Piper Vine, from Upper East Side, a roleplay on RPG

Piper Vine's Story

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Setting

Manhattan, NY

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sebastian Huntington Jr.

Character Portrait: Charlotte H. Buchanan

Character Portrait: Juniper Willow Grigsby

0.00 INK

#2015-03-30 01:30:57, as written by royals

It's Thursday, September 4th, and for the students of Constance Billard School for Girls and Saint Jude's School for Boys, that means that school is back in session. Both schools are located only a couple of blocks away from each other in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, the neighborhood where most of the students reside in.

Although today is the first day of the school year, academic classes are not in session until tomorrow. Today is the day of the "welcome assembly", where the upperclassmen of both schools will come to Constance Billard from 9:30 to 11:30, and the underclassmen from 11:30 to 1:30. The short day will allow the Head of School to welcome the students back, and address any changes that have occurred over the summer. Students will also have an opportunity to socialize with their friends and possibly new classmates, and introduce themselves to their teachers for the year. Textbooks will also be available for pickup.

Later that night, Sydney Vale will be hosting her annual back-to-school party at her home. This year's theme is black & white, but even dressing in one of the colors won't guarantee that you'll get in if you didn't receive one of the exclusive invitations this summer.

Setting

Manhattan, NY

Characters Present

0.00 INK

#2015-03-30 03:28:26, as written by Girl2Fine2

{Bedroom|| Closet|| Night Outfit|| Day Outfit}

Like her fellow socialite and longtime friend, Sienna had awoken at around six in the morning. Well, to be completely honest, Sienna had been awake since around five, but chose not to get out of bed until six. The act of doing so felt too strenuous of a task and the darkness outside wasn't exactly helping in the Sienna-needs-to-get-up decision. Nevertheless, when the time came, Sienna's hand pressed the button of her alarm clock just before it went off, glancing over at a still sleeping Hailey. Expelling a heavy sigh and running a hand through her thick hair, she sat up, did a small overhead stretch, and then headed downstairs. Just as she was about to leave her bedroom, Sienna grabbed her phone. The alarm she had set was only on snooze and would wake Hailey up soon enough. Either that or Sienna would come back and jump on her fellow singer.

In the long hallway, the delicious aroma of cooked meat and something sweet and bready wafted to her nostrils and upon turning the corner past her sister's bedroom, Sienna was surprised to see her mother, Cynthia, awake and actually...cooking? "Channeling Betty Crocker this morning, mamá?" She called with a small grin and her mother jumped just a bit, body tense as the last pancake plopped down on the plate that was stacked with them unceremoniously. Cynthia exhaled sharply while Sienna only chuckled. "Sienna, casi me dio un ataque al corazón! Avisarme próxima vez!" Her mother chastised and while Sienna had to roll her eyes at how dramatic her mother was being, she only smiled and sat at the breakfast isle, marveling at the selection of food her mother decided to provide. She could see breakfast empanadas, which would be the first thing Sienna would be eating, pancakes, both bacon and sausage, a bowl of fruit salad, and scrambled eggs. "Lo siento, mamá." She apologized, though the sparkle in her honey brown eyes was far from apologetic. "What's all this for though?" Cynthia only smiled slightly, causing the dimples in her cheeks to appear. "I don't know, it's just Esmee's first day of high school and the first day of your last year..." Sienna listened to her mother trail off as she politely grabbed a warm breakfast empanada and a plate, reaching over afterwards to scoop out some fruit when she saw the look on her mother's face. "Por favor, mama. Please don't start getting all emotional!" Sienna exclaimed to which Cynthia replied that she couldn't help it, prompting Sienna to roll her eyes and take a bite out of her empanada.

"Don't act surprised, Sia. She's been looking at baby pictures all morning," her little sister, Esmee, called from behind her and Sienna deadpanned. Cynthia sighed. "You kids will understand when you have kids of your own and they start growing up." She told them while fixing her own plate of food. Sienna only chuckled and decided to type out quick texts.

To: Piper, Jane, Charlotte, August, Connor, Dustin, Isabela
Morning, lovelies! Can't wait to see everyone! <3 <3

To: Vincent
Graduation's not even here yet & my mom's looking at baby pics. Help!!!

It wasn't a common occurrence, her texting Vincent. Not unless he was having one of his drunk texting episodes or if they were all in some mass text message. The shock of having been the one to initiate the contact didn't come in until after her phone alerted her to the fact that it had been sent but by then it was too late to call the message back. Besides, they were supposed to be civil. They hung out in the same circles and while, yes, his presence and name made something in her chest throb every single time, not communicating wasn't doing anyone any favors. Not when some of his friends were her friends and vice versa. Besides, if her mom was looking at baby pictures or getting sentimental, she wouldn't be surprised if his were to. Shaking her head a little, Sienna put another empanada on her plate before fixing one for Hailey. Considering the late nights they spent on tour and the long rides on tour buses (no matter how luxurious they were) still made it difficult for normal human beings to want to get up. And well, Sienna was normal, but she was an early bird whether she wanted to be or not. It was in her blood. "Don't forget to give me back my sweater, Esmee. I know you took it while I was gone." Her sister made a face at Sienna's exclamation, but Sia didn't look back. She had to eat and get ready for school.

Once back in her bedroom, Sienna set Hailey's plate on the nightstand on her side of Sienna's bed. While they had the spare bedrooms for her friend to choose from, they had both collapsed on her bed after joking around and talking about the upcoming school year. After giving her friend a hard shake, Sienna noisily (and only to keep Hailey awake) clamored to her walk-in-closet, the only other one in the penthouse besides the one in her parents' bedroom, so that she could find a decent outfit to wear for the first day back. While munching on the empanadas and melon, Sienna found a nice sapphire blue wrap blouse that had long sleeves, a black-and-white split slit skirt, and strappy Giuseppe Zanotti wedges to wear. While it was September and the air was chilled as compared to the warmth Sienna had grown accustomed to on the West Coast, it wasn't cold enough for her to require wearing tights yet and she could always bring along a chic black jacket just in case. Satisfied with her choice and finished with her food, she pulled out two bottles of water from the miniature fridge in her closet along with her clothes and stepped out, closing the door behind her.

Brushing her teeth and going through her Bellaboo skincare treatment took her about fifteen minutes and it was about seven thirty when she hopped into the shower. She had just gotten out of the steaming bathroom, her soft skin wrapped in a delicate jasmine vanilla scent, when she realized that her phone was ringing. It didn't surprise her that it was Sydney and after their conversation was done with a promise of Sienna being on the Constance steps at nine promptly, the two girls ended the conversation. Despite what Sydney might actually believe or what even Vincent might think, Sienna didn't hate Sydney. She was irritated with her from time to time and yes, she was very close to hitting her friend on a number of occasions. But more than anything, she wanted their friendship to actually work and be genuine, and was more disappointed with Sydney than anything else. She had wanted Syd to be the one to tell her about sleeping with Vince, though his honesty was definitely accepted. However, their conversation had nothing to do with their own situation. It was about Jane who had Sienna frustrated all summer, very much like Sydney. Her being a bit tired and not exactly in need of school at the moment had her sounding a bit more realistic and mellow than normal, but she felt Sydney's anger and hurt. It just wouldn't get to her until a bit later.

It didn't take her long to get ready after that and Sienna was in the middle of brushing her hair when she glanced back at Hailey, who was getting ready swiftly. "How do you feel about your first day? Ready to wreak some havoc on these New Yorkers?"

Setting

Manhattan, NY

Characters Present

0.00 INK

#2015-03-30 05:49:32, as written by BurningBridges

Today's Look || Bedroom

To say that Jane wasn't ready for school was an understatement. She was rarely prepared for school on normal days, never on the first day back, and absolutely not on this year's first day of the twelfth grade. In fact, today she was ready for her summer to start. She had spent the last three months in an Illinois treatment facility for an eating disorder that she still claims she doesn't have. Although it was a nice facility, one that had housed celebrities like Demi Lovato and Kesha, it wasn't a place that anyone would want to live in. Jane was no different. Her time there was emotionally strenuous and even if she had been able to acknowledge that she had a problem, as soon as she was released two days ago, she did her best to erase those few months from her mind.

It started the night that she was set free, when she stumbled into Sienna's friend Hailey at the airport. With Jane's amazing luck, the girl happened to be taking the same first-class flight from Chicago to New York with her and must have recognized her from one of the many pictures she and Sienna had together on social media. In her credit, she was more than friendly, but Jane was in the opposite of the mood to socialize and needed to clear her track from Chicago period, so she brushed Hailey off and pretended like she didn't know who she was talking about. The following day was her one day of summer, and after a long and comfortable sleep in her thoroughly missed New York apartment, she agreed to go with her father and stepmother to their Hamptons home for the day. It was supposed to be a day of bonding, but as made apparent by the backdrop of the selfie she sent to Piper, Sienna and Sydney, she spent most of the afternoon seated by the bar of their local country club. After three months of hell, one drink... or five, seemed well deserved. The message was accompanied by a simple screenshot of her senior schedule asking if any of the girls had any classes with her. She had received responses from Sienna and Piper, but nothing came from Sydney's end. Not even a 'like' on the picture she had posted on Instagram later that night after a few hours at spa. Jane knew better than to assume that she could act like nothing had happened after going MIA for three months. Something like that wouldn't have been acceptable in a low-level social group, nonetheless the exclusively tight group that she ran in. The girls seemed to tell each other about everything, and even though Sydney wasn't always completely honest with Jane, she thought she was, and that did make her feel guilty. Maybe a mixture of guilt and fear, actually. Even as Sydney's best friend, Jane wasn't exempt from her wrath, and the cold shoulder that Sydney was giving her hinted that her friend was not happy.

Nicole's acting career seemed to have sank even further than before Jane went away, since in the two days that Jane had been home, she didn't seem to have any scripts to memorize, any phone calls with agents to take, and definitely no sets to be present on. The reminder of how annoying her stepmother was wasn't strong enough to make her want to return to Chicago, but definitely made her want to go somewhere far away. It didn't help that this morning, it was her voice who pulled Jane out of her deep sleep.

"Jane, honey, it's eight thirty. Maria has been trying to wake you up since six," Jane was able to ignore her voice, and apparently had slept through the house staff's attempts to wake her. When Nicole gently nudged her in the side, she quickly shifted away and dramatically pulled a pillow over her head. "You have to be at school in an hour Jane, it's time to wake up," she tried again, this time pulling the white bedspread off of her curled up body. The cool air rushed over her scantily clad body and forced her to wake up. "Don't you remember that I moved down the hall to be farther away from you?" she snapped as she sat herself up, but not before pulling the blanket back from Nicole. When Nicole had first moved in, Jane had thrown a fit and in an attempt to make her point clear, had moved all of her things to a guest bedroom on the opposite side of the penthouse. Unfortunately, it didn't do anything to sway her father's mind and left her in a much smaller room, too lazy to move everything back and with house staff under orders not to help her do so. At this point, Nicole was unfazed by Jane's attitude and chuckled in an equally sassy manner at the recollection. "I'm sure that everyone in the building remembers it, darling. Now get out of bed so I don't have to call Daddy while he's working." Her tone had switched from being a forced-caring one to the sardonic sound that Jane remembered. The way that she mockingly referred to her much-older husband as "daddy", even if to just refer to him in Jane's term, made Jane feel sick. The girls matched each other's glares for a good ten seconds before Jane relented and got out of bed. It was enough to make Nicole leave, but not without a sneer.

Even if she had been reminded that she was running late before, it only hit her when she glanced down at her phone and found that it was nearing 8:45 AM. She usually met Sienna, Piper and Sydney at nine, and that seemed extremely unlikely today. Running late was something that Jane was known for though, so if anything, it was one thing that she hoped the girls would understand. Just in case, she decided to respond to Sienna's text to let them her. She hadn't seemed mad at her and she and Sienna almost always were on good terms. Even when Jane's lips were too loose for her own good, and Sienna's, the singer never stayed annoyed at her for too long.

To: Sia
Can't wait to see my main bitch ;D!! Running a litttttle late but I'll be there

To: Piper
PIPE! I missed you!! I'll pick you up omw to school so we can catch up!! You're on Park Ave now right?

It probably should have struck Jane as being off long ago when she had never been invited to Piper's house. She never thought much of it though, and took the lies about house renovations and other obstacles as being completely valid. Why would someone lie about that? Piper looked rich. Piper acted rich. Jane was never intuitive enough to think too far into something like that, and honestly, she was used to be exceptionally wealthier than most of her peers anyway.

With little time in her schedule, Jane decided not to shower again. She had done so the night before and she would have to suffer the consequences of simply air-drying her hair by throwing it up into a messy ponytail. Her outfit consisted of Balenciaga leather leggings, a denim key-holed back shirt, Saint Laurent ankle boots and a Givenchy Lucrezia bag. It was nearing nine o'clock when she arrived in the kitchen. Their chef hovered over the stove, cooking what smelled like buttermilk pancakes. It made Jane's mouth water but she knew better. She wasn't going to start off the year with something that she imagined had enough calories to last her a week. If the chef had been the only one in the kitchen, it would have been easy for Jane to shimmy past and to the elevator to escape without much notice. Again, her luck was running short. Nicole was seated on a bar stool next to the counter sporting an amused smile that Jane was half a second away from slapping off her face. Jane was already imagining her annoying voice saying, Janie, come sit. Breakfast is almost ready. but she was surprised when instead, she tossed her a brown paper bag. "Max is waiting outside with the car. Eat on your way." They both knew the bag would end up in the trash bin outside, but Jane was at least grateful that Nicole didn't press the subject and allowed her to speed into the elevator shaft without another word.

Setting

Manhattan, NY

Characters Present

0.00 INK

#2015-03-31 14:48:58, as written by royals

The shrill tone of his alarm clock abruptly pulled Connor out of his sleep. He was unadmittedly always a little jumpy, but the sound of that alarm after a summer without it definitely shocked him. He was quick to slam his fist on the snooze button, but even if he had time to go to back sleep, his heart was racing too quickly for him to manage that. It was already almost eight o'clock but for Connor, that was right on schedule. All he needed to do was shower, get dressed and walk out the door, so waking up before the sun had even risen was an unnecessary burden for him, even if some of his classmates felt it necessary.

As expected, he was walking out the door by eight-thirty. Both of his parents were already gone: his father probably headed downtown to work and his mother at the gym playing tennis with her friends. His penthouse was empty, but not in the somber way that some of his friends' were. Connor's parents were married and happy, his family healthy, and there was little to complain about in the Harkins household.

It might not have been the mainstream reaction to the first day of school, but Connor was actually fairly excited to be back. He loved summer just as much as anyone else. This past one had mostly been spent in the Nantucket where his family summers. His brother was home for most of the season so they spent time together there and in LA, where Connor met many of Jack's friends. They had met up with Sydney briefly while over there. She was in town with her grandfather and mother to attend the Emmy Awards and managed to get him and Jack into one of the more exclusive after parties. It would have been an amazing night had Connor not had to deal with his brother and her making out right next to him on the limo ride home. No matter how many times he had seen the two getting intimate, it always felt like someone had punched him in the gut when he saw it. Sydney knew he liked her. Everyone in the Upper East Side probably knew that by now, but she always told him that she just liked him as a friend. Although her words stated that, her actions always felt a little different. Maybe Connor was just being too wishful, but he was throwing all of his hope into the tiny little signs that suggested that maybe, just maybe, she saw him as something more.

When he was nearing Constance Billard and his phone's ring was matched with her name, his heart jumped. He answered almost instantly.

"Hello?"

"Hey Con, where are you?"

"Like a block away from your school. Are you there already?" He doubted she would be. Sydney was always on time, never too early and never too late.

"No, it's too early... I'm kind of in the mood for Starbucks." The way that she ended the sentence suggested that she was stating more than just a craving, but she didn't need to ask him to get it for her. He was going to offer without that.

"I'll pick it up!" He responded almost as soon as she finished speaking. At this point, there was no use in trying to hide how eager he was to please Sydney, and not only because he had a crush on her. She was one of his best friends, or at least oldest friends.

"Aw, thanks babe. A vanilla iced coffee would be perf! 9 AM on the steps!"

"Okay, see y-" She had hung up before he could finish his goodbyes.

Their conversation had put him into a better mood, so much so that he had no reservations with about-facing to get back to the Starbucks that he had passed a few blocks away. It was crowded with morning commuters but he took the time to send out a few texts.

To: Sienna
Can't wait to see u either! Still upset I didn't get to see u on tour this summer :(

To: Piper
I'll be there in 15! I'm rly good! How are you? Spend the summer in Nantucket so I was pretty MIA in the city. What did u do?

To: Sienna, Piper, Jane, Charlotte, Vincent, Kelley
@ Starbucks. Anyone want anything :)?

Setting

Manhattan, NY

Characters Present

0.00 INK

#2015-03-31 17:24:49, as written by Girl2Fine2

Sienna didn't care to do much to her hair for the day considering they were all going to be getting dolled up Sydney's party tonight, so she decided to simply run a brush through the silky locks. There were subtle waves already towards the ends from the last hair appointment she had went to for a touch-up of the honey blonde shade, so she was content with the natural elegance that could be seen in her hair. She did, however, choose to part it down the center so that there could be equal love of hair on both sides of her face. It also would help when she decided to flip her hair all dramatically or something along those lines, but Hailey's response had her smiling at her friend through her mirror. "You're awesome, you look awesome, everyone is going to see that you're awesome, and you're gonna rock this first day." She grinned at her friend before turning her attention to applying a small amount of makeup. She didn't need anything too heavy for the first day, not when later would prompt her entire face being done up. However, she did go with a luscious pink lip with her cake-batter flavored lip balm coated just beneath for protection.

Once she found she was situated and with an extra fluff of her hair, Sienna rose from the chair in front of her vanity. The new height allowed her to see the way the skirt showed off her toned and tanned legs and she made sure that the shirt was still tucked into the skirt, though fitting loosely. While Sienna had her casual moments and would gladly wear things like sweatpants as a regular requirement in her attire, she had also been born with her mother's innate desire to look fabulous. And being a part of the queen bee's regimen only reinforced that mentality. Satisfied with her overall appearance, Sienna gave her hair one more fluff, spritzed herself with the jasmine vanilla perfume she was known for, and then grabbed her Celine bag. Her mom had already ordered her books and since there was no classes today, she didn't feel the need to bring anything other than a purse. She glanced over at Hailey while grabbing her phone, noting the text messages. "We should probably go. Syd wants to meet at nine. One of my friends is getting Starbucks. Sending him an order now." Sienna told her, leading the other blonde out of her bedroom and shutting the bedroom door after them. The last thing she needed was Esmee raiding her closet in an attempt to find a better outfit despite probably already having one.

Speaking of, just as Sienna and Hailey were waiting for the elevator, Esmee emerged, fully dressed and looking very much like a carbon copy of a younger Sienna, though unique in her own sense. Before Esmee could utter a complaint, Sienna cut in, "No, we're not gonna talk about you stealing my sweater and no, you do not need to change. You're cute and adorable and it's time to go." Sienna dragged both her sister and friend into the elevator shaft with her, pressing for the lobby. Meanwhile, she sent out her own texts.

To: Connor
U r god-sent. ilu & I will pay u back. Grande salted caramel mocha & a grande caramel mocha. Its 4 a friend. Thanks

To: Vincent
LMAO

To: Piper, Sydney, Jane
Omw

"I'm lazy. Are we walking?" Esmee asked, turning big dark brown eyes to Sienna who only grinned. "Of course not!" She exclaimed, linking arms with her two girls as they entered the lobby from the private Alvarez elevator. The doorman smiled at them congenially and Sienna only nodded before returning her attention to Hailey and Esmee. "You two are arriving in style for your first day to Constance Billard and something tells me you're gonna be loving me for not making you walk in those." Sienna said the last part with a pointed look at Esmee's heels, which actually were Sienna's but they weren't going to discuss that. It was like Sienna didn't always allow her sister to borrow her clothes. Besides, it was an understandable question. Sienna, despite having the luxury of a driver with several different vehicles to get by in, loved walking those three blocks. She loved the crisp air of New York mornings, the sound her heels made on the pavement, and really just the act of taking in everything. However, she wanted her sister to make an entrance on her first day to what would become Sienna's alma mater and for everyone to know that Hailey was someone important. Not to mention fans would probably be in a frenzy seeing two mainstream artists still together after a summer as such.

They climbed into the limousine Cynthia must have exchanged for the Escalade Sienna had been expecting and as they rode on in the New York traffic, Sienna whipped out her phone and grinned at both girls. "Up for first day selfies?" She asked to which Esmee immediately nodded her head.

Setting

Manhattan, NY

Characters Present

0.00 INK

#2015-03-31 18:41:13, as written by BurningBridges

Jane's home was located at the top of the Sherry-Netherland hotel, which had its perks. The Harry Ciprani restaurant was attached to the hotel, meaning that if she ever was in the mood for a good meal (which hadn't been recently) and their personal chef wasn't there, she could have someone bring something up at a moment's notice. She received all of the perks of a full service concierge staff, having a state-of-the-art gym and multiple boutiques in her building, but also had to deal with tourists. On the positive side, the hotel was one of the more expensive ones in the city which meant that the people weren't usually too scroungy. Plus, the penthouse had a private elevator, but either way there were always too many people in the lobby when she wasn't in the mood to be bothered. Since she had sacrificed dressing up more for the sake of time, she was closer to schedule than normal, but still rushing.

"Are you in need of a car service this morning, Miss?" one of the concierge members called out to her as she brushed past him. Apparently, he had been hired in the three months that she was gone because Jane was familiar with almost every member of the lobby staff by now. Living there for fifteen years made it almost inevitable. She didn't even validate the absurd question with a response. As it was every morning, a town car was waiting for her in front of the building. Before stepping in, she peered into the bag that Nicole had sent her off with but she only took out the bottled water before dumping the rest in a trash bin. There was no need to even tempt herself with knowing what else was inside.

"Someone's on schedule today," Max chuckled as she slipped into the back seat of the car. "Of course I am," she shot back in an offended tone. A smile had found its way to her face though. Max had been the Lynch's driver for years and he was certainly the staff member she liked best. When she spent hours at a gym across town to avoid her father's insistence that she stop working out, he would like and say she was at the movies with a friend. When she called him at 3 AM asking him to pick her up from a club, he wouldn't utter a word about it the next day, even if half of the drinks she consumed that night ended up on the floor of the car. He was a good guy and one of the people that Jane made an effort to be less bratty towards. "New year, new me, Maxwell! It's time to reinvent myself, which means that I might need to do some shopping before Syd's party tonight." He chuckled louder this time but his tone was genuine. "It's good to have you back, Jane." She smiled at him through the rear view mirror, in part to acknowledge his statement and also as an unspoken 'thanks' that he didn't ask her about her summer, or how she was feeling. She imagined that she would be interrogated enough in only a few minutes from her friends.

"We need to pick up Piper. I think her family moved to one of the buildings on Park Avenue last year," she stated in a distracted manner as her eyes scanned her phone. He didn't even bother to ask her if she knew the address because he knew that the answer would be no. Instead, he did what would have been the inevitable action and drove up the street with his eyes in search of the red head. He spotted her before Jane, because she only took her eyes off of her phone when she felt the car stop on the side of the road.

As soon as Piper stepped in, Jane squealed. For most of the morning, she was dreading the first day back and part of her still was, but she did miss her friends while she was away. Even if Sienna and Sydney didn't like her, or more accurately - trust her, Jane always had fun when she was with Piper. Whether that meant that they just traded services, of Jane having someone's ear to talk off, and Piper to have someone to shop with for free, was questionable. Still, Jane was excited to see her. "You look cute! How was your summer? You were on Long Island yesterday too, right? You should have called me! I was like dying being with my dad and step-mom all day. No amount of margaritas can drown out their annoying voices." Although she was sure it would be inevitable, she wanted to put off talking about her for as long as possible. She was still trying to work out the story she was going to give for why she was mysteriously gone for so long, with no contact, and hoped she could put it off until all of the girls were together. That way, at least she would be giving them all the same story and not accidentally changing it around if repeated different times.

She only turned her attention away from Piper when they pulled up in front of the school. Now, any excitement that Piper had brought was dwindling as she faced the reality of going back to school. If she was lucky, she thought, maybe Charlotte would have loosened up over the summer and wouldn't be such a bitch about letting her copy work now and then. In an attempt to waste more time in the car before having to step out, she texted Connor back and responded to Sienna's text in the group chat. She also responded to Seb, who she knew she would genuinely feel guilty lying to. It wasn't going to change the fact that she would give him the same story as everyone else though.

To: Connor
No thanks <3

To: Sienna, Piper, Sydney
Me and Piper are here!!!

To: Seb
Unfortunately

Setting

Manhattan, NY

Characters Present

0.00 INK

#2015-03-31 21:52:29, as written by Duct Tape

Outfit | Motorcycle

Summer seemed like it came and went in an blink of eye with school starting right back up. But hey, it’s the final year that is going to be having Dusty cooped up in a place that had “snorefest” plastered to the walls. Of course it wasn’t completely terrible and here is hoping it will just fly by like the last year had for him. Plus there has got to be some fantastic parties to send them on their way throughout the year. He will take anything to get him through the last hump.

Dusty spent a few months back in New Canaan with his mother, Bria and Zac. Both spending more time either out shopping for unnecessary crap that will most likely be left in their closet or in Zac’s case shut up in his bedroom playing endless hours of video games talking to those friends instead of ones that lived right across the street. His mother needed to get out of the city as she needed more of calm setting as she worked on her newest book. She has come to dubbing it “the best one yet” much like every other title she has written in the past. It’s actually very amusing when she has to focus. Most people would take her as a complete nut but not anyone that knows her. A woman wafting into the ocean while drinking a cup of Pinot Grigio can be quite the sight especially when she’s singing a Led Zeppelin song at the top of her lungs. Dusty was there the entire time cherishing the moment as well as making sure she doesn’t accidentally kill herself. One time she had more then enough to drink and wound up wadding in too far, cost her one of her favorite wine glasses but Dustin dragged her out of the water. She did nothing but laugh at the situation. Jessabelle Sanderson, the craziest of the bunch.

They got back midway through August, enough time to readjust into the city life, not really necessary but still it was best. The day before this technical first day of school he and Piper decided to have one last hoorah and head out to Jones Beach. It was a fun time and it was nice to see Piper not have to act like she does when she’s around the others. They must have spent an hour too long there because when they were heading back they hit traffic beyond belief so they settled on staying over his place. His family had more then enough room and a new face around the house would be welcomed.

A hard vibration startled him awake but it wasn’t until the second to get his attention. Peaking open one eye it was a few minutes too early for his liking so he completely pushed the idea of waking up right now out of his mind. It wasn’t until several loud knocks on his door made him shoot up. "You better make it to morning assembly! I'm leaving now to go meet Jane." He managed to make some inaudible noise before hearing the footsteps head down the hall. "And I'll get my stuff this afternoon."

“Right. Assembly.” He threw his feet out from under the covers and rested them on the cold hardwood floors. “More like my ass-embly.” He stretched walking out of his room to the bathroom. The air was warm meaning someone had recently taken a shower but that wasn’t stopping him from taking one, a cold one would even help wake him up. It only took around ten minutes to finish up and head back to his room to change. A few minutes later he was dressed up and heading out, after grabbing a quick bite to eat from whatever was the easiest thing to throw in the microwave and be done with it.

Finally checking his phone he checked his phone remembering the text messages. It was from Sienna and part of a group chat so he didn’t really care for replying so didn’t. He headed into the garage and was happy that Piper was getting a ride from Jane. Winter was around the corner and that meant he’d only have a short while with his Honda CX500. He grabbed his motorcycle helmet and sat on the bike it giving way like normal. Before tucking away his phone he texted Piper about her things.

To Piper:
Dont know if ill be home so just get ur things from my mom.

To Momma:
Pipe will be stopping by later. dont know if ill be home so can you get her stuff?

To August:
How’s it? Ready for the last year?

Pushing his helmet on he started the bike and headed to school in no hurry. It was only an assembly, a rehash of everything they always say with a few extra things added in because of senior year. He lived a decent distance from the school so the ride didn’t take too long to arrive at Constance and after finding a good spot to park he figured he would sit back and wait awhile before making his way to the auditorium.

Setting

Manhattan, NY

Characters Present

0.00 INK

#2015-04-01 04:37:00, as written by Girl2Fine2

Sienna could only laugh and comply when Hailey draped herself over both Sienna and Esmee, the latter who was quick to suck her cheeks in and cross her eyes. It was the classic Alvarez funny face and Sienna was more than willing to go along with it. Once the pictures were taken, Sienna posted them on Instagram. Instantly, there were a few likes and she had to grin to herself. There was a reason she was named one of the most powerful social media users in the mainstream and she was more than willing to contend to that title. Tucking a few strands behind her ear, Sienna stared over at Hailey who had rolled down her window. She smiled softly. "I remember those feelings," she admitted, seeing Constance's profile as they slowly pulled up. "Just remember not to let this school and all its drama swallow you whole." The majority of the comment was directed towards her sister who only rolled her eyes.

"Oh God, you're getting like your mother," Esmee lamented and Sienna stuck her tongue out at her little sister. "Whatever, you still love me. And what did I tell you about these Constance girls?" Esmee deadpanned, but the pressing look in Sienna's eyes prompted her to reply. "Remind them that I'm an Alvarez and I'm not scared to cut a bitch." Esmee said, which had Sienna chuckling with the memory of when she first told her sister this when Cynthia said she wanted all three generations of Alvarez girls to have attended Constance. "And?" Sienna pressed as the limousine pulled to a stop. She could already see people glancing at their vehicle in curiosity, though she knew most of the girls - save for the freshmen - recognized it as one of the Alvarez's limousines. "And if an upperclassmen steps to me, I'll tell 'em, 'come see my sister, bitch!'" Esmee finished with a grin and Sienna beamed back at her. Esmee was the first one to climb out and Sienna called after her, "Behave!" To which Esmee only waved her off as she found her friends from her former private school.

It was only when Sienna's leggy form made its way out of the limousine that Esmee turned around with a sneaky grin, calling to the crowd of students, "OH MY GAWD!! Is that Hailey Neilson and Sienna Alvarez getting out of a limo together?" A few heads whipped in their direction and Sienna tossed her little sister a murderous grin. Cheesing with the utmost innocent deviousness in her gleaming eyes, Esmee pulled her friends up the Constance stairs that she had seen Sienna go up many times before on her way to school while a good number of students made their way over to the singing duo. "That sneaky bitch," Sienna muttered only for Hailey to hear and linked arms with her friend, smiling at her fellow classmates. The big rule was that Sienna was not to sign autographs at school. She couldn't remember - for the life of her - why that had been put in place, something about that distracting students, but she remained cordial and nice with her fans. Besides, Constance was her way of at least attempting to be normal. She led Hailey over to the steps where she and the girls typically met, finding that she was the first one there. Sienna's eyes roved over the campus grounds before they fell on a familiar face not too far away.

Just like that, she was reminded why Vincent Mast was considered one of the most attractive guys at St. Jude's. Granted, there were a few hot guys that all the girls gossiped about, but Sienna knew that her ex-boyfriend was definitely the main one whispered in the halls when everyone thought she wouldn't pay attention. It still surprised her that people understood that he was still a sensitive topic for her, even when they were playing nice and being with their respective circle, but he never failed to just strike her...nervous. It was always appalling and she would feel this insurmountable anger towards him for the control he did not seem to realize he had over her. It's been about two years. How could just looking at him have her self-consciously fixing her hair and swallowing back a lump in her throat that wasn't there before? Taking a breath, she tugged at Hailey, nodding in Vincent's direction. "You remember that guy I said I was singing about, right? The one in 'Invincible?' She was referring to one of her more ballad-like singles and sighed. "Well, that's him." Sienna didn't hide that she was staring at Vincent because a second later, she was waving over to him, though not as wildly as she would for - say - August or even Connor. "Hey, Vince!" She didn't know if he would come over and say anything more, so she pulled out her phone to find her girls.

To: Sydney, Jane, Piper
Do not tell me I'm the 1rst 1 @ these steps! Where r u guys?

Setting

Manhattan, NY

Characters Present

0.00 INK

#2015-04-02 04:17:09, as written by BurningBridges

In an effort to waste as many extra seconds as possible, Jane sent off another text message to Sebastian, this time being more elaborate than her earlier one-word response.

To: Seb
Unfortunately meaning unfortunately yes I will be at school, not unfortunately I get to see you!!! I missed you I'm in the courtyard come say hi!!!

The message was sent, so she supposed it was necessary to actually be in the courtyard now that she had told him she would be. The last thing she needed was to be lying about yet another thing. Sienna's followup text only enforced that she needed to get out of the car eventually, and she was as ready now as she would ever be. She glanced back towards Piper, unsure if she would also be headed straight for the steps. It was the group's usual meeting spot but it was no secret to Jane that Piper and Sydney were far from friends. It seemed like their relationship was even worse than Sydney and Sienna's, which was certainly saying something. Besides, as forbidden as it seemed to stray away from their group, Piper had other friends. Connor, August and Dustin were just a few of the faces she had seen her with, not to mention Brent. However, Jane was sure that Brent was just as much of a "friend" to Piper as he was to her, and that wasn't at all.

"I'll be on the steps!" she informed Piper as she stepped out of the car. She tried to sound enthusiastic and excited, but it was hard. As happy as she was going to be to see Sienna and Sydney after so long, she was nervous. She was nervous to deal with their reactions to her absence, Sydney's wrath over not being informed, about school starting, and about being back at home where her old habits were so easy to pick up. More than anything, she wanted to go home and curl back up in her warm bed. She was convinced that she just needed one more day's worth of rest before she would be able to face everyone, but she wasn't going to get that, and before she knew it, Sydney and Sienna were only feet away. If her thoughts weren't clouded with her own panic, she would have commented on how strange it was to see the two girls looking so comfortable in each other's presence. While outsiders probably suspected that they were as close of friends as they portrayed, Jane knew, probably better than anyone else, how false that was.

She walked slowly and lightly up the steps and unwillingly removed her sunglasses from her face and tucked them into her bag before reaching the girls. For a split second, she froze. Now that she was standing in front of her best friends, a mix of emotions washed over her. She wanted to hug them and tell them how much she missed them. She wanted to be honest and explain that what she thought she had under control had gotten out of hand way too quickly and even though she didn't want help, she needed it. She would apologize for missing Sydney's birthday and Sienna's summer tour and promise them that for now on, she would be upfront about things. It would have been the better long-term option but Jane was all about short-term fixes and if she could avoid telling the truth and dealing with those emotions for even five more minutes, she would.

In that second, she had convinced herself that even the truth wouldn't be enough of a good reason to excuse her from being bombarded with questions, so lying was the only option. However, she wasn't going to lie unless she had to. For now, she was going to do what she was good at: avoiding.

It wasn't hard for her to switch from a nervous, internally-freaking out Jane to the bubbly and exuberant one she was known as. She had spent years of hiding her illness doing just that, and when she approached with a bright smile on her face and a cheerful tone, it felt natural. "Good morning girlies!" She hugged Sienna first. She had been the only one of the pair to respond to her texts over the past few days and her relationship with Sienna was always fun. There was no way that she was going to reject affection from her, Jane decided. "I passed Esmee on my way and she looks so cute. I can't believe that girl is already in high school!" She was more noticeably nervous when her gaze shifted towards Sydney and in that moment, she looked like the ice cold queen bee that people feared rather than her childhood best friend. She didn't throw herself onto Sydney like she had to Sia, and instead, extended her arms only halfway. "Can I get a hug?" she batted her eyelashes obnoxiously, but her grin showed that she knew she had something to feel guilty about. "I still don't know what I'm wearing tonight. Can we go shopping after the assembly?" It seemed like a good way to keep the conversation moving, without turning the focus on her too much.

Setting

Manhattan, NY

Characters Present

0.00 INK

#2015-04-04 03:24:45, as written by StarStruck

It wasn't fair that it had to be Jane betraying her. If it was Piper, Charlotte, Kelley, maybe even Sienna, it would have been very easy for Sydney to simply act like they weren't even speaking to her. When Jane appeared, looking noticeably nervous, it seemed impossible for Sydney to just cast her off. She was her best friend, the girl she had grown up with and no matter how annoyed and offended Sydney was by her secrecy, she couldn't keep her heartless reputation up around her. That wasn't to say that Sydney was going to forget the issue or just act like everything was fine, because it wasn't. It was completely egotistical, but Sydney was victimizing herself more than she was Jane. It was Jane who was walled up in some facility for an entire summer. It was Jane who had been so sick and so desperate to conceal her illness that she couldn't even let her friends know about the problem. It was Jane who had probably spent years suffering mentally, but it was Sydney who felt like she had been betrayed. In their circle, no one kept things from Sydney, and if she found out that they were, she couldn't understand why.

It was especially hurtful that it was Jane who was hiding this from her, though. Even though she was older than both her and Sienna, she was kind of the "baby" of the group. She was the absentminded, emotional, naive and frankly, the dumb one. It couldn't have taken Sydney by more of a surprise when she found out that she was also the deceitful one. Her innocence worked to her favor though, because it kept Sydney from being too cold to her. When Jane requested a hug, Sydney forced a half-smile and allowed the brunette to wrap her arms around her. She eventually wrapped her arms around Jane as well, but made a point of pinching her in the side before pulling away. It was a little way to signal that she wasn't happy with her, and as bad as it sounds, to see if she really was thin enough to have been sent to rehab. It was no secret that Jane was always stick-thin but had it really gotten that bad that it could be considered ill? Apparently so, but it bothered Sydney that she hadn't been perceptive enough to notice. Jane was a bad friend for hiding it from her, but maybe she was a bad friend for not picking up on it, especially when the person hiding it was as transparent as Jane was.

Her eyes met Sienna's before she released Jane, and her look hardened in that moment. It was her way of shaking her head and telling Sienna that this wasn't over. She probably didn't even need to give her the look to know that the girl was on the same page as her, though. When Jane requested that someone come shopping with her, Sienna surprisingly brushed past the question and changed the subject to Piper's whereabouts. Sydney wasn't excited to see the redhead in the least bit, but she did appreciate that Sienna didn't take Jane up on the offer to go shopping, since the pair frequently did that together.

Connor showed up right after the girls had finished hugging, and luckily, he didn't stick around long. She offered him a grateful smile as he handed her a drink, but was surprised when he offered Sienna two cups as well. Since when did he take orders from anyone besides her? It bothered Sydney, but she did her best to act unfazed. That was something she would have to deal with later. For now, they had a big enough problem and if she and Sienna were in agreement on one thing, she wasn't going to ruin that for someone as trivial as Connor.

"I don't have time to go shopping." It was true. Sydney would probably spend much of the afternoon making sure that everything was going to be perfect that night. Even if she was going to have a spare hour or two, it wouldn't be nearly long enough to shop with Jane. After years of knowing the girl, she knew that if there was one thing that Jane could focus on, it was shopping. It could take hours for her to get through a department store and not only did Sydney not have the time or patience for that tonight, she wasn't going to give in to Jane like that. Winning back Sydney's trust and friendship wasn't that easy. She looked Jane over for what felt like a while, and then glanced back towards the steps, expecting to see Piper appear at any moment. She didn't know if Jane would even have a chance to answer before Piper appeared, but she was going to take the chance. Sienna was usually the dramatic one, but this morning Sydney just couldn't keep up this facade. "Are you going to explain yourself, or do you expect us to just pretend like you didn't disappear all summer?" Sydney's expression was blank but her eyes were focused on Jane, who she expected to lie. It didn't matter though, because they knew the truth, and even if she was going to follow Sienna's direction and just ask like they believed whatever lie she wanted to give them, she wanted to see Jane squirm. She deserved it.

Just as she expected, there was barely any time after she finished speaking before Piper appeared. Sydney's gaze shifted towards her, but her expression remained stone cold. She didn't respond to her inquiry about their summers. Not only did she not care to share her summer experiences with Piper, but she also knew that the girl didn't care. Just as much as Piper probably knew that Sydney hated her, she knew that Piper wasn't her biggest fan either. Which was a shame, really. Piper could have made a nice minion for her. "We were just on our way in," she said, now acknowledging Piper. It wasn't true, but she wasn't going to let Piper dictate their plans. "Ready girls?" Her eyes were now mostly focused on Sienna. Even she realized how strange it was that she was making Sienna her right hand man today, but as of this morning, she seemed to be the most genuine friend there.

Setting

Manhattan, NY

Characters Present

0.00 INK

#2015-04-04 07:58:17, as written by BurningBridges

There was consolation in Sydney's allowance of a hug, even if she did seem reluctant. The pinch to her side made Jane wince, not so much at actual pain from Sydney's touch, but because she wasn't comfortable with her body being grabbed. It was one thing to be hugged. Jane was a physical, touchy-feely person and was usually the one throwing herself onto people, but to have her skin, or what she would refer to as her "fat", acknowledged and grabbed made her grimace. She had to brush it off as Sydney just being Sydney, because Jane had no idea that she and Sienna knew about her body image issues, but it still made her uncomfortable. Maybe she deserved that, though. The amount of guilt she felt for abandoning her friends all summer and having to lie to them was untold, but she wasn't going to stop. She couldn't.

Although she got the hug she asked for, Sydney was quick to reject her shopping invitation. Even Sienna seemed to be bothered by her. Jane, normally obtuse, picked up on how Sienna brushed past her invitation for a shopping trip and asked where Piper was. She frowned at both of their reactions and anxiously ran her fingers through her ponytail. "She needed to take a call, I think," she replied in a lower and more distracted tone. Her eyes, no longer shielded by her sunglasses were looking past Sienna and Sydney in search of Piper. Jane might had been the biggest Piper-advocate in the group, and she had never wished for her presence more than now. At least if she were here, Sydney would have someone to hate more than her. Plus, Piper would side with her even if both of the other girls had magically formed a bond strong enough to gang up on her.

Piper didn't show up fast enough because just as Jane thought that she was in the clear of having to face an interrogation before the assembly, Sydney cut to the chase. "Are you going to explain yourself, or do you expect us to just pretend like you didn't disappear all summer?" Her best friend's tone was cold and if she wasn't listening, it could have been mistaken for the voice she would use to address Piper, or an underclassman who might have accidentally bumped into her in the hallway. She froze. What was she supposed to say?! Sydney's expression was probably blank, but Jane's mind talked it up as if the blonde was shooting daggers at her. She glanced at Sienna, hoping that maybe she would step in and change the subject, but her expression looked like she was expecting an honest answer just as much as Sydney.

"My mom and I were in A-" She was a second away from blurting out the completely unrealistic excuse of a story that she and her mother had spent the summer in Africa volunteering in some poor, off the grid village, when God answered her prayers. Piper. Jane's expression changed from that of a deer in headlights to one of utter relief. She instantly broke eye contact from Sienna and Sydney and made a blatant attempt to keep it away from them. Sydney's priorities seemed to shift, at least temporarily, to one-upping Piper, as she responded to the girl's innocent suggestion that they head inside by claiming that they were already planning on doing that. Jane was more willing to join the group heading inside, and pressed herself closer to Piper, her new closest alliance, when doing so. The welcome back presentations were always boring enough to nearly put Jane to sleep, but she was more than eager to be forced to sit in silence for hours if it meant that no one could question her. She had avoided the confrontation for now, and that was enough for her in the moment.

As they walked in, she could barely focus on the tons of familiar faces around her, when the girls closest to her seemed to hate her. Jane was being dramatic, since even she knew that if Sienna or Sydney actually hated her, there was no way they would be walking into the school with her, but there was no denying that their interactions had been cold. Sydney was probably going to be a lost cause until they actually had a chance to speak alone, which Jane was more than happy to avoid for now, but maybe she could get Sienna back on her team. Despite being only a few feet away, she shot her a quick text, knowing that Sydney would probably shoot down the attempt if it was at all verbal.

To: Sienna
Omg why does she hate me?

Setting

Manhattan, NY

Characters Present

0.00 INK

#2015-04-05 18:25:39, as written by Girl2Fine2

Sienna couldn't help but soften her expression more at the dejected look in Jane's eyes when she didn't contend to going along with their shopping antics like usual. That had not been out of being mean and she was used to mostly speaking her thoughts. Which had not happened, surprisingly, which was why Sienna realized that this was a serious matter at hand. She usually would have hissed out of frustration that Jane was late or had (if that had been the case) that the wench had left them high and dry - again. She would have been fuming and not even the espresso-infused cup of chocolate she was going to receive from Connor would have satiated her hunger for something. However, this was Jane and well, Sienna held many grudges over the years, like when she made it very clear that one of the group's favorite little minions, Claire, would never be invited to any of her parties without at least some sucking up for an entire week because the girl had slept with Vincent last year. But Jane wasn't a minion or some girl who had wronged her like the one she was currently siding with. And Sienna couldn't be mean to her, not forever.

When Connor came, Sienna offered him a very bright smile of appreciation and would have given him his money for the drinks had he not immediately set to leaving. The warmth from both beverages, which now took up both of her hands, felt good against her skin and she took a sip of her own, allowing the salty flake to melt in the warmth of chocolate, espresso and caramel.

She was just about to explain to Jane that she had studio time and would have loved to spend time with her though when Sydney cut right to the chase. Sienna sharply turned to Sydney, a bit taken aback but not surprised by Sydney's refusal to allow the lies to continue. Understanding that the situation called for it, Sienna turned back to face Jane fully, shifting on her feet idly when Jane appeared ready to give some kind of answer. However, Piper's voice cut in over their favorite brunette's and the annoyance of both blondes was probably tangible. Or, at least, it was visible on Sienna's face, if only for a few seconds. Unlike Sydney, Sienna didn't not like Piper. Piper was pretty cool and between Sydney and Piper sometimes, Sienna liked the redhead just a bit more because Sydney had the capacity to push Sienna towards violence. However, considering the fact that there were no such inclinations at the moment and the fact the redhead (though unwittingly) disrupted a serious situation, Sienna was not exactly a fan of Piper at the moment. Not that it kept her from greeting her. Besides, Sienna didn't just turn away a compliment! "Oh, thanks, sweetie," she replied cheerily, rearranging her bag on her shoulder. "Yeah, I think summer was pretty good. There were a good number of revelations," Sienna stated, looking directly at Jane for a minute before returning her gaze to Piper with a salacious wink. "And a whole lot more fun that I can't wait to talk about later." It was probably mean of her to keep Jane on her toes, but it was too late to take it back.

When Piper inquired of them heading inside, it was as if Sydney had called to her without words because Sienna's gaze immediately went to the queen bee without question. She nodded discreetly and set to following Sydney as the girls headed inside. It was still a surprise that they had not clashed on anything yet, though Sienna was not privy to accepting this standstill. She was too used to Sydney's underhanded jabs and sly words to truly feel at ease in her presence. At the same time, they were on the same team at the moment. Granted, their reasoning and ways of interpreting the situation was different. Sydney felt like it was a personal stab for Jane to not tell her, Sienna thought it may have been indicative of how Jane truly felt. That maybe she didn't trust neither Sydney nor Sienna enough with her illness. Like with anyone who had a different sexuality, background or disease, the person deciding to tell you would only make that decision if they thought you were trustworthy and that they could allow themselves to be vulnerable with you. Sienna may not have truly vented to Jane about the true extents of her feelings towards Vincent and their separation (not to mention Sydney's involvement in it) or even to the girls about her woes with her mother, but surely they had been friends, right? Jane should have been able to trust her and yet, she had not and Sienna was angry only because, damn...she thought they were better than that. Maybe it was still selfish or even spoke to Sienna's own insecurities, but it was all too complicated at the moment to contemplate any further.

At the moment, while she heard her phone ping at receiving a text message, she couldn't rearrange the drinks to answer it. It was only when they had gotten inside, though not that far in, that Sienna saw Hailey still with Vincent and a few friends. Pleased, Sienna was the first to break from the group to get to the others a bit faster. "Hey, guys!" she exclaimed, forgetting all about Sydney and Charlotte not getting along at the moment. She smiled at Hailey while handing her fellow singer her drink. "Seems I've caught up with you. I hope someone," she eyed Vincent surreptitiously, "didn't give you a hard time." Turning to Charlotte, Sienna beamed. "Morning, Madam President." She said, giving Charlotte a sideways hug in pursuit of her phone.

Setting

Manhattan, NY

Characters Present

0.00 INK

#2015-04-09 19:03:10, as written by StarStruck

Walking into Contance Billard brought the same reaction from classmates that it did every year on the first day. Younger girls, if they dared, would wave or say hello to Sydney and the others, sometimes to be awarded with a response and other times to be ignored. Boys would stare, sometimes audibly making fun of their friends for gawking so obviously. And their group of four would walk in with heads held high, knowing that they owned the school. This year, that was much easier since they were definitely at the top of the food chain now. They were seniors. This was their year. Sydney would have preferred to come into it with Jane and Sienna on her side, and she couldn't have been more surprised that out of the two of them, it was Sienna that she was preferring in the moment. She wouldn't have minded if Piper had fallen off the face of the earth this summer too and never returned, but even if Sydney wouldn't admit it, Piper's beauty didn't hurt their group. It probably helped it, if anything.

Sydney liked to be selective with who she socialized with in public. She had enemies, that was for sure, but many of her poor relationships consisted of her acting friendly to the person to their face and attempting to ruin them behind their back. She didn't genuinely like most of the people who came up to greet her that morning, and was far from Sienna's level of friendly, even towards the people that she did sometimes socialize with. She sipped her coffee as she watched Sienna separate from them and run over to Connor, Charlotte, Vincent and Hailey. She hoped that Piper would follow. Sydney and Piper were far from friends and she was sure that Piper liked Sienna better than Jane anyway. If Jane dared to distance herself though, Sydney would have snapped. She was already waiting for her friend's response from her earlier question, but figured that she had made her point enough earlier than to bring it up again. Besides, as far as Jane knew, Sydney had far more important things to worry about than whatever "vacation" she went on.

"Ask Nicole to pick you up something to wear while we're here," she said in a tone that came closer to an order than a suggestion. Remembering Sienna's earlier thought that Jane might end up skipping out on school, Sydney wouldn't have been surprised if she skipped out on the party too, claiming that she had nothing to wear and couldn't come. While Sydney had enough minions to go around, she wasn't going to spend her night with them. They weren't real friends, and even she knew that her good streak with Sienna wasn't going to last forever. It would only be a matter of time before the two were back at each other's throats, probably initiated by Sydney too. "I'm wearing black, so you can wear white." Sydney had decided on wearing black as soon as she chose the party's theme, but had only just decided that she wanted Jane in white. Maybe because she knew that Jane probably would have opted for black on her own, since everyone claims to look thinner in black. Maybe just because she liked the control that she could exert over Jane. Both Sienna and Piper had too big of mouths to let her demand them around in such a way, although that didn't stop her from doing so occasionally.

She was going to let Jane think their conversation about her summer was over for now, she decided definitely. Her attention had flitted towards the group that Sienna had joined, and her eyes locked onto Vincent's form. She didn't know if she would be audacious enough to go through with it later on, but he was looking good enough for her to want a repeat of their July 4th night together. Her guard fell for a few seconds but she quickly snapped her head back to Jane when she felt like she had been looking for too long. "Where's Sebastian?" It was completely random but she needed some change of topic to cover up for what she felt like was her being obviously googly eyed at Vincent.

Setting

Manhattan, NY

Characters Present

0.00 INK

#2015-04-10 16:42:34, as written by insouciance

Sebastian's phone buzzed with an incoming text as his driver pulled up to the front gates of Constance Billards. Fishing out his phone from his jeans pocket, Sebastian read both of Jane's texts and smiled, getting out of the car to go and find Jane in the courtyard.
However, just as he began making his way over to her, Jane walked into the school building with Sydney and some of her other friends. Rolling his eyes ever so slightly, Sebastian continues to follow them in. Jane obviously wasn't feeling very patient this morning as she hadn't bothered to wait for him - Regardless of her being the one who texted him to meet up.

Brushing it off, Sebastian surveys the other people arriving at the school and notices Lee. Stopping just in front of him to say hello, Sebastian stands there in silence for a split second, forgetting about what happened, before remembering and awkwardly moving on. His cheeks hot. Well that was more than just a little embarrassing. Taking a deep breath in an attempt to clear his head, Sebastian walks to the large doors that lead into the building and pushes them open, letting them swing shut behind him.

Inside, small clusters of people stood in the hallways, all chatting and laughing. Sebastian smiled slightly at the familiar sight; despite abhorring the academic side of school, Sebastian loved how social it was and had missed seeing all of his friends daily.

Seeing Jane, Sydney and Piper all standing together, Sebastian is about to make his way over before sensing the tension between the three of them. He wasn't too sure what had happened, but he assumed that he wasn't the only one Jane neglected to tell her plans to before vanishing this Summer, and while he may forgive her immediately, Sebastian knew Sydney was a lot harder to win over.
Deciding that if this was the case, Jane might want his support, Sebastian begins walking over to the three of them. Before he is stopped in his tracks by the sight of familiar blonde hair.

Was that Hailey? No it didn't make sense, she didn't go to Constance, and besides it wasn't like Hailey was the only blonde in the world. In fact, since Syndey's rise in popularity, the amount of (fake) blondes in the school had become overwhelming, all styling their hair like hers in the hopes to be just as popular as Sydney Vale.

Thinking that he may as well know for sure if it is, in fact, Hailey. Sebastian walks over to where the blonde stood, her head turned away from him. The girl then moves her head to look around at everyone and Sebastian gets a glimpse of her face. It was definitely Hailey.
Still confused but also incredibly happy, Sebastian lets out an excited "Hailey!" as he pulls the girl he hasn't seen for months and months into an embrace.

Setting

Manhattan, NY

Characters Present

0.00 INK

#2015-04-10 19:07:48, as written by Girl2Fine2

Sienna winked back at Charlotte for their ever-present nickname exchange just as she finally reached her phone. She took a sip of her coffee before peering down at her phone, a small smile flitting across her face at the sight of a message from Isabella. She really wanted to see the brunette before they all went their separate ways, but her schedule probably wouldn't permit it. While Jane and Piper may have had time to blow and Sydney might very well make be making sure that everything was perfect for the party tonight - which Sienna had no problem with since she was exactly the same way - but Sienna did not have that luxury. She had to be prepared for school while also getting out music, which was always a hassle. And it infringed on a lot of her free time and she was pretty sure she was going develop an actual addiction to coffee in the near future, if she wasn't already addicted now.

Her eyes moved over to Jane and Piper as they disconnected from Sydney somewhat, watching the brunette with a smile still on her face. Sienna's habit of holding grudges just could not last - not when it came to Jane. And if there was one thing that she and her friend shared in common other than their loves for fashion and partying, it was their emotions. They felt things too deeply, far less composed than the icy queen bee. Granted, Sienna had her moments where she could be quietly vengeful and exchanging underhanded digs were just like second nature, but even she could not always hold it together. So, she was unsurprised by Jane's thinking that Sydney hated her. She just didn't want her to think that it was actually fact. Which was why she decided to text her back.

To: Jane
Nobody hates u, J. We all need 2 talk. No running. I can stall 4 the nite but its important.

Sienna returned her attention to the group, nodding to Hailey absentmindedly when the new girl thanked her for her drink. Her eyes, without much restraint, fell back on Vincent. She didn't mean to look at him, didn't mean to allow her gaze to rake over him in appreciation as she did. Definitely not little Vince anymore, her brain decided to taunt her, which was completely necessary because Sienna had noticed the change. Oh, she had noticed. Had taken all of this into account over the years - how much more lean he became, how his jaw line suddenly became more defined, how - no matter what - his eyes were still the same shade of blue...

Her gaze immediately sought out Sydney only for her lips to form a small smile. Just before Sydney's mask slipped back on, Sienna had seen it. Hunger. Appreciation. Entitlement. Lust. Perhaps the "entitlement" part was simply Sienna feeling suddenly bitchy, but she couldn't help it. She had to look away, concentrating on Hailey who said they should probably head inside and Charlotte who more than readily agreed. She should have known this would happen. She and Sydney could never truly get along, not unless this Vincent thing was out in the open. It was probably highly irrational for her to be as upset and despite any efforts on her part, the conflicted emotions were probably evident on her face. She didn't have a hold on Vincent anymore. He had made that clear when he wound up in bed with Sydney when they were still dating and even when he slept with another girl nearly a day or so after they officially broke up. That thought didn't, however, rid of her of the jealousy brewing inside of her.

"You're right. We should go before the Head comes out and throws a bitch fit," she said monotonously, hating herself for the edge still in her voice. She stepped away from the group then, not afraid to break away from her clique. Unlike Sydney and sometimes the others, Sienna had no problem with identifying herself with other groups. Her life revolved around remaining as open as possible, partly because she had always been friendly but also as a marketing tool. Her face and voice made her marketable, the curvy body she was growing into made her even more marketable, but it was her personality that truly sold everything. Besides, when she needed a break from her friends - when something Sydney did made her emotions all the more visible and barely contained - a refresher like talking to the girl from her biology class was sure to do the trick. However, she did not come in alone and turned back to call for Hailey only for the blonde to be engulfed in a tight hold.

Sienna almost dropped her coffee.

When she and Sebastian had hooked up last year, it had been more out of the heat of the moment than actual feelings. Which Sienna had felt just a bit bad for after the fact. She hated meaningless flings and sleeping around. It was a waste of time and sure, it sounded fun. She just didn't do it as often as people thought she did. However, once their fling fizzled or perhaps they simply both agreed to let it pass, she hadn't seen him again. She had heard Sydney and Jane in conversation talk about this elusive "Sebastian" figure plenty of times, and she was sure the others knew him as well. But when it came down to particular events, Sienna would have a prior engagement her mother and manager planned out, and she would always miss this figure. She had been beginning to think he didn't exist...

...until she saw Hailey being wrapped in familiar arms. Arms Sienna herself had been enveloped in. She gulped audibly, biting her lower lip as she took in the excited expression on Sebastian's face. He had been attractive back then and by God, he was gorgeous now! All tall, curly hair and pretty-eyed and she could remember why her team had chosen him as her faux boyfriend for the music video they chose. Her heart was thumping against her ribcage madly and she prayed like hell the others wouldn't notice the actual nervousness creeping onto her face. At the same time, she had to clarify - had to make this not be awkward.

"Sebastian?" She questioned, taking a step back towards him and Hailey.

Setting

Manhattan, NY

Characters Present

0.00 INK

#2015-04-12 06:01:52, as written by BurningBridges

Appearance

Piper was the only one who had agreed to go shopping with Jane after the morning assembly, but she readily took her up on the offer. They spent a couple of hours parading through department stores and smaller boutiques. Jane bought multiple potential dresses from every store they stopped in, but no matter how many outfits she tried on and purchased, she wasn't able to find one that really felt right. All of them were white, the color Sydney had demanded she wear, and normally, Jane wouldn't have thought too far into the color. She liked white, at least before labor day, but today she was feeling exceptionally self conscious about her body. Black would compliment her frame much better and maybe hide the ten pounds she had gained over the summer.

She had dropped Piper off before the redhead could suggest that they stop and get lunch and only minutes after returning home, had fallen back asleep. The stress of her morning, the interactions with Sydney and Sienna, and her clothing crisis, were definitely wearing on her. She wouldn't admit it, but her zero-calorie intake for the day wasn't helping easier. Months ago, it wasn't difficult for her to get through the day on a couple hundred calories. However, the program that she had been in had reintroduced her body to nutrition and now that it was used to being fed properly, it didn't want to stop. Sleeping was the only way to shut those cravings down, but when she woke up hours later to the sound of knocking on her door, the hunger pangs crept right back up on her.

"Your father wants you to eat with us tonight, Jane." Being woken up by Nicole twice in one day was doing nothing to help the hatred that Jane already had for her stepmother. She ignored the continuous knocks, glad that she had remembered to lock her door before passing out earlier. After a few similar comments, the knocking subsided but Jane couldn't go back to sleep anyway. It was eight o'clock and she had to get ready for Sydney's party. She had only managed to change out of the outfit she had put on earlier and into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt when the pestering knocks returned. The voice on the other side of the door was different this time though. It was her father's. "Jane , vous avez besoin de se asseoir et manger avec nous ce soir." He wasn't being nasty and he didn't sound upset, but just the fact that she was going to be forced to sit down and eat dinner with them pissed her off. She expected it, but part of her hoped that she would be able to come home to the careless and work-obsessed father that had raised her. "Je sais! Je me habillais. Je ai dit à Nicole je serais en bas dans une minute. Dieu, vous deux sont tellement agaçante!" She insisted that she had told Nicole that she was on her way down, which was a lie, but her father probably knew that already. Her answer was bratty, something that probably would have resulted in a fiery reaction from a normal parent, but Adrian was satisfied enough that she wasn't going to argue about eating to brush it off.

Minutes later, she appeared in the dining room, apparently looking like she had just rolled out of bed because her appearance seemed to garner a reaction in Nicole. Her eyebrow quirked and Jane was sure that she saw the woman smirk, but it might have just been her need to find something to hate about her. "Comment vous sentez-vous?" Maybe her dad noticed her pale and tired expression too, because he asked her how she was feeling as soon as she sat down. It was an impossible question to answer, or at least it would have been impossible for her to answer without bursting into tears. She was tired, her head was pounding, she was still sure that Sydney hated her even after Sienna denied it, she didn't even think that Sienna liked her anymore after she rejected a shopping trip, she was going to look disgusting in white, and now she was being forced to eat in front of her father and evil stepmother. "Fine," she mumbled. Two servers brought out their plates only moments later, which Jane was grateful for because it meant that they could take a break from small talk, but which she resented in a greater amount for more obvious reasons.

"Nicole suggested we have penne alla vodka tonight. It's your favorite, right?" He had opted to speak in English now since Nicole wasn't as fluent in French as the Lynch's were, and he wanted Nicole to know that he was making an effort to unite his daughter and wife. He was right that it was one of her favorite meals, which made her hate Nicole even more. It would have been easy to take a few bites out of something that she disliked but especially since she was hungry, it was going to be hard not to clean her plate. "It was my favorite when I was like... ten," she replied, though her eyes were more focused on her plate than anything else. She didn't notice Nicole eyeing her father, reassuring him that he was doing his best and that at least she appreciated him.

By the time the meal was over and Jane was finally excused from the table, she had eaten half of the food on her plate which was a big step for her, but she was also craving alcohol. Enough alcohol where she would black out. In addition, there was no way she was wearing white. After all of those calories, she needed every bit of help to disguise her growing frame.

To: Piper
Ur right. I'm gonna wear black tn. Syd won't care that much right??

Her closet was filled with clothes that had never been worn. She usually purged the items after each season and allowed her father to donate them to auctions, knowing she would never wear something from a past season. She was glad that she hadn't had a chance to do that before leaving for Illinois last spring, because at least now she still had some black items to work with. After a bit of searching, she paired a black hemmed mini skirt with a long-sleeved off the shoulder top, and black pointed pumps. She put on minimal makeup and straightened her hair since she was keeping it down.

It was almost 9:10 when Jane pulled up in front of Sydney's building, but she had her driver park around the block. She wasn't going in yet, especially after a text from Sydney suggested that Sienna wasn't there yet either. She couldn't go in first. Not with Sydney on her case about the summer, and especially not now that she wasn't wearing the correct color.

To: Jane, Sienna
Are either of you here yet?

To: Sebastian
Are you at Syd's?!?!

Setting

Manhattan, NY

Characters Present

0.00 INK

#2015-04-12 06:31:20, as written by Girl2Fine2

{Sienna's Outfit|| Pre-Game Jam|| Esmee's Outfit}

When Sienna finally awoke again, it was just a few minutes pass seven and she could honestly care less about anything other than the cloud she called a mattress. Seriously, if the assembly - which was not long at all, to be completely honest - had not already drained her just by having been made mandatory for all students, then the four hours she spent in the studio after that had done a number on her. In order to achieve her goal of getting the tape released on the due date she specified, it required that she be done with two of her songs before the month was out. So, the majority of her afternoon had been spent going back-and-forth between the isolation booth and the control room, working with looping and different modifications that would fit the sound she wanted to accomplish. As much as she loved her career and the many opportunities it brought her, to say Sienna had been glad to leave was an understatement.

After that, it had been around three in the afternoon and she did have time to actually check in with Jane to see if she and Piper were still shopping. After all, Sydney wouldn't be there and the last thing Sienna needed was for Sydney to even think about telling her what to wear for the party. She would be damned. Still, shopping had been the last thing on her mind and when Esmee proposed a relaxing spa day at Caudalie at the Plaza, Sienna was all for it. It was one of her favorite places and relaxation was the only way she was going to not skip out on Sydney's party. That and the fact that she honestly did not feel like arguing with the other blonde yet. They had actually started their day out on a good note, which was a refresher. Once there, Sienna decided on the whole nine yards. She had wanted a Pulp Friction Massage which included the use of fresh grapes, leaving her skin cocooned in a long-lasting softness that she absolutely loved. She also got the Grand Facial along with both a manicure and pedicure, leaving her to walk out of the establishment with a satisfied belly due to the wine and snacks provided and an equally sated body. Which had made itself very comfortable on her bed the second the girls returned. It was almost tempting to claim sick and remain in her current state, donning only a tank top and sweatpants.

"Are you serious right now?" Esmee exclaimed, walking into Sienna's bedroom as if she owned the place. The singer curled away from her sister, pulling her blanket over her head. Esmee sighed, hands on her hips, before a smirk formed. Deviously, she bounced on top of the bed, landing directly on top of her sister to which Sienna whined. Esmee sighed again, this time more dramatically, as she sprawled on top of her big sister's covered form. "Come on, Sia! The sky is awake, so now I'm awake, and now we have to play." She recited the lines from Frozen almost verbatim and Sienna, despite pretending to sob out of pain, couldn't help but chuckle. "Go away, Ana." Esmee laughed and tugged at the blankets Sienna used as a shield. "No! I am not missing my first Upper East Side party because you're feeling lazy," she stated in a matter-of-fact tone and Sienna rolled her eyes in response. "Besides, you promised you'd do my makeup and my hair, and I can't just show up without one of the hottest party girls in New York." Like always, Esmee knew exactly what to say to get her big sister moving and as Sienna would tell anyone, flattery could get them anywhere! A slow smirk flitted across Sienna's face. "I am pretty hot, aren't I?" Esmee groaned and rolled her eyes before shoving a pillow in the senior's face. "Just get up and take a shower."

Luckily for Sienna, she had already decided upon her outfit for the evening. So, she was allowed to take her twenty minute shower while Esmee rummaged through her closet looking for just the right dress. Not that Esmee didn't have a closet of her own and Sienna didn't already give her clothes on a regular basis or anything. "You're your own boutique," she had once told the pop star when Sia fake-complained. When she emerged from the bathroom, freshly showered and reeking of her signature jasmine-vanilla scent, Esmee already had a white cocktail dress with lace designs situated on Sienna's bed along with a pair of Giuseppe Zanotti shoes Sienna had bought her for her birthday. Sienna could only smile fondly as the girl seemed distracted by her phone, giggling at whatever messages the brunette seemed to be exchanging with her friends via a group message tab. Shaking her head in amusement, Sienna walked into her closet where her ensemble for the evening lay waiting. Once Sydney had let it be known what the theme for her party was going to be, Sienna had been clear that she wasn't going to be confined by one color specifically. She didn't like the look of herself with all black on and while white was cute, it was rather plain. So, she had decided on a short white-and-black chic playsuit from Miss Selfridge. The plunging neckline and the fact that it clung to her bust line had her using only her invisible bra and its length showed off her second best feature - her long, sleek tanned legs. Pairing it with a strappy pair of Christian Louboutin's, Sienna knew she was going to be fire for the night. It was never a spoken competition, but she had always prided herself on at least beating Sydney at something and that was fashion. Sydney was the queen of the school, had seemingly perfect grades (that she didn't always earn herself, if honesty was still a thing), and everyone wanted her or wanted to be her. Surely, there had to be some middle ground - some position Sienna could take that would allow her some kind of reprieve in the perfection that was the queen bee. And fashion seemed to be that place.

"I hate you," Esmee said the second Sienna stepped out of the large closet. Sienna cocked her head to the side curiously, closing the doors behind her. Esmee's eyes raked over her sister's slim form, shaking her head all the while. "I really hate you sometimes. Like, who do you think you are sometimes?" The playful note on the end of her admiring looks left Sienna smiling a little sheepishly; she wasn't always used to the open admiration Esmee gave her sometimes and still didn't understand why Esmee wouldn't want to emulate Cynthia or Sydney more. Those two were absolute perfection and Sienna was a pretty mess. To cover up her own insecurities, however, Sienna painted on a haughty grin. "The greatest, duh!" Esmee exhaled dramatically at that and Sienna only chuckled, heading over to her vanity to get started on the rest of her appearance. Before deciding on jewelry or even her makeup, Sienna wanted to get her hair out of the way. Especially considering the fact that she had not thought of Esmee's look yet and was more than happy to allow her sister the time to raid her jewelry box and admire her petite frame in the mirror. As Esmee ran out to find some Givenchy earrings she thought would really pop with her outfit, Sienna was already twisting her long and thick hair at the back of her head. The waves at the end of her hair would need a slight touch-up with the curler, but the overall look was simple enough and done by the time Esmee returned to her bedroom. She hadn't even noticed one of her favorite songs playing through Esmee's Pandora station.

"Don't forget to have your phone fully charged in case you leave with your friends before me," Sienna reminded her baby sister as she sanitized her hands. She didn't typically allow herself to touch her face directly after working with her hair, opting to keep her skin as clear and as clean as possible. Especially after the nice facial she had earlier and the fact that she had just exfoliated this morning. The focus of her makeup was more on the sexy red lip, provided by NYX. It made her naturally tanned skin stand out more and the dramatic eyeliner and mascara made her brown eyes pop even more. It made her look sexy and edgy, and she completed her look with several pieces of jewelry with accents of gold. The statement necklace was her overall favorite for the night. Satisfied with her look, Sienna whirled in her chair to face Esmee, who had just slid on her heels. Esmee whistled. "Remind me to let you do my wedding." A playful eyebrow rose as Sienna shot back, "Who said anyone else was gonna do it?" Before Esmee could come up with a retort, Sienna was quick to stand. "Just sit your tail in this chair so we can hurry up and go. I wouldn't be surprised if Sydney's already texted me."

It didn't take long to have Esmee's hair and makeup finished, the latter taking the longest. Sienna thought a sleek look for the night would suit her baby sister better and dramatic makeup in an otherwise drab - not that Esmee didn't look good, Sienna still had her reserves about wearing just white - attire just made Esmee stand out. After deeming their ensembles for the night acceptable, Sienna snatched up both her phone and her Chloe clutch, spritzed herself with her signature perfume, and then led Esmee out. Cynthia had gone out for a late show and dinner with her own group of friends, so she wouldn't see her two babies out. And well, Marcel would probably die if he saw the dress that only touched the middle of his youngest child's thighs and the neckline of his eldest daughter's attire, so it was probably a good thing that he was staying at his other place. It was around 9:10 when she decided to check her messages, their driver close to pulling up in front of Sydney's place. Already it was jam-packed, but Sienna was not worried. There had been too many times in the past where she had cut lines and tonight would not be the night that that changed. Besides, Sydney probably had expected her to be there on time and everyone knew Sienna didn't show up to things on time. At least, not parties. Anything else, she was more than prompt for. Also, she wasn't sure if Jane was there or not.

"Ready to do this, Minnie Me?" She asked, looking back at Esmee who had been wringing her hands. "Y-yeah, totally." Esmee sounded just a bit shaky now, considering the fact that their limo had pulled up right outside of the building where the line had formed for entry. Sienna only smirked and squeezed her sister's hand briefly, pulling her out of the limo when Sienna made her grand appearance. It wasn't really that grand, but the fact that the paparazzi seemed to be outside of the building only made it that much of a spectacle and Sienna could only grin cheekily, waving off her driver. Making sure that Esmee had gotten in despite a few Constance girls who had not gotten an invitation being there first, Sienna decided to send a few messages, opting to wait outside to see if she would have any of her friends coming in with her.

To: Sydney, Jane
Sister moments. Omw

To: Jane
I'm outside Syd's building. Where r u?

To: Piper
Where's my fave fashionista?

To: Isabela
U crashin dis party or nah?

Setting

Manhattan, NY

Characters Present

0.00 INK

#2015-04-13 05:39:37, as written by BurningBridges

Jane didn't think her arms were tan enough to pull off a sleeveless dress but she was more than grateful when, after a bit of Spanish that Jane couldn't attempt to translate, Esmee agreed to switch outfits with her. "You're my favorite Alvarez by far," she squealed, refusing to let the freshman keep the pointed look on her face as she hugged her tightly. "And if we aren't counting your brothers or your parents, then you're my second favorite," she said to Sienna, unable to resist an innocent grin from forming on her face. She owed the blonde just as much of a thanks as she did Esmee, since she had been the one to set up the exchange and convince her sister to switch, but Jane didn't think it through that much. She was just glad that someone was switching with her and she when she did see Sydney, she would be looking angelic in white. Hopefully angelic enough that the blonde wouldn't dare to ream her too badly for showing up late.

"Switch bras with me," Jane said as she tossed her strapless black bra under the stall door to Esmee, who was in the one next to her. The black one was too visible under Esmee's white dress and aside from Jane finding that to be tacky, it would be suspicious to anyone who had any sense of fashion. She had only just gotten Esmee's clipped on when she heard Piper's voice in the bathroom that had been empty aside from her and the Alvarez sisters moments before. "Piper?" She wanted to confirm that it was the redhead but instead of answering, Piper's head appeared under the stall door. "Hey!" she screeched as she thrust the white dress in front of her body. She was wearing underwear and she was close enough with Piper and the other two girls in the stall that if she wasn't so self-conscious about her body, she would have been perfectly fine with them seeing her like that. Now, she doubted that she even would have been comfortable with Piper seeing her in a bathing suit, had they met up the day before on Long Island. "Can you not?!" She tried to be annoyed but was more embarrassed than anything. Once the dress was put on and shoes re-strapped, she stepped outside of the stall. "Does it look okay?" She looked between Piper and Sienna in an unsure manner. The dress was gorgeous. Sienna wouldn't have let her sister step out of the house in anything that wasn't, but Jane barely thought that anything looked right on her nowadays. Even if it didn't look good, she didn't have many other options.

When Esmee reappeared from the other bathroom stall, looking sexy as ever, Jane frowned a bit. How did the younger girl look better than her in white and black? She wanted to resent her for having such a perfect figure when she remembered that it was Esmee who had helped her out tonight. "I owe you a million things from Sienna's closet for switching with me," she beamed with a giggle. "Should we go up? I'm sure Syd's waiting for us." Not like any of them were probably in a rush to see her. Jane knew that she wasn't, at least, which made her feel uncomfortable. Sydney was her best friend. It wasn't normal to be scared to see your best friend. "Maybe we should get drinks before we find her," she quickly suggested. Drinks always made things easier.

Setting

Manhattan, NY

Characters Present

0.00 INK

#2015-04-13 06:08:42, as written by Girl2Fine2

Sienna was leaning against the bathroom sink, scrolling through her Instagram feed to see pics of her outside of the building already posted online. Which was creepy and slightly on the stalker-ish side, but she wasn't going to make it that much of a big deal. When the bathroom door swung open, Sienna smiled. It was Piper, who was looking absolutely adorable at the moment. "And you're looking as gorgeous as ever." She replied easily, pulling out the pink lipstick she had used for Esmee. Her sister probably would want a small touch-up as a small consolation until they returned home where Sienna's dress would be waiting for her. When Piper commented about the night possibly going off without a hitch, Sienna only snickered. "The night's still young and we've got plenty of time to fuck shit up." She said with a knowing grin. It was the Upper East Side. It was New York. Everything happened here. After a few minutes of the two girls in the stalls exchanging clothing items, Jane was the first to emerge and instantly, Sienna was on her Jane-must-be-protected-at-all-costs mode.

No matter how much she got annoyed with Sydney or her occasional suspicions about Piper, Sienna was fiercely protective of her friends or anyone she cared about. Her love for people went deep, sometimes too deep. Which was why it's been so hard for her to actually remain in a real relationship since Vincent. So, seeing the distressed expression on Jane's face about her appearance - particularly after Esmee had come out looking like she owned the black outfit the senior had come in in, it was easy for her to boost her friend's confidence. "You look hella sexy right now, J. If I swung that way, I'd definitely be trying to take you home tonight." She assured Jane, giving the brunette a quick hug. She then turned to Esmee, who was making a face. "Stop with the face before I kiss you." Esmee immediately recoiled while stealthily swiping the lipstick from Sienna's clutches. "Ewww! Save the cooties for your future husband," Esmee griped back, leaving Sienna to gape as her little sister hurried out the bathroom to catch up to her friends. "That little sneaky bitch..." She hissed.

Sienna made it her priority to keep Vincent out of their conversations, at least where she was concerned. Oh, Vincent was in the vicinity? Great! Everyone should just say hi, exchange some pleasantries, and keep it light. She didn't delve deeply into her feelings for him - had not allowed herself when she had specifically allowed herself to cry in Jane's arms instead of Sydney's because if the blonde had offered anything more than words of consolation, Sienna would have snapped her head off. And it seemed like the girls understood that. At least, most of the time. However, Esmee wasn't the girls. She lived with Sienna. She understood the closeness of the Alvarez and Mast families. Knew that both mothers were adamant about keeping their friendship alive despite whatever had occurred between their children. Understood that no matter how much Sienna denied her connection to Vincent and that no matter how many times she told herself that she could give two fucks about him, she would come running if he needed her. Esmee was really lucky that a text had popped up on her phone because Sienna had been two seconds from snatching that little demonic offspring up and embarrassing her in front of her friends.

"Well, there's no running now," she explained to both Piper and Jane, linking arms with the two girls and leading them out of the bathroom. "She's already at the bar and no, J, we cannot avoid her. Better to get this over with than deal with her holding a resting bitch face for the rest of the night." She gave Jane a pointed stare, understanding the heiress' reluctance to see the queen bee. No one in their little circle would forget the obviously icy reception Jane received from Sydney earlier in the day. Especially not the girl who had been on the receiving end. Sienna also didn't want to deal with Sydney ruining their night before it started, so she gave Jane's hand another comforting squeeze, bumping Piper as well with her hip. "We get through this and we can turn up for the rest of the night."

They had, surprisingly, acquired the elevator space to themselves and the ride to the floor didn't take long at all. Sienna surmised that the girls who had been waiting had wanted to be respectful. It wasn't like she cared. The faster they got her to a shot of alcohol, the faster she could get her night started. Before they left, however, she found herself sending one text before sliding her phone into her clutch.

To: Vincent
Hey! U here yet?

Sienna appreciated the somewhat mellow atmosphere of the floor they landed on, wiggling her fingers at a few classmates. She noted one of the Dalton boys she had flirted with last year, though she couldn't remember his name, and shot him a coquettish smile. It wasn't hard to spot Sydney in the spacious area and she led her girls over to their queen, immediately taking in Sydney's attire. Instead of situating herself in the nervous energy that was Jane, Sienna played her best emotion: exuberance. Besides, Sydney wasn't going to put on a show at her own party, right? "Regal and phenomenal, as always, Syd. And look! The whole crew's all here. Ready to party?"

Setting

Manhattan, NY

Characters Present

0.00 INK

#2015-04-13 08:41:10, as written by Thunder

Outfit

"Dude, it fucking reeks all the way down the hall of weed. I guarantee you Long is going to be up here any second to threaten to evict us again." Brent had just walked in after spending much of the day in Greenwich Village selling to college kids. His brother had discovered a goldmine in NYU students last spring and had passed the territory on to Brent. As well as the day went, his high mood was sufficiently lowered when he returned home. Not just because his brother had become increasingly reckless about their drug use in their building, despite how persistent that their landlord Mr. Long was about them not doing that, but because "home" wasn't really home anymore. It hadn't been since his parents had relocated to Arkansas for his mother's treatment, and even more so in the past year as his brother's personal drug habits had spiraled out of control.

"Chill out, bro. When Ching Chong Chang comes I'll just blame it on Mrs. Beady down the hall. You know she lowkey hits a blunt every night." One look at Cameron, and Brent knew that he was high on something. Their apartment smelled strongly of marijuana, but that was nothing new and Cam seemed to be on something stronger. If Brent had to guess, he'd say cocaine. The white remnants on their coffee table would have confirmed that. His brother had a bright grin on his face that almost reminded Brent of the brother he used to know, years before he stopped doing the drugs and the drugs started doing him. As his gaze shifted up towards his brothers brown eyes though, he was met with emptiness. Cameron's offensive and crude sense of humor was still there, but his real self wasn't.

"She's eighty-something years old and uses an oxygen tank. I don't think that story'll go over well." Although Brent was known as the "bad boy" by his peers, he was the more sensible and reserved one when it came to the Barclay brothers. At home, he was more of the cautious nerdy kid that he was for most of his life, than the careless badass he had transformed himself into during high school. He had to be. It wasn't like Cameron was going to step up to the plate, and if both of them were as reckless as he, they'd probably be homeless or dead by now.

"What the fuck's wrong with you tonight? Damn, I'd think you'd be grateful that I didn't wake your ass up at six AM this morning like mom used to do to me every fucking morning before school starts." Brent thought that Cameron hadn't even caught his last comment, because as he had said it, a familiar blonde walked out of the bathroom and carefully placed herself on Cameron's lap. After kissing her for a good thirty seconds, he responded to Brent's remark with a hint of anger.

"You were passed out until three thirty. Not like you could've if you wanted to." He was bothered by his brother bringing up their mom, and even more so that he pointed out her absence. By now, both of them were used to their mother being sick and needing to spend most of the past few years in a different state for treatment. They wanted her to be there if it meant she had more hope for a future. But still, Brent was the baby of the family and he missed her. No matter how hard he acted, he loved his mom and would have done anything to have her back home and healthy with them.

Cameron had already returned his attention to the female, whose name had slipped Brent's mind. She had been Cameron's girlfriend for a couple of weeks and he was sure that his brother had called her Caroline, or maybe Callie. Something with a "C". All that Brent was certain of, was that she was addicted to coke and even worse, that she didn't pay for it when she used with Cameron. He didn't want to be around her any more than he wanted to be around his brother, so their impromptu make out session was enough of a reason for him to disappear into his bedroom. It was 8:30 and although he had skipped out on the first day of school this morning, he didn't plan on skipping the first party of the year too. Sydney was hosting tonight, as she did every year, and Brent knew that her house would be filled with rich dirt bags willing to drop a couple of dollars on some low grade drugs. It would be a good opportunity to make some money, get Cameron off of his back, get out of his bad-vibe apartment, and see some of the few people he actually liked.

"Wherever the fuck you're going, bring that shit with you." When Brent returned to the living room and made it obvious that he was leaving, Cameron only pulled a hand out from his girl's shirt to point to a brown paper bag on a table. "We need to start moving these pills, man. Get rid of all of that shit by the time you come home." Brent took the bag and stuffed it into his pocket, and although he wanted to tell Cameron that he should get off his ass and start moving the drugs instead of using them, he didn't. He just needed to get out of there and a fight with his drugged out brother would only spell bad news.

After stopping for one-dollar pizza, Brent boarded a subway to the upper east side. It usually took twenty minutes or so to get to Sydney's area, but he chose to get off at a stop earlier and walk the rest of the way. The air was considerably crisper than it had been at this time of day a month ago, but Brent appreciated it. He was wearing his signature leather jacket, a navy v-neck t-shirt, black skinny jeans and black high tops, so he wasn't dressing for a heat wave anyway. For the most part, his outfit fit the color standards of Sydney's party, but that was only a coincidence. He would have worn the same thing if it was a neon themed party, too.

He knew which building was Sydney's because he had been there countless times visiting her mom. It was a weird thing to think about, and Brent knew that just as much as Sydney did, but her mom was one of his best customers. The woman was as wild as a twenty-one-year-old with the bank account the size of a seventy-year-old millionaire's. He had an unspoken agreement with Sydney that he never bring up her mother, or how he knew her, as long as she turned her head the other way when he made a couple of bucks at her parties. Maybe he was blackmailing her, and maybe that was wrong, but Brent had never claimed to be a saint. Even if he hadn't known which building belonged to her, though, it would have been obvious by the long line of teenagers streaming out of one. Sydney's grandfather must have been good friends with everyone else who lived in the neighboring townhouses, since he was sure those rich pricks normally wouldn't take kindly to flashing cameras and squealing girls outside of their million dollar mansions at this hour. It took almost thirty minutes for him to inch his way to the front of the line and when he did, he was relieved that it just took saying his name once for the bouncer to let him in.

Despite being in the home many times, he wouldn't have recognized the space as being the one that he was normally in. It probably had to do with his lack of interest in decor, but Sydney had also transformed the place well for her party. He hadn't even reached the dance floor level, but the second floor of the home looked elegant and lively and he could already spot kids who he was sure would want to buy from him tonight. However, the person that caught his attention more than anyone else was someone who he had no chance of making any money off of. It was Charlotte Buchanan, the hot blonde standing a few feet away from him. Her long legs were exaggerated in lace heels and her body complimented in a tight, plunging black dress. It was enough to turn him on, even more than the normal, uptight, Little Miss Perfect usually did.

"Damn, Buchanan. I didn't think Sydney would call the Fun Police in this early in the night. What're you here to do? Pour all the vodka down the sink? Make sure that everyone has their number two pencils sharpened for the first day of classes tomorrow?" He smirked, finding it too easy to sink back into his playful banter against the girl, even after not seeing her for months. "I will say, you're looking pretty good tonight though. For a second I thought you were the fun twin. I would've expected an angel like you to be in white, but I guess you wanted to match me with the black."

To: Piper Vine
Ur gonna pass me with no hello? Damn I thought we were better friends then that. Anyway tell Jane I have a ton of pills for her. She owes me after going MIA all summer

His attention only shifted away from her briefly, as he spotted Piper, Jane and Sienna passing by. He sent a quick text out to the first of the three and then looked back towards the blonde with a small smirk. "But really, what's a girl like you doing out on a school night? Is your lover-boy/partner in presidency on his way?" Even Brent, one of the lesser involved people in the social scene thought that Charlotte and Connor were an item.

Setting

Manhattan, NY

Characters Present

0.00 INK

#2015-04-14 06:22:10, as written by StarStruck

Outfit

If Connor's continuous texts and attempts to buzz into his apartment weren't annoying enough, Kelley had spent the last two hours locked inside of his spare bedroom. He was dressed and ready to go on time, though Connor probably wouldn't believe that, and it was his cousin who was really keeping them waiting. It was as if they were at the same point that they were at twelve hours ago, with him banging his fist against her door. This time, however, the other side wasn't silent. Some rap song was blasting from Kelley's side of the door and while it was loud, he knew it wasn't loud enough to completely drown him out.

"Kell, I'm serious, Connor's about to have a heart attack down there. Would you just come out already? I'm sure you look good." Similar to the last ten similar comments, this one garnered no reaction from the blonde. He was ready to slam his hand against the door again when it swung open, revealing the girl clad in a black dress. She looked good, but when didn't she? The girl could be lying on the bathroom floor with tangled hair, reeking of the odor of alcohol and still turn guys on. As her cousin, it wasn't something that he necessarily liked, but they were close enough in age where he didn't think it was his job to approve or disapprove her behavior. She had her own older siblings for that. "Finally," he sighed with relief. As he pulled out his phone to check the time, already well aware that they were late, he found another message from Connor, along with ones from Sydney and Sienna. This time, he had to roll his eyes at Connor's. His friend was usually an easygoing guy but if anyone cut into his time to be in Sydney's presence, he threw a bitch fit.

To: Connor
Calm down dude. Oliver isn't here so it's just me and Kelley. We're on our way down rn

To: Sienna
We should be there in 5. I'm with Connor and Kelley. U gonna come find me or am I going to have to search for u?

To: Sydney
Does it matter what color my pants are? They're gonna end up on ur bedroom floor tn anyway. Regardless of whether its u in bed next to me or one of ur virgin freshman friends

When they reached Connor's car, he quickly insisted that the long wait was not his fault and Kelley had no problem owning up to it. It seemed to shut Connor up at least, and they were able to switch conversation topics onto what they expected the night to entail. Soon enough, they were pulling up in front of Sydney's building. By now, the line to get in wasn't too long. Most of the freshman or outcasts had been turned away when their name failed to show up on the guest list, and it didn't take more than ten minutes for the trio to make their way inside. Vincent was the first to separate from Connor and Kelley. He wanted to find Sienna just as genuinely as he had acted when he texted her, and his first thought was that she had to be on the third level dancing. While he was known for his ego, as perfectly shown in his text to Sydney, Sienna was one of the few people who had the power to make him nervous, so Vincent decided it would be easier to approach her with a purpose. He decided that he would get drinks first, and then go find her upstairs to offer her one.

Sydney could only roll her eyes when Vincent responded to her text about the dress code. She shouldn't have expected anything less from him. No matter how charming he was, he was also a player and he never hid that from her. Not like she wasn't already aware of it. She had slept with him while he was dating her best friend. That alone spoke volumes of his character, and yet he was different enough... alluring enough... to keep her enticed despite his unfaithfulness. She knew better than to let him know that though. His ego was already hundreds of levels too high.

To: Vincent
You're disgusting. Show your face in ten minutes or you're not getting into this party.

Luckily for her, and her friends, Sienna, Piper and Jane came over just as she set her phone down on the bar counter. Sienna was radiating the energy that she was known for and although she was still annoyed at them for being late, it was enough to bring a smile to Sydney's face. Maybe senior year really was going to be different for their friendship. "Thanks, girl. You look amazing too. I had doubts about the black and white, but that romper is so much cuter than I remembered it to be." Since Sienna was currently her favorite person out of the three, she refused to acknowledge the other two girls with even a glance until she had finished responding to Sienna. After dealing with Piper for three years, Sydney doubted that she would be able to shake her from the group senior year either, so she needed to be nice. At least, she needed to be nice tonight since she didn't need any unnecessary drama at her first party of the year. "And Piper, I love your dress. Those guys from Fordham Prep have been eyeing you ever since you walked in." She couldn't stop herself from making eye contact with a group of attractive guys across the room and waving it them to acknowledge how obvious their gawking was. She had saved Jane for last, mostly because she didn't know what she was supposed to say to her. All it took were three months for Jane to transform from her best friend to a complete stranger. "I'm glad you decided to wear white. It makes you look so..." She cocked her head to the side as if she were searching for the right word. "Innocent," she decided on. Innocent was the exact opposite of what she thought Jane to be, although the crimes Sydney was accusing her of probably weren't as hostile and calculated as she was treating them to be.

Sienna's last comment reminded her that this party was about having a good time, and even if it took ever fiber in her being not to snap on Jane then and there, she was going to try to have fun. They could deal with all of their drama tomorrow, but for now, they needed to start the year on a positive note and having everyone back together was a positive thing. "Four shots of vodka, please," she requested as she tilted her head towards the bartender. When she turned it back however, she quickly changed the order. "Make that five." It was Vincent, finally showing his face, but showing it two minutes too late. Sienna was here which meant that Sydney had to treat Vincent like any other guy, or worse, considering that she was supposed to be Sienna's friend.

"You four clean up nicely," Vincent smirked as he approached the girls. He ran a hand through his hair absentmindedly as he took a moment to take the four, beautiful women standing in front of him in. His examination of the two blondes were probably considerably longer than that of Jane and Piper's. He was checking Sienna out, and he couldn't deny doing that to Sydney too, but he was staring at the latter more to try to read her expression. It didn't look nearly as pleasant as it had when he had spotted her from afar and walked over, but was she really offended about his earlier text? He doubted it. He was always crass.

"It's nice of you to finally show your face," she responded, as if her girls hadn't only shown up a minute earlier than he.

"You know my schedule is packed with parties, Vale. You should be happy that I squeezed y-" His smirk didn't disappear even when Sydney cut him off by redirecting her attention to the bartender who had slid five shots in their direction. He was now standing beside Sydney against the bar, and took two: one for himself, and one that he handed to Sienna. "Cheers?"

Setting

Manhattan, NY

Characters Present

0.00 INK

#2015-04-15 01:07:57, as written by insouciance

Sebastian had decided upon wearing a tight black shirt that accentuated his muscles and white jeans, or rather his sister had forced him to change into that after he stepped out of the bathroom in a white shirt and white pants. "You look like you're going to church." Adelaide had told him, which had made him chuckle and indeed, his attire didn't exactly look fit for a teenage party. So, he'd allowed Adelaide to shove him back into the bathroom to wait while she rooted around in her ex's old clothes before producing a plain black t-shirt for him to wear.

"Don't you think it's a bit - I don't know," Sebastian made a gesture with his hands, trying to convey what he wanted to say, "casual?" he finished. To which Adelaide shook her head, "No, it's perfect. It's called effortless class Seb, you don't constantly have to look like you're going to a business meeting to be fashionable y'know." Ruffling his hair to make it look a little unkempt.

"Okay, okay thank you Miss Fashion Expert," Sebastian teases, strolling out of the bathroom and into the living room where Gerard was playing with his dinosaur toys Sebastian had gotten him for Christmas. "I'd much rather just stay in with you guys Addie, I really don't care about this party." He says, turning back to face his sister but she only shook her head. "No, you act enough like a middle-aged man as it is, you go out and enjoy your youth while you still have it!" Adelaide says with a frown, grabbing Sebastian's shoulders and guiding him to the door, "We'll be absolutely fine, won't we Ger," She calls over her shoulder to her son who looks up at them, "Go, go, go Sebby!" He grins.

"Yeah Sebby go, go, go away and don't come back until at least after midnight - I mean it young man, you better party as hard as physically possible." Adelaide says, sticking out her index finger at him and doing the best impersonation of their father's lecturing face. Rolling his eyes, Sebastian walks out the door so he's standing in the hallway, "Aren't you supposed to be warning me off heavy partying? You're such a bad influence Addie!" He laughs, hugging her, "Thank you." He mutters as they embrace. Pulling away it's Adelaide's turn to roll her eyes right back at him, "Get out of here Mister!" She demands, giving him a peck on the cheek before closing the door.
After exiting his sister's apartment complex, Sebastian pulls out his phone and quickly texts Hailey as he waits for the car that would take him to Sydney's, to arrive.

To: Hailey
From: Sebastian
Are U gonna be at Sydney's? Can't believe Ur here!

Sebastian then slid the phone back into his trouser pocket as the car arrived. Opening the door and stepping in, Sebastian leaned over to where the driver was sat and told him Sydney's address. Leaning back against the cold leather headrest as they sped off towards their destination. Sebastian still wasn't sure about going. It wasn't that he didn't get along with anyone - well, Vincent wasn't exactly his biggest fan but he could easily be avoided - Sebastian just always felt guilty leaving his sister, who was only a few years older than him, at home while he ran around the Upper East Side, going to event after event. Adelaide didn't exactly seem jealous, but he know that she'd love to still be apart of that world.

Licking his bottom lip, Sebastian tries to focus on the positive more, telling himself that tonight would be amazing. He was reunited with his friends again, and besides it was an excuse to drink. Sebastian wasn't exactly one for binge drinking but now and again, he enjoyed getting a little tipsy. He did hope Jane wouldn't pick up her pre-summer excessive drinking again though, although it was unlikely she'd ever stop that. Sighing, Sebastian mentally kicked himself for focusing on the negative again, what was with him today? He was usually the most cheerful person in Manhattan.

When the car pulled up to Sydney's, Sebastian thanked the driver before jumping out. He was a little late, due to Adelaide forcing him to change his outfit, but he didn't reckon anyone would mind. Easily bypassing the queue that had formed outside of Sydney's place and making his way into the lobby. Sebastian smiled at a couple freshmen he didn't recognise who where staring at him, which was actually quite off-putting, the girls erupted into giggles when he turned away and headed towards the elevator.

As he stepped in, the freshmen followed, meaning he was stuck in an elevator with the four girls. After a couple of seconds, a girl, who Sebastian assumed was the leader of the group, due to her Sydney-eque hair and chronic bitch face, moved a little closer to him before saying, "Weren't you in one of Sienna's music videos?" She asks excitedly, her voice slightly too bubbly for Sebastian's liking. Smiling sheepishly, "Uh, yeah I was." is all he replies, but it seems to be enough for the girl who gives a soft squeal, "Oh my god! I love her, she's like, my idol." Biting his lip to keep himself from laughing, Sebastian nods slightly. These girls would have a field day if they knew what really went on between him and Sienna behind the scenes. "So, are you like, friends with Sydney?" She continues, to which Sebastian sighs, this elevator was taking way too long. "I guess. I mean, she's a mutual friend between me and Jane." He shrugs, assuming that the girl wanted him to bring her up with Sydney or something [which was definitely never going to happen]. The girl then smiles a wide smile, baring all her teeth and revealing a small pink lipstick stain on her front tooth before turning back to her friends, "Dani, would you be a babe and take a picture of us?" She asks in a sickly sweet tone before wrapping an arm around Sebastian's shoulder. "Oh, um." Sebastian manages to get out before being blinded by a bright light as the flash went off. It's all he can do to let out a small, if slightly uncomfortable smile as the picture is taken.

"Thanks sweetie," The girl beams, snatching her phone back and looking at the picture, "Perfect!" She exclaims as the elevator comes to a halt. Causing Sebastian to let a deep breath, relieved. As she walks out of the elevator, followed by the group of freshmen, she turns back to him, "Oh by the way, I'm Louise." She says and then winks, before strutting off clearly feeling some kind of triumph at having 'flirted' with a Senior.

Stepping out of the elevator next, Sebastian walks over to the bar, desperately needing a drink after whatever that was that had just happened, slipping his phone out of his pocket and clicking on instagram, only to see that same picture of him and Louise staring back at him with the caption 'OMG just met that guy from Sienna's music vid!! Total boyfriend material!!!' Rolling his eyes, Sebastian didn't have the heart to tell her nothing would ever happen, so instead he double tapped the picture before stuffing the phone back into his pocket and finding the bar. Quickly ordering a straight vodka, Sebastian looks around, spotting Sydney, Piper, Jane and Sienna all standing together a couple seats down the bar, along with Vincent. Walking over Sebastian smiles and leans against the bar,"Hey guys," He says casually, sipping his drink and avoiding eye contact with both Sienna and Vincent.

Setting

Manhattan, NY

Characters Present

0.00 INK

#2015-04-15 04:32:05, as written by BurningBridges

Sienna was right. They couldn't run away and avoid Sydney all night, especially since this was her house. Jane was already on the blonde's bad side and she had almost made things worse by showing up in black and being late. Trying to distance herself from Sydney would make things even worse, and she didn't want to make this problem bigger than it was. If she could just get a few drinks in her, she knew the pit of despair in her stomach would disappear. She was back in New York with all of her friends and even if Sydney was giving her a hard time earlier, Jane was going to be more confident after a few drinks. She would be able to give her summer absence excuse without even stuttering.

Even if she wanted to turn back (which she did, once they had gotten to the second floor), Sienna had linked arms with her and Piper and it would be far too dramatic to pull away. People were looking at them, which wasn't uncommon, but when she made out Brent Barclay glancing in their direction, any thought of dispersing from her friends' sides evaporated. She had genuinely forgotten that Brent had even existed all day but if there was one person who had the power to ruin all of her progress even more than she could, it was him. She inadvertently glanced towards Piper, but didn't say anything. Sienna didn't know that either of them knew Brent more than she did, and that was one more secret that Jane planned on keeping. Still, it shrunk the amount of excitement she had for the night. One more thing to worry about.

Before she could back out in the last second, they were standing in front of Sydney. Jane took in Sydney's appearance and vibes slowly, mostly because she had what seemed like minutes before the Queen Bee even acknowledged her presence. And when she did, it wasn't the best friend, warm welcoming that Jane longed for. It wasn't even a real compliment, just Sydney pointing out that Jane had worn white as requested, and how "innocent" it made her look. The choice of word was unusual and despite feeling guilty, Jane didn't think into it enough to realize that Sydney knew that she was lying, or going to lie about something. She did recognize that Sydney was being nicer to both Sienna and Piper, which was definitely unusual, especially considering the latter, but she tried to convince herself that she was being dramatic. Sydney wasn't being mean to her. Maybe the whole 'innocent' thing really was a compliment. She was still trying to interpret the comment when she realized that she had been silent for a few seconds too long, and forced out a mumbled, "Thanks."

When the shots came out, Jane barely noticed Vincent approaching. The worst seemed to be over. The drinks were here and that was a light at the end of the tunnel in itself. "Cheers!" She didn't even notice that Vincent was directing his comment at Sienna rather than the rest of the group, but she was anxious to get that alcohol in her bloodstream. She downed the shot in an easy motion, as if the liquid was water, and slammed the glass back on the counter, nodding to the bartender to refill it. When Sebastian walked over, she beamed at him. They hadn't seen each other that morning at school, despite Jane wanting to reunite with him after months apart. To make up for that, and maybe distract herself from Sydney too, she threw her arms around him. "Seb! I missed you. Come dance with me?" Going upstairs to the dance floor would allow her to distance herself from Sydney without doing it blatantly, and also be somewhere too loud for Sebastian to inquire too deeply about her summer.

Setting

Manhattan, NY

Characters Present

0.00 INK

#2015-04-15 05:32:34, as written by Girl2Fine2

While it had been great while it had lasted, Sienna's tolerance became just a bit tested as time with on. At first, it had been the near taunting and near cruel examination of Jane through Sydney's nearly scathing eyes. The comment about the dress making Jane look "innocent," as if Jane wasn't to a certain degree, had Sienna shooting her a warning look, ready to jump to her friend's defense if Sydney decided to delve deeper into this. Again, they did need to speak with Jane. It was urgent. They needed to let her know that they were there for her, but they could only do so much if she couldn't open up to them. That much she had thought they agreed on earlier in the summer in terms on confronting their friend. This need to be unnecessarily mean and near condescending was uncalled for and Sienna was not having it. Especially not on the first party of the night.

The second minor incident, which really solidified Sienna's ire, was when Vincent appeared. She had been ecstatic when Sydney called for shots and had grinned. "Finally!" She exclaimed and would have camped herself against the bar had Vincent not slid himself over. For a second, Sienna had forgotten herself. Forgotten that they technically weren't close anymore and that therefore, she should not be filled with as much elation as she was. That but really, she wasn't supposed to be allowing her eyes to rove over him, appreciating the way his clothes hugged the right parts of his athletic form and how...well, how truly male he was. Her eyes should not have flashed with that brief show of hunger, her entire body should not have felt like it was suddenly vibrating, and her smile damn sure should not have been as warm as it was. Yet and still, for just a few moments, she was not Sienna who found this same heartbreakingly attractive guy a cheater and someone to not be trusted. She was thirteen year old Sienna who had stars in her eyes every time he simply said her name.

However, it was only a second after he complimented the group that her countenance shifted. Just as she had been admiring him, she caught the tail-end of him doing the same to her - which should not have brought a flush of pleasure to her skin - before turning that same gaze to Sydney. That bitch, came the unhindered thought and Sienna's smile dimmed just a bit, her eyes narrowing just a bit. She probably wasn't as quick with her recovery as she wanted to be - as Sydney would have been and damn her brain for even making that comparison - but she snatched her gaze away from them to take the others in. She had not even noticed Sebastian coming over to actually feel a thing in his presence, Jane had distracted herself with his presence, and Piper seemed to be staring at Sienna and the two disgusting lovebirds, but she couldn't be sure. She simply masked her face with a particularly bright smile, though it lacked the typical sweetness her smiles could be known for. Instead, her eyes cut to Sydney as Vincent offered her a shot, a brief glare that could have easily been mistaken for a simple glance or not directed towards the queen bee - before landing on Vincent. "Cheers." The alcohol was only a slight bite to her throat, but the barely discernible pain in her throat wasn't the only casualty of the night.

She had been so fucking stupid! So utterly foolish to believe...she didn't even know what she had believed would happen when she saw Vincent. Did she expect them to chat like old times? Laugh about some private joke? Dance? Hook up? She honestly did not know what she expected and the sudden flare of jealousy heating her was extremely unwanted. However, as with all emotions, it came - unbridled and unchecked. Vincent wasn't hers, had not been for a while, and she had no claim over him. But that didn't stop the small part of her that wanted to exert some kind of possession over him - in front of Sydney - to make its voice be known. However, she also wanted to dance and the two people she could have escaped with apparently just bailed on her. No point in staying where I'm obviously not wanted, she thought dramatically before settling with a pleasant smile, directed at Sydney. "Well," there was a brief pause there, "This has been fun...and cozy," she said, eyeing the space between the asshole who cheated on her and the bitch he cheated with (and she really had wanted to finish the day off liking Sydney). "But there's a dance floor calling my name and...so...I'll leave you to it." As mean as it was, she let the last words come out with awkward pauses, doing so purposefully to leave the air between them tense and unnatural. It was the only payback she could offer since she had promised to not let Sydney know she knew about them.

Not saying another word, Sienna turned on her heels and walked back in the direction of the elevators, not even stopping to see Charlotte or even smile at the sophomores who liked her. She did not look at anyone or anything until she was on the elevator again and the doors were closing, leaving her with the last image of seeing Sydney and Vincent standing too damn closely, causing her throat to constrict with emotions she shouldn't have anymore. Shutting her eyes briefly and then opening them, Sienna let a breath she had not been aware she had been holding before tugging her phone from her bag. Instantly, she rolled her eyes at Vincent's text. She pursed her lips before offering him another message.

To: Vincent
Id tell u 2 come & find me, but I don't wanna piss of ur bae

Once the elevator doors opened, she blended in with the crowd of dancers, falling in line somewhere in the middle of the writhing bodies. The heavy bass of the song playing made something within her shake and instead of focusing on the emotions that had stirred, she focused on the way it made her body feel. She didn't want to do emotions tonight. Not anymore.

Setting

Manhattan, NY

Characters Present

0.00 INK

#2015-04-15 07:10:44, as written by StarStruck

There was no denying that Sydney's interactions with Jane were more cold than necessary. She knew, maybe better than anyone else, that it was almost impossible for Jane to do anything with truly evil intentions. She hadn't spited Sydney in the way that Sydney was portraying she had. Jane must have been so absorbed in her own illness that she was too scared to open up to anyone, even her best friend, about it. Sydney was not the victim here, and she had no right to act so insulted that Jane had needed to take time away from their hectic lives to get healthy. Even though she knew this, she did think that it was valid for her to be hurt and at least a little offended.

Jane was supposed to be her best friend. When Sienna would cross a line (usually with good reason, in her defense), or when Piper would try to act like she ran the school, Jane was the one that she could vent to. She was the friend who was always on her side and validated Sydney's cold actions. Jane's sweetness balanced out Sydney's sometimes ruthless behaviors, but even besides Jane being a necessity to her, she was also one of her favorite people. She was the same girl who would restlessly sit with her during the entire performance of "The Nutcracker" every winter. The same girl who had paraded her around France during Sydney's first visit there when they were in the fourth grade. The same girl who she had sobbed to a few nights after she slept with Vincent, claiming that she had lost her virginity to the wrong guy (and the only girl clueless enough to not put the pieces together that that guy was Vincent). Sydney thought Jane was her best friend and was so used to the heiress always being the completely open one that she had been caught completely off guard when Sienna called her that summer day.

While Sydney's anger towards Jane had been brewing all summer, when she was away, Sydney was able to dramatically imagine her friend's frail body hooked up to machines or being forced to sit in a mental hospital filled with insane people. She was genuinely scared and sad for Jane and had every intention of fulfilling her agreement with Sienna that they were going to be diplomatic about the situation and put Jane's health and happiness first. But then the Instagrams were posted. Jane didn't look sick or sad, and she sure as hell didn't return with the emotional apology and truthful explanation that Sydney had envisioned. Instead, she decided to be sneaky about it, and that was what was driving Sydney crazy. She couldn't stand to think that Jane didn't trust her as much as she thought she did, or that Jane was underestimating her ability to find out the truth. True or not, Sydney was convinced that even if Sienna hadn't told her about Jane's rehab stint, she would have found out almost just as soon.

Her pride was strong enough to keep her cold towards Jane, and she barely flinched when she ran off with Sebastian before Sydney even had a chance to acknowledge him. Whether she would have said hello to him or not was debatable anyway. For all she knew, he was close enough to Jane to have known about her being sick the whole time and just hadn't mentioned it anyway. even Sydney recognized that it was bizarre, but when Piper followed suit and ran off too, Sydney almost wished that the two models and Jane would have stuck around. Their company would have been a million times less uncomfortable of that than Sienna and Vincent together. Again, her pride was getting the best of her and instead of excusing herself, she remained firmly where she stood, only leaning to her side to pick up the shot she had waited to drink. Sydney refused to let the awkward tension in the trio make her feel out of place. This was her house! And if we're working on a timeline, Vincent is more my man than he is her's anyway. A smile that bordered a smirk set in on her face as she studied Sienna's expression, before the other blonde shifted on her feet and excused herself. Sydney had been so glad that she had left that she didn't really consider what she had said until she was out of sight.

Instantly, she turned to Vincent with a scowl. "What the hell was that supposed to mean?"

"What was what supposed to mean?" Of course he knew what she was talking about, and he was just as caught off guard by Sienna's underhanded comment as Sydney was, but he needed to downplay it. If he acted nonchalantly, he hoped it would calm Sydney down.

"'Fun and... cozy' and 'so...I'll leave you to it'," she hissed. Jane hadn't exited that way. Piper hadn't exited that way. Neither of them would have a reason to even hint that there was anything going on between her and Vincent. She had believed that Sienna had no reason to suggest such a thing either, since Vincent had sworn to keep that first night, and the following ones, between them a secret. But why would she say such a thing, when Sydney had thought she had done well at playing nice with her today, if she thought they were just as platonic of friends as Vincent was with Jane or Piper?

"Oh, come on, you know how Sia can be. She just doesn't want to see me talking to any hot girls besides her," he smirked.

It wasn't enough to ease Sydney's tense expression, but it did allow her to consider that maybe Sienna was still in the dark about her and Vincent, but just jealous. That made enough sense and seemed to be plausible. Every guy at Saint Jude's wanted her. It had to be obvious to everyone that Vincent was in to her, she supposed. "Go find her and make sure that's all it is."

He already had every intention of finding Sienna, but Sydney telling him to gave him a legitimate reason to desert her at the bar and head towards the elevator. She already said she was going to the dance floor and without even stopping to acknowledge a few guys from the lacrosse team who had called out to him from the other side of the room, he was headed there. He boarded the elevator with a couple of junior guys who must have been from a different private school because Vincent didn't recognize them. He guessed that they were younger too, since they were probably only three beers in and were acting like buffoons. They were lucky that he only heard them commenting on how sexy Rose and Charlotte looked, because if they had said a thing about Sienna, he was in the mood where he probably would have knocked them out.

The elevator stopped at the third level when his phone pinged with a text from Sienna. It distracted him enough for him to miss his stop at the third floor and not notice as the doors closed and the box shifted up to the fifth floor of the home. Sienna was upset with him and while Sydney thought that he was just chasing after her to make sure that she wasn't suspicious of him and her, he really wanted to talk to her. They had been civil all morning and he didn't want that to stop. Well, he did want that to stop if it meant that they could actually move past that and get closer again, but he didn't want to leave that behind for hostility.

To: Sienna
Since when have you cared about pissing Sydney off?

As the elevator doors opened on the fifth floor, he absentmindedly jammed his hand against the 'close door' button. He was anxiously waiting for Sienna to respond, hoping that she'd chime in with some playful remark, when someone stepped inside the elevator. It was Sydney's mom.

"Vincent! It's so nice to see you!" He wasn't expecting to see anyone, so he jumped at the sound of her shrill voice. It caused him to slip his phone into his pocket and return to reality, and though he felt weird even thinking it, it was a pleasant reality. Sydney's mom was a MILF, there was no doubt about that to any guy that had ever laid eyes on her and tonight, she was looking especially hot.

"Mrs. Vale, it's nice to see you too. Are you going... up?" He reached his hand out to press the sixth floor button but she shook her head. She was dressed to go out, he should have realized that.

"First floor, love. You know me, I'm not going to hover over you kids while you're having fun," she laughed.

She was right, he did know that. Anyone close to Sydney knew that her mom was more of a sister than a mother to her, and while Vincent's mom wasn't dictatorial either, Alice Vale took being a friend over a parent to a whole new level. She had been home for less than an hour after spending a week in Vegas, hadn't told Sydney that she was home or even when she was going to be home, and was now on her way out to a club opening in midtown. Her home was full of underage drinkers and what she was most concerned about was whether her diamond earrings clashed with her gold bracelet.

Vincent was glad that their elevator was fast because he only had to spend a minute or so in the elevator with the wildly attractive older woman before the doors opened. "Well, this is my stop," he said awkwardly, as he shifted forward. "Have a nice night." She seemed much more comfortable than he and only looked up from her compact mirror to smile at him. "Whatever you do, don't tell Sydney I'm wearing her new Prada dress!" The door closed behind him before he could reassure her that he definitely would not, and he was more than relieved to be surrounded by hot girls of his own age. He couldn't focus on them though, even if he did get a fair amount of flirtatious waves and "accidental" bumps as he walked through the dancing crowd. It was dark enough that Sienna wasn't immediately recognizable in the crowd but it didn't take too long for him to find her.

"I think you were the only one who thought that little incident was 'cozy'," he said, raising his voice to be heard over the blasting music. There was no way they would be able to talk on the dance floor and Vincent wasn't feeling drunk enough to dance. "Will you come hang with me downstairs now, or do I have to wait until you tire yourself out from dancing?" he asked lightly. He hoped that she would opt for the former, however, since he knew that she could spend an entire party dancing. "Let's at least get drinks." Even if she wasn't feeling his vibes enough to stop dancing, maybe a drink would be a more enticing offer to lure her away from the loud music and public scene.

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Piper Vine

0 · 2,233 views · located in Manhattan, NY

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

Description

So begins...

Piper Vine's Story

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