𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛&𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 • 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚘𝚕𝚘

thirteen

• Sienna •

Sienna had tried everything. She had texted, called, and even gone to his house. Matt was ignoring her. Two and a half weeks of nothing. She still had no idea what she had done to push him away. His brothers were no help at all, both telling her that he seemed fine at home. She knew they were lying though, Nick had told her himself that something was really wrong with him and she doubted that he was acting completely normal around his house.

Claire was acting weird too. She wasn't pulling away like Matt, but something was off with her and she couldn't figure it out. She'd made friends with Chris' girlfriend and ever since they started hanging out, it was like she knew something that Sienna didn't.

She'd spent most of the last few weeks catching up on homework and hanging out with Josh. While the two weren't dating, they were going on dates. So, essentially, dating without a label on it. They would go out to dinner, and he even took her bowling one night. He was exactly what she thought she wanted in a boyfriend, but something was missing. Something that she couldn't quite put her finger on. He'd hold her hand at school sometimes and he'd walk her to her classes when he could, but it felt off. She liked the boy, she knew it. She felt the way her heart skipped a beat when he said her name and how she'd blush when he complimented her. But it didn't feel right. Maybe it was because she didn't have her best friend to share her happiness with.

She'd seen Matt at school twice in the past few weeks. The first time, she was alone and for a small moment, it seemed like he might say hi to her, but he moved his gaze to the floor and walked right past her. The second time, she was with Josh. He didn't look at either of them at all that time. It hurt knowing that she had caused him to hurt, and she didn't even know how to fix it. Eventually, she gave up. She'd told Nick that when Matt wanted to talk, she would be happy to. But until then, she was done trying. That was two weeks ago and it had been radio silence from everyone but Chris since.

The Winter Ball was in two days. She had finally gotten a dress, a beautiful emerald color that brought out her eyes. Her mom helped her pick it out, they had driven an hour to find the perfect dress for her. Josh was speechless when she showed it to him.

After much deliberation, and some assurance from Chris and Nick that she could, she decided that she would go in the group that she had had always gone in for dances. Plus Josh and Mae, of course. She hoped that Matt wouldn't be an asshole the entire time, but after the last few weeks, she wasn't sure he would even go.

So now, Sienna sat in her car alone. A journal sat in her lap, but the page was blank. She wanted to just right all the negative feelings down to get them out of her head, but she didn't know where to start. She could start with Matt. Well, all of it would would be Matt anyway. He was currently the only source of drama in her life. But she could start with when he had kissed her a few weeks ago. That's when everything had seemed to change between the two of them. That's when their entire friendship had begun to fall apart.

She filled a page, then another, and then another. All just filled with everything she had ever felt toward Matt. Finally, putting down the pen and closing the journal, she checked her phone. It had all the normal notifications, random people adding to their Insta stories and a Snapchat from Claire. And a text from Josh, asking if she wanted to hang out. She texted him back, and 20 minutes later she found herself sitting in front of his house, waiting for him to come out.

There was nothing planned by the two of them, they just wanted to be with each other. So they spent an hour driving around and listening to music, the music that Sienna had put on the playlist for Matt to be exact. But Josh didn't need to know that.

Eventually, they pulled into a parking lot as Sienna had gotten sick of driving circles around their town. The sun was setting of the horizon, illuminating the car in a golden glow. This was exactly what she needed right now, a distraction from all the shitty things that had happened in the last few weeks. The sun warmed her cheeks as Josh interlocked their hands.

"Sienna, I've told you that I really like you." She nodded, unsure of where he was going with this. "I just wanted to know if you felt ready to put a label on us? I'd really like to be your boyfriend, and I want you to be my girlfriend. Like, officially."

She sat, shocked at what he had asked. In a good way of course, she thought he would never ask. "I'd want nothing more." His smile shone bright in light of tue sunset, and she could count the freckles dotted across his nose if she wanted to.

When she dropped Josh back off his house later, she was over the moon with happiness. Finally, something was going right in her life. As she walked back into her house, she remembered her journal, and decided to write a bit more. This time about Josh.

Before she could start, she became distracted with the pages that she had written about Matt. Everything about the last few weeks was laid out in detail, but she could barely remember a single thing that she had written as it had just poured out. A single sentence caught her attention, pulling her away from the thoughts of Josh.

Why'd you have to go and make me love you?

Sienna: Claire, we have an issue.