The new spoilers are full of awesome. So I had to write something. So… if you know nothing & wish to remain in the dark, then do not read.
Otherwise, carry on.
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It is the color of the rocks in the desert; the way the ground turns a deeper shade of clay-like red as the sun goes down in the sky.
That's the way a poet might describe this woman's name.
But Marissa thinks of crayons in a yellow-and-green box; the kind of object that is for children and useless once you are older and easily broken if the hold is too strong.
And that's the way a confused and suddenly annoyed person might describe this woman's name; this woman who stands here, smiling and confident and with her arm snug around Bianca's waist.
Sienna is such a dumb name.
That is the sentiment that pounds away in Marissa's brain as she stares and is unable to say much of anything. She just stands there, eyes running over this 'Sienna' in a manner that does not conceal the sharp edges of judgment.
J.R.'s voice is like a faint and distant hum; a gnat in the vicinity but not near enough to swat at.
And Sienna's laugh is way too happy, way too sure, way too comfortable. The way that amusement affects Sienna's face is not at all attractive; it shows off the fact that this woman is all teeth, it stretches the lips too much and makes the woman look a lot like The Joker.
Marissa wants to reach out and cover the woman's mouth with her hand – just to make it all stop.
I mean, who names their kid after a crayon color? That's just cruel.
For a second, Marissa finds a kernel of sympathy for this woman. It must have been hard growing up with a name like that; kids are harsh at any age and poor little Sienna probably had to suffer many arrows as she grew up.
But then Sienna leans in, just the tiniest bit, to Bianca and says something into Bianca's ear and Bianca smiles…
…and that second of compassion leaves as quickly as it came, easily replaced by other emotions that are not that hard to place and not that hard to understand; these are the feelings that Marissa thought she had left behind in the days of high school and teenage loves. These are the feelings that Marissa isn't sure she should be having when it comes to Bianca Montgomery.
Feelings that make Marissa want to push Sienna's arm off of Bianca.
Feelings that make Marissa want to throw Sienna out of this room.
Feelings that make Marissa want to pull Bianca aside and remind the woman of words once said.
You said you were attracted to me. Me, not her, not this woman with her stupid comic-book grin and her stupid name and her stupid hands all over you.
The jealously rolls over Marissa like a wave, pummeling her sense of reality and leaving her washed up on a shore so unfamiliar. When she finally does talk, the words tumble from her lips in such a clipped and confused way that no one seems to know what to make of her.
Especially Bianca, who is watching Marissa now – those dark eyes silently studying in a mixture of wariness and concern; those eyes that Marissa has looked into so many times and felt safe within; those eyes that, perhaps, have always seen so much more than they could ever let on.
And Marissa, right here on this double-date from hell, is finally looking at the same page that Bianca's been stuck on for days and days.
Sienna isn't the one for Bianca. I'm the one. It's supposed to be me… isn't it?
/ /
It is the color of new starts; a blank piece of paper on which to reform your life. It is also the color of winter; it is snowball fights and a blanket of white to happily collapse upon.
That's the way a poet might describe this woman's name.
That's the way Marissa might describe Bianca, too.
/ /
end