Time seemed to slow down. Sienna felt lost and alone on a huge stage, the spotlight directly above her head and the audience silent, waiting in amusement for her to do something. Numbly, she watched Camryn moved Matthew further and further away.
The irony of the situation hit her full-force.
The one guy, the voice in the back of her head taunted. The one and only guy you've ever wanted ends up being the guy you said you had no interest in—and, like Camryn said, she snagged him without so much of a stutter. One, two, three—she had him in her iron grip, her ruffled dress sailing around her like a princess.
It wasn't fair. For once in her life, Sienna had forgotten everything bad that had happened to her.
But that was the thing about forgetting. Once you did, another bad thing crept around the corner to steal your little sliver of happiness away.
It was that final thought that broke Sienna's dam. When the first hot tear rolled down her cheek, she found she couldn't even blink it away. She let the fire ignite across her cheeks.
Someone began to laugh. "She thought she had a chance!"
Whoever they were with began to laugh as well. It was cruel, loud, and merciless. Before, the whispers had been quiet, pitiful stares. Now they were loud. A few girls smirked in her direction. The others just shook their heads, saying something about her dress, and then went back to their dates.
For Sienna, the evening was over.
Wiping at her eyes, she walked for the front door. A few people clapped as she exited, but were quickly hushed.
Out the door, Sienna began to move faster. She found the valet line. There were two of them—the one from before and an older one. As she approached, they turned around in surprise.
"Do you need your car, Ms. Carlton?" the one who had taken her car asked gently.
"Yes," she said.
A loud of sympathy went from the first valet to the second. The older one gave the younger one a slight nod, and, leaving Sienna and the first valet alone went off to find her car.
"Crappy night?" he asked.
Sienna tried to laugh. "Something like that."
The valet gave her a sad smile. "Trust me, mine's been just as nice."
Sienna tried to smile. It only made her cry harder, so she gave up. "I feel so stupid," she admitted. "How could I…"
She trailed off into tears. Both her hands went to her face, but the mascara made her hands come back black. She felt so hopeless. One night of fun was enough for the rest of her life!
What surprised her was the sudden boldness of the valet. He put a hand on her shoulder, gently putting both arms around her. It was a careful, almost nervous, hug. Almost as if he had no idea what to do around a woman.
"There, there," he said. "It's going to be okay."
Sienna laughed through her tears. "Is this the first time you've hugged a girl?"
His face went hot against the side of her head. "You can tell?"
"I live with three girls," said Sienna. "Girls are huggers."
His grip tightened, and then, slowly sank back. "Sorry," he couldn't meet her eyes. "I'm the youngest of a family of boys. My mother babied me, but hugging didn't really happen."
"Don't worry," Sienna said. "It's a learned skill. Practice makes perfect, as they say. You can learn it anytime."
The valet laughed. "Maybe we should go through all my childhood issues while we're at it, then."
Sienna shook her head. "I don't know…" but as she looked around his shoulder, she saw the older valet coming back with her car. "Oh, there it is!" she felt a wave of relief wash over her.
The valet parked it right along the curb and smiled at the two of them. "She stopped crying," he noted. "Good work, James. You're already turning into a respectable man."
The younger valet, James, blushed. "Shut up, Pedro."
"Hey, hey," Pedro, the older valet, waved him off. "We have a lady to send off here. Be presentable. You're stationed at the palace. Have some class, kid."
Sienna chuckled.
"Oh, you think that's funny, do you?" Pedro turned on her. "You're tainting him, my dear! Don't encourage his bad behavior!"
Stepping out of the car, he left the keys in the ignition and held the door open. James, with a bit of an overdramatic wave, motioned with his hands, "Your chariot awaits, Lady Carlton."
It made her feel so much better to see the car still in one piece, with just as much chipped paint and old gasoline smell as she had left it. Putting her hand on the hood, she slid in and smiled back at them.
"Thank you," was all she could say.
They flashed her big grins. "Just don't report us for being lunatics."
"Never," she promised.
"Have a nice night, Ms. Carlton," said James.
Sienna smiled. "You too."
She was about to put the car into drive when someone called out, "Wait!" Looking up from the palace road, she saw a crowd coming out of the grand doors.
At the head, believe it or not, was Prince Matthew. Trailing behind him, her heels in hand and her hair wild as she struggled to keep up, was Camryn. Her face was red with anger, and then, when she saw Sienna, wild with disbelief.
"You there! Sienna Carlton!" Prince Matthew called out to her. A feeling of dread passed over Sienna. Moving her hand to the ignition, she turned the car off. It wheezed as the engine died. Matthew came closer, grinning from ear to ear. "I managed to catch you! Thank goodness!"
Sienna's face flushed.
"I'm…sorry?" was all she managed.
"You were the joy of the night," Matthew went on. "Did you really think I'd let you go so easily?"
No words came to mind. Sienna found herself staring at him stupidly in disbelief. Those words hadn't come out of his mouth, her mind said. You fainted. All the crying or the sudden overdose on fun, maybe you really are on PCP…
"Don't look so stupefied," he said. "I've never had a lady so confident as to say exactly what she felt to my face. Sure, you had no idea who I was, but…it was enjoyable all the same."
A tiny shred of hope peaked out from behind Sienna's shattered self-confidence. "But…I insulted you to your face. Instead of coming for the reason on the invitation, I…"
"The party wasn't my idea," he said. "In that manner, you did me a favor. You showed me a fun time when I was dreading the whole night. Which is why I wanted to ask you…may I see you again?"
Sienna's heart flipped. The moment would have made her life if not for the crowds of people behind him, the girls casting daggered eyes and Camryn clearly willing her to say no.
A spark of rebellion welled inside Sienna's chest. Staring at them, all filled with jealousy and resentment, whether she had the Prince or not, made her feel so infuriated with all of them.
"I'm sure that would be fine," she said.
The crowd gasped.
Matthew seemed overjoyed. Leaning into his car, he gave her a peck to the cheek and said, "I'll find out where you live and pick you up myself tomorrow night, that way there's no…" he glanced back at the crowd, "unwanted interruptions. It'll strictly be a concealed date, so…I'm sorry if this complicates things. This must be a lot to process right now."
"You have no idea," she said.
Staring into her eyes, he shook his head. "Trust me, I have some idea." His green eyes had a mischievous look to them. "Until tomorrow then, Sienna."
Sienna smiled. "Until tomorrow, Matthew."
As she put the car back into drive, she couldn't help but notice a change with James. Instead of looking happy and shy, he looked horrified and guilty. Sienna tried to smile in his direction, but he shook his head and turned back to Pedro.
You lose one friend, only to gain another, her mind said. That's what happened in the friendship cycle: out with the old and in with the new. Everybody changes.
And, to Sienna's satisfaction as she moved down the hill, Prince Matthew was definitely something quite new, and he made a pretty big change for one single night of fun.
Still, she couldn't help but think, Am I really not on PCP?
Instead of going back to Linda's, Sienna decided she was better off at Grandma's. Walking in with a formal gown on while she had totally blown Lori off some hours before seemed like a good argument starter. She turned into the neighborhood, parked across the street from Grandma's, and walked inside.
The house was dark and quiet. Gram always left the front door unlocked, so she made her way up the stairs and shed the gown for an old pair of pajamas. Hanging the navy blue gown back up, she couldn't help but smile at it.
"Thanks for coming through, Paris-magic," she muttered.
A voice from under the covers of her mother's old bed mumbled, "Shut up, asshat. If you're that hung over, try some sleep. It does wonders for the soul."
Sienna smiled at Paige's balled up shape. "How was your night?"
"The old lady had us play monopoly to try and get our minds off of you, and that was the most bullshitted thing I've ever seen. Either she suffers from dementia or she was higher than Lori on New Year's Eve."
Laughing internally, Sienna flopped down on the other side of the bed. "Believe it or not, she used to pull that on me, too. She acted like she had no idea what was going on, and then, when you tried to take advantage of her confusion…"
"The old lady stabbed you in the back with a knife." Paige finished.
Sienna nodded, "Sounds about right."
"So how was your night?" asked Paige.
"You know, ask me again in the morning."
Paige's head lifted off her pillow. "Why?"
"Because even I'm not sure I'm not wasted right now."