Setting
Default Location for Upper East Side
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Manhattan, NY is a part of 
Upper East Side.
14 Characters Here
Sienna Alvarez [254] "I swear, guys. This is gonna be our best year yet."
Jane Lynch [203]
Sydney Vale [183] "She's going to regret saying that about me."
Charlotte H. Buchanan [148] As long as we don't die, this is gonna be one hell of a story."
Vincent Mast [113]
Carolina Daily [93] "I didn't become heartless. I became smarter."
Connor Harkins [88]
Brent Barclay [66] "I wouldn't have an attitude problem if you weren't so damn pesky."
Victoria Walsh [58] "I know things about you before you even know about them."
Ricardo Slim-HelΓΊ [47] "I'm not in the business of denying myself anything."
Start Character Here »
Ricardo lounged comfortably in the back of the Slim-HelΓΊ 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."
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."
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
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
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?!
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.
Even though Sienna's response to her text suggested that she would have at least one friend there, Carolina didn't want to leave without Jane. The only reason why she was going was because her sister expected her to bring Jane, and if Sydney was going to replace her and go with Jane, there was no real reason for her to go. As she studied her reflection in the mirror, she decided that she did look good enough to kind of want to go, but would she even have fun? If Lee wasn't there, which his lack of response suggested, then she doubted it. Sienna was always a ball of energy but she had so many friends and Carolina didn't want to cling to her like some awkward reject. The idea that the party was being thrown by someone who was new in town was reassuring, though. That meant that it couldn't be as exclusive as one thrown by Sydney Vale and the likes, and the theme of the party seemed too fun to be filled with any bad or judgmental vibes. She decided not to answer Jane's text, even though she felt like telling her to go fuck herself for the "I'm not rushing for you" part. Instead, she opted to wait a little while for the duo to get ready and walked down to the kitchen to pass some time.
Her sister and Adrian had already left for the dinner party they were invited to a few blocks away, and in a "the hell with it" mood, Carolina decided to search for the liquor cabinet. She was going to need something to loosen her up before going to the party anyway, and Jane's attitude made it seem all the more necessary. The Lynch's house was still an unfamiliar space to her so it took a few minutes and many opened doors for her to come across one filled with bottles of alcohol. They were all top shelf brands, with many of them being brands that Adrian's company LMVH owned. Carolina wasn't picky when it came to alcohol and normally opted for whatever cost the least at whatever seedy corner store would sell to her underage friends. Having access to bottles of alcohol that probably cost hundreds of dollars was daunting, but hearing the voices of Jane and Sydney down the hall washed away any reservations she had. She filled a glass with a generous amount of the Belvedere vodka and mixed it with orange juice. It was certainly strong, but went down a lot smoother than the cheap vodka she usually drank at parties, and as she grew more and more impatient with Jane, it began to taste pleasurable.
When her glass ran dry, she decided that there was no point in waiting for Jane. She clearly had no regard for Carolina who had been waiting at least a half an hour to leave and there was no telling how much longer she and Miss Queen Bee would take. For all Carolina knew, they would end up skipping the party last minute anyway, and she would have wasted her whole night. Now that she was in the mood to go, she wanted to get there before her buzz wore off. Sharing the same disregard that Jane showed her, Carolina didn't even text the girl as she took the elevator downstairs and headed out to the car. Coincidentally, as soon as she had sat down in the back seat, she received a text from Jane, essentially telling her to hurry up because she was ready. It had Carolina rolling her eyes before Max could even ask where she was headed to. This bitch...
To: Jane
Already down here... I was waiting 4 u, remember?
In a shocking twist of events, Jane didn't take three years to come downstairs! Carolina knew that she was being impatient too, but god, was this girl inconsiderate. And to think that she was doing this to be nice to Jane, who apparently had lost all of her friends! "I thought Sydney was coming," she commented as the car pulled off. She couldn't have cared less about the response, but decided to be the bigger person by breaking the silence in the car. Glancing over at Jane, she noticed that the girl didn't seem to be in a bad mood anyway. It was a short ride to the building the party was being held in, and Carolina only looked over at Jane briefly before thanking Max and stepping out of the car. "So, do you know this girl... Hailey?" she questioned once Jane had stepped out too. She was still feeling good. She was happy with the outfit her sister had chosen and was ready to get another drink in her system, but she was sort of hoping that Jane wouldn't abandon her right away. At least, not until she downed that drink and was ready to break out of her quiet "don't talk to me, I won't talk to you", side, or until she found Lee.
To: Lee
U better be here!
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.
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As Charlotte walked out, she knew people were staring and yea, it did make her insecure especially since the people looking at her were mostly middle aged, wealthy men. Sure, some if not most of them were attractive but, some of them could be her father's age and on top of that, they were probably married which may be why Lottie started hearing gossip from the other women in the building. Anywho, Lottie had kept her head down before walking to the door and lifting her head up to see Sienna's car just pulling up. She fixed her hair for what felt like the tenth time as she watched her friend's car door fling open to reveal the expression on her face. "... What? Is it too much, is it too little?" Lottie asked as she looked down at what she was wearing only to hear Sienna's voice which made her look back up with a sheepish smile. "Oh. My. God! Is that Madam President Buchanan looking scandalous and on the prowl!? Better hurry up in here before the paparazzi show up!" Charlotte chuckled slightly as she shook her head and rolled her eyes before getting in the car. "Please, we all know this is a one night thing. I should regain my common sense in the morning." Lottie said with a smirk as she slid into her seat.
As she sat down, she fixed her top and her blonde locks before taking out her phone to take a few photos for Instagram. Charlotte rarely used social media especially Instagram where people just loved to accuse her of being a 'catfish' or her sooner or later finding out that someone had taken her pictures to make a fake profile. It's happened three times and she didn't need it happening again. But, she wanted to show off that Sienna was doing better already without Sydney and Vincent. So, before deciding to bring it up. She moved closer to the singer and smiled as she took a few pictures. She moved back and scrolled through the pictures only to look up and look at Sienna as she talked to her. "So... Just to get it out of the way... You doin' any better from yesterday? Have you tried to talk to either of them?" Maybe she was being a bit... forward and nosy but, she didn't care. She was already in the situation when Sienna had text her yesterday if the two could talk and if she was going to be there for Sienna, she needed all of the facts and all of the information.
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."
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."
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."
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."
Jane didn't even notice Carolina's response as she stepped into the car and found that the girl was already in there. She didn't even consider that she had kept her waiting, because if anything, she had already told Carolina to go ahead without her. It wasn't Jane's fault that she was socially awkward and had no friends of her own to go with. If anything, Carolina should still be thankful that Jane was allowing her to tag along. She did, however, have to internally acknowledge that it was nice to have someone to show up with now that Sydney wasn't coming. Jane was exuberant enough that she didn't mind showing up to a party alone, but she still felt like Hailey's party was going to be out of her element, and knew that Carolina wouldn't feel any more comfortable there than she.
"She had other plans," Jane distractedly replied. She considered bringing up what she had said to Carolina last night in her fit of emotions, but opted against it. She didn't need to give an excuse for that. She was upset and Carolina barging into her home only made it worse. Besides, tagging along for the shopping day earlier was supposed to be her way of saying thanks for that and Jane didn't think that she needed to worry about Carolina spreading what she had told her. From the little that Jane knew about her, she didn't have many friends and was irrelevant in the Upper East Side's social scene. Jane busied herself with posting an Instagram over the next few minutes of the car ride, partly to avoid making small talk with Carolina, and partly because she felt a post was necessary. She would make one later that night when she found Sienna and Piper, but for now, she posted a throwback picture (not caring that it wasn't Thursday), of her in Cannes. She captioned it "can we plz go back to Cannes?" with a couple of the party and alcohol related emojis, before tagging Piper, Sienna and Sydney in it. It was a move that she knew was brazen after Sydney refused to apologize to Sienna, and Sienna refused to even acknowledge the idea of reuniting with Sydney. However, Jane doubted that they could hate each other forever, and if anything, this would be a start at erasing some of the rumors about their friend group falling apart.
When the car pulled to a gentle stop, Jane thanked Max and followed Carolina out. The party was on the highest floors of the building, so Jane didn't mind taking the same elevator up as Carolina, since she knew she would be ditching her once they reached the party anyway. As they made their way through the lobby, it seemed like Jane wouldn't even have to wait to get upstairs to find her own friends. Sienna and Charlotte were about to step into the elevator, and Jane hurried towards them. Luckily, she had went with combat style boots tonight rather than heels because not only did she make it into the elevator without tripping, but she found that Sienna was right, and this wasn't some fancy party. Sienna was wearing... barely anything, and the same could be said with Charlotte, considering how modest she could be. Needless to say, they both looked amazing, and Jane grinned at the sight of them. "I didn't know we were supposed to dress that showy, Sia! I should have saved my outfit switch with Esmee for tonight. Is she here? And Pipe?" Even as she switched the questions away from Sienna's revealing outfit, she couldn't keep her eyes off of her friend. Hailey probably wanted to make a statement tonight with this party, but Jane had a feeling that she wasn't the only one. Jane knew that Sienna had to be well aware that an outfit like that would have guys all over her, and Jane couldn't blame her. After what Sydney and Vincent had done, she deserved all of the meaningless, rebound fun that she wanted. Her eyes fell to Charlotte next, and she barely noticed when Carolina managed to get into the elevator right before the doors shut. "Between that outfit and Sydney not coming, I think Connor's going to lose his virginity tonight," she beamed as she looked Charlotte up and down. She had no idea if Connor was a virgin or not, but he seemed innocent enough to be one, and she knew that Sydney was probably the only thing coming between the pair who seemed destined to be together. It was only then that she gave a quick glance towards Carolina. Jane strongly doubted that Sienna knew someone like her, and while she knew that Charlotte was heavily involved in student government, she still didn't know, or care to know, Carolina well enough to remember that she was as well. "This is Carolina," she added, assuming that no one knew her any more than Jane had a couple of days ago, before switching the conversation to something that seemed more important. "I so need a drink. Tonight better be fun, bitches!"
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 BeyoncΓ© 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?
...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 BeyoncΓ© 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?
{Jane's Outfit || Carolina's Outfit }
Waking up with a hangover was never fun, but it at least reminded Jane of the good time she had the night before. Since Sienna had run off at Sydney's party with Vincent - an event that Jane still hadn't interrogated her friend on, and the next night had been a complete train wreck, Hailey's party had been the first night that she actually got to have fun with Sienna. She wished that Sydney had come, or more accurately, that Sydney had come and she and Sienna would have put their issues behind them, but that didn't happen and probably wouldn't for a while. Jane was still struggling to accept that, but last night had reminded her of how much fun she and Sienna could have... especially when they were drinking. The blonde left the party far more coherent than Jane did, but with that in mind, Jane was too wasted to remember that come morning, and just assumed that Sienna left as drunk as she.
"Wake up, girlies! We're leaving in an hour!"
Jane and Carolina reacted similar with similar groans to Nicole's peppy voice coming over the penthouse's intercom system. Carolina relished in the warmth of what only took two night's rests for her to officially call "her bed" for five minutes after her sister's wake up call before getting out of bed. She was exhausted and surprisingly, hung over too, but with one glance at her phone, she knew that she was running late. Unlike Jane, Nicole and Adrian, Carolina was expected at the event before it was scheduled to begin at o'clock. She was the SGA secretary and therefor, had to help make sure that everything was ready before the guests got to the lunch. Her presence probably wasn't that necessary. Everyone knew that Charlotte had the event planned down to the T and that if need be, she could run it on her own, but Carolina wanted to be there to help. She needed to be there to take even a tiny bit of stress off of Charlotte's shoulders and she knew that their first event of the year needed to go well.
Carolina had drank more than she was used to last night, but she got home in one piece and after spending a half an hour devouring a late night snack, was sober enough to take a shower. That worked to her benefit this morning, since it took her only fifteen minutes to get ready. She had to give Nicole credit. She had left an outfit hanging for her on the door to her closet and Carolina didn't even question it before putting it on. It was simple yet pretty, and not too revealing for the elegant luncheon they were throwing.
One of the many pros to living with the Lynch's was that their penthouse was so big, that Carolina didn't run into anyone on her way out. That meant that she wasn't running any later than she already was due to unnecessary chit chat with her sister or Adrian. She didn't expect to see Jane who Carolina last remembered seeing the night before, stumbling with a drink in hand. The brunette had brushed her off far too many times the previous night for her to expect any type of greeting if she did bump into her anyway.
It was only at 12:20, around the time that Carolina was pulling off for Hotel Plaza Athenee, that Jane finally got out of bed. Nicole and her frequent messages over the intercom had become too bothersome to allow Jane to get any more rest, and a cool shower seemed like her only shot at relieving her splitting headache. It did help, though only ten minutes in she was startled by the bathroom door creaking open and Nicole popping her head in. Glass shower doors and the lack of steam from the cool shower didn't help and left Jane shrieking for her to get out in a more expletive-filled demand. That wasn't before Nicole threatened to send her father in if she didn't hurry up, however. Now that her shot at relaxing had been ruined yet again, Jane decided to cut her shower short and really did do her best to get ready in time. Jane was an inherently late person, though, so when she was told that they were leaving at one and she wasn't ready until one-fifteen, she didn't see it as being much of an issue. Her father, whose face she was seeing for the first time that morning, looked less than pleased when she slid into the town car beside Nicole.
"You know I hate being late to events like these, Jane," her father spoke. His eyes were glued to his phone and the way his finger was slowly scrolling up the screen suggested that he was reading an email. "I missed a very important meeting in Paris for this, you know. The least you could have done was be ready on time." She rolled her eyes. If it was such a big deal for him to come to one of her school events, he didn't need to. She sure as hell didn't care whether he was there or not, and in fact, the only reason that she was going was because of him! "I didn't ask you to come. I'm sure that The Red Cross would have been happy to get your check without you personally handing it to them," she responded. She knew she was already walking on thin ice with her father. The bratty remarks and tendency to speak back had always been a part of their relationship but he had hoped that it would have fizzled out after her stay in Illinois. Apparently, he had been wrong. They were only becoming more frequent and if Nicole didn't jump in, he probably would have snapped at her. "I think it's important that he comes to some of your school events, Jane. It's the last year you two have together before you go off to school, and it's some charity for ALS, not The Red Cross. Carolina was talking about it the other day." Jane only rolled her eyes, smart enough to not utter the "whatever" that she was thinking. She remained silent for the rest of the car ride, drowning out the small talk Adrian and Nicole made about the party they were at last night as she centered her attention on her phone. Sienna had texted her while she was showering and she only remembered to answer as they were pulling up.
To: Sienna, Piper
Omg someone needs to cure whatever this ALS disease is so I never have to wake up for another event for it again
Just as Carolina imagined, the ballroom looked amazing when she arrived at 12:30. There was very little left to do when she got there, although she was sure if she could find Charlotte, the blonde would have a list of unnecessary details that she thought needed to be perfected. Carolina spent the next thirty minutes chatting with some of the representatives from the ALS Association who had come to the event and when she noticed guests starting to file in, excused herself to find Charlotte, Victoria, Rose or Sienna.
To: Lottie
Haven't seen you all afternoon. Where are you hiding?!
To: Sienna
Yea all looks good. Seen Lottie?
Rosie was looking at herself in the mirror of their car seeing that their car wasn't moving because of the traffic jam near there house. Charlotte didn't even have time to freak out about the jam seeing that she was on the phone with security. "What? No! It's Brent, not Brett. Brent Barclay. Remember the name, learn the face. I don't need him causing any trouble during this event. Are we clear? Lottie also got so... commanding the day of an event and all Rosie did was roll her eyes as she listened to her sister with a smirk. "I don't care if it seems wrong to keep someone out of a charity event. He's not going to contribute to anything anyways, except to my migraine." Lottie listened to the man on the other side of the phone as he explained what he was going to do. And that he and his team would make sure Brent wouldn't slither his way in. Knowing him, he'd find a way in but, she wasn't taking any chances. Besides, if he did find a way in she'd just kick him out. Simple as that.
"Perfect! Thank you so much, Mr. Bennett." Lottie smiled as she hung up the phone on to look at the texts from everyone telling her that everything was going perfectly and that she had nothing to worry about. The food was there, the room was set, and everything looked just as she wanted it. Which was enough for her to take a sigh of relief only to get stressed once more when she realized she hasn't heard from Connor all day! He was probably with Sydney, but that didn't mean he couldn't text her. Not that she cared of course, seeing that she was way over her crush for him. She looked at the text from Sienna before responding.
To : Sienna <3
Awesome, everything seems to be going okay. I'm on my way, traffic near my house is terrible.
Awesome, everything seems to be going okay. I'm on my way, traffic near my house is terrible.
She put her phone away and looked outside the window of the car to see all of the cars. "Lottie, sweetie. Everything will be fine, just calm down. We'll be there soon." Lottie just shook her head as her breathing started to hallow. "Are you kidding at this rate, the event will be over before we there! What are we gonna do? People are probably already arriving and here we are ten minutes away!" Rosie got up from her seat as she moved to her sister side to rub her back to make her relax before speaking. "Lottie, you know we're only five minutes away and we'll get there soon. Just relax, you're gonna stress yourself out."
"I'm already stressed out! Lottie said as she continued to look at the floor of the car. The younger twin sighed as she opened the partition to talk to Lin, their driver. "Linny, darling. How long should it take to get to the hotel. Lottie's freaking out." Lin cleared his throat as he spoke. "Charlotte, sweetie. You need to relax before you give yourself a stroke but, it should take like twenty minutes. There was a big collision near by and all traffic is stopped."
"What?!"
"What?!" Lottie started freak out even more as she looked at the time on her phone. They were going to be late. How embarrassing is it to be the creator of an event and be late getting there?! So, Lottie made a decision. She grabbed her bag and heels in her hand as she opened the door of the car and started walking. Rosie looked at her, not sure what her sister was up to until the door opened and she finally got it. She looked towards Lin with a smile before he waved towards her and she waved back. She got out of the car with her bag and heels in hand as she followed her sister before catching up to her. "You are determined, aren't ya?" She said as she saw her sister crack a smile which is all Rosie wanted to do. "So... How was the party last night?" Lottie shrugged as she turned her face towards her sister. "It was fun, I got a lot of compliments."
"From?" Rosie asked with a raised eyebrow. "From... people, guys." Lottie said as her sister decided to play music to make the walk not so bad as the twins turned a corner only to almost bump into a group of college guys who just moved aside for the two. Knowing Lottie, she probably thought they were all looking at Rosie. She was the cuter one of the two, she had the smile, the height, body, and everything else a guy could want in a girl. "From Brent?" Lottie took a deep breath as she rolled her eyes. Just hearing his name today gave her anxiety. "Of course, but he always compliments me. 'Sides, he was being sarcastic. Like always." Lottie said rolled her eyes once more. And as if the music knew what they were talking about, Meghan Trainor's song, No Good For You started playing.
"Hey listen, it's yours and Connor's theme song," Rosie sniffled a laugh as she saw Lottie just smirk and shake her head. [b]"Speaking of second best, was he there?" Lottie shurgged. "If he was, he was with Sydney all night because I didn't see him once. But, it's whatever." Lottie said before Rosie nudged her shoulder slightly. "Don't even worry about it. He's not worth it, at least your little soulmate will be here." Rosie joked around as the two walked into the hotel and slid on their heels in place of their flats before walking towards the ballroom. The two put their flats in Rosie's bigger purse just as Lottie got a text from Carolina.
To : Carolina. ^.^
Just walking in. Don't even ask what happened. T.T
Just walking in. Don't even ask what happened. T.T
Just when she sent the message she walked into the room and smiled. Everything did look perfect, sure there were things she wanted to fix like the way the flowers looked and the way the food was set up but, those were small things she could fix in no time. Rosie smiled before walking off towards a group of her friends. "See, everything is fine." Lottie took a deep breath before rushing towards Sienna. "I am so sorry, there was an accident and a traffic jam and-- and I had to walk. And now I probably look like a mess--.." Lottie stopped talking and tried to slow down her speech before she got herself all worked up again. "But, everything looks awesome. And, thank you so much for keeping everything under control until I got here." She said with a smile before looking at the time on her phone. She took a deep breath as she looked at the time, fifteen minutes to spare. She opened her purse and grabbed out her note cards for her speech before looking back towards Sienna. "But, enough stress. Did I miss anything important?"
"Where were you?" Was the first thing that popped out of Esmee's mouth when Sienna returned from the lobby. The singer blinked for a second, taken aback by the unwavering stare from her sister. "Outside." Esmee frowned. "Why?" Sienna didn't say anything at first, just politely picked up her laptop. She needed to clear this area and make herself comfortable at one of the back tables so that she wouldn't be intruding too much on the event. Her job consisted of mostly social media things, which prompted the need for her computer. Esmee was there simply to give the Alvarez family check. Cynthia would have done it, but her and Colette had apparently already agreed upon some kind of luncheon or something along those lines. Rolling her eyes at the thought of whatever those women could be talking about, Sienna returned her attention to her sister.
"Just chill, Esmee. It's nothing to worry about," she told her and Esmee just stared in silence, not even moving. However, after a minute and only because she saw a familiar face approaching, Esmee conceded. "Fine. I'm going home with Yasmin tonight, so I won't be there when you get back." Esmee pecked her cheek gently before walking away to find her friends and Sienna honestly thought she was in the clear until someone tapped her on her shoulder. Which prompted a nice conversation with her vocal coach and sometimes songwriter, Autumn Rowe, who was at the event because she had been following Sienna's tweets.
Perhaps five minutes later, the two were parting ways and Sienna set her things up at a back table. Autumn would see her later at the studio. If she had allowed her gaze to roam over the guests already filing in, she would have seen Jane grudgingly with her father and Nicole, and Carolina being a diligent and charismatic secretary. She did, though, note when her phone buzzed. It was on silent just for the event and therefore, did not make any sound other than vibrating. So, she peered down to see messages from both Carolina and Jane.
To: Carolina
Should b on her way
To: Jane
Poor J. I'm at 1 of the back tables
To: Piper
Come entertain me
She tried focusing on that - the fact that she would have friends soon and that it would all be fine and dandy. However, her mind was still wrapped around the prospects of speaking with Vincent. Despite how unaffected she had tried to seem in Esmee's presence, Sienna could feel the knot forming in her stomach, twisting and pressing so hard against her core that she had to grip the table for a moment to steady herself. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe the current location was the worst place for them to have this conversation - whatever this conversation was supposed to be. Maybe she should cancel. Maybe -
Charlotte brought her from her internal freak out session and Sienna had to plaster a smile on her face, though she doubted if Charlotte would even understand the gratefulness Sienna felt. She couldn't help but laugh a little at Charlotte's talking fast and worrying, a trait Sienna knew all too well when she was the one hosting parties and events. A natural control freak in that regard, Sienna smiled knowingly. "No problem, Madam President. This going to be great, you're great, and I still doubt there'll be a better SGA team once we leave." She said and peered back at her computer to see a few retweets on the Constance Twitter page when Charlotte asked her last question. Sienna tensed only for a second before dragging her eyes up to Charlotte's. Should she tell her that she was supposed to be talking to Vincent? That Rick had dragged her into it? Obviously, some part of her brain was adamant on not telling the truth (even though it was obvious that Sienna wasn't the best of liars in every day situations) because what fell out of her mouth was, "W-whaaat? No. Everything's fine..." Everything wasn't fine and in an attempt to brush off the fact that her voice very much did go up an octave, she added while gesturing to Charlotte's notecards, "How's the address coming along anyway?"
"Just chill, Esmee. It's nothing to worry about," she told her and Esmee just stared in silence, not even moving. However, after a minute and only because she saw a familiar face approaching, Esmee conceded. "Fine. I'm going home with Yasmin tonight, so I won't be there when you get back." Esmee pecked her cheek gently before walking away to find her friends and Sienna honestly thought she was in the clear until someone tapped her on her shoulder. Which prompted a nice conversation with her vocal coach and sometimes songwriter, Autumn Rowe, who was at the event because she had been following Sienna's tweets.
Perhaps five minutes later, the two were parting ways and Sienna set her things up at a back table. Autumn would see her later at the studio. If she had allowed her gaze to roam over the guests already filing in, she would have seen Jane grudgingly with her father and Nicole, and Carolina being a diligent and charismatic secretary. She did, though, note when her phone buzzed. It was on silent just for the event and therefore, did not make any sound other than vibrating. So, she peered down to see messages from both Carolina and Jane.
To: Carolina
Should b on her way
To: Jane
Poor J. I'm at 1 of the back tables
To: Piper
Come entertain me
She tried focusing on that - the fact that she would have friends soon and that it would all be fine and dandy. However, her mind was still wrapped around the prospects of speaking with Vincent. Despite how unaffected she had tried to seem in Esmee's presence, Sienna could feel the knot forming in her stomach, twisting and pressing so hard against her core that she had to grip the table for a moment to steady herself. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe the current location was the worst place for them to have this conversation - whatever this conversation was supposed to be. Maybe she should cancel. Maybe -
Charlotte brought her from her internal freak out session and Sienna had to plaster a smile on her face, though she doubted if Charlotte would even understand the gratefulness Sienna felt. She couldn't help but laugh a little at Charlotte's talking fast and worrying, a trait Sienna knew all too well when she was the one hosting parties and events. A natural control freak in that regard, Sienna smiled knowingly. "No problem, Madam President. This going to be great, you're great, and I still doubt there'll be a better SGA team once we leave." She said and peered back at her computer to see a few retweets on the Constance Twitter page when Charlotte asked her last question. Sienna tensed only for a second before dragging her eyes up to Charlotte's. Should she tell her that she was supposed to be talking to Vincent? That Rick had dragged her into it? Obviously, some part of her brain was adamant on not telling the truth (even though it was obvious that Sienna wasn't the best of liars in every day situations) because what fell out of her mouth was, "W-whaaat? No. Everything's fine..." Everything wasn't fine and in an attempt to brush off the fact that her voice very much did go up an octave, she added while gesturing to Charlotte's notecards, "How's the address coming along anyway?"
A glass of orange juice and two slices of cold pizza served as a balanced breakfast for Brent. Aside from the ever present, annoying buzzing sound coming from their old air conditioner and the droning sound of the television that he had left on, the apartment was silent. Cameron and his girlfriend were either at her apartment or still passed out from a night of drugs and drinking in his bed. He wasn't sure and didn't care enough to walk down the hall and find out. Brent was still fairly hungover from last night's affairs but he was more tired than anything. He left the party around midnight after getting a call from his brother insisting that he had to go down to Chinatown to deliver an order. By that point, Brent had made all the money he could off of Hailey's guests, and he did score a little over $300 by going to Chinatown, but it was still a long trip to make drunk. Plus, he didn't get a chance to talk to Piper or Jane, and that was making him feel even more exhausted this morning. He needed the money that Jane was going to bring with her addiction. He needed it. There was no way around it and if Piper wanted to keep being iffy and not give him a definite answer on whether she would help or not, he would get her hooked again on his own. He remembered how sick she had been just a few months ago and though he knew her main issues weren't being an addict, he was sure that her problems were just as hard to be fixed. Three months away could not break her body image issues and if it came down to it, he was more than willing to provoke her into thinking she needed to lose weight. It was wrong, but that so was life, and it was about time that one of the Upper East Side's spoiled little princesses faced the harsh reality of the real world.
Today would be the day that he got that business back. Even in his hungover stupor, he didn't forget the stupid little charity event that Charlotte was throwing. He had taunted her over it the night before and promised, with a devilish grin, that he would see her there. No amount of security guards or threats from her were going to stop him, because not only did he want to bug her by showing up, but he needed to speak with Jane and Piper together. He didn't know what better time to do that than at a public event, considering that Jane probably planned on never meeting up with him again. Here, he could force her to talk to him and with the help of Piper, force her to buy from him.
For someone who was proclaimed for her intelligence, Charlotte sure was dumb for warning Brent that "they" would never let someone dressed like him into her event anyway. He took the warning to heart more than the insult, and took it upon himself to fish out a nicer pair of clothes from his brother's closet late last night. The outfit wasn't fancy, but compared to Brent's normal jeans and a t-shirt or leather jacket look, it made him feel like he was on his way to a wedding. It was around 1:15 when Brent strolled in, an easy smile on his face when - what do you know? No one stopped him and told him to get lost. He wished that Charlotte was standing there to watch him take his victory steps into the large ballroom, but he doubted he would find the uptight president in the sea of snooty luncheon guests. She was probably in the back somewhere, talkin' in her silly, little southern accent as she freaked out over some unimportant detail.
Brent was too busy priding himself in one-upping the blonde again to notice what the charity event was benefiting in the first place. ALS. It was the disease that was taking away everything from his mother, day by day, and the disease that had torn his family apart around four years ago. Brent got a front row seat to witness the horrors of the disease, and a front row seat to witness the good that charities like this were doing for ALS research funding and support of families. It was the very one that was being featured today that had gotten his mother a space in the clinical trial down south, and donated plane tickets to he and his brother to visit his parents for Christmas a few months back. Had he known this, he might not have been so eager to approach a fellow Saint Jude's student who he remembered hadn't bought from him last night, hoping to make an easy sale when the kid's back was turned. He also might have waited to text Piper and to text Charlotte, including a picture attachment to prove he was there, but he didn't know, so he didn't care.
To: Piper
Wya? U talk to Jane today and u get ur money for ur party, or I talk to her and I just keep the money for myself. Ur choice Pipes. Im just tryna help a friend but ur choice!
To: Charlotte
These table centerpieces are really nice. What kind of flowers r they?
"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.
_____ T H EXC L A S SXP R E S I D E N T _____
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L O C A T I O N : Hotel Plaza Athenee, Manhattan, New York
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Charlotte took a deep breath out and nodded as Sienna told her everything was going to be great. "No problem, Madam President. This going to be great, you're great, and I still doubt there'll be a better SGA team once we leave." Thank God Sienna was being so calm because Charlotte was freaking out all through her head all these worries started racing around. "What if no one shows? What if I mess up my speech? Shit, what if no one donates and I have to go to the ALS foundation empty handed? I can't go empty handed! I'll look like an idiot! Hell, I might even get impeached if that happens! What... What Sienna talking to me." She turned her attention back Sienna who started acting really weird when she asked if everything was okay between her. "W-whaaat? No. Everything's fine..."
As she stuttered to answer Charlotte raised an eyebrow, looked her up and down before letting her icy blue eyes return to her friend's eyes. She was hiding something. "How's the address coming along anyway?" The Southern girl licked her red lips before smirking. Oh, she was definitely hiding something and Lottie was going to find out! "Oh! It's comin' along just fine. You sure everything's okay? Nothin', Nothin' at all is happen'?" She asked her friend as she moved a bit closer and looked down at her.
"Charlotte! Charlotte, come quick! The flowers are here but... we might have a... small problem." Rosie said as she ran up to her sister and grabbed her arm and pulled her along without giving the girl a chance to think. "Somethin' is goin' on with you and I will find out what it is, Sienna." Lottie said pointing to her friend with a wink before turning in her sister's direction to see the 'small' problem. The flowers were too long! Perfect, just perfect. Just what I need right now." Tori got up from the tons of flowers before looking at Lottie. Charlotte groaned as she reached in her bag and handed Rosie a pair of scissors. "Easy, start cuttin'. I'm gonna give this florist heck." Lottie stated before marching out towards the woman who was about to leave.
~~~~~
After a thirty minute debate/argument with the woman who thought Lottie was just another blonde airhead. Lottie soon got the flowers cut to the perfect length and got the price cut in half because of her debating skills... And the fact that she threatened to call the dean and her father who knew enough people to ruin her business. Yea, she pulled the 'daddy' card. She wasn't actually going to do it but, it was enough to making the florist fear losing some much business once hearing her father's name. And with that done, the event had started off great. Lottie was socializing with all the people she could and was making great impressions which was always a good thing.
By the time one had rolled around everything was going perfect. They were getting huge donations, everyone seemed to be impressed and more than anything there has been not one sighting of Brent. Which made Lottie breath a lot easier since she sort of realized something in the video she planned on showing of people and families living with the disease and how donations help pay for everything and help the family make it month to month. She wasn't afraid of him, she just didn't want to hear it especially something she had no control over. But, of course Rosie had a sighting and rushed to warn her sister who was busy talking to the governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo. "Lottie, we have a small problem." Rosie said in a hushed tone as she stood behind her sister, she locked eyes with the man for a second who sort of looked confused and Rosie just smiled towards him before turning her attention back to her sister just as the governor turned his back to say hello to a friend of his. "Not now, Rose." Lottie said through a smile before turning towards her sister for a brief moment. "But, you told me to tell you when--.."
"Rose, not now." Lottie said right before focusing back on the man as he started to turn back towards her. She shook his hand before he excused himself to go and look around the venue. "Of course! It was very nice meetin' you, Governor Cuomo!" When he walked away, Lottie lost her smile as she grabbed her sister by the arm towards a corner of the huge ballroom. "What is it, Rose?" Rose messed with her freshly done nails as she answered. "I just saw Brent."
"Shit." Rosie's mouth hung open as she looked at her sister in disbelief. "Lottie!" Lottie threw her hands up in frustration. "Well, I'm sorry. Lottie Buchanan just said shit and she just said it again. Look, I do not have time to run in circles with him. I'll take care of--.." The girl stopped talking when she got a text, thinking it was from Connor only to see a picture of the centerpiece and a text from of course, Brent Barclay. She growled softly before putting her phone back in her bag and rubbing her temple. "Where was he?"
"I think he was getting right to business." Lottie groaned before walking off and texting Brent back. "The video's going up in like five or ten minutes. Good luck!" Rosie said before talking under her breath. "You're gonna need it."
To : Barclay
There calla lilies and sunflowers and when I find you, I swear I'm going to wrap my hands around your neck.
Jesus! One day! Just one freakin' day, Brent couldn't stop being an ass and let Lottie just do what she did best?! Of course not, because that would help her life instead of make it more irritating. She looked around, keeping a smile on her face as she waved towards several board members from the school board. It took her a few minutes but, she finally found him near a table with St. Jude boys. Huh for once he actually dressed like he belonged in New York and Lottie couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and look him up and down. "So that's how he snuck in." When she walked up to the table with a smile, already knowing the boys had saw her coming from the way they slyly took in the red dress that hugged her curves and the red lipstick that only brought more attention to her lips and face than already. She smiled as a few said hi to her before grabbing Brent's arm. "Hey guys, ya'll don't mind if I steal this little criminal away for a few minutes, do ya?" From the smirks that grew on their faces, she knew what they thought she meant but, she didn't have time to argue with them about why she needed to talk to Brent. "By all means, Lottie."
"Thanks guys. C'mon, Barclay, let's talk for a minute." She pulled him away and out of the ballroom just so no one would bring attention to the two. As she walked she didn't look at him, already know there was either a smug look on his face, an annoyed look on his face, or a mixture of the two and Lottie didn't need to get any more irritated. "Must you antagonize everywhere I go, Brent?" She pulled him in a hallway not too far but, not too close to the room where people could just walk out and see them talking. She released his arm before bringing her hands up to her mouth. "Now, I know you don't give a damn about me or my school or my causes or my little events but this is the most important event of the year, the most important event I have ever thrown," She stated as she smiled a bit at how proud she was of the event but, the smile soon disappear once she moved close to him and poked his chest. "And I do not need you and your cheap little street drugs fucking it up.
As she stuttered to answer Charlotte raised an eyebrow, looked her up and down before letting her icy blue eyes return to her friend's eyes. She was hiding something. "How's the address coming along anyway?" The Southern girl licked her red lips before smirking. Oh, she was definitely hiding something and Lottie was going to find out! "Oh! It's comin' along just fine. You sure everything's okay? Nothin', Nothin' at all is happen'?" She asked her friend as she moved a bit closer and looked down at her.
"Charlotte! Charlotte, come quick! The flowers are here but... we might have a... small problem." Rosie said as she ran up to her sister and grabbed her arm and pulled her along without giving the girl a chance to think. "Somethin' is goin' on with you and I will find out what it is, Sienna." Lottie said pointing to her friend with a wink before turning in her sister's direction to see the 'small' problem. The flowers were too long! Perfect, just perfect. Just what I need right now." Tori got up from the tons of flowers before looking at Lottie. Charlotte groaned as she reached in her bag and handed Rosie a pair of scissors. "Easy, start cuttin'. I'm gonna give this florist heck." Lottie stated before marching out towards the woman who was about to leave.
~~~~~
After a thirty minute debate/argument with the woman who thought Lottie was just another blonde airhead. Lottie soon got the flowers cut to the perfect length and got the price cut in half because of her debating skills... And the fact that she threatened to call the dean and her father who knew enough people to ruin her business. Yea, she pulled the 'daddy' card. She wasn't actually going to do it but, it was enough to making the florist fear losing some much business once hearing her father's name. And with that done, the event had started off great. Lottie was socializing with all the people she could and was making great impressions which was always a good thing.
By the time one had rolled around everything was going perfect. They were getting huge donations, everyone seemed to be impressed and more than anything there has been not one sighting of Brent. Which made Lottie breath a lot easier since she sort of realized something in the video she planned on showing of people and families living with the disease and how donations help pay for everything and help the family make it month to month. She wasn't afraid of him, she just didn't want to hear it especially something she had no control over. But, of course Rosie had a sighting and rushed to warn her sister who was busy talking to the governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo. "Lottie, we have a small problem." Rosie said in a hushed tone as she stood behind her sister, she locked eyes with the man for a second who sort of looked confused and Rosie just smiled towards him before turning her attention back to her sister just as the governor turned his back to say hello to a friend of his. "Not now, Rose." Lottie said through a smile before turning towards her sister for a brief moment. "But, you told me to tell you when--.."
"Rose, not now." Lottie said right before focusing back on the man as he started to turn back towards her. She shook his hand before he excused himself to go and look around the venue. "Of course! It was very nice meetin' you, Governor Cuomo!" When he walked away, Lottie lost her smile as she grabbed her sister by the arm towards a corner of the huge ballroom. "What is it, Rose?" Rose messed with her freshly done nails as she answered. "I just saw Brent."
"Shit." Rosie's mouth hung open as she looked at her sister in disbelief. "Lottie!" Lottie threw her hands up in frustration. "Well, I'm sorry. Lottie Buchanan just said shit and she just said it again. Look, I do not have time to run in circles with him. I'll take care of--.." The girl stopped talking when she got a text, thinking it was from Connor only to see a picture of the centerpiece and a text from of course, Brent Barclay. She growled softly before putting her phone back in her bag and rubbing her temple. "Where was he?"
"I think he was getting right to business." Lottie groaned before walking off and texting Brent back. "The video's going up in like five or ten minutes. Good luck!" Rosie said before talking under her breath. "You're gonna need it."
To : Barclay
There calla lilies and sunflowers and when I find you, I swear I'm going to wrap my hands around your neck.
Jesus! One day! Just one freakin' day, Brent couldn't stop being an ass and let Lottie just do what she did best?! Of course not, because that would help her life instead of make it more irritating. She looked around, keeping a smile on her face as she waved towards several board members from the school board. It took her a few minutes but, she finally found him near a table with St. Jude boys. Huh for once he actually dressed like he belonged in New York and Lottie couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and look him up and down. "So that's how he snuck in." When she walked up to the table with a smile, already knowing the boys had saw her coming from the way they slyly took in the red dress that hugged her curves and the red lipstick that only brought more attention to her lips and face than already. She smiled as a few said hi to her before grabbing Brent's arm. "Hey guys, ya'll don't mind if I steal this little criminal away for a few minutes, do ya?" From the smirks that grew on their faces, she knew what they thought she meant but, she didn't have time to argue with them about why she needed to talk to Brent. "By all means, Lottie."
"Thanks guys. C'mon, Barclay, let's talk for a minute." She pulled him away and out of the ballroom just so no one would bring attention to the two. As she walked she didn't look at him, already know there was either a smug look on his face, an annoyed look on his face, or a mixture of the two and Lottie didn't need to get any more irritated. "Must you antagonize everywhere I go, Brent?" She pulled him in a hallway not too far but, not too close to the room where people could just walk out and see them talking. She released his arm before bringing her hands up to her mouth. "Now, I know you don't give a damn about me or my school or my causes or my little events but this is the most important event of the year, the most important event I have ever thrown," She stated as she smiled a bit at how proud she was of the event but, the smile soon disappear once she moved close to him and poked his chest. "And I do not need you and your cheap little street drugs fucking it up.
Piper Vine
After her lunch with Brent, Piper had mixed feelings. Sure she needed money for her fast approaching party, but she felt just a little bit bad about possibly betraying Jane. It's not like the girl would find out right? Either way she needed to figure out what she was going to do and do it fast. Seriously why did things have to be so confusing already and school practically just began?
Whenever her phone vibrated Piper ignored whoever it was as she arrived home. Just as she was going to suggest shopping with Jane, she noticed a letter addressed to her on her desk. Furrowing her eyebrows, she tore the letter open and her mouth practically hung open. Seriously too much drama was happening. It was a letter from her biological father. Piper didn't think she could read it. Her hands started shaking just thinking about what he possibly could've written to her. She kept the letter in hand as she walked to her brother's room and banged on his door loudly.
"Jesus what is it?" Thomas opened the door with a frown. from the look of it he was taking a nap. "Look! It's from father." Piper waved the mail in front of her brother's face and he didn't hesitate to snatch it from her to see if she was just playing with him. But she was telling the truth. "You read it and tell me what it says. My heart is racing like hell." Piper followed her brother into his room and he sat on his bed while she took residence on the floor. Thomas quickly started reading and his eyes looked like he was about to cry. "What? What is it?" Piper looked at her younger sibling with deep concern. "He wants to meet us. He said that he knew you had been trying to find him and that he will be here in New York tomorrow." Thomas rubbed his eyes and smiled brightly. "What?! Seriously he wants to meet us!" Piper jumped up and took the letter back and quickly read over it. "Thomas do you know what this means?" Piper screamed with excitement. "Yeah maybe he will take us back and we can live with him and mom!" Piper nodded her head to her brother's statement. "This is our chance! Oh my god what am I going to wear? From previous research our dad is an heir to a major wine empire so maybe he's the super sophisticated type? Or the 'I'm super rich but don't show it type'? Which do you think?" Piper ranted as she started pacing the room.
Sure Hailey's party was tomorrow, but she would have to miss it. Piper thought about texting Carolina, but she wanted to see how everything would go first. "Well I should go to sleep now so I can get my beauty sleep for tomorrow!" Piper ran out of her brother's room to go do her nightly bed routine. Sure it was rather early, but it was either sleep now or stay up all night from pure excitement.
The next day Piper spent getting herself together to meet her biological father for dinner. She didn't tell Amy where her and Thomas were going to go and honestly she didn't care about the woman anymore. She was about to be out of this hell hole for good. After years of wondering about her parents she was going to finally see at least one of them. "Pipe let's go!" Thomas yelled at his sister as he waited for her by the apartment door. "All right all right." Piper decided to wear a simple floral dress. Sure the place they were going to was more upscale, but she didn't know what her father would be like so she went for a nice in between look.
Piper and Thomas took a taxi to a restaurant located in Manhattan and the place looked even more upscale than the images on the internet. "Maybe he is the type to flaunt his wealth." Thomas mumbled as he suddenly felt severely underdressed. The front of the establishment had floor to ceiling glass windows. One could see the crystal glass chandeliers hanging from the ceilings and the small tables decorated with lavish flower center pieces. Piper glanced at her brother and he just shook his head. This was a place really far out of their price range. Piper and Thomas walked up to the front doors where two men stood and opened the doors for them both. Piper was so nervous she was certain it showed on her face.
"How are you miss? Welcome and how may I help you?" A server questioned Piper and she felt her mouth go dry. "We are here to meet a George Vine." Thomas spoke in his sister's place. "Oh he is in one of our private rooms. One of our servers will lead you to him. Please enjoy your meal." The man bowed as an attractive blonde woman approached the siblings and lead them towards the back of the restaurant. "Definitely the type to flaunt." Thomas whispered to Piper. She just nodded in response. This was unreal. She couldn't wait to tell Carolina. "Here you are." The woman smiled as she opened the door to reveal the private room. The room had dim lighting and it was nice and quiet. Sitting in the circular booth sat a man who appeared to be in his mid-thirties. It sounded like he was taking a business call, but he quickly dismissed whoever he was talking to once he heard the door open.
Piper and Thomas walked in and they were both practically speechless. "Hello, Piper and Thomas." The man greeted and flashed a pearly smile. Thomas looked just like George. they both had the same hair color and similar facial features. It would be hard for George to ever deny Thomas as being his child. This made Piper more curious about her mother. "Well have a seat." The man gestured for them to sit, and like always, Piper and Thomas sat side-by-side. After a brief moment of awkward silence, Thomas gained enough courage to speak up. "We've always dreamed of meeting you." Thomas tried to hide the wide grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Well I am that great once you get to know me." The man arrogantly spoke. Piper let it go in one ear and out the other, while Thomas was a bit taken aback by the remark.
"Why did you decide to meet us?" Piper decided now was the time to talk for once. George took a sip of his drink before clearing his throat. "So blunt like Clair. That is your other by the way. Why don't we eat first and then we'll talk." George smiled and just a she finished a waiter walked in to take everyone's orders. The following conversation as they ate was talking about Thomas and Piper's lives. How school was going and some of their favorite things to do. George also couldn't resist talking about how well business was going and how he planned to extend the company to New York. Finally they reached the end of their meal and Piper couldn't resist asking the same question from before. "So why did you want to meet us?" Piper tried to stifle her anticipation, but it was getting difficult.
"Yeah are you going to take us back?" Thomas was being a lot more straightforward than usual. George looked like he was being overwhelmed and chuckled nervously as he reached into his briefcase and pulled out two envelopes. He gave one to each of his children and waited for them to open them. Piper's brows knitted together as she peeled the envelope open and she saw a check for 20,000 dollars addressed to her. "What is this some kind of welcome back gift?" Piper felt her heart race because she didn't like where this was headed. "Well as I mentioned earlier our company is doing well and we are expanding in New York, so I had to come here. I decided to meet you guys while I was here." George smiled trying to gloss over the heart wrenching truth that was about to come.
"Wait so we were just an after thought?" Piper put the check down on the table and crossed her arms over her chest. "We thought you wanted to take us back. Why are you giving us such a large amount of money?" Thomas questioned right after his sister. "You two didn't honestly think I was here to take you back to Canada with me? Don't you think that is a bit unfair to me? I don't really know you two besides what my secretary told me about you. That is all besides the point. Company business is picking up and we don't need any scandals to break out." George pulled out his phone checking the time. "Wait this is hush money?! That's why you wanted to fucking meet with us? To shut us up?" Piper yelled with frustration. This was her moment and Thomas's as well. Now it was being ruined. "Come on Piper you're a bright girl. Imagine how it would look that I had two children I gave away and let be raised in multiple foster homes? On top of that you both have criminal records comprised of theft charges. Me and Clair weren't prepared for children." George started gathering his things wanting to remove himself from this situation.
"Y-you didn't want children yet you had two." Piper slammed her hands on the table as she rose to her feet. "Oh don't have a pity party. Having you was a mistake made from a one night stand and that one was the result of us thinking we could make it work. But we were wrong and have to give you two up." George referred to Thomas as 'that one' and Piper couldn't help but feel her eyes well up with tears. "Just take the money." George exited the room and Piper looked down at Thomas who had the expression of complete and utter torture. "Come on." Piper grabbed the checks and Thomas's hand. She left the private room and saw George in the middle of the restaurant heading straight for the door. She released her brother's hand as she approached George from behind. "Hey you fucking prick!" Piper yelled and it was as if the whole building became silent at the sudden outburst.
George turned around and was met with a harsh slap. The man was astonished and so were the people around the trio. "We don't want such a sorry excuse for a human being to be our father. You don't have the right to disown us like this. Take your stupid fucking checks and shove them up your ass." This behavior wasn't something Piper enjoyed displaying but she was beyond infuriated. She ripped both of the checks up and threw them at George. "We made it this far without you so we don't need you now." Piper grabbed her younger brother's hand and walked past the frozen George. Just as Piper reached the door she turned and looked at her 'father' one last time. "His name is Thomas by the way." With that the siblings left the restaurant to head back home.
The whole car ride consisted of Piper wiping her eyes, and her brother staring out at the city lights. Both of them waited so long for that specific moment, only to have it taken away from them so viciously. Once the duo arrived back at their apartment both went to their own rooms not even saying a word to one another. Both felt like idiots over how elated they were to finally meet their father. His words were something neither would forget.
The next morning Piper remember she had to go to Charlotte's event and she just didn't feel like doing that today. She just wanted to stay in her room at this point. Once again her phone buzzed and she saw it was from Brent. Honestly he was being relentless with this whole Jane thing. But something in Piper changed after last night, so maybe she will help him.
To Brent:
Fine. You'll get your drug addict back now stop bugging me about it.
To Carolina:
Me and Thomas met our biological father last night. Can you believe that prick tried to pay me and Thomas to keep our mouths shut?
Piper's eyes were extremely red from all of the crying she did last night, so she was going to use heavy eye make up today. She quickly got herself together, said goodbye to Thomas, and was out the door. After Piper arrived she looked around to see if Jane was there. She would have to ignore sienna for now because she needs to talk to Jane alone if she wants to get what she wants.
To Jane:
Where are you? I need to speak to you asap!
"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!"
Friday night was divided between dinner with her grandfather and a night at PH-D Rooftop Lounge with a couple of friends. They were all a couple of years older than Sydney, but had attended Constance Billard a few years back and were now enrolled in colleges in the city. They were the girls who had ensured that Sydney got the top seat when they graduated, and for that, she still had respect for them. Besides that though, they were fun girls to hang out with. There was always fresh gossip circulating in their conversations, and she felt like it was a breath of fresh air to surround herself with girls on her level. And like the current queen bee, these former queen bee's all agreed with Sydney that Sienna was a threat to her image and position. They reassured her that the skepticism that the rumor - and that was what Sydney had to claim it was - had caused was not going to be irreparable. Sienna had some minions of her own, but Sydney didn't need to change the minds of every dumb girl at Constance. She was the Queen Bee and Sienna Alvarez did not have the power to topple her. She didn't have that power freshman year or sophomore year or junior year, and she sure as hell wasn't going to have that power this year. Besides, she had already cleared her name with Jane and even though she claimed she would speak with Sienna and apologize for her wrongs soon, speaking with her older friends turned her against that decision. If she was going to stick to claiming that this was just a rumor... another example of Sienna being obsessed and jealous with her, then she was not going to apologize for anything. Or more realistically, maybe, she wasn't going to apologize for anything unless Sienna made the initiative and apologized first.
When morning came, Sydney was feeling good. She had texted a select few of her minions, telling them that the claim Sienna had anonymously made was completely false. It was an attempt at her to tarnish Sydney's image to distract everyone from how much of a whore she was herself. She only needed to text a couple of them for word to spread back to the others, and while Sydney knew that that alone wasn't going to be enough for the rumor to be squashed entirely, it was an okay start. At the very least, it gave her enough confidence to attend Charlotte's charity event without worrying about being in the same room as Sienna. So, when she pulled up with her grandfather at a quarter after one, the minimal smile on her face was close to genuine. There were nerves pulling at her stomach but she was confident that she still had the upper hand. If anyone should feel nervous about making an appearance around her, it should be Sienna.
To: Jane
I see Adrian and Nicole but where's my girl
???Rather than seek out Jane herself, she played the part of the model granddaughter and stood by her grandfather's side, offering meaningless chit chat to the conversation going on between him, Adrian and Nicole Lynch, and the Huntington's. She knew that she could have went to find Jane herself. Adrian said that she should be somewhere close by. But there was a good chance that Jane was with Sienna, and while Sydney was not scared of the unnatural blonde, she wasn't going to stoop down to her level and cause a scene at an upscale event. She could control her temper, but it had been proven many times before that Sienna was too emotional and impulsive for her own good, and for Charlotte's sake (and maybe the sake of her image), she wasn't going to put herself in that position.
It didn't take long for the class president to show up and ruin the fun. Even at her own event, when she probably had a million and one things to be worrying about, she gravitated towards him. The thought of how obsessed she was with him brought a smirk to his face before she excused the two of them from the group of guys and pulled him into a hallway. He pocketed the fifty dollars he had just made as his faze fell upon her exasperated expression. She was getting fired up and he was savoring every little bit of it, including when the patron saint herself cursed! If his smirk could grow any wider, it would have at that last remark. "I don't know if I'm just hallucinating from all of the cheap little street drugs, or what, but did New York's favorite southern belle just curse? At me, of all people?!" He faked an offended expression as his hands clutched his heart. "And here I was, thinking I could come out here to support you and who is it this time? Some hospital for kids with cancer? Or an animal shelter? and this is the warm welcome I get! I'm disappointed in you, Charlotte Buchanan. Especially after you practically begged me to come the other day in your text." He poked her in the shoulder to reciprocate her gesture, and decided against adding in a comment about how he would have poked her in the chest too, but that he didn't want to turn her on any more than his presence alone was clearly doing. A text from Piper diverted his attention from the blonde momentarily. Charlotte was fun to mess with but it was Piper who was going to give him the serious mood-lifter that he needed.
To: Piper
I knew you'd come around xD. Tell her its gonna cost however much ur gonna need for the party.
His smirk returned as he glanced back up at her, now allowing his eyes to obnoxiously rove over her appearance. "Red looks good on you, Buchanan. You should wear a dress like that when I take you out to dinner tomorrow. But for now, why don't you go rake in some more donations for PETA while I rake in some more donations for The Brent Barclay Foundation? Sound like a deal?" He flashed her his best attempt at a charming smile, torn between hurrying away to find Piper without giving her a chance to snap back at him, but also ready to hear the witty remark the blonde was sure to make.
Within minutes of sending her texts out, Carolina's phone was buzzing with responses from Sienna, Charlotte and Piper. Charlotte had arrived, thank god, but apparently not without some sort of struggle that she didn't want to discuss. Carolina's first guesses were that she either forgot her speech note cards at home and had[ to turn around last minute and race back to get them, or that she and Rosie were fighting over what Charlotte should wear. Either way, it was a huge relief to know that the class president was there. Every detail seemed to be planned out far in advance, but still, having Lottie present insured that everything would run flawlessly today. Not only that, but it meant that Rosie was now here too. As the treasurer, it was her role at an event like this to collect all of the donations and keep track of how well they were doing, and she could now reclaim her rightful seat from Victoria, the vice president that Carolina was not a fan of.
To: Lottie
Glad ur here!! Tori's been collecting the donations so far... so thank god Rosie's here now too
Sienna's message was the next one that she opened, and only confirmed what she now knew, that Lottie was on her way/already here. Although Carolina had seen Sienna last night, after Jane started the night off on a bad note (acting like no one knew Carolina and attempting to introduce her to them as if she were a stranger...), Carolina ended up hitting the bottle sooner than she would have liked. In an attempt to lift the night's vibe, she didn't try to talk to Sienna about any of the rumors that she was slowly hearing about. Not only did she not want to upset the blonde, but she wasn't sure that she really cared about the drama that Sienna was sure to fill her in on. She knew that she would probably end up regretting opening that can of worms as soon as Sienna started discussing the drama that would seem so trivial to Carolina. However, after the night a few day's back where Jane had sobbed to her about friend problems, Carolina was at least a little bit curious about what was really going on.
To: Sienna
Ok cool. What time did u end up getting home ln? i don't have much 2 compare it 2, but tell ur friend it was a fun party ;D
Lastly, she opened Piper's text, and this one had her standing up from the table she sat at. Carolina was somewhat aware of Piper's attempts to locate her birth parents. Carolina had never really been interested in locating her biological parents. She was happy with Nancy, the woman that was her mom for over ten years, and didn't want to know about the family that didn't want her. It was something that just seemed easier not knowing or worrying about, but it was something that many kids put into foster homes or up for adoption thought about. Piper was apparently one of the ones who weren't going to settle for not knowing, and Carolina could not even imagine how devastating it had to be for Piper to meet her father and for it to go so poorly. She wasn't quite sure what she meant with the "pay me and Thomas to keep our mouths shut" part, but she knew it wasn't a good thing.
To: Piper
Omg Pipe I'm so sorry girl. What do you mean he paid u to keep ur mouth shut? How did u find him? Are u at the SGA event? I'm heading to the back area. Come find me if you are, we need to talk about this D:!!!
As she typed her message to Piper, she did start her trek towards the back of the event room. A fellow SGA member had told her that Sienna was set up in the back of the room and certain that Charlotte was busy making up for lost time and unsure if Piper was even there, she thought finding Sienna was her best bet. They could figure out if anything else needed to be done - which seemed unlikely with their president now in attendance - and maybe, Carolina could get a healthy dose of gossip.
To: Sienna
Where r u? Coming to chat b4 the video goes on but lmk if Jane is there and I'll wait lmao
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
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
Piper Vine
Piper heard Jane's loud voice and she turned towards the other immediately. Good now she doesn't have to keep looking around. She felt her phone buzz and she briefly looked down to see it was from Brent. Rolling her eyes she put her phone back in her purse to address Jane. Piper took a deep breath and looked back up at Jane. "I wish I could be as happy as you are." She looked around before grabbing Jane's arm and pulling her into another empty hallway. "I literally had the worst day of my life yesterday." Now it was time to truly act. "My parents found out that I got drunk and put me on punishment yesterday and also took my allowance for the next two months. On top of that I'm supposed to host the party this year and now I don't have any money to do so." Piper wiped her eyes faking as if she was about to cry.
"Oh not to mention I have to lose 10 pounds before my next photo shoot. So I have to ask Brent Barclay of all fucking people to give me some pills." Piper grabbed Jane's hand and squeezed it tightly. "I don't want to feel like a drug addict so can you take some pills with me? Please I could really use your help. I'm begging here and I'll love you forever if you help just this once." Piper put on her best pleading look hoping Jane would help her. Had this been yesterday morning Piper would never ask Jane for anything that she just had. Especially asking her to take pills again, but she after talking to her father last night she figured why even be nice to people anymore? They'll just betray you eventually anyways.
She felt her phone buzz again and she released Jane's hand. It was Carolina, just the person she honestly wanted to talk to. "I have to go but just think about everything okay?" Piper gave Jane a hug before turning on her heels and leaving. Maybe she would regret what she just did in the future, but as of right now she didn't.
To Brent:
I put the bug in your favorite girl's ear. Happy now?
To Carolina:
I'm heading to you now.
Piper headed towards the back area Carolina was talking about and had no problem in finding her good friend. As soon as she spotted Carolina she picked up her speed and the first thing she did was give the girl a tight squeeze. They haven't seen each other in a while, and Piper thought that was extremely sad. They were good friends and had been through a lot together. Finally pulling away Piper faintly smiled at the girl. "My dad, or who I thought was my dad, tried paying me and Thomas several thousand dollars so we wouldn't go to the press about our parents not keeping us. I never thought of doing that in the first place." Piper ran her fingers through her hair with frustration. "I mean I was looking for my parents, but he literally came all the way from Vancouver to shut me and my brother up. It's ridiculous."
Piper glanced around to make sure no one heard her. Pulling out a compact mirror she checked her makeup to make sure it wasn't going to run. She still has to maintain her image at this school. "We can talk about this more later. I kind of just want to forget it all happened. Come on let's go sit down, my feet are already starting to hurt"
Jane gasped when Piper explained the first part of her predicament to her. She couldn't imagine having her credit cards confiscated. Her father had tried it a few times, with them all only lasting for a few hours because of the fits that Jane threw. It really didn't do much good, anyway. She had accounts at all of her favorite stores and could simply put things on the monthly bill without paying for them at that very moment. Besides, she had learned to memorize her credit card numbers as soon as she hit thirteen. At the very least, she could always online shop. Being cut off for two months seemed excessive, especially for something like being drunk! Jane had never met Piper's parents but she had always gotten the sense that they were very strict. It was the only reasonable excuse for why Piper frequently couldn't come on overseas trips with the girls or never invited them to her apartment. Her parents apparently were control freaks who kept Piper on a tight leash, and as much as Jane despised her father sometimes, she knew she didn't have it that bad compared to Piper. "Oh my God, two months?! With no money? Piper, what are you going to do?! Tell them you're going to like... kill yourself if they don't give you your money back! Or run away!" Jane was feeling genuinely distraught for her friend, and it only got worse when she mentioned weight loss. If anyone knew what that struggle felt like, it was Jane. She should have seen where this conversation was going, but after Hailey left, Jane kind of assumed that her pill issues were going to be over for the year. Sydney believed that Hailey was the user and as long as she avoided Brent, she was hopeful that she could avoid the pills too. But how could she say no to Piper, who was on the verge of tears? Plus, no matter how badly Jane wanted to say she was over the pills, or wanted to really recover now that she knew her friends were watching her, the thought of losing ten pounds had her heart racing. She would lose ten pounds, just the unnecessary weight she had put on during treatment, and leave it there. She could still be healthy ten pounds lighter, and more confident too. And it was to help a friend. It would be wrong not to do it.
Piper abruptly left before Jane could even respond to the last request, but it didn't take much thinking time for her to decide that she was on board. She was feeling jittery as she responded to Piper, but it seemed like more of an excited jitter than a nervous one. All it took was one suggestion and a little bit of persuasion in her head for her to feel like relapsing was the right choice, because she justified it as not being a real relapse. She was still going to be in control once the ten pounds were gone and as soon as Piper stopped taking the pills, she would too. No harm, no foul.
To: Piper
i'll do it with you but let's not tell the other girls, okay??? they'll judge us :///. when are you going to get them from him?
She had two other texts, one from Sydney and one from Sienna, to respond to, but with both girls requesting her presence, she was put in the tight spot she didn't want to be in. If past experience said anything, Sydney would definitely be the one to get more offended by Jane not coming to her, but Jane also knew she owed Sienna an explanation after leaving her hanging with the Vincent call. Besides, Sydney had promised to make up with Sienna and now seemed like a perfect time.
To: Sydney
i'm in the back with sia i'm drinking and my dad will murder me if he sees me doing that at an event like this! plz come :(((? u promised!
She made sure to only hit the send button when she really was back with Sienna. She sat back down next to the blonde and offered her an innocent smile. Piper's insistence that they start taking the pills again had put her into a perkier mood and she hoped it would carry through for the rest of the boring event. She probably should have started with the Vincent thing, but instead, she got straight to the point about Sydney. Vincent might have been Sienna's biggest concern, but reuniting their friend group was Jane's. Especially since Sienna had refused to acknowledge her pleas to speak with Sydney since the fight. "So, Sydney just got here and I told her to come over so you two can makeup, okay? She really misses you and I don't want anyone to fight anymore." The last part might have been a slight exaggeration, and Sienna probably knew it, but Jane didn't think that both of the girls could truly hate each other. They had been friends for so long. She wouldn't let this be the end of their friendship, and Jane didn't want to be stuck in the middle for any longer. The longer they remained enemies, the more bad things that would come out and put more of a strain on their relationship. "And Vincent knows he needs to make it up to you, and he said that Sydney feels really bad and stuff. That's why he called." Okay, maybe that was more than a slight exaggeration, but Jane liked to put her own spin on things.
_____ T H EXC L A S SXP R E S I D E N T _____
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L O C A T I O N : Hotel Plaza Athenee, Manhattan, New York
DΙͺα΄Κα΄Ι’α΄α΄ Cα΄Κα΄Κ β¦ #007478 | TΚα΄α΄Ι’Κα΄ Cα΄Κα΄Κ β§ #7A7A7A
Seeing the smirk on Brent's face only irritated Lottie more. She was giving him exactly what he wanted! But, she didn't care, this was the one day she needed him just disappear and of course, like a rash or a disease he kept creeping his way back and it's bigger and worst than ever. She moved some hair out of her face as she kept her piercing blue eyes on Brent as he spoke to her. "I don't know if I'm just hallucinating from all of the cheap little street drugs, or what, but did New York's favorite southern belle just curse? At me, of all people?!" She looked at the expression on his face and it took everything in her not to crack a smirk. She looked him up and down as he clutched his heart as she rolled her eyes and took a deep breath. "And here I was, thinking I could come out here to support you and who is it this time? Some hospital for kids with cancer? Or an animal shelter? and this is the warm welcome I get! I'm disappointed in you, Charlotte Buchanan." She scoffed as she rolled her eyes once more. "Oh, please Brent, who are you to talk about disappointment in someone?" She said before being spoken over by the future convict.
"Especially after you practically begged me to come the other day in your text." She fake laughed before beginning to really laugh and moved his finger off of her shoulder. "Please," She moved closer to his face with a smirk on her face and her hands on her hips. "You wish I'd beg you for somethin', anythin'. But, believe you, me that dream still a'int come true, sweetheart. So keep wishin'." She moved back away before someone passed by thinking something else was about to go down between the two, because knowing her luck Victoria would walk by and before she could blink her and Brent would be on that damn gossip site of hers and she didn't have time for people to think she was into, nonetheless dating that jailbird in training. She watched him go on his phone only to check hers to see a text from Rosie saying everything was ready for the video.
When she turned back to Brent who was looking her up and down, she crossed her arms over her chest before breathing out. "What the hell do you have to say now?" She said with a raised eyebrow. "Red looks good on you, Buchanan. You should wear a dress like that when I take you out to dinner tomorrow. She hid a laugh as she covered her mouth and looked down at her heels before looking back at him. "But for now, why don't you go rake in some more donations for PETA while I rake in some more donations for The Brent Barclay Foundation? Sound like a deal?" Okay that was it. He pushed a little too far but, in his defense, the way she took it was probably not what he meant. She took it as it was the dress and her appearance that was raising the money for the foundation. But, did she care if she took it the wrong way? No, not really but she probably could have handled what she did next a... better way to say the least.
She walked faster and grabbed the collar of his black shirt lightly as she pulled him closer. She looked him in the eyes seeing that they were pretty much the same height when she was in heels. "Look, you Walter White in training, I don't need this today and if I see you in here again I will personally destroy you and everything you--.."
"Um... I don't mean to interrupt anything, especially between the world's cutest couple but, Lottie it's time to prepare for your speech. The governor's about to leave in ten minutes and if he leaves, you'll never get that internship and recommendation!" She let go of Brent as Rosie over to the pair and cursed in her head. Was she going to let Brent get in the way of this internship and recommendation letter to show agents on Broadway that she was more than a pretty face and deserved the chance to the lead of a musical during the summer before she left for Harvard? No, she wasn't it. This was big and she could deal with this son of a mother hubbard later."I'll bring your girl back later, Brent. Don't worry you can finish whatever this is after." Rosie said with a smirk as she looked back to her sister who just pointed towards Brent. "This conversation is not over."
"I bet it's not." Rosie said under her breath as Charlotte looked at her and then at Brent and then once more at her sister. "... Never gonna happen. Now, c'mon I got bigger fish to fry." Lottie said as she hurried away with her sister in tow who just looked at Brent with a smirk before looking forward. "C'mon!"
"I comin'! Keep your panties out of a bunch." Rosie said as the twins hurried into the ballroom and backstage to make sure Lottie was ready for her speech. She let the thoughts of Brent float away as she started to read her notecards. "Alright, you got this, sissy! Just your five minute and then say 'And we have a small presentation of how the ALS foundation has helped families all over America.' And then you're done!" Lottie's eyes got big as she ran her hand through her hair. "Oh crap, the video. He's gonna kill me." Rosie shooed off the thought and waved her hand. "You don't have time to worry about it, it's too late. Just focus on your speech, I'll be in the front to cheer you on." Rosie reassured her before walking down the stairs to go back into the ballroom. "'Sides, by the way you two were holdin' on to each other, he would never kill you." Before her sister could say anything Rosie walked out, leaving Lottie to get ready for her small speech.
"Especially after you practically begged me to come the other day in your text." She fake laughed before beginning to really laugh and moved his finger off of her shoulder. "Please," She moved closer to his face with a smirk on her face and her hands on her hips. "You wish I'd beg you for somethin', anythin'. But, believe you, me that dream still a'int come true, sweetheart. So keep wishin'." She moved back away before someone passed by thinking something else was about to go down between the two, because knowing her luck Victoria would walk by and before she could blink her and Brent would be on that damn gossip site of hers and she didn't have time for people to think she was into, nonetheless dating that jailbird in training. She watched him go on his phone only to check hers to see a text from Rosie saying everything was ready for the video.
When she turned back to Brent who was looking her up and down, she crossed her arms over her chest before breathing out. "What the hell do you have to say now?" She said with a raised eyebrow. "Red looks good on you, Buchanan. You should wear a dress like that when I take you out to dinner tomorrow. She hid a laugh as she covered her mouth and looked down at her heels before looking back at him. "But for now, why don't you go rake in some more donations for PETA while I rake in some more donations for The Brent Barclay Foundation? Sound like a deal?" Okay that was it. He pushed a little too far but, in his defense, the way she took it was probably not what he meant. She took it as it was the dress and her appearance that was raising the money for the foundation. But, did she care if she took it the wrong way? No, not really but she probably could have handled what she did next a... better way to say the least.
She walked faster and grabbed the collar of his black shirt lightly as she pulled him closer. She looked him in the eyes seeing that they were pretty much the same height when she was in heels. "Look, you Walter White in training, I don't need this today and if I see you in here again I will personally destroy you and everything you--.."
"Um... I don't mean to interrupt anything, especially between the world's cutest couple but, Lottie it's time to prepare for your speech. The governor's about to leave in ten minutes and if he leaves, you'll never get that internship and recommendation!" She let go of Brent as Rosie over to the pair and cursed in her head. Was she going to let Brent get in the way of this internship and recommendation letter to show agents on Broadway that she was more than a pretty face and deserved the chance to the lead of a musical during the summer before she left for Harvard? No, she wasn't it. This was big and she could deal with this son of a mother hubbard later."I'll bring your girl back later, Brent. Don't worry you can finish whatever this is after." Rosie said with a smirk as she looked back to her sister who just pointed towards Brent. "This conversation is not over."
"I bet it's not." Rosie said under her breath as Charlotte looked at her and then at Brent and then once more at her sister. "... Never gonna happen. Now, c'mon I got bigger fish to fry." Lottie said as she hurried away with her sister in tow who just looked at Brent with a smirk before looking forward. "C'mon!"
"I comin'! Keep your panties out of a bunch." Rosie said as the twins hurried into the ballroom and backstage to make sure Lottie was ready for her speech. She let the thoughts of Brent float away as she started to read her notecards. "Alright, you got this, sissy! Just your five minute and then say 'And we have a small presentation of how the ALS foundation has helped families all over America.' And then you're done!" Lottie's eyes got big as she ran her hand through her hair. "Oh crap, the video. He's gonna kill me." Rosie shooed off the thought and waved her hand. "You don't have time to worry about it, it's too late. Just focus on your speech, I'll be in the front to cheer you on." Rosie reassured her before walking down the stairs to go back into the ballroom. "'Sides, by the way you two were holdin' on to each other, he would never kill you." Before her sister could say anything Rosie walked out, leaving Lottie to get ready for her small speech.
Senior year was proving to be far more stressful than any other year before. Victoria was certainly already more relevant this year than she had been in all past years combined, but she was starting to think that maybe not all attention was good attention. Her posts about the Sydney and Vincent love affair had been liked and retweeted more than any of her other posts, and since posting them, she had gained a couple hundred new followers on both pages. Sienna had reached out to her, something that never happened, considering that she was one of the "popular" girls and Victoria wasn't. While she was useful, Tori still knew that they weren't friends, and had Sienna not threatened her with leaking her name behind the horrid rumor she had started about Charlotte, she might not have agreed to make the post. While Sienna was a girl that would be useful for her, she wasn't Sydney Vale. Becoming friends with Sienna Alvarez might make her more appealing to Sydney - or at least it seemed that way before their beef was shared with her - but Sydney was who she wanted to be friends with. In reality, she wanted to knock Jane, Piper and Sienna out of the way if it meant giving her a spot in the popular crowd. She deserved it! She had spent every year in school idolizing the popular crowd and when high school came around and she reinvented herself to be more aesthetically pleasing, she really thought she had a chance at fitting in. Then, Piper Vine and Sienna Alvarez entered the scene and magically fit into the group with no ifs, ands or buts, but Victoria still wasn't given the time of day. It was unfair to say the least, and Tori was set on changing that this year. She was going to become relevant, no matter what it took, and although she felt guilty for hurting Sydney (an emotion that was unwarranted, considering how the queen bee rarely acknowledged her existence), breaking up their friend group gave her a good shot at giving in. It could work in her favor, as long as Sydney never found out that she was behind the blogs.
Even if that panned out in her favor, she still had problems at hand. She needed to start her college essays, prepare for the SAT exam one last time (even though her last set of scores were close to impeccable), and get perfect recommendation letters if she wanted even a shot at getting into MIT. On top of that, she had all of the stress related to her relationship. She had been dating Edward Till since late May, and like they seemed to do every other week, the day before school started, they separated again. This time it was because Victoria claimed that he had been checking out their waitress and throwing a fit over that. No matter how many times he insisted it wasn't true and apologized, she wouldn't have it. She planned on it being like every other one of their fights where she would wait for him to come back to her with roses and chocolates and then accept him back, but it didn't happen. And, for the icing on the cake, she had found out through a junior that he had slept with someone at Sydney Vale's party. Victoria hadn't been there to catch the bitch he slept with because, despite claiming that she had a family commitment, she hadn't received an invite. She had even lowered herself to asking Sydney about it via text, sure that it was a mishap since she had been invited in the past, but the blonde didn't even respond. It was humiliating, and to know that her boyfriend had slept with someone on top of that made her blood boil.
With all of that on her mind, Victoria had little motivation to work the charity event today. She wouldn't admit it, but Charlotte had pulled it together nicely, and the only thing that left her feeling remotely good was that the president herself was running late. She isn't so perfect after all... she pondered as she manned the table collecting the donations that were pouring in in the form of thousands. When the twins arrived and her job at the booth was over, Tori was relieved, but just for a moment. She had spotted Sydney entering the ballroom moments before and was set on greeting the blonde, when she got a message from Sienna. It was pathetic, but Victoria was a little bit scared of Sienna after seeing the lengths she was willing to go to to ruin Sydney's image, someone who was the most powerful girl in the upper east side, and at one point, supposedly her best friend. Sienna knew about her blogs and that was something that could easily be held against her, and they weren't really friends in the first place, where she would have any reason to not out her. So, without hesitation, she hurried towards the back of the event room where she had last seen Sienna. Her blank expression quickly transformed into a scowl when she spotted Jane seated next to the blonde. Out of all of the girls in that crowd, it could easily be argued that she hated Jane the most. She held the coveted spot of Sydney's best friend and Victoria couldn't tell why. She was stunning and had the body of a model, but she was brainless. A complete idiot. What did she have that Victoria didn't? That was a question that had plagued her for years and with it, brought a resentment for Jane. But with Jane sitting right there, Victoria couldn't risk abruptly turning away and giving Sienna an opportunity to tell Jane that she was the one who ran the blog and leaked the rumor. So, with much effort, she turned her frown into a smile and stood at the other side of the table, her fingers nervously toying with the table cloth. "Hey, I got your text. Did you need me for something?" She said, doing her best to sound perky and confident.