Living With The Bad Boy [COMPLETE][VERSION ONE]

Chapter 21

"Connie!" I half yelp, as stands of my hair feel like they're being yanked from my head. "Forgive me, but I don't remember signing up for some medieval torture!"

It's the same night, and Evan's at his friend's house, Lizbeth and Jack are at some fancy Chinese New Year party with all their high-class society friends, and Jase is off to god-knows-where, so it's just me, Connie, and my mother here at the house.

My mother munches on a cookie, inspecting Connie's braiding skills. "It actually looks gorgeous, Sienna. Much better than I've ever been able to do with your hair."

"That's just because you give up too easily, Mom!" I laugh, rolling my eyes.

"No, it's because you practically need a lion tamer to wrangle those curls," she responds dryly.

Fair enough. My long red curls are practically impossible to even run a comb through. Though that's probably mostly because I'm too lazy to try.

"Nonsense," Connie says, yanking my hair back again. "You should see my grandson's hair. He decided to grow it out a few years ago, and-" she shudders- "It's a nightmare, to say the least. Yours just takes some brushing, Sienna."

Ah, Connie, forever the optimist.

We're in the middle of watching Under The Tuscan Sun, a large bowl of buttery popcorn in front of us, when my mother pauses the movie. "Okay, I give up. I was really going to wait for you to tell me yourself- but what is going on with that Windsor boy- what's his name? Noel?"

"Noah," I say instinctively, a hand flying to my mouth when I realize what I've just done. "But there's nothing going on between us, I swear."

My mother gives me a knowing smile. "Oh, please. I saw the two of you talking outside at Lizbeth's garden party. You looked very cozy."

"Okay, fine," I blurt out, blushing and staring very directly at the popcorn and not her or Connie. "Maybe more than nothing but we're not- we're not dating yet. Officially. I don't know... I mean, Noah's amazing. But I'm just not sure if..." I don't know if I can admit what I'm about to say next to anyone. Even to myself, honestly. "Never mind."

Connie gives me a small, knowing smile, like I've hidden nothing from her; not even the secrets I'm so desperately trying to keep from myself. "The heart wants what it wants," she says sagely, twirling a strand of her salt-and-pepper curls. "There's no fighting that."

My phone chimes and I go to pick it up, my heart sinking when I see the notification:

@siennabanana: your friend @mayah_jefferson just posted a photo to Instagram!

I open my phone to see a picture of Mayah, along with some people I don't know, drinking something that definitely does not look like sparkling juice. They're all forming a giant group hug and wearing white off-the-shoulder shirts, and Mayah's is definitely showing more cleavage than I've ever seen her with.

Great. I'm here on a weekend night talking about my boy problems to my mom and Connie, while my best friend is out partying.

Could I be any more of a loser?

I have to admit, though, this is kind of fun. I wish I had more friends my age that I could spend Friday nights with, playing truth or dare and watching old movies instead of...doing my homework. Which is mostly how I get to spend my Fridays. Yay.

It's almost midnight when Lizbeth and (I think) Brad come back home, still a little tipsy from their party. Jase is noticeably absent from their little duo, a fact that Brad seems all too aware of. "Maybe we should call him," Lizbeth says. "Before we jump to any conclusions. We don't actually know if he's doing anything wrong, don't forget that. Why don't we just trust him, at least this once?"