Chapter 1|You Missed It On Purpose, Didn't You?

•The reason I keep my feelings to myself is because I can't explain them•

Sienna Hart.

Change.

The concept of time.

I was one of those people who comfortable with being hidden in the shadows.

Not in vigilante kinda way but in a 'It's-my-comfort-zone' kinda way.

The knowledge that change was constant was imprinted in my mind but for some reason I only believed it applied to growth and development.

You know, from infancy to adulthood.

But change happened in my life in a totally unexpected way.

As a tale as old as time, where popular meets average but through a night of persuasion, alcohol and a quite blank state of mind.

Standing here staring into blue pairs of eyes that reflected the love his lips confessed.

Months ago, exactly ten to be precise, I only believed love happened in fiction but now I couldn't believe it was staring right at me and I couldn't help but think back to the exact moments that led up to this one.

I guess growth and development was involved because I remember it was five to my birthday.

That Thursday morning, I didn't know it'd lead up to this.

*Five Days To My Birthday*

I stared at my reflection in the mirror wondering what to do with my hair.

The kinky curl texture fell low behind me, waiting to be styled.

It was a Thursday morning and like every other teenager, I had to go to school.

Don't get me wrong, it's not like I'm crazy about fashion, hair and makeup but I liked to look presentable.

Got it.

Typical neat bun.

Once I had my hair in a bun at the top of my head, I took in my outfit as I smoothened it out; a blue floral dress that stopped just above my knees, a faded blue jean jacket and white vans.

I picked up my bag from my bed, made my way to my study desk and then stuffed my bag up with the books I would need today and then I grabbed my phone before heading out the door for breakfast downstairs.

"Morning, honey," My mom called from where she stood at the sink. She was in blue scrubs and her curls fell behind her at shoulder length.

Curls that I inherited but I was a bit jealous of my mom's because hers always looks so pretty without any effort but mine, you should see me in the morning.

It's so thick that I always look like I've been attacked by a crazy raccoon.

"Morning, mom,"I said, setting my bag down on the kitchen floor. She walked over and placed a plate and a filled glass in front of me; OJ, toast and eggs.

"Hurry up, you're going to miss the bus,"she said as she used her thumb to arrange my baby hairs, smoothening them down.

It was a habit.

"Could you drop me off today? I think the bus left without me,"I said taking a sip of my drink and giving her a big smile.

Though my parents weren't rich or anything like that, we were doing pretty well in the financial area so honestly, I don't know why they won't get me a car.

I've been leaving subtle hints for them and it's either they're choosing not to notice them or they're blind.

I really hope it's neither because I hate taking the bus.

It was the reason I hated waking up every morning knowing I had to sit for all ten minutes with students who did nothing but gossip.

Who's dating, who's cheating on who, who's failing...it was never ending.

School's much worst but all I need to do is get though with this school year, then the next one and I'm done. The only issue is that I have no idea what to do after that but luckily for me, I have two years and a couple months to consider my options.

Come to think of it, that's not such a good thing. I mean, I have a lot of time left in highschool.

I love learning in a way but it's school. I just want it done and over with.

Anyway, back to my transportation problem.

I could always ask my bestfriend, Lizzie to come pick me up but she goes to this cafe every morning for her early morning caffeine and coffee makes me sick.

Literally.

And I'm more of a hot chocolate person.

"You missed it on purpose, didn't you?"My mom asked as she walked over to the closet to grab her coat.

"Maybe,"I shrugged, noticing my little golden retriever, Sky, gazing up at me as I ate.

"Fine, hurry up,"My mom said.

"All done!" I called after her with a mouthful as I gave Sky the remainder of my food and chucked down the rest of my drink.

After my mom dropped me off at BHS, my high school, I made my way inside pushing my glasses up my nose bridge.

Borderline High School was the only school in the city which could compete with East high academy. My cousin, Jacob goes there with the mayor's kids and Lizzie was supposed to go there too but she decided to come here with me.

BHS was a three floored structure with more than enough classes. As an exclusive private school it had a reputation to uphold. A job it did pretty well.

"Sienna!"

I turned after I heard my name to see Lizzie jogging towards me.

You know, my bestfriend that has an obsession with coffee.

"Hey, did you hear?" she asked once she got to where I stood waiting for her.

Typical.

Elizabeth O'Conner is like my bestest friend ever.

Is my bestest friend ever.

If she weren't my friend,I guess I'd be a tad jealous of her and the reason is because she's just so pretty and perfect.

She had dusky blue eyes, pretty blonde hair and she's a dancer, a good one at that.

She's also on the cheerleading team, her parents are super rich, I mean they rub elbows with Mayor Asher's family and everyone pretty much loves Lizzie though I'm not jealous of this other stuff.

Lizzie and I have been ride or die since Kindergarten.

She's actually my only friend if not counting Courtney from my Dad's store.

We, Liz and I, met after Lizzie punched Matt Davis in the eye for stealing my glasses, so we just clicked.

"About what?"I asked as we continued our walk into school.

"Jason Macaulay is having a party on Saturday and we are definitely going,"She said, putting in her locker combination.

Jason Macaulay is a future billionaire.

Well,if you consider his trust fund, he's a millionaire right now.

The upside to an exclusive private school is that you get to have classes with heirs and important kids.

The downside, they are all mean, well most of them.

"And why would I do that?"I asked my bestfriend while I switched up my books.

"Because," Lizzie drawled out,"Anyone who's anybody is going."

"At times like this I am so happy to be no one."

Lizzie gave me a pointed look, "Really, Si. Work with me here, you've never been to an actual party and you turn sixteen in a few days."

"But parties are just an excuse to stay out late and drink alcohol,"I defended."I just don't see the whole point of it."

"Si, I'm serious."

So am I.

"I would love to go," I began, obviously lying, "But I have this thing on Saturday."

"Really?" Lizzie questioned in this belief. "You have plans?"

"Yeah," I said slowly, stalling to think of a lie. "I've got to take Sky to the vet."

Lizzie shook her head at me, obviously seeing through my lie.

At times like this, I hated that she knew me so well.

"You took Sky to the vet last week and you can take him some other time that's not Saturday, hell, I'll even take him for you if you want me to," Lizzie said defiantly. "But you are NOT sitting out on this party, Sienna. I'll literally pull you out of your house if that's what it takes."

Believe me when I say, she's not kidding.

When Lizzie threatens you, she's dead serious.

Why do you think she punched Matt Davis in the face?

Hence,that led me to my reply.

"I'll go to the stupid party."

She squealed and threw her arms around me.

"You're definitely meeting Syd again there."

"Yeah, I'm not so sure that's gonna work out,"I said, shutting my locker.

Syd, Aka, Sydney Norman.

She's also on the cheerleading team and she's dating some jock.

She has cute Raven black hair and a beautiful smile plus Lizzie always says she's super nice.

It's not like I hate her or anything but I have a tendency to get tongue tied around people I don't know and also, she probably thinks I'm weird because the last time we had a conversation-Eh,tried to have-all I did was nod, smile and say 'Okay.'

"But why not?"Lizzie asked with a pout."Syd is awesome and she's my friend and you're my bestfriend. You guys should be friends."

"I didn't know those were the conditions for me to become friends with someone."

Liz rolled her eyes."You want her to punch Matt for you? I would have arranged that but sadly he's in Britain."

Thankfully.

"Liz, you have a ton of friends,"I stated."What's so important about Sydney?"

"I just know you guys are going to love each other,"Lizzie explained."You know, she likes those series teen romance books you get crazy about."

"The heirs?"I guessed.

"Yeah, that," Lizzie said, brushing it to the side."You can meet her today if she sits with us at lunch. I can ask her to if you're okay with it."

"If that's what you want."

"Yay!" She squealed and shut her locker."I've gotta go,see you at Lunch,Si."

"Sure,byeee,"I said and with one last wave, Liz and I went out seperate ways.

{∞}

I sat in my English class scribbling as many words as possible so I would understand it all better when I read my textbooks.

"So who can share with us at least five words that are spelled incorrectly most of the time?"The teacher, Mrs Higgins asked.

I glanced around the class and no one had their hands raised.

"Sienna Hart? Can you help us out?"She asked me.

This was normal.

I wasn't a nerd but I was pretty smart and that was only because I studied.

As I opened my mouth to answer the question, the classroom's door was pulled open from the other side.

It was him.

Of course it was him.

Who else could stroll into class late and still looked like he owned the place.

Who else other than Jason Macaulay.

He always shows up to class late which is strange for someone with a grade point average (GPA) as high as his and he always gets away with it.

"I'm sorry," Jason apologized to the teacher as he pulled the door close behind him.

Mrs Higgins nodded.

"Just take your seat."

As Jason walked towards the back to take a seat, his eyes just for finds mine.

I was staring.

Stupid Sienna.

Stupid.

Sienna.

It was like everyone else disappeared and it was just the two of us.

Sienna?

He doesn't look away and either do I.

I've got to say, his grey eyes are pretty attractive...

"Sienna Hart!"

Alarmed, I turned my head so fast it was possible it snapped.

Mrs Higgins stood in front of me giving me a questioning look.

"Were you going to answer the question?"

What question?

"Umm, sorry what was the question again?"

"Five commonly misspelled words."

Oh yeah, that.

"Acquaintance which is often misspelt as..."

{≠}

After a couple more awkward minutes, class was over.

Like everyone else, I walked out of class but without the shuffling of feet thing which is a bit annoying and immature.

I headed to my locker to grab my current novel and an idea to skip meeting Sydney at lunch came to my mind.

I don't really have a reason for not wanting to meet Syd but in my perspective, she wasn't the kind of person I'd hang out with.

I sent my bestfriend a quick text.

BLμ€GLiTT3R~

Can't meet up @

lunch 11:00am

Gotta head to the lib 4 a

bit, sorry 11:01am

Almost immediately after I placed my books in my locker, her reply came in.

P£RK¥©H££®L£ÄD£R~

U're 4getting we've been

friends 4 13yrs but sure,

knock urself out 11:02am

I mean u're d 1 taking

d advanced classes 11:02am

BLμ€GLiTT3R

:D meet up @ my dad's

store? 11:03am

P£RK¥©H££®L£ÄD£R~

Tho I hate ur introvert

ass right rite now

ತ_ತ... 11:04am

Same booth, same time 11:05am

BLμ€GLiTT3R~

Great! :)Luv u 11:05am

P£RK¥©H££®L£ÄD£R~

Hate ya <3 11:06am

After shutting my locker, I headed for the library happy that I had gotten out of having lunch with Sydney.

The library is my favorite place in the whole school. It's really quiet and it's pretty comfy.

The silence was a safe haven for me. In a school of boasterious rich kids, it was a place where I could strip down my guard and just read.

The environment made it easier to, lounge chairs cushioned with red velvet fabric, the serene silence of the place, you could literally feel knowledge flowing through the air.

Knowing the way by heart, I made swift turns through the halls, avoiding the noisy jocks, squealing cheerleader and tipptoeing through the artists' works which were spread on the floor to dry.

Lizzie was right, I love teen romance novels. Their authors are so amazing being able to create the best characters and define their emotions in the most beautiful way and -

Library Closed.

That's what the sign in front of me read.

No wonder Lizzie didn't argue with me when I told her I wasn't coming.

Groaning, I pushed my glasses up my nose bridge and I made my way to the cafeteria.

Lizzie should have told me.

It would have saved me the stress of coming here.

All of a sudden, my book fell to the floor.

Well not just like that, this dude bumped into me. He bends to pick it up.

Stupid jocks that won't watch where they're going but at least this one had the decency to-

It's him again.

I resisted the urge to groan.

It's bad enough that I have six classes with Mr Trust Fund but now I guess the universe decided to punish me by making me see him everywhere.

Guys like him come with aura, do they could everything and anything and get away with it.

"Hey,it's Sienna right?"

He knows my name.

This isn't a fan girl squeal like Omg!heknowsmyname! it's more like a Why the hell does he know my name?

"Y-yeah, that's me,"I squeaked, snatching my book from his grasp."B-but I-um I've gotta go."

Not waiting for his reply, I brushed past him, stepping into the cafeteria.

This is a sign.

A sign from the universe telling me I shouldn't be going to that party on Saturday.

This isn't a romance novel where soulmates bump into each other all the time.

This is real life and it's creeping me out.

I cleared my mind from these stupid thoughts once I spotted Liz and Sydney.

Her eyes met mine and she smirked.

Lizzie I mean, not Sydney, that would just be weird.

"What happened?"Lizzie asked with feigned innocence as I settled down beside her."I thought you said you were going to be at the library?"

"It's not funny, Liz,"I frowned."You know the library's on the top floor but yet you couldn't tell me it was closed."

"Well you shouldn't have gone back on your word,"Lizzie countered."I thought you took your promises seriously."

"Not when it makes me uncomfortable, I don't,"I replied.

"You. Are. Going. To. That. Party." Lizzie said, putting a fry in her mouth.

"Lizzie-"

"Hey, Sienna?"Sydney called, cutting me off and I turned to her resisting the urge to scream 'what?' in her face.

"Can I see this?"she asked gesturing to my novel.

I nodded but I felt Lizzie's elbow hit my side and I turned to face her.

She mouthed a please.

Rubbing my side, I turned back to Sydney.

"Of course, Sydney, here."

Sydney smiled before she took the book from me.

"So you like teen fiction novels?"Sydney asked me.

"Yeah,"I said with a small shrug."Do you?"

Trust me,vif I didn't put effort into this conversation, I would never hear the end of this from Lizzie.

"Of course she does, Si," Lizzie chirped."I told you Syd likes books too remember?"

"No, I don't like books,"Sydney corrected."Just teen romance novels and I haven't read this one."

"Umm, you can have it,"I told her, bringing out my lunch from my bag and placing it on the table.

"Did you just-"Lizzie asked, referring to me giving Sydney my book.

My books are like my babies.

I always highlight some parts in the book and put some notes and I don't let anyone see them because those parts are like a small part of my soul, my identity.

"Its okay," I said to Lizzie because it was.

I haven't written anything in that copy.

Hell, if I did, I wouldn't have even let her look at it.

{≈}

I walked into my Dad's store after school, thinking about lunch with Sydney and Lizzie.

Liz was right.

Sydney was really nice and that says a lot because it's pretty hard to find a nice person in my school of boasterious rich kids.

I learnt a lot about Sydney at lunch.

She likes her fries with ketchup, she said she would never eat them without it.

She hates the girls on the lawn tennis team because in her words not mine, 'They think they're so much better than everyone else because that have cute uniforms and can hit balls with bats. We have have cute uniforms too! And I bet none of them can do a single cartwheel.'

What she said was true from what I had noticed.

The lawn tennis girls are the only ones at my school who stick status quo.

Lawn tennis girls always sit with lawn tennis girls and they do NOT get along with the cheerleaders and I think it's pretty pointless because the captains of the teams, Alisha Warren for the lawn tennis girls and Belvia Seth for the cheerleaders are friends-bestfriends.

My dad's store was buzzing with activity as usual.

It's name 'the hive' really suits it.

The hive, bees, buzzing.

Nothing? Okay.

My dad's store is the number one hangout in town.

It's a cafe in front, a restaurant inside, a supermarket on the floor above the restaurant, a bookstore on the floor above that and an arcade on the top floor.

I set my bag on the floor and sat on one of those colourful plastic chairs they have at counters.

Courtney walked over with a smile on her face.

"Hey, Sienna," She said, smiling but then her attention goes to a table near by that was waiting her over."Be right back."

I turned in my seat to watch her work.

I loved watching Court work.

She was pretty, crazy and sassy.

She has so many crazy ideas and you can't help but love her 'I don't take shit from nobody' attitude.

There were two girls seated at the table and I recognized them instantly; Leslie Asher, the mayor's second daughter and her bestfriend, Kendra Arnold who's dad is a rich business man.

Leslie gave Courtney her order and handed her the menu.

"Do you guys have-"Kendra started and Courtney cuts her off.

"No, look at the menu."

She hates it when costumer's won't look at the menu. It annoys her and I get it. There's a menu in front of you but you still ask ...do you guys have?

"Okay, what about-" Kendra tried again.

"Look. At. The. Menu."

"Or the-"Kendra continued.

Oh well, she was going to get it now.

"Girl, if you're not-"

The bestfriends erupted into laughter and Courtney stared at them confused.

"Told you I could still pull off rich brat when I want to,"Kendra told Leslie and then she turned back to Courtney still laughing.

"I'm so sorry. I wasn't just trying to prove something to her. I'll have a medium burger, large fries and a glass of lemon and elderflower reviver oh and a large burger and fries to go. Thank you."

Courtney made her way back to me and went into the kitchen at the back before she returned to the counter.

"You're mean,"I stated, pulling out a bag of carrots, sliding it open, the bag, and putting a small stick in my mouth.

I love carrots but it's not like I'm crazy about them or anything they just have these really sweet ones at the farmer's market and I need as much vitamins A as I can get for my eye sight, not that I'm blind or anything.

Carrots along with popcorn are my favorite reading snacks.

"Not to you,"she said in a sing song voice.

"Is my Dad here?"I asked.

"Yeah, I think he's in his office,"Courtney told me."He left to go get Sky a couple hours ago."

"Really?"I asked and she nodded.

"I'm gonna go walk him,"I said, getting out of my seat."Oh and Lizzie might show up and though I don't plan on spending a lot of time could you-"

"Get her favorite booth?Got it, baby girl, go walk your dog."

"Thanks,Court,"I smiled at her before I left.

"Hey,Dad,"I greeted as I walked into my dad's office.

My Dad's office was big enough.

There was a blue cushion to the side with a few milk coloured pillows to match the walls in the same shade, giving a home feelings.

To the right there was a brown hard wood shelf with a lot of files arranged in it and a few books.

Most of them were mine, left here from all the times I had forgotten my book here growing up.

Beside the shelf was another cushion in the same shade and at it bottom laid a napping Sky.

My dad was working at his desk which had a frame of our family; Him, mom, my older brother Mg and I.

Along side the frame was a stack of paper work.

"Hey, Kiddo."

"I'm just gonna take Sky for a walk, did you bring his treats?"

"I think I have a few here,"My dad said as he searched his cabinet.

After my dad gave me the treats, I put a leash on Sky and headed to the park which was like a two minutes walk from the store.

I took the leash off him at the park because he's usually really well behaved.

After a couple throws,I decided it was time to head back usually really well behaved.

After a couple throws,I decided it was time to head back to the store and that was when Sky spotted a squirrel and took off.

"Sky!get back here,"I yelled but he was clearly focused on something.

"Sky!"

Still focused on the squirrel.

"Sky!!"

That last one seemed to do the trick and he came running back to me with his tongue dangling out from his mouth.

{∞}

I got back to meet Lizzie sitting at her booth.

It was the only booth in the store and if I let her, she'd crave her name onto it to stake her claim.

She smiled at me and waved, Sky and I made our way over there.

"Hey,Sky,"she said rubbing him behind the ears.

Lizzie likes my puppy a lot and judging by the way his tail wags whenever he sees her, he likes her too.

"You finished early,"I told her.

"Sienna,"I turned to see my dad walking towards us."No pets in the restaurant."

Sky wasn't allowed here, I mean this part of the store but he was allowed in the other parts.

"Hi, Mr Hart,"Lizzie said, smiling.

"Elizabeth, how are you?"

"Good for now,"Lizzie shrugged.

"I have to take Sky back to my office now,"My dad said and took Sky's leash from me.

When I settled down across from Liz,she handed me a sanitizer after she had squirted some onto her hands.

"Thanks,"I said."I had an encounter with Jason Macaulay."

Lizzie eyes widened,"Tell me everything!"

I recounted all my Jason Macaulay situations to her and she gasped in shock.

"You guys are going to definitely end up together!"

There she goes stating things that will never happen.

"Mmhmm,"I appeased her.

"You know for someone who reads romance novels all the time,you know nothing about love."