around her any more than Sienna did. Connor was the next person on her go-to list, and one that she knew wouldn't flake out on her no matter what.

To: Connor
Plz come over. I don't want to be alone rn...

Her grandfather wasn't home, her mother wasn't home and their house chef had left upon her request before Vincent showed up. When she returned to her townhouse, she really was alone. It made her feel even worse and pushed her to tears, but the empty apartment also allowed her to cry without worrying about anyone noticing. She cried, and she cried, and she cried, and deciding that she had time before Connor showed up, she stepped into her shower. Showers always made her feel better and she figured that the burning water might put enough sense into herself to remove the tiny part of her that was crying because she knew she had just lost a friend.

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Character Portrait: Jane Lynch Character Portrait: Sienna Alvarez Character Portrait: Sydney Vale Character Portrait: Piper Vine Character Portrait: Carolina Daily Character Portrait: Sebastian Huntington Jr.
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It took Maxwell a good fifteen minutes to pull up, and in that time, Jane had lost control of her tears and was grateful for the pair of Aviators that shielded her red and puffy eyes from the other 5th Ave patrons. She was growing impatient, so much so that when her car did arrive, she couldn't even calm her nerves for Maxwell, who she normally had a soft spot for. "I didn't expect you to be out so soon, I thought you said you were having dinner with your friends," he spoke with a chuckle. He hadn't glanced into the rearview mirror to detect her foul mood until it was already too late and she had snapped at him. "Just drive!" She would regret being so short with him later on, but for now she really did need to get home to her safe haven. She needed silence, and to envelope herself in her warm and fall asleep. Maybe she would wake up tomorrow and this would all be a dream. She would have her secret and her friends back, and things would be okay.

She so desperately hoped that Nicole and her father would be out like they had been earlier. She could deal with the house staff, who she would order to bring her bags to her room and then stay away from her for the rest of the night, because they would follow her instructions. If Adrian or Nicole were there, she was going to be expected to explain how her first day of school went, why she was crying and if she had eaten dinner yet. She didn't want to talk about any of the three, and managed to muffle her sadness down to only sniffles as she waited for the elevator to carry her up to the penthouse. As soon as the doors opened, she knew that she wasn't alone. "We can stay in and watch something in the theater, then!" she heard Nicole calling out, to who she could only presume to be her father. Her voice was getting closer and Jane could hear footsteps coming down the hallway. She darted into the living room, spotting one of the maids, Jihee, dusting the windowsill. "Tell my father and Nicole that I don't want to talk to them, and to leave me alone when you see them." She hissed, catching the woman's attention as she dashed past her and towards the other side of the room. It was when she remembered that the woman was the mother of a classmate of hers, and that she was one of the less bothersome workers in the house regarding her poor habits, that she turned back and offered a late, but well-intended, "Please." When her unspoken apology seemed to be accepted by the woman's quick nod, and Nicole's voice had silenced, Jane returned down the hall and towards her room.

The distraction had allowed her sadness to be put on the back burner for a moment, and she pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head, wiping her cheeks clean of the tears. If there was one thing she was thankful for in that moment, it was waterproof mascara, but even that couldn't rid her of her swollen, red eyes and sniffling nose when Nicole popped out of a spare bedroom. "I've been texting you all afternoon, Janie!" she was in a suspiciously good mood, but Jane didn't have the energy to bicker with her tonight. Especially not if her father was in earshot as well. "Don't talk to me," she muttered. She hadn't checked her phone since texting Maxwell, but even if Nicole had texted her before then, it wasn't surprising that Jane ignored them without thinking twice. She attempted to sidestep the blonde, only to have a hand thrust in her path and being so exhausted, Jane didn't have the energy to shove it out of her way. "Not so fast! I have a surprise for you!" If she says that she's pregnant, I swear I will murder someone. Jane was still convinced that her father would divorce Nicole as soon as he found a younger and prettier bimbo, and the last thing they needed was for something to keep her around once the marriage ended. Jane looked up at her with a defeated expression, willing to humor Nicole with whatever this surprise was, if it meant she could go to bed without a fight. Nicole was too caught up in whatever the surprise was too, because she didn't take notice of Jane's post-crying look and maintained her cheerful mood as she gave Jane a gentle push into the room she had just stepped out of.

"Meet your new roommate!" she exclaimed as Jane's eyes fell upon Carolina Daily, a girl from Constance that she barely knew. Jane's silence, scrutinizing gaze and slightly agape mouth demonstrated her reaction better than her words could have. "Well, she's not technically your roommate, but Carolina's going to be staying with us for a while. It's going to be so great having another girl to hang out with us when your dad's away, right, Janie?!" Up until now, Jane had forgotten that Nicole even had a sister. She passed by Carolina in the hallways at school and definitely had a couple classes with her over the years, but neither acknowledged the other's presence. It wasn't because there was bad blood there, but just because they weren't friends and were never going to be. Carolina looked awkward and uncomfortable but Jane was in no mood to be polite or welcoming and this was the worst possible time for a stranger to be showing up in her house. "You have got to be kidding me," she muttered, abruptly shoving past Nicole and out of the spare bedroom. This was the icing on the cake and even though Carolina hadn't done anything wrong, she was now going to be associated with this horrible day and mood.

She was too tired to fight with Nicole over a stranger moving into her house, but she garnered enough energy to slam her bedroom door behind her to make the point. When she collapsed onto her bed, kicking off her boots and tossing the sunglasses as far as she could, she allowed herself to break down again. It wasn't for very long and it wasn't loud enough to force Nicole to come check on her, but it felt like a release and she eventually rolled over and found her phone. Sienna and Piper had texted her, but there was nothing from Sydney. Jane was angry enough that she wanted to use it against her friend, but she also knew that Sydney worked differently than normal people. It was hard for her to apologize and often times, she would apologize in a way that wasn't straight forward, but Jane had learned to appreciate just as much as a verbal apology. So, she didn't text Sydney to rant about how bad of a friend she was being, despite how nice Jane always was to her. She was more inclined to text her and tell her that the Timberline Knolls thing was a rumor that someone had made up about her, but she didn't do that either. Her secret wasn't as detrimental to her image as Sydney's was, and she could leave it be for now. Only Sienna and Sydney knew, and she still thought that they were good enough friends to keep it that way.

To: Sienna
Please be friends with her again. I don't want anyone to fight.

To: Piper
Make them be friends again Pipe

She knew that it was completely unrealistic of her to ask Sienna for such a thing, after how everything had just went down, but Jane didn't know what else to do. She wasn't going to be able to handle having to choose Sienna or Sydney, and she knew that she wasn't going to be able to choose both of them either. Sydney had made that hard enough when they were friends, or fake friends, and now it was going to be impossible. Piper's text suggested that she knew what was going on too, so Jane didn't bother answer her questions but jumped to the same desperate attempt at pleading for someone to fix this.

To: Sebastian
Seb everything is getting messed up and my life is ruined

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sienna Alvarez Character Portrait: Vincent Mast Character Portrait: Sydney Vale Character Portrait: Kelley Hadley
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When Sydney stepped out of the shower, she had nearly forgotten about her plea for Connor to come over. On a regular day, she would have been glad that he "was in Brooklyn @ an art gallery" with his mom, and would have reassured him that no, he didn't have to catch the next subway back to come be with her. The hot shower had worked its magic and had stopped her from crying for the time being, but that text pushed her right back into the emotional state. She was so used to have Jane and Connor at her beck and call, that she didn't know how to react to both of them being unavailable when she was in such a rare state of emotional vulnerability.

Unlike Sienna, she didn't have a sister who doubled as her best friend to run home to. She did not have a father to call on speed dial, who would drop everything and leave an important meeting to come check on his little girl. Her mother couldn't be considered a stay-at-home mom who was available for girl talks every hour of the day, because while she was unemployed, she was rarely home. In fact, when Sydney and Alice were speaking on a real and deep level, it was usually Alice who was doing the crying and Sydney the comforting. That left her without even the distant mother-daughter relationship that Jane got to have with her own mom, because Sydney was sure that if she called her mother up right now, she would be at some risque bar taking shots with guys twenty years her junior. Sydney had minions that she could have called and demanded they come be by her side, but she didn't want that. She had purposely avoided having many friends outside of her close circle that she really trusted, because being friendly to everyone wasn't her thing. She didn't have anyone like Charlotte, who she was good friends with but not best friends with, and could actually trust. The closest person to that, actually, would probably have been Charlotte's sister, but Sydney wasn't going to go there. She didn't want anyone to know that this was hurting her.

She changed into pajamas and tossed her hair into a careless messy bun before returning to bed. She had no plans to leave the house for the rest of the night and was considering staying in bed for the rest of her life, too. Earlier, she had been confident that she could hold her head high and pretend like the Vincent rumor was just another feeble attempt at someone trying to steal her throne. Maybe she could pass it off as that. Vincent had told Sienna the truth, but that doesn't mean he was going to confirm it to everyone else. Still, especially in her overly-emotional state, her melodramatic woe is me side was telling her that her reputation had been shattered and there was no point in ever showing her face again. Going to Hailey's party was out of the question at least. Even though her phone was blowing up with messages, none of them were from anyone that she actually cared about, and she left them all unanswered. She didn't even know how to respond to them... if she was going to be honest now that she had a chance to, or if she would sink back into denial.

The Vale's weren't frivolous when it came to hiring house staff. Sydney was usually the only one home and aside from a part time house keeper and the chef, they didn't need their home filled with strangers unless they were throwing an event. It was just her luck that tonight, she was completely alone, just when she needed someone to cook her brownies and bring her a martini. It wouldn't have been that difficult for her to slip out of bed and do it herself, but she was pitying herself and didn't think that in this state she needed to do anything. So, she dialed her doorman's number and after a brief conversation, convinced him to bring the pizza that she would soon be ordering, up to her apartment and into room as soon as it got there. When there was a knock on her bedroom door ten minutes, she wiped her eyes dry and ordered them to come in. Her mood had perked up slightly, just because the pizza was here sooner than she expected, but when the door opened, her face and her heart dropped.

Vincent and Kelley?

-x-

Vincent had been at the Vale apartment only an hour or two before and after Sydney's cheek kiss, had no intentions of returning any time soon. That was the plan, until he had returned to his apartment and was in the middle of a Killzone session again, when his phone started blowing up. He hadn't thought much of the snapchat that Sydney posted, but when he was receiving a message a minute about how he was "the man" for banging Sydney Vale, he assumed that was what everyone was referring to. He didn't think Sydney was crazy enough to tell people that they had just hooked up... was she? A few confused texts later, and one of his lacrosse buddies sent him a screenshot of the Tweet. He then he found the text that he had somehow missed from Sienna, and it made more sense. She was pissed off that he hung out with Sydney, and as he rewatched the snap, he guessed that he could see why. It didn't look as innocent as it really was, and after their perfect night together, he understood that it looked bad on his part. Sienna must have finally cracked and told someone about Sydney being the one he cheated with, and now all hell was breaking loose. The entire Upper East Side knew, or at least speculated, what had happened.

Vincent was completely fucked. He knew from the start that it was wrong of him to expect Sienna to keep that secret when it was only being kept to protect him and Sydney, the two people who screwed her over. And, he knew that it was wrong of him to tell Sienna the truth without giving Sydney a chance to do the same first, or at least at some point over the last couple of years. The situation was destined to fall apart at some point, but why the hell did it have to be now? He had to make this right, but he had no idea how. There was no way that he was going to dinner anymore with his mother, but he only had a chance to text her that before Kelley showed up at his apartment.

Even her light-hearted "let me in, bitch!" when she realized that he locked the front door, couldn't break the wave of panic he was feeling. It took a few more texts for him to explain the situation to his mom, but once she decided that this meant he was trying to win Sienna back, she agreed to have dinner with Kelley's parents instead. He opened the door but had no intentions of letting Kelley stay. "Kell, I'm not going to dinner anymore. Did you see those posts? I'm fucked. I'm completely fucked." He wasn't even slightly concerned with his own reputation. His friends would only be impressed that he managed to bang the best friend while the girlfriend was away... especially with that best friend being Sydney Vale. Sienna's friends would look at him with disgust, but he didn't have a chance with Jane or Piper anyway! Nothing was going to change for him, besides losing Sydney and Sienna. Not just as a hookup and potential girlfriend, but as friends. After finally winning Sienna back after years of a broken relationship, he didn't think he could deal with not speaking to her again. At the same time, he felt bad for Sydney. If he had told her that he was feeling too guilty and needed to confess to Sienna, he knew that she would have done the same. She was keeping the secret because that was what they agreed on, and he had screwed her over by telling Sienna to clear his own name without consulting her. Plus, he knew that this getting out was going to affect her more than it would anyone else.

"Oh, calm down, Cowboy Casanova. People will get over it in two days when the next-"

"Come on." He cut her off, grabbed his keys, phone and wallet and her arm, and pulled her into the elevator. He still didn't know how, but somehow, he was going to make this right. Rumors swirled left and right in their circle, and Vincent still wanted to believe that someone had just been pretty accurate with their creativity this time, but it seemed like wishful thinking.

To: Sienna
Tell me u didn't leak this Sia. Tell me someone really is just trying to fuck with us and made it up

-x-

One set of fingers curled around her blanket, pulling it up closer against her chest as Sydney sat up. The other swiped at her red cheeks, confirming that they were dry... for the time being. He honestly was the last person that she wanted to see, and she didn't consider Kelley to be a close enough friend to want her to see her in this state either. Vincent was the one who had betrayed her and when it came down to it, it was he who was the source of all of this drama. Not only had he been the one to initiate their night together, he was the one who lied about dating Sienna still, he was the one who agreed to Sydney that neither of them would tell a soul while he turned the next day and told Sienna, he was the one who maintained that he didn't tell anyone until this day, and he was the one who had come over to apologize this afternoon. Sydney's responsibility in all of this was hidden somewhere in that mix, but she hated Vincent right now.

"What do you want?" It took more effort than she wanted to give, but she was able to meet his gaze without the tears falling again.

"Sydney... I'm sorry. I should have told you I was telling her." His voice was weak with guilt. He knew that Sydney Vale, the coldest bitch in Constance, had just been crying, and it that said something. He looked to Kelley for support. What was he supposed to do?

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Vincent Mast Character Portrait: Sydney Vale Character Portrait: Piper Vine Character Portrait: Kelley Hadley
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Kelley didn't think that Piper could have been that much more hungover than she, but unlike the redhead, Kelley made it to class on Friday. She felt dead for most of the day and considered telling Vincent and her Aunt Colette that she wasn't going to make it to dinner, but she knew that that would only cause her a bigger headache. They were all meeting at her mother's new restaurant in Tribeca and god forbid Kelley miss another "family event". So, around seven, she left her apartment in an outfit and walked a few blocks over to Vincent's. He had finally learned how to lock his front door, forcing her to pound on it obnoxiously rather than let herself in. "Let me in, bitch!" she called through the door. For a few seconds, she considered that he wasn't home because there was no sound on the other side of the door. After what seemed like a while, the door creaked open and before she could congratulate him on learning how to use a key, he started speaking in a frenzy.

"Kell, I'm not going to dinner anymore. Did you see those posts? I'm fucked. I'm completely fucked." She had seen the posts on Twitter and Facebook, but honestly, she didn't think it was a big deal. She had known the truth about Vincent's cheating scandal the day after it happened and even then, she didn't think it was a big deal. Vincent had cheated on Sienna with Sydney. For the past few years, everyone already knew that he cheated on her. If they were going to hate him for that, it would have happened back then. Why did he care so much about the detail of Sydney being the other woman coming out? "Oh, calm down, Cowboy Casanova. People will get over it in two days when the next-" she tried to reassure him people who care about it for a few days, and then move on. That was how the Upper East Side worked. He grabbed her wrist before she could finish, and led them out of his apartment.

Kelley could tell that he was panicking when she realized that the address he shot at their cab driver was Sydney Vale's. If Vincent was thinking straight, he would have went to speak to Sienna and receive her side of the story first. She had heard enough about their night together to know that they had left off on good terms yesterday. Vincent, the boy that claimed to be heartbroken when she dumped him, could not really care this much about Sydney when everyone knew he had vowed to never let her come between he and Sienna again. "I don't think this is a good idea..." she commented, though the advice went unheard by her cousin who let her into Sydney's building. The fact that the doorman recognized him by his name and gave him access to Sydney's apartment without even buzzing in wasn't a good sign. Maybe she knew less about Vincent and Sydney's relationship than she thought she did...

To: Piper
Yea wtf. Vincent dragged me to the queen bee's house... Where r u at? Shits gonna go down. U should be worried more than me lol looks like ur friend group is in for a rough weekend

She guessed that Piper would know more about how all of this got out than she, since she was in the same social circle as Sienna and Sydney. Kelley, however, was unaware that everything already went down, until Vincent hesitantly opened Sydney's bedroom door. There she was, the heartless ruler of Constance Billard, bundled up in blankets, red-eyed and alone. It was strange to see the girl who could make people flinch with just a look to appear so vulnerable herself. Kelley hated drama and she still thought that Vincent freaking out over this whole affair was a waste of energy, but Sydney's appearance alone made her feel bad. Kelley wasn't Sienna or Sydney's biggest fan, but she was definitely civil enough with both of them. When it came down to it, she easily preferred the first to the second, however. Her issues with Sydney were the same that most people had with her. She disliked how caught up in herself she was and found her too be too uptight for her liking. Kelley had no real reason to dislike Sienna, especially with how in love Vincent was with her. Maybe it was just the air that that group gave off, because Kelley sometimes rolled her eyes at Piper's behavior too, if she was around her friends.

Even if she didn't want to get involved in the drama, the look the desperate look that Vincent flashed her and the broken look on Sydney's face made Kelley feel inclined to do something. "Sydney, no one is going to care about that stupid post by Monday. People say shit all of the time about you, aren't you used to it by now?" Okay, maybe that wasn't the most compassionate way of putting it. "I mean, when you're popular and whatever, there are so many people who want to try to cut you down, and I'm sure whoever wrote that was one of them. It's not worth crying over." She carefully sat down on the edge of Sydney's bed, desperately hoping that the blonde opposite her wouldn't burst into tears. "Why don't you just tell Sienna you're sorry? I'm sure you guys can move on from this." If she had only known about the dinner the three popular girls had earlier, she definitely wouldn't have suggested that.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Jane Lynch Character Portrait: Sydney Vale Character Portrait: Kelley Hadley
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The night's events took an unexpected turn when Kelley ended up spending the night. She refused to speak to Vincent, ordering him out of her apartment after his fourth attempt at apologizing, but she didn't want Kelley to leave. Granted, she was in the mood for anyone's coming, and Kelley wouldn't have been her top choice, but having her there ended up being better than expected. Kelley let Sydney go on and on about how pathetic and conniving and jealous Sienna was of her. Sure, Kelley was downing cocktails faster than Sydney was speaking, but she didn't even want a coherent response from the girl. She needed someone to get her anger out to and as long as Kelley was there to nod every now and then, she was fine. They devoured the pizza Sydney had ordered before the cousins arrived, watched an assortment of Disney movies (or, at least had them playing in the background as Sydney ranted), and by two AM, both girls had passed out in Sydney's room.

When morning came, Kelley's hangover was apparent when Sydney woke up to find her locked in the bathroom. She had a couple mixed drinks the night before but hadn't moved beyond being tipsy. However, the emotional strain of the day before forced her into a state of exhaustion. It took rinsing off in cold water and a cup of coffee for her to feel somewhat functional, but with that, came the thoughts of what had went on yesterday. She had lost Sienna as a friend, and even if she wanted to tell herself that it was a good thing, it wasn't. She had potentially lost Jane as a friend, which was definitely a bad thing, especially since Sydney hadn't even tried to reach out to her the night before. That was for no reason besides her being too caught up in her own despair and self-pity, but even if that was just who Sydney was, it wasn't a valid excuse for being a bad friend. All Sydney knew, as she sat on the edge of her kitchen island with her steamy beverage in had, was that she had to win Jane back before Sienna got to her. Sienna was not going to try to ruin her image like that and run off with her friends. Hell no.

Saturday, September 6th | 7:30 PM


It was time for Hailey's party, as made apparent by the countless number of Instagram posts of classmates pregaming through their friends. Sydney, however, had no intentions of going to the party. To start, Hailey was a drug addicted loser who had the nerve to speak to her as if she was the one who was the nobody on Thursday. Secondly, Sienna was going to be there, and although Sydney wasn't hiding from her, she had no desire to see that girl's face ever again. Lastly, Sydney didn't want to show up with anyone other than her friends. Connor was still out with his family, she still hadn't reached out to Jane, Piper was definitely going to side with Sienna, and she didn't really want to show up with Kelley. The blonde was a good ear for the night, but they were so different. A real friendship would never last and Sydney knew that Kelley was smart enough to know when she was being used.

The only thing that gave Sydney the courage to show up at Jane's apartment unannounced, knowing that Sienna very well might have already dragged her to Hailey's, was the fact that Jane's Instagram had been dead for the evening. It would have been very surprising if Jane was looking great in some dolled up outfit for the party and didn't post a picture for everyone to see. Then again, maybe this eating disorder thing had stolen her social media confidence too. It was too late for Sydney to reconsider, because the concierge of Jane's building were already escorting her to the private penthouse elevator. And up she went. 38 stories later, and the elevator bell chimed, doors slowly peeled open and she was in the foyer of the Lynch household.

A member of the house staff was a few feet away, rearranging a vase of flowers when she looked over at Sydney and stopped what she was doing. Though she probably expected it to be Adrian or Nicole, or unbeknownst to Sydney, Carolina, Sydney frequented the home more than often to be a recognized face.

"Miss Vale! I didn't hear you buzz in. Let me get Jane for you," the woman exclaimed pleasantly. Normally, Sydney would have refused and walked up to Jane's bedroom herself, but she didn't know if Jane even wanted to see her. Yesterday had went horribly, Sydney had a lot to apologize for, and Jane was always more emotional than the rest of them. She never had to deal with Jane being actually upset with her, but at the same time, nothing like this had ever happened before. And rather than reflect on herself, Sydney cursed Sienna again for having to be so dramatic.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Charlotte H. Buchanan Character Portrait: Jane Lynch Character Portrait: Sienna Alvarez Character Portrait: Vincent Mast Character Portrait: Sydney Vale Character Portrait: Piper Vine
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Sienna had only hiccupped and wiped her eyes at Charlotte's last pieces of advice, knowing that the class president was more than right. "You're right...you're right...I just..." Just didn't know what to do now? Was going to regret her decision at some point? Sienna didn't finish her sentence and she only hoped Charlotte would not ask her to because she did not know how. All she knew was that Charlotte was right - she handled everything wrong. She should have realized then to cut her ties with Vincent and Sydney. She didn't regret snapping at the blonde, never. Not in a million years would she regret going off on Sydney and the blonde had been lucky that was all Sienna had done. However, the post was out, speculation was running her phone rampant, and she honestly wanted to get home and to her ice cream.

"Thanks, Lottie," she said softly when it seemed like the tears would stop. She even managed a small though lackluster smile. "At this point, you're probably the only friend I've got so...thanks." She hugged her fellow Constance girl one more time before deciding to take Charlotte home, texting her own driver. Sienna didn't feel like waiting on a taxi and spending anymore money for the day. After a ten minute waiting period, Sienna and Charlotte were inside the Alvarez family town car and another ten minutes later, Sienna was dropping her friend off with the promise of picking her up for the party. She had not said much during the car ride to Charlotte's place nor had she checked her phone during that entire time, but once she saw to it that her friend had entered the building, Sienna's drivers pulled away from the curb and she turned her gaze to her phone.

Jane's text from earlier remained unanswered. She couldn't offer her friend a response at the moment. She couldn't just make up with Sydney Vale. Sydney would expect immediate regret and for Sienna to take full blame and, after crying in Charlotte's arms and having time to breathe, Sienna felt like she deserved more than groveling at Sydney's knees. She did not exactly expect Sydney to do such to her, but she definitely wasn't planning on finding out any time soon. Instead, she flipped through her phone to see various messages from classmates she almost didn't recall until memories of destroyed chemistry sets, volleyball matches, and failed cooking experiments danced across her mind. Most offered their support and a few, their allegiances though Sienna didn't understand why they would do that. She had not done what she had done out of a desire for Sydney's throne. She just wanted to get back at her at the only way she knew how. By affecting Sydney's image. Sienna's image was just as important to her, but her heart came first and Sydney had aided in breaking it. Despite validating Charlotte's wisdom of her not "handling the situation correctly", Sienna still felt like revenge had been served.

Saturday, September 6th | 7:30 PM

To occupy the void left in her life since she wasn't exactly on speaking terms with either Jane or Sydney, Sienna had woken up early on Saturday morning. No matter her mood and because Cynthia had been upset about the revelation of who Vincent had cheated with getting to her from one of her manicurists (how the hell it had spread that far, Sienna could not even fathom!), Sienna still had to go to her modeling session. And it was also Hailey's birthday and she couldn't ruin the day for her friend just because she was in a bad mood. So, Sienna did something she rarely did. She cooked. She was not the greatest and had to get kitchen staff to help her since Cynthia had gone back to their Long Island estate for the weekend, but she ended up satisfied with the assortment of breakfast food. Because it was Sienna and she loved pancakes, they were definitely an option and because Hailey loved chocolate, they were chocolate-chip. Plating a stack of pancakes and topping it with whipped cream, a chocolate sauce drizzle, and candles, Sienna and Esmee surprised the blonde singer with breakfast-in-bed followed by presents. Esmee had gotten Hailey a Cartier love bracelet from her own summer job money and allowance from their parents. Sienna and Jane - and only because she promised Jane she would include her and literally had to swallow back a lump of emotion when she acknowledged her friend's involvement in the gift giving - had gotten Hailey two new outfits complete with accessories and jewelry, and a paid day of relaxation at Caudalie's with Esmee.

After the girls had eaten and bidding both Esmee and Hailey a good day with a promise to check on everything for Hailey's party for the night, Sienna had gone off to her photo shoot with Young&Reckless. She was getting a large endorsement from both them and Pepsi, so she had to do small things like campaigns, photo shoots, interviews, and commercials. Luckily, she didn't have to act today. She was too tired for any of that. Esmee had taken to washing her hair for her last night and had even put in cornrows because Sienna had not cared enough to stop her. The only thing she had focused on was the smell of her Black Vanilla conditioning products from Carol's Daughter. So, Esmee did what she did and it was fine because the stylists all decided to apply a sew-in weave to her hair, thus leaving Sienna with a red hue for the six hours that she was there. It was a surprisingly sexy color that she would have been more than interested in had she cared. Sienna had had to focus on not giving away too much emotion to Piper when she saw the natural redhead and ignored Sebastian all together, not remembering his name being on the list of models for the shoot.

Once that was over and promising her friend to text her later (and taking out the blasted weave!), Sienna had checked with the club they had rented out for the evening's festivities. As a means to take pressure off of Hailey because she deserved to enjoy her birthday, Sienna had made the final plans for the evening. She had made sure the night would be fun. There would be paint in one of the lounge areas for people to use if they had not already gotten themselves painted, most of the drinks glowed in the dark, there were neon lights with a timed fog machine, the DJ knew some of Hailey's favorite songs, and there would be light snacks and a birthday cake. A few of Hailey's friends were flying in as a surprise and a few of the friends Sienna had introduced her to in California were coming. Overall, the evening was going to be great and satisfied, Sienna returned home to get ready, surprised to see Ricardo Slim-HelĂș waiting for her when the elevator doors opened.

"Rick," she breathed and Ricky's hand shot out of the elevator, stopping the doors from closing in on a flabbergasted Sienna. He only smirked at her expression. "Miss me?" Her answer was throwing herself into his arms. Ricky didn't hesitate in allowing her to do such, wrapping his firm arms around her waist and spinning her around for a moment. He wasn't surprised when Sienna didn't immediately release him when her feet touched the ground and allowed her the chance to cling. He had seen the Facebook posts that turned into tweets and then full-on debates between classmates who normally did not speak to each other. And least of all about two of the most popular girls at Constance Billard.

Which was why Ricardo was a bit excited for the school year. While being in California had been fun and attending such a prestigious institute for the time that he had had been challenging considering those were some of the best athletes in the country, there was nothing like good old New York, particularly the Upper East Side. For years, he had been entertained by the various gossip blogs that had emerged in the last few years and even more-so, by the whispered rumors in the hallways surrounding each and every student. Some guys felt like it played with their manliness to be involved with gossip, but their heterosexism did not leak into Rick's mind. No, in fact, he reveled in the gossip, oftentimes starting issues or making them worse. And it wasn't like many chose to challenge him. The ones who did either learned their lessons and probably don't live on their side of town anymore, or were some of the few Ricky was entertained enough by to not be upset with. Which included the blonde in his arms.

It took Sienna a minute, but she had come to the conclusion that she honestly had missed Ricky. While both his and Sydney's need for absolute control and demands could be overbearing, she couldn't lie when it came to having grown tolerant of Ricky. Granted, if she and Sydney had never gotten into a tiff over Vincent, then Sydney would be her girl and Ricky would be just another bothersome manwhore like Vincent. But he wasn't. He was fun and she loved flirting with him. Partly because she knew she would never give in to his advances and partly, well...all anyone had to do was look at him! Ricardo Slim-HelĂș was absolutely gorgeous! There was no doubting his attractiveness and why doing absolutely any and everything came natural to him. Even the air about him was intoxicating at times, especially when he put on that damn smolder. However, and luckily for her and her emotions, he only had a teasing smirk on his face. "You didn't tell me that you were back yet." Ricky shrugged, following Sienna on the path to one of the smaller kitchens. Already comfortable in the Alvarez family home, he walked over to the liquor cabinet and pulled out one of their bottles of scotch. "Kinda thought seeing my gorgeous face would put you in a better mood," he replied and Sienna rolled her eyes, pushing two glass cups towards him. "Yeah, whatever." This was what she needed. Playfulness. Familiarity. Something to get her mind off of everything else.

"I'm surprised you aren't with your queen," she commented after receiving her half-filled glass of scotch. Ricky stared at her, long and leisurely, before smirking. He detected the jealousy underneath the inquiry and happened to like it. It made things all the more fun when shit really hit the fan. Ricky did not favor Sydney nor Sienna more than the other. Did he like it when he girls fought? Oh, yes, he did. Sienna was a tough and fiery little ball of wonders, and Sydney was...well, Sydney was more his equal than he would typically give her credit for. Both of them gave him a bit of entertainment, just in different ways. If anyone else messed with them, he would be more than ready to stand up for them. Them at each other's throats? Delightful. "I will pay my respects before the night is over." There was a pause before he added, "Jealous much?" Sienna scoffed and swallowed down the liquor, gritting her teeth so that she wouldn't allude to the liquor having still taken her aback. A warmth spread in her belly and wanting that feeling again, she drank more until the glass was finished. Noticing Ricky still watching her, Sienna tilted her head curiously. "How did you get in here anyway? And where's...?" Rick answered only a beat later. "I buzzed in just as Esmee and your friend were leaving. Esmee just let me on in." Sienna hummed, maneuvering around the island until she was beside Ricky. Pouring herself more alcohol, she took another drink. "So, I'm guessing that means you're coming to the party tonight." It was more of a statement than a question, especially after noting Ricky's apparel.

Instead of the usual formal attire Upper East Side kids were used to or even the business casual they frequented, Ricky wore black Levi jeans, a simple white muscle shirt underneath a specially designed black varsity jacket with neon green accents, and black and green sneakers from Adidas. It was unsurprisingly tame. There would be paint at the party and Ricky was too cool to ever really have his body painted. Sienna would joke later that he was too stuck-up, but for now she simply appreciated the display of pectoral muscles beneath the thin white fabric of his top. "Careful there, sweetheart," he teased, the deep timbre of his lowered voice forcing Sienna's gaze to meet his. "The last girl that looked at me like that got laid." Heat rushed to her cheeks and Sienna immediately retorted, "It would be a cold day in hell before you and I ever happen." Ricky only chuckled and Sienna growled. "Down, kitten. I was only playing." Sienna only glared at him and Ricky's smirk grew. "Gotta go anyway before I hit up this party of yours. Need to check on a companion of mine who you've been ignoring." Sienna didn't have to question who he was speaking about. It was Vincent.

"And until he gives me something worth paying attention to, I'm gonna keep ignoring him," Sienna stated sharply. She had not answered not one of Vincent's text messages and didn't plan on doing so. She did not know about his having gone to see Sydney instead of her. All she knew was that Sydney obviously meant more to him than he had initially let on and Sienna was hurt. Perhaps she should have reminded herself that she had said that their night had been supposed to be a one night stand. She had prepared herself to be ready for it to be that way. However, she didn't want to focus on that and only shooed Ricky out of her kitchen. "Go on then. I have to get pretty and you're holding me up." Ricky only chuckled as she led him to the elevator, offering her a smirk when the doors closed. Sighing, Sienna only rushed to get herself together. Ricky had managed to hold her up for twenty minutes and she promised to give rides.

On his way down, Ricky leaned against the back wall of the elevator. He had not truly spoken to Sienna about the Sydney-Vincent situation and had chosen not to. He wanted her more pliant and receptive of his words. At the moment, she was vulnerable, but enough to fully let down her guard. It would take more time and he could always plant the seed of suspicion later. For now, he decided, he could text his other friends.

To: Vincent
Omw 2 r place & u better b ready. No excuses.

To: Sydney
I kno u missed me & all, but the least u could have done was give me a welcome home kiss babe. Heard u were dealing w/ a mutiny. Not gonna say I'm not surprised u couldn't handle urself w/out me here, but don't tell me ur in cowering, Syd. Come 2 the party

After a ten minute shower, Sienna returned to her bedroom to put on a matching printed bra and panty set. It was a daring move, especially considering her outfit for the night. But she was feeling reckless. The fact that she had downed two glasses of scotch when she had not eaten dinner yet said enough. The bra's stripes would glow in the dark beneath the revealing top. After applying a shimmering lotion that left her skin feeling silky smooth and giving off her signature scent, Sienna pulled on a pair of Abercrombie & Fitch shorts and a pair of multi-colored Giuseppe Zanotti wedges. The colors would glow in the blacklight of the club. Still topless, Sienna headed over to her vanity to work on her makeup. While the long lashes seemed pink in regular light, they would glow blue later and the eyeliner would be pink. Despite her earlier plans to have glitter all over herself, she didn't feel the need to show off artistically. She just felt like being sexy and stupid for the night. It would be a bad decision later and she would probably get chastised later, but who the fuck cared? Once her face was taken care of and a pair of silver hoops were in her ears, Sienna set to fixing her hair up. One of her favorite stylists had done her nails earlier. It didn't take long to get to the final product for her hair as she had not straightened in last night and the braids had played on the naturally curly state from her mother's genes. Satisfied, Sienna finally pulled on her long-sleeved top, a mid-driff baring little thing with large fishnet holes. It revealed the bra beneath and the neon pink shade made her skin pop. The flat tummy she had worked to keep toned would be revealed and she even chose the belly button ring whose diamond would glow pink. The top would also glow later in the night and after a spritz of perfume, Sienna was ready for her night.

Once in the town car, Sienna checked the time. It was ten minutes after eight, and so she sent out her texts, biting her lip at messaging Jane. She didn't know how the brunette would feel about her ignoring her plea, but she couldn't ignore Jane forever either.

To: Piper
Picking up Charlotte first. Where do u want me 2 pick u up at?

To: Charlotte
Omw, love. B there in 10

To: Carolina
I am so sorry 4 not messaging u back. A lot happened and I'm really sorry. R u coming to dis party tonite?

To: Jane
Hey, I'm omw 2 Hailey's party. Do u need me to send anyone 2 pick u up? Do u need anything?

To:Hailey
Omw. Everything good so far?



Setting

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Character Portrait: Jane Lynch Character Portrait: Sienna Alvarez Character Portrait: Sydney Vale
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Jane's day consisted of some much needed self-attention. She didn't think that there was anything that could help her get over the complete train wreck of a day that yesterday was, but she did her best. Her day began by being dragged out by her father, Nicole and Carolina to breakfast at The Garden. Jane only agreed to go because Nicole claimed that she owed her for getting Carolina to do her paper. She was hungry, anyway, and even though she was not happy with herself afterwards, she had one of the lemon ricotta pancakes she ordered, and a cup of berries. Adrian left the girls for some business meeting in the financial district, and the three girls headed down to Chelsea. Nicole and Carolina went furniture shopping while Jane browsed the selves of Anthropologie, Moschino, American Apparel, Comme des Garçons and Barney's. Retail therapy was a bad habit of Jane's, but it helped her feel better even if she was alone.

Things only started to get bad around four o'clock when she reunited with Carolina and Nicole and was told that the three of them were getting an early dinner in Times Square. Apparently, the restaurant Carmine's had been a family favorite when the two girls were growing up and they wanted to introduce it to Jane since the three of them were going to be "like sisters!", as Nicole put it. Jane's tolerance for Nicole had been better than normal all day since she really was appreciative of Carolina's help, but she wasn't going to eat another meal, at least not so soon after the first. She felt like they were pushing her too much and it was unfair when she had already made an effort with breakfast this morning. However, she took a deep breath and got into the car with them. She already warned both girls in the car that she wasn't hungry and had to stop herself from smacking Nicole who went on and on about how she would be hungry as soon as she saw the lasagna. "You're so stupid," was all she let herself mutter, even if the comment went unnoticed by the pair of sisters who were gushing about past experiences there.

Lunch went just as poorly as Jane expected it would. She was coerced into eating a small piece of garlic bread when Nicole threatened to call her father, she ordered a salad that came out covered in dressing that she wouldn't dare put into her mouth, and, to top it all off, they wouldn't serve her alcohol. It wasn't because of the waiter, who didn't try to card her when she ordered a drink, but because Nicole outright told him that she was underage and not allowed to drink. Why she would do such a thing was unknown to Jane, who actually thought Nicole had become slightly cooler since her sister arrived. But no, she apparently was the same bitch who liked to piss Jane off at any chance she had. So, rather than wait for her salad to arrive, she went to the bathroom, called Max and left the restaurant without uttering a goodbye to either of the girls.

Her father was home from his meeting when she walked in, and it was apparent that Nicole had figured out she bailed and told him. "Why aren't you at the restaurant?" he questioned her, spinning around in his desk chair as she attempted to silently pass by his office. "Votre petite amie est une chienne, voilĂ  pourquoi." Jane had never gotten used to referring to Nicole as her father's wife. It hadn't seemed necessary, since she was sure that he was going to dump her soon after the wedding. Her father paused at her disrespectful remark, his lips sealed tight as if he were contemplating whether to snap at her or just let it go. The waiting left Jane anxious, but she didn't regret calling Nicole a bitch. It wasn't the first time the expletive had left her lips when referring to the blonde. She watched as he raised his slightly and tapped his fingers against each other. "I heard you were upset last night. Tout va bien?" Carolina. Jane should have known that her sobbing to the girl when they had never said more than a couple words to each other was probably unexpected, but did she have to go blabbing about it? Now, obviously her dad was going to be on her case about falling back into her old ways, as if she had ever really gotten over them, and it was one more thing to worry about. "Yes! It was just a problem with my friends. It's not a big deal, okay?" He nodded. He didn't want to hear it any more than she wanted to explain it to him. "Good, go get dressed. You're taking Carolina to that party tonight." Jane wanted to object but her father had already spun back around in his chair, hitting the button on his phone to return to whatever call he had been in the middle of.

If Carolina thought that now that they lived together, she was going to get a free ticket into the group Jane socialized with, she was completely wrong. Did she really think that she could just tell Nicole there was a party and that she had no one to go with, and expect to just be able to tag along with Jane? Hell no. It wasn't even like Jane wanted to go to tonight's party. Sydney and Sienna hadn't texted her today, Sebastian was going with Lee, and she was sure that Piper was going with Sienna. She didn't remember the incident involving her Hailey and Brent the previous night, but she still didn't want to go. The dynamic between her friends was just too volatile. Something was bound to go down again and Jane couldn't bear another cat fight. So, after trying on all of her day's purchases she lit a bunch of vanilla scented candles in her bathroom and relaxed in her Jacuzzi tub.

More time went by than she thought, because when her buzzing phone pulled her out of her trance, it was already eight at night. It was Sienna and her name on the screen caught Jane's attention. Would she agree to make up with Sydney as Jane requested the day before. A moment later... it was apparent that no, she wasn't going to. She had ignored the message regarding Sydney and skipped straight to talking about Hailey's birthday party. The fact that Sienna was being normal was nice... nice enough to tempt her into responding.

To: Sienna
:...............(

To: Sienna
But no it's okay I'll prob stop by a little later

She guessed that socializing might do her well and if Sydney clearly didn't care to mend their friendship, at least she would have Sienna. A few minutes later, Jane stepped out of the tub and slipped into a robe. She needed to straighten her hair and get dressed, but maybe going to Hailey's party would be in the cards tonight. She thought that, at least, until there was a quiet knock on the other side of the door. "Jane, Miss Vale is here to see you." Her heart dropped. She didn't want to see Sydney... or did she? Jane didn't know. She wanted her friends back but she didn't want them back separately. It was extremely unlikely that Sydney was going to be the one to try to make amends with Sienna but Jane had to try. "I'll be down in a minute," she said, shooing the woman away. Jane didn't bother to put on real clothes and left her room as soon as she glanced at her phone once more to see if Sienna had responded.

If Sydney was going to be as stubborn as she always was, Jane was hoping that she would have the courage to tell her to leave, which is why she didn't have Sydney sent up to her room. "You could have told me you were coming. I'm actually getting ready to leave." she said in a tone more annoyed than she had ever addressed Sydney in before. It was as if she hadn't turned off the attitude she used with the hired help. It was kind of empowering, she decided, as she continued. "And before you say anything, just know that I can't be friends with only you and not Sienna. That's not fair, Syd, especially after how mean you were yesterday."

Setting

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Character Portrait: Sienna Alvarez Character Portrait: Sydney Vale Character Portrait: Sebastian Huntington Jr.
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After Sydney’s party, things have been a bit weird and Hailey doesn’t really know why. She didn’t go to school on the first official day and she told Sienna why. It was because she had to go to the loft and have it inspected for her party, not to mention making sure the capacity level was accurate. She even brought in a professional paint team to do the painting on others bodies. It was a lot for her, honestly. At first, she thought that she didn’t need any help but yeah, she did indeed though do things on her own made her feel good.

Hailey seemed pleased with her decision on the area and idea of the party. She hoped that everyone had seen her tweet and Instagram pictures and posts about her party. She told Sienna directly, well because why wouldn’t she, they are the best of friends. She honestly hoped that Sydney would make an appearance so that she can see how a real party is thrown. A soft chuckle escaped over her lips at the thought then she shook her head as the limo pulled up to the Alvarez residence. She got out of the limo and immediately went up to her room, where Esmee was seen. Hailey walked into her room with a raised brow and seen Esmee’s stunned face. “May I help you?” Hailey asked while walking a little bit further into the room. Esmee tried to scurry away but Hailey grabbed her in time. “Nope. Talk.” Esmee put her lips together and shook her head. Hailey folded her arms over her chest and shifted her weight to her right side then raised a brow.

Esmee sighed with a slight eye roll. “Fine.” She walked over to the nearby chair and sat down. She basically caught Hailey up with everything that she has been missing out on. Her mind was blown. Hailey doesn’t do drugs. She wondered how Esmee knew all of this information but figured that Sienna probably told her everything since Hailey has been missing in action lately due to her preparing for her party.

// Saturday | 4-7:30 PM //

Hailey left early from the Alvarez’s residence to get clothes for her party and more. Her parents called her early that morning and left a voice mail on her phone, wishing her a happy birthday and hoping that she will definitely make a statement and stamp her name all over New York, well, The Upper East Side. She smiled slightly at the literally five minute voice mail. It was nice to see that her parents were not too busy for her birthday. As soon as she was done shopping, she saw that she had a text message from Sebastian. She smiled a little bit more then went to typing a reply.

To Sebastian:
Sure! The more, the merrier. Am I right? :3

She sent the message then left the mall and directed the driver to go the loft where they were a few mornings ago. “Thanks.” She told him while getting out and walking right on inside, taking the elevator to the fourth floor, where the room for the party was located. She a bouncer down the stairs to direct people to the elevator and tell them that Hailey’s party was on the fourth floor. She had dressed into nothing more than a blue muscle t-shirt and short shorts. She didn’t bother wearing any shoes since she didn’t really think that they were call for at this moment in time.

Hailey’s phone chimed again and she made sure that everything was organized and in order before grabbing her phone and reading over the message. It was from Sienna. She went to typing a reply then eyed the catering people coming in with a multiple array of sandwiches and even a three layer birthday cake. “Just sit it here, guys.” She directed them towards a nearby table and told them where she wanted everything. “Thanks.” She smiled then sat the drinks, which were in a cooler, right beside the food. She did have alcohol but it was hidden somewhere special and only being brought out for when the party actually began.

To Sienna:
Okies, Chica! BTW, did u still need 2 talk? And yeah, everything is great actually.

Hailey sent the message then retweeted out the exact address of her party and letting people know that they can proceed to the elevator, where there is a bouncer and just come right on up. She was really exhausted and stressed. She was actually even worried that tonight would not even go as planned. A soft sigh escaped over her parted as she wanted to tweet out that the party was cancelled but she couldn’t now since people have been waiting for this for quite some time, well, two days. She apologized for the late notice about her party then sat down in a chair, waiting for people to show up. “Is there anything you don’t want me to play?” DJ Kickstart asked her. She shook her head no then looked at him. “No, country. Just some Pop, Rap and maybe some R & B for the couples that are going to be here and so that I can dance with someone, as well.” She smiled towards him then waved him off as she sat there, staring that the door, waiting for someone to knock, ring the door bell or open the door and simply walk in.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Jane Lynch Character Portrait: Sydney Vale Character Portrait: Ricardo Slim-HelĂș
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Sydney wasn't nervous, but her patience was draining as she waited for Jane in the foyer. She just wanted this drama to be done and over with. Sienna and her little stunt would be a bigger problem, one that Sydney didn't care to think about, or try to fix at the moment, but Jane was going to be easy. She would apologize for the comment about her summer, and insist that the was just trying to protect Jane by keeping the Vincent thing from her. They had been best friends for years and Sydney was convinced that even a day of silence didn't mean that Jane had sided with Sienna. If for some outlandish reason it did, than Sydney was here to change that. She had to, if she wanted to put Sienna back in her place and make it out of senior year with her crown.

Sydney suspected that the soft footsteps coming from the steps were that of the Lynch's housekeeper but as she looked up with an irked glance, she found that it was Jane. Clad in a white robe, she drifted down the stairs silently. Sydney's pointed look followed her friend with every step, trying to decipher the blank expression she gave until she spoke. And boy, did that catch Sydney off guard. Since when did she need to tell Jane before she was coming over? Especially after a night like yesterday, Sydney would have thought Jane would be thanking her for making the first move to mend their friendship! And really, getting ready to go where in a robe? Her bed, where Sydney was sure she had spent the last 24 hours anyway? She couldn't imagine that Jane was going to Hailey's party, and Sydney herself had no plans on doing that either. Even after Ricky's provocative text. Her friend's new found attitude was not amusing but it pointed to only one explanation: Sienna had gotten to her first. Her final words only confirmed that, as if she were quoting Sienna who insisted that "Sydney is going to try to turn you against me!!!!" in her typical crybaby ways.

"Really, Jane? I come over here to try to be the bigger person and make things right after yesterday, and you have to give me this attitude?" She realized that her tone was too condescending to be used with Jane when she remembered who was really feeding her the behavior. "Okay, let's start over." She took a deep breath and tried to smile. Poor Jane, believing Sienna so easily. She's too sweet for her own good. "What I did to Sienna was... wrong." It was physically hard for her to admit that and get the last word out. "But, you know that we all felt that way about Vincent during freshman year, Jane. If it hadn't been me, it would have been you. He caught me when I was drinking and tricked me into believing that he and Sienna were over, and yeah, I should have stopped it before it got that far, but I wasn't thinking. And imagine that was you, Jane. Would you have told Sienna right after?" Sydney wasn't sure if Jane actually would have kept it from Sienna for as long as Sydney had. Again, her friend was too sweet for her own good. Her conscience probably would have weighed more heavily than Sydney's. Regardless, she hoped that she was getting through to the brunette. "I mean, I loved her and I knew that it would ruin our friendship... just like it did now. I didn't want it to happen this way... I didn't want to hurt her, but there's nothing I can do about it now." An apology would probably do some good, even if it didn't mend their friendship, but Sydney could not apologize to Sienna. Not after what she did. "And it's not like she's innocent in all of this either, Jane. What she did to me was like..." Was like Sydney sleeping with Sienna's ex? Maybe. "Was like me killing Esmee. That's basically what she did to me, so she's not the victim like I'm sure she's telling you she is, anyway." The claim was definitely dramatic but Sydney needed to be dramatic if she was going to come out looking even partially justified in her actions.

She stopped speaking, opting to avoid addressing her comment about Jane's summer until she heard Jane's response. Maybe she wouldn't even have to apologize for that, yet. They could agree that Sienna was the one in the wrong and go see a movie or something, and Sydney could relish in her victory.

To: Ricardo
Keep dreaming Rick. And haha she wishes I was cowering. If you're lucky maybe you'll get to see me but don't get ur hopes up. It's not easy to squeeze some last minute trashy party into my schedule. You should know that.

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Character Portrait: Jane Lynch Character Portrait: Sydney Vale Character Portrait: Carolina Daily
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With the unusual amount of courage that Jane was having today with Sydney, she was ready to tell her to leave when she tried to act like Jane's attitude was uncalled for. It probably still would have been a more indirect "get out" than Sydney deserved, but Jane still wasn't going to just back down. However, the blonde backtracked before Jane could respond and she let her speak. She did her best to follow Sydney's explanation for what she did to Sienna. Even when she asserted that she would have done the same thing with Vincent had she had the chance, Jane remained quiet. She was sure that she would not have done the same thing. Vincent flirted with everyone and yeah, Jane would readily admit that he was the most attractive guy at Saint Jude's, but she never reciprocated his advances because she knew better. Even blackout-drunk level, she knew better. The comment regarding Sienna slandering Sydney's reputation being equal to Sydney killing Sienna's sister brought a small smile to her face. Jane tried to suppress it, but really?! Sydney's image was important to her, that was for sure, but even Jane recognized that Sydney was being more than dramatic now.

"I haven't spoken to her," Jane replied after a slight pause. It wasn't exactly the truth, since the girls had exchanged a couple of texts since the blowout, but it hadn't been a real conversation, and definitely not what Sydney was assuming. She paused once again, trying to figure out which direction she wanted to go to this. There was a large part of her that wanted to shout at Sydney for bringing up her summer, for being so insensitive towards an issue that had ruined her life. At the same time, she desperately wanted things between her friends to go back to normal and maybe it would be selfish to put her emotions between a possible reconciliation. "And I know that she's not the victim here, but what you did was so... so bad." In a matter of those few exchanges, her voice had abandoned its confidence for a pleading tone. "Please make it right, Syd. Tonight, come to this party and talk to her. Please?" She didn't even drop the imploring look when she glanced down at her phone and responded to Carolina.

To: Caroline
Um no I'm not ready just go without me or wait for me and Syd but I'm not rushing just for you