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Vincent Mast

0 · 4,896 views · located in Manhattan, NY

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

Description

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"It’s all too much and not enough at the same time."
— Jack Kerouac




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{ Name }
Vincent Thomas Mast

{ Nicknames/Alias }
Mast (teammates, guy friends)

{ Age }
17

{ Gender }
Male

{ Sexuality }
Heterosexual

{ Date/Place of Birth }
03/12/1997 | Long Island, NY

{ Ethnicity }
Irish (25%), English (35%), Danish (20%), French (20%)

{ Label }
Prince Charming



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{ Childhood/Family Life }
Vincent grew up on Long Island in Garden City with his parents, Phillip and Colette, and his two younger siblings, Connor and Mia. His father owns once of the largest law firms in the tri-state-area and although it's central offices are in downtown Manhattan, he preferred the quiet suburban life for his family. Life at home was always pleasant for Vincent. His parents are one of the strongest couples, although he's unaware of an incident years back when his father was caught sleeping with his secretary. He loves his family, aside from his brother at the moment, and knows that he was lucky to be born into a stable and loving home. Vincent was enrolled in a Catholic school on the island for his kindergarten through eighth grade years, but transferred to Saint Jude's for his freshman year of high school. Attending Saint Jude's was part of the plan since the day Vincent was born. His father and uncles all attended the school, and eleven of his older cousins have already graduated from it. At first, his mother insisted that he commute to the school every day, but after a bit of convincing on Vincent and Phil's part, she agreed that it would be best for him to stay in the city while at school. The entire family wasn't going to uproot and move off of the island and into the city, so Phil purchased a one-bedroom apartment for him in the Upper East Side, only blocks away from Saint Jude's.

{ High School Career }
During the first few months of freshman year, Vincent was a lot less cocky than he is now. He was new to the Manhattan private school scene and hadn't grown up in NYC like most of the guys at Saint Jude's had, so he felt like a fish out of water. Lacrosse did help him make friends but his real break came when he started getting with a lot of the popular girls at Constance Billard. He gained respect from the other guys and earned the role of being a player; the type of guy who would charm his way into a girl's pants and then move onto a new girl the next weekend.

While this did help him socially, it cost him big with Sienna Alvarez, a childhood friend who he had been dating for a little bit over a year. She was out of town one night when Vincent ended up at a big party. He ended up sneaking off with Sydney Vale and having sex with her, and although Vincent had originally decided not to tell Sienna and acting like everything was still normal, he ended up telling one of his friends that he had gotten with a girl that night. He never said who it was but when Sienna found out, he did confess that it was Sydney. She broke up with him after that and even though the two haven't gotten back together since then and it sparked Vincent's image of a womanizer, he still cares about Sienna.




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{ Good personality traits }
Confident, charming, hardworking, sociable, poised, responsible

{ Bad personality traits }
Arrogant, indecisive, lustful, aggressive, proud, troublemaker

{ Personality }
Vincent has earned the title of a womanizer. He's good with words and knows how to charm a girl into thinking that "she's the only girl in the world for him" and that "he's never felt this way about anyone else". When he promises that he'll text the girl again after having sex with her, he's not always lying. He will definitely keep her number in his contacts for the next time he's feeling horny. Vincent knows that in order to capture the hearts of the girls he wants to sleep with, he has to be confident. However, his confidence tends to cross over into being egotistical and he's known to boast about how many girls want him and how good looking he is.

He may not be a girl, but Vincent tends to enjoy drama just as much as some of them seem to. He's known to stir in hopes of getting to witness an entertaining, and possibly hot, cat fight. Although he is a troublemaker in that sense, most of what he says is true. There are a lot of scandalous things that go on in Manhattan and an abundance of rumors circulating all of the time, so he's usually just passing on something that someone else told him. He isn't the type to make up vicious rumors about people but won't hesitate to add fuel to the fire if he does hear something about someone. However, when someone says something about him or threatens him, Vincent's pride tends to get the best of him. Especially with a few drinks in his system, Vincent can be extremely aggressive and will try to start a fight with any guy that dismisses him, or bothers one of his friends. While he doesn't hesitate to hit on and use girls, he takes it personally when other guys to it to his close girl friends.

Despite his flaws, Vincent isn't always a bad guy to be around. He's sociable and is always looking to hang out with his friends or go to parties, and he knows when to be respectful. Especially in front of parents or authoritative figures, Vincent can be well-mannered, poised and professional. He's hard working and responsible and if you can forgive him for not calling you back after sleeping with you, you might end up seeing that side.

{ Greatest joys in life }
Girls, lacrosse, pizza

{ Greatest fears }
Being rejected, having a gay kid, allergic reactions (he's allergic to shrimp), sharks

{ Life philosophy }
"A long time ago I learned not to explain things to people. It misleads them into thinking they’re entitled to know everything I do." - Lisa Kleypas





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❤Sex
❤Lacrosse
❤Surfing
❤Cooking
❤Action movies
❤Video games
❤His home on Long Island
❤Compliments
✘Guys who try to be heroes
✘Gay guys
✘Chick flicks unless he's going to get laid after it
✘Driving in NY
✘Dentist visits
✘Losing
✘Cinnamon
✘Cats




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{ Parents }
Father | Age 46 | Phil Mast
Phil owns an large law firm and is the sole breadwinner of the family. He has always had high expectations for Vincent, whether it be with sports, academics, or scoring girls. Phil was the one who encouraged Vincent to get into lacrosse and has been his biggest supporter. He has always wanted Vincent to have every opportunity in life to be successful, and hopes that his son will take over his business down the road.

Mother | Age 42 | Colette Mast
Vincent and his mother are extremely close. She has always been more of a friend to him than a mother and his friends compare her to Regina George's mom. She's the "cool mom" who always wants to know the latest gossip, doesn't mind hosting underage drinkers and is lenient with rules.

{ Siblings }
Brother | Age 13 | Charlie Mast
Vincent was never close with Charlie, but when his brother came out as being gay a year ago, their relationship became nonexistent. They haven't spoken in almost six months and Vincent is honestly embarrassed to have him as a brother.

Sister | Age 9 | Mia Mast
Because of their age gap and the fact that Vincent is rarely home, he doesn't have much of a relationship with his sister. When he is at home, she always wants to hang out with him and show him off to her friends, but Vincent has never been a fan of little kids and even though Mia is getting older, he still sees her as an annoying four-year-old sister.





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{ Build }
6'0 | Athletic build

{ Hair Colour }
Brown

{ Eye Colour }
Blue

{ Distinguishable Markings }
Vincent has light freckles scattered across his face which are more noticeable in the summer when he's tan. He has a scar on his right upper arm from stitches he had to get a few years ago after a lacrosse accident.

{ Personal Style }
Vincent likes dressing well. You would never see him in basketball shorts or Jordans and isn't the type of guy who has an aversion to wearing designer clothes or suits. He prefers plain shirts, collared shirts or sweaters with slacks, jeans or khaki shorts. When he's dressing casually, you will frequently see him wearing a backwards baseball cap.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5

So begins...

Vincent Mast's Story

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Vincent Mast Character Portrait: Ricardo Slim-Helú
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Vincent's Saturday went horribly. He had been kicked out of Sydney's the night before which was bad in itself, but when it was clear that she wanted Kelley, or all people, for emotional support, he knew he had screwed up. When he woke up the next morning, not only were there still tens of unopened messages from guys congratulating him on the coveted Sydney Vale 'score' but also an equal amount of ones from his mother expressing how "disappointed" and "devastated" she was by his actions. She was still in the city from her night out with friends and he reluctantly agreed to get breakfast with her, where she continued to express how unacceptable it was for him to hurt Sienna like that. She went on and on about how close she was to leaving his father years ago when they were dating because he put up the same womanizing from as Vincent did, and how Sienna was smarter than she was at that age and was going to realize her worth and move on sooner than later. Vincent knew she was right, but he didn't want to hear it. He didn't want to deal with his mother dramatically tearing up over Eggs Benedict and choking back a sob when he reassured her that he was going to make it right no matter what it took.

After her car picked her up to drive her back to the island, he was in the mindset to actually make things right with Sia. It wasn't going to be that easy, though. His countless phone calls went unanswered and he didn't want to leave her a voicemail where he could say something that would be interpreted wrong and just dig himself into a deeper mess. He wanted to talk to her in person and explain... well, he wasn't sure what he wanted to explain. He had taken his hits for what he had done years ago when he had come clean to Sienna in the first place. Maybe it was wrong for him to expect her to bury the hatred for Sydney for so many years just to keep tensions from boiling over, but he aside from apologizing again for sleeping with Sydney, he didn't know what else he had done wrong. He didn't think there was anything wrong with hanging out with Sydney yesterday. Nothing had happened. He had only went over to apologize for leaving her party early and to clear the air between not only them, but her and Sienna. If there was any apologizing to be done, he thought after giving up trying to call her and walking back to his apartment, it was Sienna to him and he to Sydney! Sienna could have had the decency to give him a head's up after informing Sydney that she knew all along. The way she had done it, through that online post that he was convinced she was behind, made him look like the complete dick (rightfully so, however), for telling Sienna without giving Sydney, her best friend, the chance to clear her name first.

Even though he didn't think he had done anything wrong to Sienna that he hadn't already apologized for, he wasn't actually mad at her. His mother's visit had reminded him even more of why he loved Sienna and couldn't just let her go. He needed to win her back, even if he didn't think he had done something wrong to lose her yesterday anyway. However, he wasn't going to beg. Not at this point, anyway, and especially not when he caught wind of Ricky being back in town. His relationship with the sports' star was an interesting one. They were commonly called best friends and Vincent did see Rick as a best friend, but there had always been a little bit of tension between them. He often brushed it off as harmless competitiveness between the two of them, but when it came to Sienna, it was far from harmless. Vincent liked to pretend that he didn't care if anyone flirted with Sienna because "she's free to fuck whoever she wants, just like I am", but when Rick did it... it just crossed the line. Maybe it was because Vincent thought that Rick was one of the few guys who could woo her into sleeping with him, or because he expected his best friend to just back off and let him figure out what he wanted on his own time. Either way, finding out that Rick was back in New York today of all days irked Vincent more than he would admit.

When night set in and it was around time for Hailey's party, Vincent wasn't sure if he wanted to go. Sienna was definitely going to be there, and what was he going to say to her? He doubted Sydney would show up, probably citing that it wasn't her "scene" even though he knew good and well it would be an attempt to avoid Sienna. Ricardo's text didn't leave him with much of a choice, though, and left him scrambling to find an appropriate neon outfit in his closet. Vincent had went to a couple of raves over the summer but he just wasn't in the mood to go all out in neon. Honestly, he doubted that he would even stay at the party for very long, especially when the inevitable bumping into Sienna occurred. He ended up in a pair of bright orange, Vineyard Vines club pants and a plain white v-neck that accented his toned body. He didn't text Ricardo to confirm that he would be ready, because it wasn't really necessary. Vincent was downstairs and waiting for his friend when he pulled up, and as he slid into the back of the car, he tried to put on a carefree expression. "Cali finally get sick of you and ship you back here?" he greeted Rick with a grin. Even if Ricardo's return was destined to spell trouble, it would at least mean that there would be another guy around to have fun with, since Connor was normally too much of a refined, good guy to actually get into trouble with.

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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Ricardo lounged comfortably in the back of the Slim-Helú town car, legs crossed before him coolly and idly flipping through the recent posts on Twitter and Facebook. Most people had already come to this Hailey's party and were having a good time. Not that he particularly doubted that it would be a fun night. If the girl was a friend of Sienna's, she either had to have a sass that Sienna was known for or had to have a fun bone in her body. And, if her fans had anything to say about it, Hailey Nelson was a fun person to be around. Ricky smirked to himself. He couldn't wait to meet her.

In the midst of checking on the status of Sydney and Sienna's social media war, Sydney messaged him back. He didn't rush to answer or even read what she had to say. It would seem as if he had been waiting for her to respond to him, which he was not. So, he did not rush. He continued to flip through images and posts, grinning at a few of the girls who he once thought as complete crudes wearing some rather scandalous outfits for the night. Something told him he would be enjoying this party a lot more than he originally believed. Finally, after it seemed like a good three minutes had passed, Rick finally pulled up Sydney's text message and had to chuckle. He loved the little attitude she seemed to have. Truthfully, he appreciated a few things about Sydney Vale and loved messing with her, especially. Sienna was fun, yes, and he did love her. But Sydney...there was something about her retorts and her ability to seem unfazed that amused him to no end. The car door opened and he knew Vincent was climbing in, but Rick concentrated only sending his message out.

To: Sydney
No need to pretend, babe. We both know you have more than enough time.

To: Sydney
Also, you should probably check the posts. Something tells me you have more issues than Sia just outing you. Looks like your followers aren't as loyal as you thought, Syd.

Rick wasn't being mean. He was simply orchestrating. There was a difference. Nothing he did to Sydney was particularly cruel, more teasing than anything else. Besides, it would prompt her to action, even if it was something as small as attending a party by someone she probably could give two fucks about. Smirking inwardly, Rick finally turned his attention on Vincent. To be completely honest, Ricardo had missed his friend. Vincent was one of his best guys, one of the few he actually liked the most in New York. Granted, he was sure that Vincent's opinion on him went interchangeably between friendship and contempt, but that really was Vincent's fault. He knew Ricardo liked fucking with people and who did Vincent think he was kidding? The idiot watched Sienna from afar, even when the guys were talking about other girls. He claimed nonchalance, but the second Sienna came into the vicinity, his eyes stayed on her. Even if they strayed, he was like her little bitch, never really straying too far. So, Ricardo had decided to help his friend along. Obviously, he wanted everyone to think Sienna meant nothing to him. That he could give two fucks about who she was with. So, Rick flirted with her. Was that cruel? Actually, it was. Did Rick care? No, especially when Vincent could end it at any second.

"Glad you could still joke at a time like this," Ricardo replied in a rather bored tone, getting a text from a few lacrosse players already at the party and asking about when Rick was getting there. Sienna must have told everyone that he was back already. Smirking, Rick fully stared at his friend. "Got any plans on what you're doing about this 'cause man, this is bad. Even for you. And when were you going to tell me you fucked Sydney Vale? That's like, going-down-in-legends material right there."


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Sienna had not taken any selfies and despite Esmee's requests, she could not. Both she and Jane were huge on social media, particularly when it came to posting photos of themselves. Whether together or apart, that was a thing that really was them and Sienna was a powerful artist in the social media world. And yet...she wasn't in the mood and she felt just a bit bad for turning her sister down again. She had ignored Esmee last night and was still avoiding actually talking to her sister. Leave it to a situation like this that would make her regret their dynamic. Esmee, the one who had been allowed to enjoy her childhood more than Sienna and actually live, was the mature one while the big sister was the one who could cry in her baby sister's arms. How pathetic could you get after that!? Of course, Esmee would argue that that was the perfectionist or maybe even the Cynthia in her that thought that. Sienna would probably tell Esmee to shut up.

To: Carrie
YAAAAYYY!! Ur coming!!!

Smiling at Charlotte's text message, Sienna glanced out the tinted window of the town car to see that they were pulling up to the apartment building Charlotte lived at and her smile widened. She wanted to show her friend that she was better - that she was doing good. Even if she truly wasn't. Sienna had barely waited for the car to officially stopped before pushing the door open, eyes wide and excited and her mouth agape. Charlotte Buchanan looked hot! She had felt like, with all the compliments that had circulated through school, that she and Charlotte had had the best outfits that night. But this...she could only thank Rose because she knew Charlotte would not have been able to come up with this one on her own. "Oh. My. God! Is that Madam President Buchanan looking scandalous and on the prowl!? Better hurry up in here before the paparazzi show up!" Sienna exclaimed, grinning all the while. She was glad that Charlotte was looking just as scantily-clad as she was. Not like most raves consisted of people actually dressed in layers or anything, but even she knew that the cropped top she was wearing was just a bit daring even for her. Combined with the shorts and the wedges, she knew she looked like a girl looking for trouble.

To: Piper
On our way now, girlie. U still comin?

To: Jane
Just let me kno when & if u get there

To: Hailey
Heard the party's great. Hope ur havin fun

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Jane Lynch Character Portrait: Sienna Alvarez Character Portrait: Vincent Mast Character Portrait: Sydney Vale Character Portrait: Carolina Daily Character Portrait: Ricardo Slim-Helú
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It was selfish and wrong, but Sydney was more than satisfied when Jane dropped her mock-confidence and returned to her old self. She didn't necessarily need Jane to be the lapdog that most people thought her to be, but a Jane that blatantly denied her requests and stood up to her so brazenly was not something that Sydney was used to, or wanted to get used to. The plead that she made, for Sydney to talk to Sienna tonight, wasn't one that she wanted to hear, but it was preferred over the bitch she had dealt with moments before. "Sienna and I will talk at some point, but tonight is not that night," Sydney declared. Her eyes were averted from Jane's longing gaze for a mere second as she glanced down at her phone. Ricardo had responded to her text, but she knew that whatever it said wasn't important enough to warrant an immediate response. If anything, it was going to annoy her and she could deal with putting that off for a few minutes anyway.

"Why not tonight?" Jane replied, her hands absentmindedly fidgeting with the ties of her robe. Sydney's declaration sounded more like an excuse than anything. She probably wanted to put off talking to Sienna in hopes that she would reach out to her first, so that, in true Sydney fashion, she could claim that it was Sienna who came running back to her, begging for forgiveness. It wasn't like Jane expected Sydney to do that to Sienna, either. She really did recognize that both of her friends had wronged each other, but Sienna never would have done what she did if Sydney hadn't done hers first. And really, in Jane's opinion, no matter how much of a dramatic spin Sydney put on it, what Sienna had done didn't seem to compare to what Sydney did with Vincent.

Jane's tone was not accusatory but Sydney was getting annoyed over why she needed to be persistent over this. It had barely been one day since the fight. Sydney wasn't ready to forgive Sienna for what she had done, and even if Sydney had some type of apology to offer Sia, she doubted the singer would be ready to accept it either. Sydney knew that this was just Jane trying to make everything perfect and innocent and happy, like usual, but this wasn't some normal fight where that would work. What Sienna had done yesterday was game changing and Sydney doubted that things could be mended at this point. "I don't want to do it somewhere so public. You know how embarrassingly loud she can get, and I don't think it would be right to steal the new girl's attention on her own birthday. This is probably the only night that she's going to be really relevant, anyway." Hailey wasn't important enough to even be referenced by her name. Not after that little show she put on on Thursday morning, and even more so after her attempt to buy drugs off of Brent Barclay right in front of Jane. Remembering the new blonde reminded Sydney of last night's ordeal and before Jane could insist again that they go to the party, Sydney decided to do some convincing of her own. It was wrong to redirect the conflict of the conversation onto someone else, but Sydney didn't care about Hailey. In fact, she actively disliked her by this point, so in her mind, it didn't seem comparable to how she had thrown Jane under the bus to change the topic during yesterday's dinner. "Besides, that girl is bad news anyway, Jane. I tried to warn Sienna about it and of course she didn't want to listen, but I caught that girl buying drugs at my party." She whipped out her phone, still ignoring Rick's text as she pulled up the photo she had sent Sienna. "It's probably crack or something, for all we know. She did it right in front of you too, and I know you were drinking too much to remember but still, what nerve! Honestly, she wasn't even invited and this is why. I knew she was going to be a problem."

Jane understood that it probably was best to avoid dealing with their friendship problems in the middle of a party, but when else were they going to do it? Even if they were in the privacy of one of their homes, there was still a good chance that Sienna was going to claw Sydney's eyes out or that Sydney was going to try to turn the tables and make things worse. No matter what, Jane doubted that the pair would be able to speak civilly, but she so desperately wanted this resolved. It had only been one day, but that one day had been daunting in itself and she couldn't imagine an entire school year like this. Especially when this was their last school year, and one that they had all vowed to make the most of. Jane wanted to convince Sydney that she could just pull Sienna aside and talk outside or in a separate room, but unsurprisingly, Sydney changed the topic of conversation to Hailey. Jane had her own reservations about Hailey but drugs? That wasn't something that Jane would have suspected. And then the photo was thrust into her face and Jane's heart dropped. She knew exactly what those drugs were, and it didn't take much problem-solving skills to piece together who they were really for if it was Brent Barclay dealing them with Jane standing nearby. "That's not crack, it's Ritalin..." she whispered, not even recognizing that she was speaking aloud as her eyes focused on the phone screen.

Since when did Jane know anything about drugs? Especially something like Ritalin, which Sydney had only vaguely heard of herself. As far as she knew, Jane thought that drugs were just as classless as she. The idea of her friend being able to identify a bag of white pills was surprisingly to say the least, and Sydney honed in on it before Jane had a chance to realize that she had even spoken. "I never knew you were interested in pharmacology, Jane," she said, quirking an eyebrow out of curiosity. "Enlighten me." It was her way of saying "explain yourself" without scaring Jane off. The startled look on her friend's Jane suggested that she was already regretting speaking, though.

"I'm not!" Jane shot back nervously as Sydney wondered how Jane was able to identify the drug so easily. Of course Sydney knew that Jane wasn't "interested in pharmacology" and Jane didn't even consider claiming that she was, because both of them knew that would have been unbelievable. "I just know... someone who uses it." That came out more guilty-sounding than she had wanted to, and before she could stop herself, she was the one throwing someone under the bus. "Piper buys it from Brent some times, okay? But please don't tell anyone I told you that. She would kill me." It wasn't a lie. Well, at least Jane didn't know that it was a lie. Last year when she had met Brent one night to buy some pills, Piper had been there. Jane had no other option than to tell Piper what she was doing meeting up with someone that was so... not their type, and to protect her own reputation, Piper claimed that she was with him for the same reason, despite it being untrue. Because Sydney already disliked Piper, Jane didn't think she was doing that much harm by outing Piper's secret, especially when it was to protect herself. She was still reeling from the girls somehow finding out about her disorder in the first place. She didn't need them to know how bad it actually was, especially if Brent was lurking around trying to force her back into those habits.

The fact that Jane's explanation for the pills didn't strike Sydney as being suspicious pointed to how much she already disliked Piper. She was surprised that the redhead did drugs, but not shocked. She wouldn't put something like that past Piper and hearing the secret actually heightened her mood. Once again, she had been right to dislike someone for no reason because hidden beneath the pettiness was a reason. As Sydney liked to say, her intuition was spot on like usual. "Hmm... not surprising," she surmised, allowing a smirk to creep onto her face. "Maybe Hailey won't be friendless after all, then. The two trap queens can be friends and we can finally drop her from our group." The comment evoked frown from Jane, and Sydney rolled her eyes. "I'm kidding, you know I won't tell anyone." Not yet, at least. Piper hadn't done anything to warrant such a nasty move and Sydney wasn't willing to go that low for no reason after Sienna had just done so to her. "Which is why I don't understand why you couldn't tell me about where you were this summer." She really didn't come over with the intentions of bringing up Jane's summer since Sydney knew that what she had said yesterday didn't come across as the compassionate and concerned friend that she wanted to be, but they seemed to be back in a good place. Maybe she could get an honest answer from Jane now.

The shock of the Ritalin being brought up numbed down Jane's senses enough that Sydney bringing up her summer didn't make her heart race this time. It was already out in the open and if anything, Jane had a reason to brush Sydney off now. Her friend had already addressed the issue so insensitively yesterday that she didn't think she was required to give it much thought today. "I was going to tell you at some point," she said before quickly switching gears. Her bare legs had grown goose bumps from standing in the air conditioned hallway and the reminder of her summer made her feel vulnerable in nothing but the bath robe. "I need to get dressed. Come."

Sydney could tell that Jane was trying to change the conversation and she wouldn't accept that. That was her game, and didn't she deserve an answer anyway? As selfish as it was, Sydney was offended that Jane couldn't even give her best friend some sort of insight, especially now when they were away from Sienna. She followed Jane upstairs, but spoke as they walked. "Then let's make 'some point' now. Like, you know I would have been there for you, Jane. How long has this been going on? You've been a stick forever and Sienna and I were concerned for you last spring but we didn't think that it was anything like this. Why didn't you say something?"

She wasn't going to let this go, apparently. Luckily, Jane's soak had calmed her down and knowing that she had mended her relationship with Sydney and that Sienna was texting her again made her feel better than she had earlier. "I really don't feel like talking about this right now, Syd. It's not 'anything like this'. My dad went crazy after my doctor said something and sent me there without me even knowing where I was going. There was nothing wrong, which is why I didn't say anything. I just didn't want to make a big deal out of a problem that doesn't even exist." She tried to keep her tone light and shrugged nonchalantly as she made her way into her bedroom and headed straight for her closet.

"You're insulting me, Jane. I'm not stupid. Even Sienna picked up on how you act, and that says a lot. I won't push it any more tonight, but just know that this is not the end of this conversation. I want real answers." Sydney followed Jane into the walk-in closet and sat down on one of the chairs as she watched the brunette shuffle through the racks of clothing. "Don't get too dressed up. I don't feel like going out, let's just do something casual." Jane had stepped behind one of the privacy screens to change, so Sydney turned her attention to her phone to finally answer Rick. Sienna had her minions and Sydney had hers. If a few of them wanted to side with Sienna on this, oh well. Sydney didn't think that it would be an amount considerable enough to hurt her, because at this point, she didn't need feel like she needed a million followers anyway. It was senior year and one rumor that she was not going to confirm wasn't going to be enough to ruin her, despite Sienna's hopes.

To: Ricardo
You are so right Rick. Let's dedicate a moment of silence to me losing the admiration of those completely useless and pathetic girls who I didn't and never will care about </3 :(

"I'm still going to that party," Jane reminded Sydney. She had lost most of her confidence since Sydney first arrived, but she wasn't going to be completely submissive to all of Sydney's wishes. Her best friend still didn't deserve that and honestly, the few self-sufficient comments she had made earlier were liberating in a way. If she wanted to go to Hailey's party, she was going to go whether Sydney liked it or not! She had found a dress that she had purchased with Sienna the day before and slipped behind a privacy screen to change into it. Matched with black lace-up boots, it definitely wasn't a typical Jane outfit but from Sienna's description of the party, it didn't seem like a place for a typical Jane outfit anyway. The dress was small and tight which had her pulling at the non-existent bulge that she was sure was protruding from her stomach, but after brushing her issues off to Sydney, she tried not to put too much thought into it. She wanted what she had said to her friend to be true, and she tried to put the "positive thinking" method that she had been taught in therapy to use tonight. Plus, she was sure that the party would have enough drinks for her to forget what she looked like anyway. "You should come, too. I think it'll be fun."

Sydney didn't understand why Jane insisted on going to this party even after Hailey had been outed as a drug user, but she remained quiet. If Jane wanted to go, then so be it. She would have to learn the hard way, but whatever. It was clear to Sydney that she and Jane were on good terms again and it would make her look like the bigger person if she allowed Jane to hang out with Sienna, anyway. Not like Sydney really had the control to choose who Jane could and couldn't hang out with, but she liked how it sounded in her head. "Um, no thanks. I'm not into doing lines of coke in the bathroom with some wannabe singer." She was talking about Hailey, but if Jane thought she meant Sienna, that worked too.

"Open bar!" Jane chimed in, hoping that it would be enough of a convincing factor for Sydney as it was for her. She knew it wouldn't be, and she didn't really care. Honestly, the night probably would be easier without Sienna and Sydney in the same room if neither of them wanted to make up with each other.

"We aren't all alcoholics, babe. Besides, my grandpa wanted to get dinner tonight, so if you're going to abandon me, I guess I'll go do that. Don't drink yourself to death!" she sighed dramatically, although her tone was playful. She stood up and headed out of the closet, only rolling her eyes when Jane cheerfully dismissed her with, "Your loss!". It took less then three minutes for Sydney's car to pull up and for her to be back on her way to her apartment. She really did plan on staying in with her grandfather tonight, but when she got a text from Vincent, those thoughts flew out the window.

From: Vincent
Ik you don't want to talk to me and I get it but I don't think u should come tonight. It's just gonna be too much drama with you two there.

Was he out of his mind to try to tell her what to do and where to go? And to protect his precious little girlfriend who had fucked her over?! Oh, hell no! It left Sydney reeling and trying to recall what cute neon outfits she had on hand as she ordered her driver to speed it up.

Jane felt like she and Sydney had left off on a good note, despite the blonde probably being annoyed that she had decided to go to the party regardless of her wishes. It left her in an exuberant mood that came close to how she used to feel when she was hyped to go out at night, and it was an extreme contrast to how poorly she had felt all day today. She straightened her hair quickly and put just as little effort into its styling as she left it in a simple ponytail. A glance out her window showed that Max hadn't left yet, which only had her sending a text to Carolina once she was already on her way down to the car.

To: Caroline
I'm omw to the car!!!! Let's go

To: Sienna
OMW!!!!!!!!!! How am I supposed to know what you're wearing if you don't post an Insta?! Or are you saving your post for today for one with me <3?!

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Vincent Mast Character Portrait: Sydney Vale Character Portrait: Ricardo Slim-Helú
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The smirk on Ricardo's face spelled trouble, but Vincent was happy enough that his partner in crime was back in town to water down the guilt and nervousness that he was feeling. If anyone brought out the womanizer and sheer cockiness in Vincent, it was Ricardo. "It didn't take you long to catch up on the latest drama," he remarked, though it wasn't as surprising as Vincent acted. Ricardo was the Sydney Vale of Saint Jude's. If something happened, he knew about it whether he was in the middle of the drama or on the other side of the country. In fact, it wasn't even unlikely that Rick could manage to be on the other side of the country and still involve himself in the middle of the Upper East Side drama if he wanted to. He didn't have any idea about what he was going to do about the drama, actually. He tried reaching out to Sydney and was kicked out of her house. Even Kelley, who never hid the fact that she didn't like Sydney, wouldn't tell him what Sydney said this morning when he spoke with her. He had tried to reach out to Sienna too, and she didn't even give him any sort of response to work with. How was he supposed to fix all of this when neither girl wanted to speak with him, and he wasn't even sure who he owed an apology to at this point.

"Come on, man, you know I don't kiss and tell," Vincent replied to the second half of Rick's comment. He tried to leave his expression only at a smirk, but even he couldn't resist snickering at the evidently false statement. "This is why I didn't tell anyone though. You know better than anyone that drama between these two doesn't end well and if they end up ripping each other's hair out, I don't want to be the one in the middle of it." That was unavoidable at this point.

As they grew closer to their destination, Vincent decided that maybe Rick was right, and he needed to do something about this. He still was leaning towards owing Sydney more of an apology than Sienna, but it was much more likely that Sienna was going to show up tonight. She was Hailey's closest friend in the Upper East Side, and it wouldn't make sense for her to miss a party, especially not one thrown by the girl who was rooming with her. It was probable that Sienna still wouldn't want to talk to him tonight, but maybe he could avoid some stress and drama by making sure that Sydney didn't show up too. He clearly didn't think the move through, because telling Sydney not to show up somewhere in a way that sounded like he was siding with Sienna spelled trouble, but the message was sent before he could rethink it.

To: Sydney
Ik you don't want to talk to me and I get it but I don't think u should come tonight. It's just gonna be too much drama with you two there.

"But seriously, when did you get back? I figured you were staying on the west coast this semester too." As the seconds passed and he received no response from Sydney, he knew that he had screwed up and decided not to inform Rick of his stupid move. Knowing Sydney's rage and Ricardo's ability to find out everything, he would find out on his own anyway.

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Character Portrait: Vincent Mast Character Portrait: Sydney Vale Character Portrait: Hailey Neilson Character Portrait: Kelley Hadley
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Friday night proved that alcohol was a blessing from the heavens. There was no way in a million years that Kelley would have been able to survive a night of "girl time" with Sydney Vale if the Vale's bar wasn't fully stocked. Even with the many mixed drinks and shots, Kelley still caught herself rolling her eyes at the dramatic pity party that Sydney was throwing for herself. She did feel bad for Sydney, but not that bad. If she was suddenly so full of regret and knew how wrong she had been, why had she slept with Vincent in the first place? Or again after that? It was apparent that Sydney was not so much sorry that she slept with him, as she was that Sienna found out. She couldn't just abandon Sydney though, and between the endless supply of free drinks and free pizza, and the unexpected persistence from her conscience, she ended up staying the night. By morning, it was apparent that her body was not happy with the amount of alcohol she consumed since she spent a good thirty minutes with her head hanging over Sydney's toilet, and once that fiasco was over, she gladly made her exit.

The rest of her day was spent at home where her mother was throwing her sister Taryn's baby shower was being held. Kelley lacked enough enthusiasm for the day that she considered going back to Sydney's, but she knew she would never hear the end of it from her mother. Family members from all over were coming in for the shower and apparently, her sister "needed her support". It made Kelley laugh sardonically because she knew that her sister couldn't have cared any less about her presence. Kelley was the screw up of the family and Taryn was the sibling who never let her forget that. Admittedly, their relationship was in a better place now than it was a couple of years ago, but Kelley still wasn't excited for the event. Sitting in a room filled with snobby women, laughing about stupid jokes and gushing over how tiny the overpriced outfits people bought for the unborn child were just didn't sound like a fun time to Kelley. Luckily, mimosas were on the menu and every time her mother turned her back, Kelley swallowed as much of the orange cocktail as she could.

Her Aunt Colette had come back into the city for the afternoon, and since the woman was more like a cousin than an aunt, Kelley's day wasn't as dreadful as she thought it would be. The pair went shopping and got dinner after the shower and the only downfall of the evening was that Colette would not stop talking about the Vincent, Sydney, Sienna drama. She blamed her son more than either of the girls, but unsurprisingly, she insisted that Kelley needed to try to fix the situation. She claimed that Vincent couldn't do it on his own because he was "too much like his father" and couldn't understand that he was "ruining his future" by letting Sienna go. It was melodramatic but that was Colette for you, and after the tears started spilling into her chicken piccata, Kelley insisted that she would do what she could just to make her stop.

Rather than go to the party with Vincent and Ricardo (who Kelley didn't even know was back in town), she got a cab there on her own. Her extended dinner with Colette left her running late and she barely had time to get dressed in a neon yellow mesh crop top, white denim shorts and wedges. Although Kelley didn't know Hailey, she had to give her points for throwing a rave-themed party in the regal Upper East Side. She hadn't been to many raves this summer with her parents being on her back, and was definitely in the mood for such a wild and carefree night. By the time she got to the party, she considered texting Brent to see if he had any ecstasy on him to help her get her night going, but was sure he would show his face soon enough anyway. Besides, she was still working on her buzz from the martinis she and Colette had ordered at dinner and wasn't in dire need of a pick me-up so soon into the night.

When the elevator let her off on the floor that the party was being held on, she was pleasantly surprised by the atmosphere. This new girl did seem to know how to throw a party! There were already a lot of people there, the music playing was spot on, and the lightning electrified the neon colors that everyone was wearing. "Hey!" It was only by chance that Kelley bumped into the hostess as she made her way through the party. "You're Hailey, right? Happy birthday, bitch!" Kelley didn't need an excess of alcohol to be comfortable with strangers. Besides, she wanted to be friendly if this was the girl who was financing her drinking binge for the night. "I'm Kelley, I don't think we met. Where can a chica get a drink around here?" she twirled a strand of blonde hair around her finger, her eyes scouring the room for the bar.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Charlotte H. Buchanan Character Portrait: Jane Lynch Character Portrait: Sienna Alvarez Character Portrait: Vincent Mast Character Portrait: Piper Vine Character Portrait: Ricardo Slim-Helú
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Ricardo only allowed Vincent a wry smirk at his acknowledgement of already being caught up on the latest scandal. What could he say? It was kind of hard not to be involved or even know about it when 1.) he was a follower of the gossip page Victoria (though he had yet to discover that it was actually her, to begin with) had started, 2.) he also was one of Sienna's followers on all of her social media sites, and 3.) it didn't matter if he was in Tahiti, he had followers all over New York. If it was out in the public, he was going to know about it. And if it was undercover, he was bound to find out eventually. That would just take his own determination. Surely, it shouldn't surprise Vincent by now. Especially considering the latest drama involved one of his closest companions.

He couldn't help but laugh, then, after Vincent tried to play off what happened. It was an easy laugh and definitely not for show as Rick was privy to doing. It was line he had shot at Vincent several times before in the past, and he liked the carefree atmosphere that typically surrounded them when they were together. He liked Connor, sure, but Vincent was definitely his type of guy to be around. At the expression on Vincent's face, Rick hummed thoughtfully. He understood that the lacrosse player was in a really tricky situation and there wasn't much he honestly could for his friend, at least, not something Vincent wanted. So, he chose not to offer a response, noting that they were closer to this loft. Rick glanced down at his phone momentarily, flipping through two apps before humming to himself. He almost was not paying attention to Vince's inquiries, but when he did, he glanced back up with a small smirk. "Nah, the West Coast was fun and all. I met a good number of people on Sia's California friend list and the parties were sick, but the West Coast doesn't nearly have as much drama for me. Besides, where else am I going to find a few ladies in the street, but freaks in the sheets?" He said the last part on a chuckle as the driver informed them through the intercom that they were outside of the complex. Rick didn't answer, only opting to turn it off.

He turned and opened the door, waiting only for Vincent to get out of the vehicle before grabbing his arm. He waited until his best friend met his gaze and continued, still in a somewhat playful tone, but with a biting seriousness he wanted Vince to feel. "I'm not going to tell you what to do because honestly, unlike you, I'd love to see them rip each other's hair out," he admitted. "At the end of the day, you have THE two hottest girls in Constance to choose from and I'm telling you now, you better choose. Sydney's not a girl you take ten years to not pick. She's just not. She's a bitch, but a bitch you'd rather be upfront with now than face her wrath later. And Sia..." Rick paused. He cared about both girls more than he admitted to most people, and he was aware that between the two, Sienna was the more emotional one. The more fragile one. Even if she had not answered any of Vincent's messages yet, Rick knew she wasn't as fine and dandy as she tried to make herself seem by going out to her modeling gig today and helping with her friend's party. He knew, better than anyone, that there was something wrong when the #1 Most Powerful Social Media User in the celebrity world - a title Sienna coveted - did not use none of her sites in twenty four hours. Which was why he continued on his little speech. "Sienna's strong and likes to pretend she's big and bad, but I know, a bit better than she does sometimes, how she feels about you. But trust me, she's not waiting forever." Once all of that was said, Rick's signature smirk was back on his face, he released Vincent and continued on the path inside of the building. He did, however, end up adding over his shoulder, "And I mean, if you don't wanna pick, I can pick for you. I forgot how hot Sia was 'til I saw her earlier."


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Sienna rolled her eyes at Charlotte trying to dismiss her sexiness. Whatever Rose was deciding to do with her twin this year was definitely a thing Siena had to appreciate. It was just different and exciting seeing Lottie outside of her comfort zone, especially when she was killing it. It was enough to remind Sienna that she could have a normal party night, despite most likely not being friends with Sydney anymore and possibly not having her party girl. "I don't know, Lottie, I'm beginning to like this new look. I see tall, dark, and gorgeous boyfriend in your future already." Sienna said wistfully, already imagining seeing Charlotte on the arm of some dark-haired cutie. He didn't have to have dark hair, but Sienna was all for any guy Charlotte might decide to show an inkling of interest in. Sienna had already had her fair share of individual, not in her love life perhaps, but definitely behind closed doors. It would be more exciting to see Charlotte's love life flourish, especially since hers sucked.

Which was why she quickly reached for her phone, blinking at Jane's text message. Despite her consistency on Instagram and Twitter, it was one of the few times in Sienna's life where she was not in the mood. It was a rarity, and one Esmee would only give her a knowing look to. She knew it said something when she did not post on her social media sites and she honestly did not care if there were rumors already circulating because of it. But she did, however, decide to appease her friend just a bit.

To: Jane
Duh!! =D Gotta w8 4 my fave girl if I wanna post da best pix <3 <3

It was a great distraction when Charlotte, a person who was less involved in social media unless it had something to do with her volunteer service and the various social media pages Sienna made for their Student Government Association events, leaned over to take a pic or two with her. She knew she wasn't being entirely normal and the closer and closer they grew to the loft, the more Sienna honestly did want to snatch off all of her clothes and curl up under her blanket with ice cream. No, can't do that, she had to remind herself. This is Hailey's party. I'd be the worst friend ever for not showing up. She wasn't surprised when Charlotte finally asked her about how she was doing. However, she ignored that question in favor of texting Piper, texting her driver to hurry up, and answering the second.

To: Piper
I'm in serious need of a Mai Tai, so we're going ahead of u. The party's not far from us and I'll send my driver ur # so he can kno where 2 pick u up at

"Ha, if you're asking if Sydney Vale actually called me at any point since we effectively split up, then you obvi don't know her well, Lottie. Besides, she's probably already plotting my murder and has a hit out on me as we speak," Sienna declared, possibly dramatically. She was still looking at her phone, not at anything in particular, but because she honestly didn't want to know how she was doing. And she definitely didn't want to care about Vincent. "Vince called twice, but he didn't leave any messages. And he's text me, more along the lines of begging to know if I was really the one who leaked the info or if we could please just talk about all of this. Nothing more. Hasn't even come to see me." She didn't mean to say the last sentence with such bitterness. She never gave him any inkling of wanting to see him, so he had every right to keep his distance. Still, some irrationally jealous part of her demanded that he know things like that, especially if he had missed her as much as he claimed the other night. You and I both know that it was a lie, her mind taunted.

Luckily, as she had messaged Piper about, they were close enough to the building to not fully go into a conversation. She wasn't trying to dismiss Charlotte; the girl was one of the few genuine friends Sienna had in the Upper East Side. At the same time, she didn't want to focus on herself. She never did. She wanted to focus on the fact that she could hear the music when they stepped out of the car and that she could see the lights from where they stood. "This is going to be so much fun," she declared excitedly to Charlotte when the blonde stood beside her. She was not aware that she had only just arrived a few second before Vincent and Ricardo, leading her friend inside of the building. Just as they hit the lobby and waited for the elevator to get to Hailey's loft, she turned to Charlotte a playfully pointed look while stating, "And you better dance tonight, ma'am."

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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Sunday, September 7th | 12:30 PM



Sunday was turning out to be an extremely busy day for Sienna and she wasn't exactly sure how she felt about it yet. The party last night had been pretty damn fun and exciting, especially seeing some of the more prim and proper students actually throwing the cares and inhibitions away. She herself had had a good time, especially with Jane, Piper, and Charlotte being her party buddies at different points of the night. She didn't know nor care if Sydney had made a presence, and if she had, Sienna had not paid it any mind. She had made it her mission to enjoy herself and downed two Mai Tai cocktails and only three shots, which was definitely safer than her typical antics. Maybe it was because she was trying to be coherent enough to evade Vincent when he did appear with Ricky...

...which brought her to her current issue. "Let me guess, you're vying for best friend of the month award," she snapped into her cell phone while sending out a few blasts online to the various volunteers for the afternoon. It was a very classy event they were hosting, a lunch of sorts with very light entrees, champagne, and a few other delicate treats. She had helped Charlotte and Victoria with the initial planning, but eventually stuck to doing her original job, which was more along the lines of garnering media attention of alumnae who still be around, various donors who would probably donate funds again, a few other social media management duties that had been bequeathed to her. Afterwards, she would have a small dinner with Jay Z and Beyoncé about her upcoming EP, another session in the studio despite having doing one earlier in the morning, and finish whatever homework she had not touched. She had not had time to construct an attire that would allow her l show out and even had decided on one of her most bare looks, opting even for the bare minimum in regards to makeup. The dress she chose was classy and casual, and the shoes were just edgy enough. She even had to deal with the fact that Hailey was preparing to leave since, apparently, Sydney slamming her for drugs Sienna still believed did not belong to Hailey had run amuck through the halls and a few other rumors had spread. It was too much stress and dealing with being new to all of it, Hailey had not been prepared for anything. So, she was leaving and Sienna had oversaw her getting on a flight extremely early in the morning. Which was why she was not in the mood to play by Ricky's rules.

"Oh come on, Sia. Give me a little credit," his voice rumbled through her ears over the speakers, and Sienna scowled because she could hear the chuckle he did not release. "You say it like it's a bad thing." Sienna growled and Ricky laughed a bit at the sound. "Don't you think that if I wanted to talk to him, that I would have already done so?" Ricky smirked on his end, finishing with his tie. He was in the process of getting presentable for this event, having shooed away his conquest from the night before at the crack of dawn. He really hated when girls wore make up that they were only going to fuck up by morning. Honestly, it was an unattractive look and was probably the real reason he had sent her away so early. "The only reason you haven't spoken to him is because you're scared." Sienna paused and his smirk only grew at her silence.

It had never been hard for Ricardo to understand Sienna. She liked to think she was a bit more complex and in a way, she was, but she also was not hard to decode. Her fear at whatever she would hear from Vincent at the explanation of his "relationship" with Sydney was the main reason for her ignoring him, not her anger at the lacrosse star for being in a Snapchat. Ricky had singled that fact out last night when he acknowledged her ignoring Vincent to her face and seeing the almost guilty look in her eyes was enough to solidify the fidelity of his theory. No one could say that the king of St. Jude's wasn't an intelligent individual, that was for sure. Sienna's mouth opened and closed twice, and Esmee looked up from the seating chart Sienna had asked her to look over, running her hands through her pin-straight hair she stared at her sister curiously. Shaking her head, Sienna rose from her seat and left her laptop with Esmee, opting to walk out in the lobby instead of continuing the conversation in the ballroom. "Fine, I'll talk to him before this. Satisfied? She griped into her phone and Ricky could only laugh and admire his attire for the afternoon with pleasure. "Delighted." He replied and was not surprised by the click that followed.

Once off the phone with his Royal Asshole-ness, Sienna huffed and puffed, pouting for just a few minutes. She had fallen for Ricardo's tricks again. She could have ignored his allegations and ended the call altogether, but - and she was very aware that he knew this - she wasn't going to let him just call her out like that. She wasn't scared of talking to Vincent. It was freaking Vincent! She could have this conversation with him and then he could go back to telling everyone she didn't mean a thing to him, and she could go back to hating him. And damn those thoughts for saddening her for the seconds they dwelled in her mind. Messing with the loose strands that framed her face unlike the rest of her hair, which was styled in a side bun, Sienna paced along the floors for two minutes before making her decision. She dialed Vincent's number and waited for him to pick up, not giving him much time to say anything before cutting in, "Look, we've got thirty minutes til this event begins, and I can't leave since Charlotte isn't here yet, so if you still wanna talk, I'm here. And if not..." She bit her lip for a second, contemplating it before continuing. "..if not, then I'll see you when I see you." She hung up before the conversation could go any farther, staring down at her device for a few seconds longer than she would have admitted.

The cool air from outside grazed her warm skin due to various guests exiting the hotel and it reminded her that she needed to be on the move. She needed to make sure that everything was in place so Charlotte wouldn't have too much to stress over other than her speech. Preparing herself for possibly speaking with Vincent and dealing with the unwanted pleasantries that came with lavish events such as these, Sienna turned back and headed towards the ballroom once more, sending out messages to various peoples.

To: Jane, Piper
Plz tell me ur either coming 2 this thing or r doing something far more fun than me :P

To: Lottie, Carrie, Victoria
So far so good

To: Connor
At least u can do is b on time

To: Lee
Don't worry, I only have ur # 4 this 1 event. R u still volunteering or what?

Setting

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Character Portrait: Jane Lynch Character Portrait: Sienna Alvarez Character Portrait: Vincent Mast
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"Vincent, sweetheart, I know that Sydney is a pretty girl. You're just like your father with that, always being attracted to the pretty faces, but she's no Sienna. You know that, I know that, everyone I know knows that, so you can understand why it's so hard for me to see you doing this to your future."

"Mom, would you just relax? I'm not 'doing' anything. What happened, happened and I get that it was screwed up, but can you just stop talking about it for five minutes?"

"Do we even know if Sydney wants to have kids? You know I need grand kids, Vincent, and Cynthia and I already discussed names and everything!" Colette continued on as if she hadn't even heard her son's plea, and it was quite possible that she didn't. She had been so wrapped up in trying to get more out of him about Sienna that it was impossible for him to get more than a few words in over the course of their fifteen minute conversation.

"Why don't you focus on un-gaying your other son, and maybe you'll get a grand kid or two out of him?" Vincent was so lucky that his quiet murmur was drowned out by his mother thanking the waiter who had just set another glass of Pinot Grigio was set in front of her. It would have turned his melodramatic mother into an equally melodramatic one, but with far more rage.

"And think of the wedding! Oh God, Vincent, how is it that I'm the only one at this table who sees how bad this is?" She took a large gulp of her wine in an attempt to wash the sorrows away. Vincent, sitting opposite of her, only rolled his eyes as he took the last bite of his club sandwich. He understood that she loved Sienna like a daughter and probably would never accept her not becoming her daughter-in-law. Colette was an emotional woman, but she was a good mom. She almost always sided with Vincent and his sometimes stupid or reckless actions, and liked to call herself his "biggest fan". The Sienna situation was one of the very few times that she criticized her first born's choices and it was apparent that nothing he could say to his mother was going to get her off his back. He needed to make things right by Sienna if he wanted to ever have a peaceful lunch again.

"We'll take the check, now," he said, catching the eye of their waiter passing by. His mother had finished her salad minutes ago, he was finished with his meal, and god only knew that she did not need anymore win in her petite body when it wasn't even two o'clock. His mother, again, didn't seem to notice him opening his mouth and continued on.

"Even your father agreed with me that this is just unacceptable, Vince. We raised you better than this!" Vincent was sure that that was either a lie, or that his father had just nodded along during his mother's rant like Vincent was close to doing now. His dad didn't care. His eyes were probably glued to his phone as she went on and on about how their future grandchildren were never going to be born now. He wanted to roll his eyes again, but now that Colette's wine glass was empty, her eyes seemed to be glued to his face. She was probably looking for a reaction from him, for his blank expression to crack and him to agree that she was so right and he needed to run back to Sienna this instant. He wasn't going to do that, though. He wasn't set on not talking to her and hearing her side of the story, but she had ignored his calls yesterday when he thought he was being the bigger person by calling in the first place. If she wanted to talk, she could reach out to him now.

Speak of the devil...

His phone was on vibrate mode and as his mother continued on about Sienna, he pulled the now-buzzing device out of his pocket to find Sienna's contact photo lighting up on the screen.

"The lacrosse coach from Yale is calling, so I'm going to go out and take it, alright?"

A small smile appeared on Colette's face. Apparently, a big name school calling her son was the only thing to get her to let go of the Sienna controversy for the moment. She shooed him off without another word, and Vincent made a beeline for the restaurant's front door as he answered the call. And just as soon as the call started, it ended. Sienna had spoken quickly and didn't give him a chance to say a single word as she explained that she was at an event, which Vincent assumed was Charlotte's, and that she was free to talk if he wanted to. Vincent had no intentions of going to the event. In fact, that had been what his mother had complained to him about for the first fifteen minutes of their conversation. She and Phil had come into the city for the event, expecting to take Vincent with them, but after he refused, the patriarch of the family went solo while Colette interrogated Vincent over lunch. She didn't buy his excuse of "not feeling well" and had instantly launched into her suspicion that he wasn't going because he wanted to avoid Sienna. Far too much liquor the night before left him genuinely feeling ill, but she was right that avoiding Sienna might have had something to do with it too.

To: Sienna
I had to take care of something with my mom so I'm not going to the event. I'm on the other side of town. Sorry. Want to get dinner or something later?

Over the past two days, his mood was constantly fluctuating between wanting to show up at Sienna's door with a hundred roses and a box of chocolates and tell her that he was so stupid for sleeping with Sydney and for even having to think about who he wanted. He wanted her and that was how it had always been, and would always be. Hearing her voice for the first time in a day or so had him close to that place again, but he also still felt like she had done wrong by completely ruining his relationship with Sydney in the process of outing their relationship. It was well deserved and he didn't have much ground to stand on in being mad, but he was confused and didn't know what to do.

In a move that even he was surprised at, he didn't slip his phone back into his pocket and instead, called Jane. If anyone knew Sienna and Sydney best, it was that girl. She was the best friend to each of them, separately and by now, he was sure that she had to have heard from both girls. She would know how they were really reacting and what the safest move would be. On the second ring, his mother appeared, but he waved her off, claiming that the conversation with the coach was important and that he would catch a cab on his own when it was finished.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Jane Lynch Character Portrait: Sienna Alvarez Character Portrait: Vincent Mast Character Portrait: Piper Vine
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"Cheer up, Janie. Frowning gives you wrinkles," Nicole piped up as the trio entered the hotel's ballroom. It was decorated to perfection, which was expected considering who the hostess was, and by the looks of the guests in the room, it was apparent that Charlotte was probably going to surpass her target goal for donations. What Jane was most concerned about was getting her hands on one of the glasses of champagne that seemed to be circling around the room. She figured that the only way to kill this hangover and make the next couple of hours less boring was to start her buzz for the day early. To do that, though, she was going to need to get away from her father and stepmother, and the opportunity came sooner than she could have hoped for. Only a few feet into the ballroom did they stumble upon Mr. Huntington and his wife, Janice. Her father was very good friends with Sebastian Sr., which was the main reason why she was such good friends with Sebastian Jr. The two couples shared more than just having teenage children, though, and the distaste that Jane and Seb shared for their stepmothers was something they bonded over. Sebastian was no where in sight though, so after putting on an insincere smile and making a few minutes of small talk with the couple, she excused herself.

By now, Sienna had responded to her, saying she was at one of the back tables. Jane headed there, and unfortunately didn't cross paths with any cocktail waitresses before she found the blonde. Despite not feeling very cheerful, Jane smiled upon seeing her friend and wiggled her way into an empty seat beside her. "You look cute. Where's your dress from? You literally did wayyyy too much shopping without me over the summer and I'm jealous." Before Sienna could respond, Jane's attention was redirected to her phone that was vibrating inside of her clutch. "I think I should be the Queen Bee. Everyone is obsessed with me!" She joked with a dramatic roll of her eyes as she fished into the bag to retrieve it. When she saw the name flashing on her screen, she stared at it for a moment with confusion. She and Vincent weren't close. He was attractive and obnoxious, fun to have around at parties, but he broke her best friend's heart and had now ruined any bit of respect that Jane had for him by doing it with Sydney. She didn't think he had ever called her before this whole fight, and didn't think there was any reason for him to be calling her now. Without hesitation, Jane blurted out, "It's Vincent?" in a tone laced with enough confusion to make it sound more like a question than a statement. "You stay here and do your boring government leader association whatever it's called thing, and I'll tell you what he says!" It was wrong to leave Sienna hanging like that, but her friend hadn't even given her the story on what went down. She was owed an explanation and vowed to get it after this unexpected phone call.

When she had hurried far enough away from Sienna's table, she answered the call. "Hello?"

"Jane? It's Vincent."

"I know, I have caller ID."

"Right, right. Got a second to talk?"

"As long as it doesn't end in me sleeping with you too, then sure, I guess. What's up?" With a glass of champagne in hand, she was now feeling more patient. What harm could a little gossip do? Especially when she was getting it straight from the source.

"Well, I'm guessing you heard about... everything by now, and you know, you're closer to Sydney and Sienna than anyone else. I figured that maybe you've already heard both sides of the stories and can help me--"

"Um, I'm not going to 'help' you with anything after what you did to my friends."

"I just want to know who I should talk to. Sydney won't speak to me and I know I should have told her that Sienna knew about what we did right away, but Sienna promised she wasn't going to say anything. And then she did, and I guess it brought back all of the feelings of everything I did wrong to her, and I already apologized for all of that but--"

Jane sighed. "What do you want me to do, Vincent? Pick which one I think 'deserves' you? Because if that's the case, then I think that they both deserve far better than you. Sienna loves you. Everyone knows that. I don't want to say that it'll be easier to get her to forgive you, but I don't think she can stay mad at you for as long as Sydney can, and--"

"So I should talk to Sienna first, then? Even though I already apologized to her after all of this happened in the first place?"

"It's obviously still bothering her, and like, I can understand why since you still hang out with Sydney one on one. It's one thing to hang out in a group with her there because obviously it's like, impossible to completely ignored Sydney unless you want to have no social life, but hanging out with her one on one is so suspicious. And especially now that everyone knows what you two did, it just is like a slap in the face for Sienna to have to deal with that publicly."

"No, you're right, you're right. I mean, I wasn't hanging out with her one on one the other day."

"Are you the Vale's private chef now, or something?"

"What? No. Oh, that snapchat? That... that wasn't hanging out. It didn't start that way, at least. Look, that's not the point. So I'm going to talk to Sienna and see where that goes. That's your advice, right? So when she gouges out my eyes I can come back and blame you?"

"We both know that she's not going to do that to you. She's probably saving that aggression for your mistress."

"Very funny. Alright, well, thanks for the help."

Jane hung up before he even got half of his last sentence out. She had spotted Piper a few feet away and allowed her attention to stray from reporting back to Sienna to the redhead who she hadn't seen in what felt like forever. She hadn't even noticed Piper's text that had come in mid-call, but was glad to see her and her smile proved that. "Pipe! Yay, I'm so glad you're here too. I need someone who isn't in this stupid student government club to complain about how boring this is to. And my dad and Nicole are here, so I don't even think I'll be able to level out the boredom with these," she added, sipping her champagne glass. "Are your parents here too?" She asked, only now glancing down at her phone and reading the girl's text about wanting to talk. "Ooh, I just saw your text. What's up? I feel like I haven't spoken to you forever since you went MIA yesterday!"

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: Carolina Daily
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Sienna braced herself when Charlotte tossed her a determined gaze, opting to pay more attention to the clock as it winded down to the actual beginning of their little luncheon and the fact that, as she requested, there were tweets already surfacing. Reposting a few of them, she distracted herself with that task when the class president walked away in a hurry. A relieved breath expelled from her lungs as Sienna practically plopped into one of the chairs, biting her lower lip thoughtfully. She didn't understand why it felt necessary for her to keep it a secret that Vincent wanted to actually talk from Charlotte; over the years, Charlotte had proven that she was a much better friend than even Sydney sometimes. Yet and still, Sienna felt inclined - not to lie - but to protect. What she was protecting she did not know, but it only came natural. She would tell Charlotte, eventually, but for now she just needed time to process. More than that, she just needed to get through the day.

Jane arrived in her line of vision when Sienna was staring at her phone blankly, not really sure how to respond to Vincent's inquiries about dinner. Her fingers had already typed out her response, but her thumb seemed unwilling to press enter and instead, had pressed backspace. It was only a second in when Jane was standing right before her and smiling, causing Sienna to smile in return. Though, like Jane's, her smile did not hold the typical brightness it was known for. However, it was also in the presence of Jane that Sienna allowed herself to vanish thoughts of Vincent from her mind. She had to chuckle a bit at Jane talking a mile a minute, as usual, and didn't even attempt to answer Jane's questions. Besides, it was Jane who looked absolutely stunning and Sienna had half the mind to tell her that. A simple BCBG dress meant nothing to Sienna when Jane came dressed to impress. However, just as she was about to make her comment, Jane's curious gaze met hers and Sienna felt baffled. Why was Vincent calling Jane? Sienna even had to glance at her phone for a second in befuddlement because there was not another message from Vincent and he and Jane weren't close enough for him to randomly call. An irrational part of her mind taunted that maybe he had a thing for her whole friend group and Sienna never needed a drink so fast in her life, wrestling with Esmee over text message to find someone to get her champagne.

"If I knew you were looking like that, I would have been made my way over here," Ricardo leered from a few feet away and Sienna looked up, taking a shuddering breath in the midst of her internal freak out and eyeing the King Bee. "Don't you have some dignitaries to be charming with your Dad?" She sniped and Rick smirked, his eyes catching some little twinkle from the overhead chandelier and Sienna glowered at him for being unfairly attractive, and knowing it. "I see there's still an extra sparkle in your bitchiness today," he remarked, walking over in measured steps. Ricardo had arrived with his father some ten minutes ago and had weaved his way skillfully through a few upstanding members of the Upper East Side, laughing at a few humorless jokes and flirting with even a few married women, even under the eyes of their husbands. His father would be giving their donations and all he had to do was make an appearance. Which would have been preferable to make with two of his guys by his side, but with Connor MIA and Vincent having familial issues, he had no choice but to attend on his own. And what better way to spend his afternoon than antagonize the one person who was quite easy to antagonize?

Taking the now vacant seat beside Sienna, Rick had to smirk at how she attempted to scoot away from him, making sure that there was a sizeable distance between their shoulders. Leaning in, Rick inquired, "So, did you do as I instructed?" Sienna pressed her lips into a thin line, sucked her teeth, and then stared at her laptop, busy making posts and reposting various tweets from other people. She couldn't wait for some of the students to filter in their photos so she could repost those as well. "Doesn't matter if I did or didn't. He wants to meet for dinner and I can't. I have work." She almost included an insult, something to rile Ricardo up because she knew it would and his presence was not soothing to her at the moment. It was just annoying. Ricardo's eyes narrowed for a second and without another word, he scooped Sienna's phone up and was on his feet before she could utter a word. "Give me my phone, Rick!" It was a loud hiss, but not a yell, and Sienna was glaring full daggers at him now. But Ricardo was not paying her any mind, swatting her reaching hands away while simultaneously sending out a message from her phone.

To: Vincent
Dinner works. Just come around by place by 6 if you can.

"There, all done," Ricardo exclaimed and lowered her phone, allowing Sienna to snatch it out of his grasp. Her eyes flew wide open at the text she now could not retract because it was already sent and delivered, and she glared at Rick. "I have work - " Ricardo immediately cut her off, "That you can miss." There was a glint in his eyes and a knowing grin on his mouth and Sienna wanted to claw it all away. "Leave it to me."Was the last thing he said before going off into the crowd and Sienna grumbled to herself about nosy bastards and meddling jackasses. Honestly, who the hell did Ricardo think he was? And he knew what he was doing because now, she couldn't even reject dinner with Vincent. Telling him that it was a joke would make her seem even meaner after ignoring him as she had and while she originally was willing to continue her trek of ignoring him, the text made it impossible now. Not long after Rick left, a champagne glass was placed on her table and Sienna immediately set to sipping it, trying to hold a little sense of propriety.

In the meantime, Rick worked his way back through the various guests, not really in a rush. It was quite easy to get Sienna out of her next Sunday engagement. Her employer was not one of the richest men in the world, Rick's father was. And what better way to monopolize the time of a man who was one of the biggest name in the recording business than to set up a possible business venture between him and the third richest man in the world? However, that would have to wait for his eyes landed on a stunning blonde. Walking up to her calmly with a knowing smirk, Rick stepped before Mr. Vale first, shaking the man's hands while saying, "It's a pleasure to see you again, Mr. Vale. Glad to see you could make it to this illustrious event." After exchanging a few pleasantries with the Vale patriarch while casting Sydney a rather lascicious wink, Ricardo turned his full attention on her as her grandfather became distracted with a golfing buddy. "I knew I couldn't let the day go by without paying my respects to the most gorgeous woman in the room. And how are you, Sydney?"

Back with Sienna, she was busy going through her phone, garnering messages from followers, classmates, and a few of her minions, all claiming that the rumor mill stated that Sienna was spreading lies. It was a surprise that none of her girls were against her, and maybe it was a shared disdain for Sydney as opposed to fully liking Sienna, she didn't know. But the point of the matter was that it had been there. Even if she made Victoria take the post away and Sydney had everyone hear her claim that nothing about it was true, the seeds of doubt had been planted. Sydney may think that Sienna was too emotional to pull certain things off, but there was a reason why she was one of the best in social media at their school. Because she knew how it worked. So, she was fine with girls thinking she lied. It was a welcome distraction from the knot forming in her stomach and needing more, she sent out a few texts.

To: Victoria
The fact that you're still working money when you should be mixing and mingling baffles me. Come here

To: Carolina
Closest table to the left window

To: Jane
Come baaaaaaaaack!

To: Ricky
Btw I hate u

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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By the time Sienna had made it back to her family's penthouse, the tears had reluctantly ceased in their non-stop waterfall. She wiped her face as best as she could while she had been in the backseat, using the makeup removal wipes before her door was opened. After her talk with Sydney and a text from her manager, Gabriella Mosci, confirming that her dinner with Jay Z and Beyoncé were cancelled due to an 'unforeseen' possible business venture - no doubt, Ricky's doing - she didn't feel the need to wear make-up anymore, not even the minimal that she had been wearing in the first place. It was obvious, even to her old caretaker, Katherine, that Sienna was not in a good mood. "¿Qué pasa, pequeña?" Katherine asked, immediately at Sienna's side when she noticed the rather dejected look on the singer's face. Sienna didn't even humor Katherine's concern, not bothering to halt on her stride to her room nor speaking in her native tongue. "Nothing you can help me with." She felt the older woman's dark gaze piercing insistently at the side of her face, so she glanced at her and figured to fix her with something to do so Sienna could be free to do as she pleased. "I have a guest coming at six...Vincent. Fix something up for us, please. If anyone needs me, tell them I'm working." Katherine had been with the family since Sienna was a baby, so she was aware of who Vincent was and also understood what they both would enjoy for dinner. Sienna was at her bedroom door by that point, pausing only because Katherine seemed unwilling to move, so she glared at her until she did. When the caretaker was rounding the corner, Sienna pushed into her bedroom and closed the door behind her.

Once in the safety of her private quarters, she knew she couldn't stay trapped in the four walls. While comfortable and spacious, she knew she would feel suffocated long before Vincent would arrive and she didn't want to feel sick of her own room when she had to sleep here tonight. More than ever, she realized, she wanted to return to Long Island. Back to her family's estate, to the panoramic views of the nearby waters behind the wide expanse of land that made up her lawn, the game room, her private recording studio. She missed the comfort and privacy of that space - she missed the ability to truly escape. Despite the penthouse being fully hers and bought with her own money, her family's first home was the only home she wanted to be at. However, it was a Sunday and if she went back now, she wasn't going to school tomorrow and it was Sienna's goal to not miss a day so that the absences she took for her career would be the only ones tallied against her. It was a trivial matter to be concerned with, but it was enough to clear her head. A bit more able to think, she pulled out her phone and tossed her back on one of her small sofas to send out messages to a few friends.

To: Rick
U better hope I don't kill ur friend

To: Vincent
Anything in particular u want 4 dinner? Speak now b4 Katherine starts cooking

To: Piper, Carolina
Wasn't feeling all that well, so I went home. Srry. Enjoy the event. Maybe a girl nite 1 of these days?

To: Jane
Look, we talked. Things were exchanged. There's no war...I hope. But we need space. I'm still ur friend and we need 2 talk about ur summer soon, but I need space from Syd 4 now.

To: Madam President
Srry 4 leaving & srry 4 being elusive. Apparently, Rick is playing fairy godfather/matchmaker/therapist cuz he's making me talk 2 Vincent tonite & I didn't know how to word how I was feeling earlier. Talked 2 Sydney. No WWIII 2 b worried about, 4 now. I couldn't b there anymore. Srry

The last two gave her pause. Sienna knew that Charlotte was the more understanding between Jane and her, and that she would be willing to hear Sienna's side of the story. Jane, on the other hand, didn't want to hear anything that didn't satisfy her desires. And that was fine, it was something Sienna still found enduring because Jane could be so adorable and childlike at times. However, at this time, Sienna knew she didn't want to deal with that. She wanted Jane to understand - she couldn't force Sydney and Sienna to go back to the way they were just because it made her feel better. It obviously wasn't working the way they were before, so maybe distance was their best bet. Sienna didn't know if making up with Sydney was in the cards for her, but she...she didn't know what she was really thinking when it came to their situation. She just wanted to breathe without having to feel guilty. Once her messages her sent, she plugged her phone up to its charger, removed her day's outfit, and hopped into a long shower.

Setttled in a warm blanket of drowsiness and relaxation from the jasmine-scented oil she had added to her steam shower, Sienna stepped out of her bathroom with a plan. A good run down with the towel and some lotion, and she was dressed in a velour coral Juicy Couture sweat suit, the top hanging off of her left shoulder rather loosely. After a quick brush, her hair was pushed into a low ponytail and draped over her right shoulder. She didn't bother for shoes, just the first comfortable white socks that she found. Once fully dressed, she left her bedroom in pursuit of the one place not too many followed her into: her private recording studio. When they were looking for penthouses, Cynthia demanded that there be a space they could use for such so that Sienna would never slouch in her vocal training and recording. It knocked back two bedrooms and what would have been another man cave for her father, but it had a home-like feel to it that made Sienna feel better on days like this. It consisted of the writing room, complete with a sofa, a shelf for vocal training and music books, a shelf for electronic pianos, and then a regular sized piano Sienna had spent too much of her childhood in front of. Then the second room, on a slightly elevated level, consisted of the control room and a small isolation booth. It had been daunting as a child, being forced to spend hours perfecting songs she honestly had not cared that much about. But she had grown to love it. Plus, she didn't always work on serious pieces. Most of the time, what work she did at home consisted of covers and mixtapes that had never seen the light of day.

Once the door to the writing room was closed, Sienna didn't head to the isolation booth. Instead, she sat in front of her piano and began doing vocal warm-ups. It was a welcome distraction, a bit of an irony considering how much she bitched and moaned about this when she was younger...


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Ricardo had watched, faintly interested, when Sydney left him in pursuit of Jane and Sienna. He had watched as apparently, Sydney had acknowledged Sienna verbally because his favorite Latina finally graced the queen bee with her own look of acknowledgement. It was easy to note the tension at the table because Jane had scurried off without so much as a backwards glance at her two closest friends and well, the unimportant brunette that was left was only acknowledged for a second as Sienna lead Sydney out of the ballroom. Chuckling to himself, he murmured, "And so it begins..." Not looking back in their direction and thinking the girls might either take long or regain his attention because of a catfight, Rick turned and headed to his father's table, joining in on a small joke he honestly could give two fucks about. But it was that he was a socialite and as always, he had to play the part. So, he swallowed the biting retort about the corniness of the joke and laughed behind the glass of water. While sitting, he did manage to get two texts out.

To: Connor, Vincent
Bored as fuck & neither of u r here to entertain me. Smh

It was once the video was over and main courses were being served that Rick decided to make his rounds. Once this cycle of greeting and conversing passed, he was permitted to leave and go about his day. His father had taken his words about Roc Nation to heart, because as soon as he was finished eating, he was going to schedule something with Jay Z as soon as possible to at least begin brainstorming. It left Ricardo tasked with giving the check, which was fine with him. It wouldn't be the first time that Carlos left him with a fifty million dollar check. He stopped, firstly, at the Alvarez family table, getting a peck on the cheek from Cynthia and an uncomfortable sneer from Esmee. She gave him a different reaction from Sienna's. Sienna would simply sneer and make a quip. Esmee seemed...put off by his attention and it made him laugh a little, especially when Cynthia told her to behave. After that, he made his way over to the Buchanan family table, pausing behind Charlotte's chair. "And here's the happy and proud family," Rick greeted with a charming smile, meeting Charlotte's parents' gazes first. "Sir, ma'am, you have a perspicacious daughter. And, of course, with your hard work, I'm sure." Once that was settled and he nodded to their significant others, Rick's gaze fell on Rose and Lottie. "Rose," he purred with a wink. Finally, he grinned at Charlotte, dangling the check at her playfully. "And my favorite future US president. As always, you were great. I would stay, but I have important matters to attend to. Where do I drop this little thing off?" He knew where, he just wanted to mess with her.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Charlotte H. Buchanan Character Portrait: Vincent Mast Character Portrait: Sydney Vale Character Portrait: Piper Vine Character Portrait: Connor Harkins Character Portrait: Ricardo Slim-Helú
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Connor's chance at receiving perfect attendence for the fourth year in a row at Saint Jude's was ruined by the first day of classes. Only hours after getting out of the prior day's assembly, Connor received a call from his mother that his father's sister, Ramona, had passed away. She was a single woman in her early fifties who lived alone in Florida. When Ronald inherited the investment firm from their father, he had to buy out Ramona's share, leaving her without a job but a hefty load of cash to sustain her for the rest of her life. Because she had no children, Connor didn't have the incentive of seeing cousins that made him ever want to visit her. Plus, she and his father's relationship had been shaky for most of their adult lives, so Connor was never close with his aunt. In fact, aside from memories of a Thanksgiving years ago, he had very few memories of her. Regardless, she was Ronald's only sibling and family was family. So, Connor and his parents took the first flight from New York to Boca Raton, and Jack met them there hours later.

Although he felt horrible about deserting Charlotte during the first SGA event of the year, the trip wasn't all bad. No one ever liked funerals, and dealing with a six hour wake on Friday and a funeral in the glistening Florida heat on Saturday sure made him wish he was in New York. However, it did feel like summer was being extended a bit since he was back with his brother for a couple of days. Plus, putting aside the eery feelings, their deceased aunt's beach side mansion made the off time pretty enjoyable. By four in the afternoon on Sunday, Connor and his parents were back in New York, though and after dealing with an hour's worth of miserable rush hour traffic, they returned to their Manhattan home. By then, it would have been futile for him to try to get to the event since he had to showered and get ready, so rather than rush the last two, he took his time doing them and around six o'clock, walked to the building the Buchanan's resided in. Connor had been busy enough over the weekend (and guilted by his mom into focusing the two days on family, not electronics) that he had only sent Charlotte one text explaining where he would be and how sorry he was that he was bailing. He knew that she could handle the event on her own. She was Charlotte Buchanan, aka Superwoman, but still, he had committed to being there and now he couldn't. Even though everyone knew Charlotte could handle it on her own, she was bound to stress out over it and he was supposed to be there to reassure her that everything was going perfectly. He knew that a family crisis like this wasn't his fault, but he still felt guilty over it.

In an attempt to make it up to her, and because he wanted to hear how the event had went, he picked up Chinese food for the two of them, and Rose, in case she was there. As he waited to be buzzed in, he rested the food on a table and texted everyone that he hadn't had time to keep up with over his trip.

To: Lottie
Hey Lottie, we ended up taking an earlier flight home this afternoon so I'm in NY... more specifically, in the lobby of your building. Be a gem and buzz me in ;)? I have Chinese

To: Vincent
My mom said to tell your mom thanks for the flowers she sent to the apartment. Btw... heard something about you and Sydney??? What?

To: Ricky
Lol sorry I was out of town. Didn't know u were coming home this soon though. What's up with that? and this Vincent Sydney thing?

To: Sydney
Hey Syd :) did you go to the ALS event today?

To: Piper
Am I invited to your party this weekend xD?

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sienna Alvarez Character Portrait: Vincent Mast Character Portrait: Connor Harkins
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By five o'clock, Vincent was definitely regretting asking Sienna to meet up. Especially so, when she requested that they have said meetup in her family's apartment. Both of their families were already too involved in their relationship and this was just asking for trouble. If things went well, Vincent was going to be in for a night of phone calls and texts from his mother about how proud she was of him, and how she knew all along that this was what was best for him. She would probably start researching wedding venues and dress shopping. If it went poorly, the pestering would be even worse, but either way, his family and Sienna's would know either way. Even if Sienna's parents and siblings weren't home, the house staff would probably be lurking in the hallways and word was bound to get back to Cynthia, who would share it with Colette. There was already enough stress related to talking to Sienna for the first time after the blowout, and he didn't need the added pressure of everyone knowing as soon as it happened.

To: Sienna
Sry just saw this. I'm not really hungry though so dw about it

He had seen the text earlier when she had first sent it, but at that point in the day, Vincent was still considering cancelling on her. He was nervous, really nervous, and putting it off... maybe saying he was sick, or something, seemed easier than facing her and all of the problems that came with it. His mother was on his back about it, Ricardo was on his back about it, and everyone who had seen the social media posts were indirectly on his back about it too. They all wanted answers for what he was with Sydney and what he was with Sienna, and as scared as Vincent was to find out those answers, he needed to know too. Jane had advised him that it was smarter to talk to Sienna first since she was the only one that he would probably get anywhere with at this point, and he knew she was right. Besides, he still didn't think he had anything to really apologize to Sienna for. What he had done wrong to her had been forgiven years ago. If it hadn't been, why would she have slept with him a few nights ago, and why would their relationship have finally been getting back on track? She was the one who chose to bring the drama back now, and while she had issues to work out with Sydney, he didn't do anything wrong recently. If anything, she had been the one to toss him under the bus!

Even with those feelings present, Vincent loved Sienna, and he couldn't turn down a dinner with her. He didn't think he needed to get on his knees and beg for things to go back to where they were two nights ago, but he couldn't just give up on whatever they were starting to get back. Besides, he knew Sienna. She was emotional and sometimes dramatic, but he didn't think she would have just suddenly made that vicious post for no reason. Sydney must have done something and Vincent almost wanted her to have. He wanted there to be a valid reason behind all of this, so he could understand where Sienna was coming from and understand why it was necessary for her to cut ties with Sydney, and indirectly cut his ties with Sydney too, years after the incident had occurred. So, with those thoughts overpowering his doubtful ones, he took a car over to the Alvarez's building at ten to six, only getting the nerve to go into their lobby at five after six. It took only seconds for him to be buzzed in and take the elevator up to Sienna's apartment, and only then did he shoot her another text and respond to Connor's.

To: Sienna
Omw up...

To: Connor
Don't worry about it i'll tell you at school tomorrow. Hope your family's okay.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sienna Alvarez Character Portrait: Vincent Mast
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{In collaboration with StarStruck}




By the time six o'clock had rolled around, Sienna was in a bit of a calmer state, more pliant. More willing to listen and talk. The nerves running rampant in her stomach were still there and made sure she was aware of them, but she could hardly say it was as bad as earlier. Especially after her breakdown in Sydney's presence. After warming up her voice, she went through at least two of her more ballad-like tracks off of her EP, attempting to get the right sound for them. But once she was half-way through the second, it was too much. She didn't want to think about the impending release.


So, she focused on playing on the piano, her fingers striking the chords of some of her favorites. She had not even fathomed how much time could pass performing such an act, especially when she once loathed the idea of playing anything for too long on the piano at one point. However, the soothing keys were enough to even get her interested in singing, especially when one of her favorite Beyoncé songs came to mind.


"Words don't ever seem to come out right/ But I still mean them, why is that?/ It hurts my pride to tell you how I feel/ But I still need to, why is that?" Whether or not she could hear it did not matter, but the controlled ease in which she handled the lyrics were more raw than Sienna would have been willing to admit, but she persisted, falling into the chorus with carefully-placed runs and large breaths to execute longer notes. It wasn't until she seemed to be getting into the bridge that Katherine's voice came in through the penthouse's speaker system. Vincent wasn't surprised when he stepped out of the Alvarez elevator and was greeted by Katherine rather than Sienna. He was, at least, happy that it wasn't Esmee or Cynthia or another Alvarez family member. Katherine was close enough with the family that he felt like she was judging him too... even if he didn't really think he had anything to be judged for, but it was far less terrorizing than standing in front of Sienna's blood.


"What?" Sienna asked rather sharply, after clearing her throat. Katherine either didn't hear the bite in her voice at being interrupted or did not care for she answered, unflinchingly, "Señor Mast is here." Sienna glanced back at her phone, seeing two text messages from him, both which contradicted the other. She didn't say anything for a moment and only stared blankly at her phone before setting it back down on the top of the piano. "Send him here. And send some drinks, please. Let us know when dinner is ready," she instructed before going back to playing her song. She almost didn't catch the "Of course" from one of her favorite caretakers and went back to singing, losing herself in the music in the little time she had before Vincent found his way to her little safe haven. And though his visits to the Alvarez penthouse had been far less frequent over the past year, Vincent still memorized the house layout. That didn't mean that he sped straight to the recording studio, though. Although he knew there was no turning back now, he was still on edge about all of this and to make matters worse, he was drawing a blank on what to even say when he did see her.


"It don't matter who you are/ It is so simple, a feeling/ But it's everything/ No matter who you love/ It is so simple, a feeling/But it's everything..."


Luckily, an immediate comment wasn't necessary, since as he stepped in, she was sitting at the piano, singing. He didn't interrupt her, partly because she seemed consumed by the music, and partly because again, he still didn't know what to say. She either sensed his presence and stopped, or the song ended. Vincent was too busy racking his mind for something... anything to say to make all of this drama go away, to really know which of the two it was. He lingered in the doorway, suddenly feeling out of place and unwanted as she looked towards him. "I didn't mean to interrupt. Was that something from the new EP?" Maybe they could talk about her music all night and act like none of the drama had ever happened. Before all of this, Colette had been raving about how hardworking Sienna was and about how great the new music she was making was going to be. Vincent knew music was Sienna's life and with good reason, too, because she was an amazing artist. Not only was her voice impeccable, but she could write real, deep music too. That alone was a talent, and being able to perform those songs flawlessly made her even more of an amazing artist. He wasn't just trying to push off the dreaded problematic conversation because he was genuinely interested in her music. As he used to tell her with a playful smirk, he was her as big of a fan of her in the recording studio as he was in the bedroom. And if the night of Sydney's party was any example, that would make him her number one fan musically, too.


Sienna very much did hear when the door to the studio opened, but she did not cease her piano playing, offering only occasional ad-libbing as the song came to an end. In the midst of her fingertips ghosting over the keys upon the last chord, she finally graced Vincent with a look. It wasn't meant to spell anger or even hurt at the moment, but she knew something was in her eyes because of the expression on his face. Doesn't really matter at this point, she surmised mentally. He was here and there was no running from this. Not that she could have done any running - they were at her place.


She almost missed his question in her musing, blinking blankly for a moment before answering, "Huh? Oh...no. Just...me...fooling around." She shrugged a bit and rose, walking from the piano stool to the sofa. Vincent couldn't stand how anxious he was feeling. He hated how he was frozen in the doorway, his body unwilling to even take a few steps towards Sienna, who was now seated on the sofa. Once there, Sienna played with the ends of her hair, not really meeting his gaze and unknowingly sharing in the uncertainty that was overwhelming the guy still standing at the door. She almost wished they could go back to before the Snapchat, at least back to the playful and flirtatious bantering because this? This was suffocating and she cut through the tension with a knife, and it still would be there. "So...should we just cut to the part where you call me an overdramatic, jealous bitch?" She asked, self-deprecating and hurt with a bit of lingering anger in her voice, though very much unwittingly.


Unaware of her self-loathing, She cut to the chase, not bothering with small talk to try to mellow out the uncomfortable vibe before jumping to the point of their dinner. It was like ripping off a Band-Aid, but truthfully, Vincent wouldn't have been ready for this conversation even if they spent two hours here avoiding it anyway.


He definitely hadn't come here to call her jealous or a bitch. Overdramatic... maybe... but he didn't think he would have even said it that directly. He just wanted to know what was going on in her mind and really, he hoped that it would be something that was prove that she was none of those negative adjectives. "What? No... I don't think you're any of that. I just..." His mind clearly still wasn't helping him with this loss-for-words thing. "What did she do to make you post that so randomly? A head's up would've been nice, Sia. I know that what she and I did all those years ago was so screwed up, and I'll say sorry for that again if you want, but why now? I thought we were good after the night of her party, and I went to her place to apologize for storming into her room with you, and it seemed like everything was okay between all of us. Wasn't it?" "Yeah, it was all okay up until she became, and I quote, 'the only girl I would make waffles for.'" She couldn't even help the sarcastic tinge in her voice upon remembering their sickening display.


To be honest, had it been any other girl but Sydney, Sienna probably would have been upset and probably stuck to ignoring him via text until she got sick of him trying to communicate. But it wasn't just some random chick from Biology; it was Sydney and whether or not Vincent knew it, Sienna did still think about what they did behind her back. Hell, she still had the residual scars because of it and no, she wasn't over it. She couldn't just be over the first guy she loved choosing her best friend because Sienna had apparently stopped being good enough due to her absence. When she spoke again, her exasperation and a bit more anger came out. "And you know what? That Snapchat wasn't meant to be friendly or cute, Vince. She was mad at me the entire time after that night and never once did she try to talk to me, and then that happens and I have people texting me wondering either when you two became besties...which I damn sure was never aware of, or how did I feel about the two of you...being whatever you were." She could feel her ire rising along with a few unwanted tears at the backs of her eyes, but she tried forcing them down with a loud sigh. Vincent furrowed his brows, trying to rationalize how she really could be so dramatic over the video, that, in his defense, had portrayed something completely out of context. But that alone made sense, and as Sienna continued, reminding him that Sydney had been angry after that night, he understood where she was coming from more. It still seemed overdramatic, but he was at least able to see her point of view. Sydney had purposely cut off the rest of his speech, not to annoy him in a playful way, but to get to Sienna. She wasn't trying to joke around and make him look like "her bitch" to annoy him, but to make Sienna jealous. It had clearly worked, and while Sienna's reaction still didn't seem to equal the offense, the fact that he understood that she had a right to have a reaction said something."Just tell me if there's something going on between you two already because I can't...feel like I am second place to Sydney with you. Not again."


"No, we aren't anything!" Vincent responded defensively, finally finding the courage to advance towards Sienna. Sienna really wished she could trust Vincent's claims that there was nothing like that going on between him and Sydney, especially after recalling Sydney admitting that she still wanted him earlier in the day. She wanted to just fast forward to them still joking over the bet she had placed and not caring about Sydney. But she did and she was listening, she really was, but her mind seemed settled on the idea that there was obviously something more than friendship between Sydney and Vincent. At least on the former's side. "We never were, and I hate that I haven't been able to prove that to you, after all of this. I mean, we're friends... I'm friends with her, but it's not like what me and you are. It was never like that. And, I get that it doesn't matter now, because, yeah, I see that she was just trying to fuck with you by posting that, but I was being sarcastic when I said that to her in the video and if it didn't end there, everyone else would have seen that too." He could feel himself going from the offense to the defense, because now he realized that maybe he did have something to apologize for. It still didn't seem like something he had directly done wrong. He hadn't been the one to post the Snapchat and he hadn't said anything in real life to make it seem like he loved Sydney, but maybe it wasn't fair to be anything with Sydney. Not after what they had done to Sienna, and especially not now, when everyone knew what they had done to Sienna. It wasn't right to put her in that position and it definitely said something that now, Vincent didn't even have to think about which girl he could drop in his life. "But I won't hang out with her anymore, Sienna. I guess I just thought that after all of that, you were never going to want me again in the way that I wanted you to want me... and she was a good distraction... but I swear to God, Sienna, I won't let her come between whatever you want us to be, ever again." He definitely didn't plan on coming over here to promise to cut Sydney out of his life in exchange for something... anything with Sienna, but now, as Vincent stood in front of her, it just came out without him even thinking.


"You...wh-what?" She blurted out, voice notably shocked. It was enough to make her rise and, subconsciously, Sienna's right hand rose to run through her hair - a tick of hers - only to be met with tied back hair. Some small part of her felt more than delighted at Vincent's promise; was it so wrong to be selfish and wanting someone all to yourself? However, a larger part of her did find something wrong with it and the war within showed on her face. "Vince...I've always wanted you," she confessed, swallowing down whatever heaviness that had settled in her throat. "I never didn't...ugh, I hate this! I just...I never didn't want two of the most important people in my life to not be friends. I just..." Sienna paused again before gesturing between the two of them. "If we do this again and I mean, we're really doing this again, then I need to know that you're in this because I can't...I can't do this thinking you want someone more than me." And Sienna meant that. She couldn't handle another "drunken" mistake or some other excuse Vincent's hormones wanted to give her. She just couldn't.


"I will be in it," he agreed, barely pausing a second after she finished speaking to respond. "But if we do it, you have to trust me too. I won't give you a reason to make you think I want anyone more than you... anyone other than you, but I don't want you to try to find a reason either. I want this, Sienna, I really want this, and I know that I've given you reason in the past to not trust me, but if I stop being friends with her... if I cut her off, then you'll stop this drama, right? You'll go onto your blogs and delete those posts and end your war with her?" Whether or not she wanted to acknowledge it, Vincent was right. Sienna couldn't hold what happened in the past over his head, especially if they were trying to make it work. It was a difficult thing to hear as a person who was known for holding grudges and going as far as seeking revenge when she felt particularly offended, but she couldn't help but see his point even with a small pout. "I know, I know," she replied sullenly, trying to rid herself of the pessimism of a few moments ago.


Also, Vincent really wasn't trying to make it sound like he was trying to protect or coddle Sydney, since he had just confirmed that he was going to cut his ties with her, but he didn't want to go out of his way to hurt her either. Vincent didn't think that Sydney really loved him, and especially after speaking with Sienna, he had a feeling that any affection she had ever shown him was to spite Sienna. Still, she was a person, and even more, she was Sydney Vale. Being beaten at anything was bound to hurt her pride ten times more than it would the average person, and while Vincent wasn't cocky enough to consider himself a "prize" to be won, he thought that Sydney would see it this way. Him dating Sienna would prove that even Sydney Vale, the most wanted girl in the Upper East Side, couldn't keep them apart, and that would bother her. The last thing that she needed, on top of that, was for Sienna to be publicly blasting her for it too, especially considering that Sydney wouldn't take that sitting down. After she finished her dwelling in her state of self pity, Vincent was sure that he was going to be on the receiving end of her wrath. And that was something that he didn't look forward to. If he and Sienna were going to try this again, he wanted it to be as easy as possible, and a vengeful Sydney Vale was going to do everything in her power to make that impossible. "I just don't want this to be any harder than it already has been for us."


Sienna sighed and shifted on her feet once more, mind returning - as it had several times in the afternoon - to her conversation with Sydney. "I...already talked to her. Don't know if I really believe her, but...Syd said that there shouldn't be any war or anything like that to be worried about. I don't know if that still counted if…we're together..." Sienna and Sydney had spoken?! That was a good thing. It had to be, since he didn't hear about either of them being sent to the hospital. Vincent felt like with them, things could only go well, or really, really bad, and it didn't seem like they were that bad. Sienna had agreed to meet with him, after all, and now she was saying that Sydney said there would be no war. Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as he thought. Maybe this could work out and their senior year could be as drama free as was possible for the Upper East Side.


Then again, this was Sydney Vale and Sienna Alvarez that he was dealing with. They were competitive in many ways, but out-dramatizing each other seemed to be their specialty lately, and Vincent was just as unconvinced as Sienna that things would be okay if they were officially together again. "I think one of us should tell her. Not that I think she has a say in it or any 'right' to know, but, I mean, you know Sydney. Don't you think it'll at least be a little bit less horrible if she finds out before anyone else? Through you or me, or both of us, rather than through someone's Facebook gossip page?" As soon as the words left Vincent’s mouth, Sienna went through a triad of emotions, each coming out in her blurting, ”What!? No! Whyyyyy?” She hated the sound of whining in her voice at the last question, but she hated the idea of talking to Sydney any time soon.


And she didn’t think it would do any good saying anything to Sydney or anyone else this soon, now that she was silent and in her thoughts. As selfish as it was, Sienna wanted to keep them to herself. They were just starting and she didn’t need five billion people questioning her about her choices. Charlotte, Jane, Carolina, Piper - not to mention Esmee. Hell, even her fans would jump on it the second someone blasted them on social media...the idea was settled as she closed the small distance left between her and Vincent, fingers inching slowly up his chest in careful measures. Sienna tugged at her lower lip lightly, the perfect visage of innocence on her face. ”Maybe...we shouldn’t tell her,” she finally said, in a low voice. But before Vincent could interject, she continued, hurriedly, ”Not just Sydney and hear me out on this.” She paused again, all careful, all precise and thought out. It had to be, if she wanted this idea to play out. ”Sydney and I talked only a few hours ago, and that post was sent three days ago. Even if I get it deleted now, it’ll still be on people’s minds and what are everyone gonna think seeing us together so quickly after...that? And Sydney? We...talked about...things…” Sienna flicked her gaze back up to Vincent, the sadness that crept onto her face more than genuine. ”She’s not going to react to this well. Not this soon. So, we keep this,” she clutched the fabric of his shirt in between her fingers, pulling Vincent closer, ”between us. Just us. Not because I’m keeping you a secret, but to help cool things down and give us time...to well, be us. Like you said, we don’t need this to be any harder than it already is and...everyone…Sydney will react better if we keep quiet for a little while. Just a little while. I promise.” She finished her plea off with a slight pout of her lower lip and a pleading twinkle in her eyes, nudging Vincent’s nose affectionately with her own.


It was like she cast over spell on him, because as cliché as it was, Vincent could feel his body tingling as her fingers moved across his chest. The way her voice sounded so smooth, how she bit her lower lip, pulled him closer, pouted... It was asking for trouble and Sienna surely knew it. All it took was a few moves like that for him to be hers, unquestionably hers. He wasn't necessarily proud of it. For someone who boasted about how great it was to go through girls like water with absolutely no feelings attached, the look of admiration and a bit of desperation too, that he couldn't wipe off his face was fairly embarrassing. He would have punched himself if Rick or any of the lacrosse guys were there to see it, at least. As if he were in a trance, he could feel his eyes set on hers and a weak nod coming through as he listened to her proposal. And Sienna’s Cheshire grin in response spoke of nothing but pleasure at her victory.


It didn't sound like a bad idea. Maybe keeping their relationship off the radar until they knew it would work would be best for everyone. What if, for some reason, Sydney wasn't the only problem between them? Was there a chance that they would suddenly be incompatible and stating that they were in a relationship so soon could do more harm than good? The other night had him knowing that the spark between them was still alive and well, but maybe she was right. They didn't need this to be public, especially after that scandal had just come out.

Then again, Vincent had learned his lesson with keeping things from Sydney. He knew that she didn't have any authority over he and Sienna, but he knew that she thought she did. She thought she had an authority over everyone, and this was the type of news that she felt like she deserved to know. It wouldn't simply be looking out for their own interests by not telling her. It would be taking a shot at her position of power, at her ability to rule the social ladder. And he still wasn't sure if it was even right of him to have told Sienna about he and Sydney, before giving her a chance to tell Sienna. Or, even after telling Sienna himself, at least telling Sydney that she did, so she didn't look like the fool for pretending she was innocent when Sienna knew the truth. What if something happened like that again, where Sienna used Sydney's ignorance against her? Sydney would surely act like Sienna had done something unforgivable, when again, she probably deserved it, but Vincent didn't want to give either girl weaponry to use against the other. "And what happens when she finds out?" And she would. Sienna had to know that after this revelation had just come to light, Sydney would be looking for reasons to slander both of their characters. As Vincent slipped his arms around her waist, his lips so close to touching hers, he didn't really care about the consequences of Sydney Vale finding out, though. The sensible part of him had disappeared when he breathed in the all too familiar scent of her perfume again. Sienna only hummed softly, brushing her lips against his - gently, and without pressure - before whispering, ”Then she finds out.” She pulled away only for a second to stare at him, dead on, and vowed, ”And then we talk. Not just me and her, not just you and her. All three of us for once.” Finally, she allowed herself to smile, a big one and her teeth flashed and she felt as bright as the smile that formed on her face. ”Now, how about we check on that dinner?”

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Charlotte H. Buchanan Character Portrait: Sienna Alvarez Character Portrait: Vincent Mast Character Portrait: Carolina Daily Character Portrait: Victoria Walsh Character Portrait: Connor Harkins
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Monday, September 7, 2015| After School 3: 15


Despite the drama not being as much on her as it had been during the weekend, Sienna was still feeling the repercussions of her actions and what Victoria did to Charlotte. In a matter of minutes, social media for their school had gone haywire. It was almost as bad as the post about Sydney, Vincent and Sienna. From what Sienna had gathered, people were coming out of left field saying this and that about Charlotte Buchanan. Some of them believed it, others didn't, and a good few just liked the drama enough to spread it. Sienna herself had to clear up a few things with SGA alumnae who had contacted her and it was not pretty. Even with that and trying to console Charlotte as best as she could, she was dealing with her classmates being...well, weird.

For instance, just as she was leaving class after the first ring of the bell, a few girls she had been nice to once before, sophomores, came with her favorite drink from Starbucks. A salted caramel mocha in a grande size. Literally, after class. It was still warm and had an extra drizzle of caramel, and all Sienna could do was thank them and keep moving on her fast stride. Or, for another instance, how she had immediately had a small circle around her the second she and Esmee had arrived on campus and the only reason they left was because she told them to. It was...disconcerting and the least of her worried. She had to sink her claws into an uppity Tori, see about Charlotte, reschedule any time she might have put aside for Vincent...check on Adam...

...right, Adam. It gave Sienna pause outside of Constance's main building at the top of the stairs and she pulled her phone out, a bit taken aback by the text she had received last night from one of her friends. It wouldn't have bothered her if all she had was the first part of the text. She could have assumed that Adam sent her a text that was meant for...one of his parents, she guessed? That made sense. What didn't make sense was the last part. Who hated Adam? Last she had checked, Adam had stopped talking to her over the last few months, not the other way around. With everything that had gone down, she hadn't even had the chance to talk to Connor about him. And also, what were they supposed to have known? It left Sienna confused and lost, which was why she had to stop and send a few texts out.

To: Charlotte
Look, I'm on trying 2 get this post down. I promise. But something's wrong & I have to take care of it. Evry1's probably driving u crazy, do you want me 2 get u out of the city 4 the nite? U & Rosie can stay at my house 4 2nite. Also, don't respond to that post just yet or make any commentary online. It won't help. It'll be an immediate reaction & no one's gonna take it seriously

To: Connor
Have u talked to Adam? I got this really weird text last nite & he's been ignoring me. I was thinking of seeing him b4 dealing w/ Charlotte. U wanna come?

To: Vincent
As u can see, shit has hit the fan. Wanna reschedule on a movie nite 4 2morrow?

To: Carrie
Tryna send Charlotte off 2 my house in Long Island 4 the nite to get her away from all this drama. Wanna come? Gotta check on something first, but u can go w/ her? It might convince her 2 go & she really doesn't need 2 b here with crazy stalkers writing lies about her

Once those messages were sent, Sienna didn't bother messaging Adam about visiting. She would just show up. She had not seen him all day and when she had asked a few of the art students, someone said something about his home saying that he wasn't feeling well. Which was...not weird, but it left her feeling even more concerned than before. However, there was one more thing Sienna needed to take care of and it's name began with a V. Steeling her expression, Sienna strode down the stairs and went on the other side of the wall into a small courtyard on Constance grounds, hidden only by the large staircase leading into the building. Once there, she took a sip of her drink while dialing a number. She didn't even wait for a response before she immediately went off, still trying to keep her voice down to a hiss in case anyone tried to listen in from this vantage point, "I don't know how a person with an exceptionally high IQ could be so dumb as to post about the same person I caught her trying to fuck over when all of this started. Like, I honestly give no fucks about why you did it or even where you got your info from. If you don't want your new nickname to be Gossip Bitch and your face to be rearranged, which I will gladly see to happening with my own hands, get that fucking post down." Not wanting for a confirmation, Sienna ended the call just like that, clutching the device in her hand tightly. She had waited, Tori had squirmed, and now Sienna had to wait to see if the bitch wanted to do this the easy way or the high way.

How in the hell Sydney did this on a daily basis, she would never know!

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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It all happened in a blur - Adam's sudden rush of aggression, the way they had to force the needle into Adam's neck (which definitely made Sienna cringe and want to stop them), Adam's energy being depleted before he lost all consciousness - it all happened before Sienna could get another breath in and by the time she did, she exhaled on a tremor, the breath escaping her in small, rushed huffs. More than the shock of how Adam had to be controlled was the look in his eyes: flashing with some kind of tortured fury, they struck Sienna silent, so much so that she didn't even question when the blonde male was hoisted off of the ground and dumped into a wheelchair. It wasn't until Adam was rolled past her did she breathe again, sharing a concerned look with Connor before finally paying attention to Hailey.

"I want to know everything as soon as possible," Sienna demanded not soon afterwards, meeting Hailey's gaze unflinchingly despite the obvious horror and shock she was still in. "Hospital room, discharge date, everything." Like Connor, her mind was still trying to associate the writhing guy in a fit on the floor and the guy she could spend hours making music with. At the end of that train of thought, however, there was only one thing that Sienna could come to terms with: Adam was still her friend. And that meant she couldn't give up on him. She had to be here for him, at least to bash him in the head for not being honest with her and not asking for help. It reminded her of her turmoil with Jane's situation, which only served to make Sienna monotonously agree to packing some of Adam's things.

Sienna followed Connor wordlessly through the apartment and into Adam's bedroom, taking in the room they had once played video games in. Her eyes scoped out the entire surface area before falling on Connor, ears only just catching his whisper over the memory of shoving Adam off his bed because she had petulantly believed he cheated. It took a fraction of a second for Sienna to catch on to what he was saying, and when she did, she could only nod for a moment. "Yeah...I guess..." She said lowly, actually surprised by the tears that sprung to her eyes at the thought of where Adam's mind had been last night. And it made her all the more upset with his parents. Who the fuck left their son in another country when they're sick? But Sienna swiped at her eyes before a single tear could fall, digging her hands into a few of Adam's items. "Let's just pack his things and get out of here." As much as emotional Sienna would have lingered on the things that gave her memories, she didn't want to. Not here. Not when all she could think about was the fact that her friend had been alone all this time and she hadn't known.

It took them a good ten minutes to pack a few things for Adam, a few items of clothing, sheet music and his collection of classical CDs (Sienna knew he'd like that, at least), and a few other small items before calling it quits. Sienna couldn't have called back to Hailey quick enough, opting to reiterate her demand to be notified of all Adam-related news. Once she bid Hailey a good evening, Sienna led Connor out of the apartment and back to her family's vehicle, opting to drop Connor off wherever he needed her to. "Hey," she had called, just as he was about to leave, and grabbed his arm pleadingly. "Don't tell the guys about this...please. I-I-I know they weren't friends with him or anything, but...I just really don't need this getting out any further than us." Sienna knew that all it would take is some ignorant comment from one of Manhattan's elite and it would be all over. Adam's image would be completely ruined if it got out and more than likely, there'd be unnecessary teasing and everything. Sienna's imagination painted a vivid picture and while she knew Connor wasn't the type, he did hang out with Sienna and, inadvertently at times, Jane. As much as Sienna loved her friend, Jane would either be dismissive about it or make some unwitting remark, unaware at how dangerous a single breath from her person could be.

Once Connor was gone and Sienna was in her lonesome, she was about to dial up a friend when she got the notification of Jane's text. It was enough to cause her to let out an indignant noise and her fingers impulsively punched out a response. However, her thumb didn't press down on the send button. Instead, it hit delete and she busied herself looking at other notifications before going back to what she needed.

To: Lottie
No prob, chica. Omw

To: Carrie
Excuse the vanity, Sydney replacing me w/ the bitch riding her clit don't hurt a bit. Not exactly replaceable. Btw, omw.

To: Piper
Can you believe her? Smh. U coming or what?

Sienna didn't give herself time to think about Jane's text any longer nor the fact that Sydney was welcoming Tori into her folds. However, the latter fact was bothering her. If Sydney wanted a new friend, that was fine. Not that Sienna honestly thought she'd find one out of the many girls who want to be with Sydney just because it sounds good, not because they wanted to be her friend. Tori was a completely different story. Sienna didn't presume to know how much Tori wanted to be close to Sydney, but she did know she was un-trustworthy. And maybe, to an extent, Sienna was as well, but Sienna also prided herself on being a good friend and she had only gotten involved with Victoria to protect Charlotte. But now, Tori was no longer under Sienna's control and Sienna hated it. She didn't normally want to control people, but there came a point where she needed to at least know how to keep Tori from screwing everyone Sienna cared about over. However, Sienna wasn't the mastermind or evil genius. And she needed help.

"Well, well, well, haven't heard from you in a long time," Ricardo purred into the phone, or at least, that's how it sounded in Sienna's ears. Either way, it made her roll her eyes. "Puh-leaze, Ricky! It was twenty four hours ago. Besides, I'm surprised you're not out getting your boys intoxicated." She could practically envision his chuckle through the phone and she rolled her eyes again. "And here I was, trying to be a good little boy, and you tempt with that idea." Sienna re-crossed her legs, sitting back against the leathery seats. It was only a few seconds of silence before Ricky decided to talk again, noting that her quietness meant something. "So, I think we both know this isn't a friendly little call. What can I do for you?"

Sienna opened her mouth to speak, but only paused, swallowing back whatever impulsive response she would have typically given Rick. Was she really doing this? Getting Ricardo's help on manipulating people? She wasn't really manipulative, not to the extent that she felt like she had to go to in order to make Victoria get rid of that damn post. But that was what she had to remind herself - that she was only trying to make Victoria give in already and stop being pesky. "A certain little birdy's gotten out of her cage and I want to get her back." Rick reveled in his own pause, a smirk flitting across his face. "And the innocent little songstress comes for my help. Don't tell me you're walking on the dark side now, Sia." He saw her glower long before it appeared on her face. "Never said I was a good girl and it's not that deep. I just...I'm doing this for my friends." Rick grinned at the thought, picking up the glass of whiskey and sipping some of it. The sound of him swallowing shouldn't have been as ominous. "You're a smart girl, Sia. Think. What does your little birdy love more than anything?" He didn't give her a chance to answer, no he wanted Sienna to think on it. While others speculated on whether or not Sienna had a dark side, and if she'd actually - truly (since a little post was not the full extent of Sienna's vindictiveness, that much he knew) - use it, Ricardo liked fostering it. He wouldn't ever try to change Sienna, that wasn't his goal. But he did like knowing that she wasn't squeaky clean (not that he didn't already know that), that the little perfectionist pop star didn't have all white feathers. She was just as dark as he and Sydney.

There was no stopping the pout that formed on Sienna's face at being hung up on, but she didn't have time to mull that over. She thought about the things she had learned about Tori since catching her trying to post about Charlotte. It left Sienna in her silence, but it wouldn't be long before a light bulb clicked in her head. She just wouldn't able to act on it until she had taken care of seeing Carrie and picking up Charlotte.


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Once off the phone, Rick polished off his glass before sitting back in his chair coolly, folding one leg over the other in contemplation. He was a bit curious about what Sienna was getting herself into. From the way she spoke, he doubted the little "birdy" was Sydney. If that were the case, she would have simply called him to start up their kickboxing sessions again or text him about it. Not calling him about something like manipulating someone. It amused Rick, that much was certain, but it intrigued him enough to text a few of his followers to see if they heard anything new on the block about Sienna or anything. However, what was more interesting was the idea of going out with his own group, which Ricardo hadn't been able to do in too long. He needed to rectify that soon.

Rather decisive, he added both Vincent and Connor to a group message (since the last one they had been in was when he had his old phone), and text them both. Despite his statement yesterday, they actually hadn't had the time to catch up. He hadn't had the time to see how Connor was taking the Sydney sleeping with Vincent thing, the post, or even about the conversation he knew Vincent and Sienna had last night. The latter being another source of intrigue. The two hadn't acted in any particular manner. Sienna had been rather casual and went back to simply ignoring Vincent, pointedly hugging and greeting Rick when she had seen the guys together. It didn't mean that their conversation hadn't gone a particular way, but it did not mean anything. Not until Ricardo saw and spoke with Vincent himself. So, after making sure his message was sent, Ric grabbed a jacket, his wallet, and headed out for his town car.

To: Connor, Vincent
Whatever ur doin, drop it. We're goin out. I'm bored

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Charlotte H. Buchanan Character Portrait: Sienna Alvarez Character Portrait: Vincent Mast Character Portrait: Piper Vine Character Portrait: Carolina Daily Character Portrait: Adam Westin
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Conspiratorially, Sienna smiled and reclined in her seat comfortably, not even bothering to answer Piper. She would text her when she was near the coffee shop. But she had to send Rick her appreciation, even if it was only telepathically because her mind was reeling and a plan had formed. It was a bit dramatic, but it wouldn't be if it weren't Sienna and she had always claimed her vindictiveness. All she needed to do was find the right subjects and say the right words, and her plan would be set in motion. So excited, she even giggled before it formed into a small laugh, which died down only by the sound of her phone alerting her to yet another text message. Sighing, Sienna glanced down at her phone to see the message from Adam's caretaker, which sobered her just a bit.

To: Hailey
Thank you.

She didn't have time to think about the fact that he wouldn't be in the hospital for too long. Sienna wasn't particularly familiar with schizophrenia, though she was surely going to know a bit more by the end of the weekend. She had to. This was for her friend and her friend needed her. At least, in order to know how to make adjusting to his disease and back to school life. Adam wasn't allowed to hide from her, not anymore. And now that she knew a good little bit of what was going on with him, there was no way she was turning her back without a good fight. Damn straight. Giving her driver the upcoming directions, Sienna went into a nice conversation with Esmee via text messaging. She apparently was eating a light dinner with her new friend, Gabriella, and doing homework. The vault key was in Sienna's room and Esmee had apparently already picked her own dress, lamenting that she was upset with Sienna's choice. Of course, calling her big sister a 'show off' which Sienna honestly couldn't deny. She was. She basically had her dress planned the second Piper said she was doing a masquerade, had always wanted to wear it but never had a good enough event. Cynthia had gotten in altered, so all Sienna had to do was go try it on.

Soon enough, they were outside of the location Piper said she would be at and Sienna shot her a quick text, signifying that she was waiting for her. She didn't feel the need to get out of the vehicle since Sienna had a mission and stopping at the moment was not necessary. In fact, she was on several missions and one of them included a nice email she sent to a pretty alumnae who served on SGA six years ago. She also sent a text to both of her girls to let them know what she was up to, also one to her boyfriend, who she hadn't heard from in a minute.

To: Charlotte
B there soon. Did u guys talk about anything? Also, u mind if I bring Piper? Promise she won't ruin our night & if she does i'll kick her out ;D

To: Carrie
Also, if the bitch ditched u, then u should just come over w/ me & Lottie. U kno Piper right?

To: Piper
Outside, love.

To: Vincent
Should I be worried?

It didn't seem to take long for Piper to get in and Sienna smiled, genuinely, at the redhead. While she still was curious over Piper, who had remained a bit of a mystery since they met her, Sienna couldn't help but feel just slightly grateful. While Jane seemed to be stuck in some constant cycle of me-me-me and she wasn't on speaking terms with Sydney, Piper not limiting her presence in Sienna's was a comforting thought. "Hey, love. We're picking up Charlotte and maybe Carolina from Jane's, and then heading to my place." It clicked in her head, only a beat later, that Piper might be the only one - other than her sister, that she could share just a bit of her thoughts or plans with. So, Sienna sized the redhead up for only a moment longer before proposing, "Care to visit a school with me next week? Keeping my options open for college and I'm getting a tour scheduled. You in?" Even if Piper didn't agree to going, Sienna would still visit the school. She just needed to be crafty either way. For the moment, though, she would try to keep the rest of her plans to herself. They were getting close to the Lynch home soon and she couldn't let any of it leak to the two socialites she knew were inside.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sienna Alvarez Character Portrait: Vincent Mast Character Portrait: Sydney Vale Character Portrait: Brent Barclay Character Portrait: Ricardo Slim-Helú Character Portrait: Kelley Hadley
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"So, you're dating her?"

"Yup."

"And you thought that through? That's what you really wanted to do?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't it be?" He slid a bag of sugar across the counter towards her and watched as she poured a portion of it into the bowl without measuring it. "Can you at least try to measure things? I want these to come out right."

"Hey, I'm the child of cooking royalty. I don't need to measure shit for it to come out perfect," she said, sticking a finger into the batter and licking the brownie mix off of it. "And no reason. I just think that it happened pretty quickly."

"Finally getting into a real, serious relationship after knowing her for what? Sixteen years? That is pretty quickly," he said sarcastically as he added the last few ingredients to the batter.

"I don't mean it like that, asshole. I'm just saying that like, after all of what just happened, it seems kind of sudden that you'd go from that to dating."

"AKA, you're Sydney's best friend now?"

"Not quite." She hopped off of the counter and slid the tray of uncooked brownies into the oven. "I guess it's safe to say that you aren't either? How'd she take the news of you and Alicia Keys dating?" She knew exactly what Vincent's silence, as he wiped down the counter, meant. Sydney didn't know, and that he knew that was as bad as she thought it was. "She doesn't know? Shit, you really are stupid," she smirked, though shaking her head at the obviously bad place that Vincent had put himself in.

"No one knows. It's not like we're keeping it from her exclusively." When Vincent remembered that they were at Kelley's and that there were house staff to clean up after them, he stopped worrying about the mess they had made while baking and looks over at Kelley. "Besides, it's not her business anyway."

That last comment had Kelley laughing at loud. "Since when has something not being her business ever stopped Sydney Vale from acting like it is?" She leaned back against the island and crossed her arms over her chest. It was apparent that Vincent didn't want to talk about this, but Kelley didn't care. She felt like she not only deserved an explanation, but she needed to knock some sense into Vincent too. Before he responded, her phone buzzed with a text message from Brent who invited her to the library with him. She had school work to do and was in the mood to hang out with him, especially since she hadn't seen Charlotte enough today to pester her about the rumor involving the two. "I'm going to go meet up with Brent at the library, so get lost," she said playfully, before adding, "Unless you wanna chill here alone until Taryn and my mom get back from nursery shopping."

To: Brent
Yeahhhh give me 20

Vincent had been planning on bringing the brownies to the movie night that he and Sienna had planned to have tonight. Just as they had started cooking though, he had seen a text from Sienna explaining that she had to cancel for tonight. With hanging out with her out of the question, he had decided to hang out with Kelley, but now she was ditching him too. He decided not to respond to her inquiry about how he thought Sydney wasn't going to find out, because he didn't have an answer. She became preoccupied with her phone anyway, so it was a seamless transition into skipping over the question. "I'll leave once my brownies are finished."

"You know I don't want them unless there's weed in 'em anyway," she shot back with a grin as she headed out of the kitchen and to her bedroom. When she reemerged fifteen minutes later, Vincent was still in the kitchen, but packing his things into his backpack that he thrust over his shoulder as she entered. "Leaving?"

"Yeah, I'm meeting up with Rick and Connor. The brownies are all yours. Maybe you can eat them after you smoke," he said, rolling his eyes at the last part. Ricardo had texted him in their new group chat a few minutes ago and after a bit of contemplation, Vincent had decided that he had to go out. They were definitely in need of a guy's night out and he was going to have to explain his situation with Sienna to the boys at some point. With Connor, he could probably get away with avoiding the subject, as he had been able to do with the Sydney scandal so far, but that was impossible with Rick. Vincent figured that it would be easier to handle it now over beers than during their lunch period or something.

To: Ricardo, Connor
I'm down. I'll be outside of Kelley's building in 5.

After taking the brownies out of the oven, Kelley had one of the kitchen staff put a few into a container for her to take to Brent. Vincent was right; if the two decided to smoke after the library, brownies would be a nice way to fight the munchies. Minutes later, the cousins left the Hadley apartment together, but Kelley hailed a cab while Vincent waited on the sidewalk outside of the building. He considered hailing a cab himself, but he didn't know what Ricardo had planned for the night and where he wanted them all to go. While he waited, his phone pinged again with another text from Sienna, and he realized he hadn't answered her first one.

To: Sienna
Hey sorry. Yeah movie night tomorrow sounds good. Is everything cool with Charlotte and all of that?

Btw I made brownies for nothing though, so you owe me ;) big time

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Charlotte H. Buchanan Character Portrait: Jane Lynch Character Portrait: Sienna Alvarez Character Portrait: Vincent Mast Character Portrait: Piper Vine Character Portrait: Carolina Daily
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Piper Vine & Sienna Alvarez
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Piper just ordered a caramel iced latte when her phone buzzed. Paying the barista, she walked out to the car and smiled as she slid in. "Hello!" The model greeted happily as she shut the door behind her. As Sienna informed her of their plans for the night, she felt her phone vibrate again. She ignored it for now though. Seeing as Sienna and Charlotte were pretty close, surely the recent scandal with Constance class president meant an emergency meeting for the two girls. Piper didn't mind though. Charlotte wasn't going to interrupt her plans anyway. "A girls night. Sounds like fun. I'm sure Charlotte could use it." Piper finally decided to check her phone, and her mouth hung open. Jane really couldn't make things any worse could she?

This gave her an idea. Deleting the second text about the pills, so Sienna couldn't see it, she put the phone up to the singer's face. "Looks like Jane is feeling left out. Can you believe her? She knows we don't like Sydney like that, and yet she gets mad when we go off and have fun of our own." This was just the text Piper needed to incriminate Jane.

It didn't take long for Sienna to be distracted from the inquiry she had just tossed Piper's way. After the redhead confirmed she was down for a girl's night, they had both looked to their phones for the latest text messages. Sienna ended up smirking at Vincent's response, feeling a bit more ease knowing that he had probably just forgotten to reply to her earlier. With everything that happened thus far, the last thing she needed was something else geared to put them at odds with one another. Before she could type out a witty retort, Piper's phone was in her face and the model was speaking about Jane.

And Sienna didn't even try to hide her irritation. "I'm done," she declared, tossing her phone down on the seat beside her and folding her arms over her chest, legs still crossed demurely. But her head shook side-to-side in disbelief and she could feel her own little temper tantrum waiting to happen. "I am fucking done with her right now! Who the fuck said I was throwing a party? And why the fuck does it even matter to her? She's so stuck up under that bitch that she can't even think clearly right now! I mean, like always, something goes down with me and Syd, she's by Sydney's side NO MATTER WHAT, but I'm the bad guy here? Unbe-fucking-lieveable!" Sienna still shook her head in anger and hurt, body wracked with the tremors of the emotions she could barely keep to herself. And here she thought she would go upstairs to the Lynch's home and at least talk to Jane, try to reason with her. Sienna didn't even want to see her at this point!

Piper was going to respond about the college invite, but between the text from Jane, and Sienna starting to yell she honestly forgot just that fast. This was the exact reaction she was hoping for too. With Jane now on Sienna's bad side as well, this gave her a huge opening. She looked at Sienna apologetically as she put her phone back into her purse. "Look, I'm sorry that all of this is happening to you." From an outsiders perspective this did seem like a lot of drama to happen in such a short time span, but this was just the life of an Upper East Sider.

"I'm sure in time Jane will come to her senses and realize that sticking to Sydney like that. We'll just chalk it up to the folly of youth." Piper placed her hand comfortingly on Sienna's shoulder and gave her a gentle squeeze. "How about this, we just tell Carolina to come down? You're too emotional to see Jane and Sydney right now. I don't want anything dramatic to happen."

The gentle lilt in Piper's voice as the redhead attempted to console her did nothing to appease the storm brewing in Sienna's core, and she ran a weary hand through her hair, unraveling whatever wavy style she had implemented into her honey-hued locks but she was too frustrated to care anymore. Instead of immediately answering her friend, Sienna turned her gaze to the window, unwanted tears hot and stinging at the back of her eyes.

She couldn't even help the scoff of disbelief that erupted from her throat at Piper's optimism. Of course, Jane wouldn't realize anything. She never did. Sienna and Sydney fought, Jane would stick with Sydney all the while begging Sienna to just make up with her already, and then Sienna would eventually have to be the one to cave because she hated seeing Jane upset. It was their unending cycle and at this point, after having solidified with Sydney herself that they couldn't just make up that fast anymore (and Sienna simply not wanting to), she couldn't do it. She couldn't sacrifice her own comfort and sanity for Jane's sake. Not this time. She was too emotionally tired in that group after such an outcome and for once, she just needed some understanding on the heiress' part. However, like always, she would come second on Jane's totem pole and damn it all, Sienna wanted to be selfish and be somebody's first.

Instead of saying anything about Jane's coming to any type of realization, Sienna addressed the latter portion of Piper's address, offering the redhead a shaky smile. "You're right, that's probably for the best," she stated, combing her hair back from her face idly before picking up her phone to send out a few texts. "Text Carrie to be downstairs soon. We're just around the corner and I'll tell Lottie not to let Rosie get too comfortable up there, if she's there." Immediately afterwards, Sienna set to texting Jane, Vincent, and Charlotte. After all, old habits died hard and Sienna, while frustrated and growing less tolerant by the second, had never stayed too mad at Jane for long.

To: Jane
J, I'm not trying to be rude. I'm tired of making up with Sydney so fast when we're obviously not over whatever we're not over with. It's pointless and you want us to be friends again, right? Well, that's gonna take time. So, for now, I'm not coming for spa night or a sleepover. I'm doing a girl night with Lottie cuz I know she needs one and invited a few friends I know that would make her feel better. I wanted 2 invite u, but ur with Syd & Lottie barely likes her. You know that, I know that, and I'm not talking to Syd either.

To: Vince
Don't worry. I kno the perfect way 2 make it up 2 u

To: Lottie
Pipe's texting Carrie now. We're around the corner, so just come down. I can't see Jane rite now

Piper decided to just let Sienna simmer for a bit, but she did take this chance to pull out her phone once more to text Carolina. She might as well text Jane back as well.

To: Carolina
Hey we are almost there! Head down if you're coming, which I hope you are :)

To: Jane
I haven't heard anything about a party Jane, but who told you that? Also I'm sure he just gave you the wrong dosage or something. We'll see him again at my party probably. You better not tell Sydney about this!

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Charlotte H. Buchanan Character Portrait: Jane Lynch Character Portrait: Sienna Alvarez Character Portrait: Vincent Mast Character Portrait: Piper Vine Character Portrait: Carolina Daily
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As they waited for the girls to come downstairs, Sienna busied herself with texting one of her mentors. The older woman was not privy to texting Sienna everyday and it was the same vice versa, but it was during her more stressful days that she did seek that comfort and contact. It was just a bit rude, being so enraptured by her phone when there was someone beside her whom she could speak with, but Sienna needed the advice of someone older and the woman on the phone was someone she had trusted since she was thirteen. It was in the middle of speaking about a business endeavor that the car door was opened and the Buchanan siblings entered. Sienna glanced up with a bright smile and exclaimed, "Lottie!" Of course, she was happy to see Rose as well, but it was no secret which sibling she was closest to and Sienna reached over to hug Charlotte first, and then Rose. Besides, with all that had been occurring recently and despite Piper's comfort and support, Charlotte's had been unending for the last few years and Sienna would always consider her a closer friend. She did manage a greeting to Rose as well, "Hey, supermodel." It was a bit puzzling that Carolina wasn't with them, but Sienna didn't question it and opted to wait a few more minutes for the last girl to arrive. In that short time, she also text Jane and Tori.

To: Jane
Ok

To: Tori
Ok, look, you've had your fun. It's not getting Charlotte impeached any time soon and you know it. So, put that post down before you give that girl an aneurism. Enough is enough. I'm only going to ask one more time.

Soon enough, she was there and Sienna ended her phone conversation with the promise of discussing the situation more once she had time. If she was really doing an endorsement with House of Dereon for her Reign campaign, then it was important to get everything worked out now so that she could start doing the photo shoots and such for it once the EP was finished. She now had one more song to finish, and she had to shoot the last bit of the video on Saturday so that they could edit and release it by next Friday. It was a lot, but Sienna worked best under pressure anyway. Smiling at Carolina's greeting, Sienna tucked her phone away, but not before requesting that her driver attempt to get to her house in fifteen minutes instead of the typical thirty. It was a difficult feat to carry through with, but damn it all, she wanted to get home. Running a hand through her hair, Sienna's thoughts and attention returned to the girls and she shrugged a bit before grinning, "Well, it won't be as grand as a spa day, though we can do that before Pipe's party. I can cover it. Tonight, though, I thought you guys could try on some dresses in my mom's vault, we do homework, dinner and then have an actual girl's night. Nothing too grand, just movies, junk food, you know, something normal." Yes, Sienna - who hated appearing boring and always had a plan and was always over the top - wanted something normal and low-key. After all that happened, she felt like she earned it. They all did. "I mean, I'm always down for shooting our own music video complete with a pillow fight, but that's all up to you guys.". She then turned to Charlotte. "What do you think, Madam President?"


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[center]It didn't take Ricardo too long to get his driver and the car on the road. Rick was still trying to figure out exactly what he planned to do with the guys, but it was going to be something great. He knew he could get invited, no problem at all, to the top exclusive clubs in New York. It was a matter of getting his guys to agree to it. Vincent would come, no doubt. The promise of Provocateur's elite models would lure the lust-ridden jock to Rick's side, no doubt. It was Connor he knew that would take some convincing. Since the class president decided to go MIA for the last few days and then still remain sporadic, it was hard to keep tabs on him. More than that, Connor was the type to do homework first and while that was important (to a lesser degree), Rick wanted him out and about and he wasn't taking no for an answer. After all, if the idiot didn't want to see that supermodel-level-sexy Charlotte had a thing for him whereas Sydney did not, then at least he could find a hook up while they were out.

A few minutes later and Ricardo was scooping up Vincent, looking up from his phone after sending a few text messages to friends. Smirking at Vincent, he said, "Provocateur's doing a Burlesque theme tonight, I hear. Thought we'd have a guy's night since you've got bae problems and Connor is the next Houdini with his disappearing acts. Plus, I'm bored." He snickered at the thought of Vincent's issues, though for once, he didn't care enough to pry. They could do that later. For now, Rick wanted to hang out with his favorite guys from St. Jude's. While he had had his new crew in California, there was something refreshing about being back with people that he actually liked and regardless of how people saw his relationship with Vincent, he did consider the guy a best friend of sorts. Connor too.

To: Connor
Coming 2 get u. U better b ready or I swear I'll have the master of prank 4 ur ass

To: Connor
No jokes, dude

To: Sienna
I'm gonna assume u have ur plans. Care 2 include me?

To: Charlotte
Now, Buchanan, I'm a lil hurt. All this time I've been trying 2 win ur heart & its already taken?? Why, I never!

To: Charlotte
But srsly, r u ok?