"Hey! What's wrong with your cousin today?"
Heather, Sienne's closest friend, was invited to the birthday party. And being the best friend that she was, she was ready to jump into a battle with Maevie whom she knew would make trouble for her bestie in every way possible. But the person seemed to have pulled out a different character play than before.
Before, whenever there was a party or gathering, Maevie would make herself the centre of attention. She would wear the most extravagant dress that screams of attention and went from guest to guest and talk as though she was the guest of honor.
But today, she was just standing beside the Cacias quietly as they greeted the guests. Her dress was simple yet elegant and did not take away attention from Mrs. Cacia.
It was not only Heather, but all those who had even a minute understanding of what type of person Maevie was. They were puzzled with her change of behavior.
"Don't know. She's been acting weird for some time." Sienne answered.
She had been observing the older girl since the day before. Along with the rest of the family.
What the Cacia family feared would happen, never did even after Maevie was seated opposite to Sienne during dinner. Nor did she make a rude comment when Sienne gifted her mother a painting she had made by herself as a gift.
And seconds turned to minutes, and then minutes to hours, the rest of the Cacia family who were walking on the egg shell finally let out their breath as they acknowledged, wholeheartedly this time. That Maevie Oz, the girl who used to be ignorant and rude to those who did not do as she wished, had changed for good.
All but her. Sienne Grace Cacia.
During the nine years she had separated from her real family, Sienne learned more about the world and the ways to survive than a normal 16 years would. And when she returned to her real family, she was happy to have a big family and even wanted to be close to Maevie.
But the other girl felt threatened by her and started to make things difficult for her in every step. For Sienne who had seen the worst of the world, her attempts were mere child's play. She turned every bit of her action into her advantage and made herself even more pitiful in the eyes of others.
And it really helped that Maevie was very ignorant and childish, easy to provoke.
She had seen how much of a nuisance Maevie could be. So, she was very skeptical about this sudden change of hers. But for now, she chose to ignore her presence as much as the other was doing hers. After all, she would eventually know what type of dish the girl was cooking this time.
Like that, the first interaction of Maevie and Sienne after the big event went without anything happening other than the two ignoring the other's existence.
"Do you think she's up to something?" Asked Heather.
"Don't know." Replied Sienne. "But whatever she had planned, I won't fall for it."
"Hmm!" The friend nodded. "Don't let your guard down."
Then she added,
"Oh! And don't drink anything."
Sienne smiled at the caring nature of her friend before she promised to be careful.
But soon, the arrival of a person caught her attention. The person was tall and radiant. In Sienne's eyes, it was as if everyone around them had turned to a backdrop. It was only him and her.
She watched him, looking around as if looking for someone in the crowd. His eye brows tightened as he did so and couldn't find the person he was looking for.
Until he looked at her direction and met eyes with her. His steps paused for a second. A halt it was. Before his hard and tightened face was lit up with a smile and became so youthful.
"Awww…. He's smiling. He's smiling at you." Teased Heather.
Zane Arthic had never hidden his adoration for Sienne ever. Infact, he made sure his action told everything about how he felt about the girl in every possible way.
"Shut up!" Hissed Sienne as her face went through different shades of red.
"Aww… Don't be shy in front of me. I already know that you like him. And it's clear that he likes you too."
Sienne shyly turned away from her friend.
"How do you know he likes me? He never told me_"
Before she could even finish what she wanted to say, Heather who was dumbfounded by her friend's words, snapped.
"Girl. You must be blind or something. What he never told you? Not everything needs to be said. Who is the first person to run to you when something happens to you?"
"My brothers."
"Not your family."
"You…" Sienne answered as though she was stating a matter of facts.
"…"
Heather felt like pulling her hair. And if not for sending money to the hairdresser and having to sit more than an hour to style her hair, she would have done so.
"Sienne, you know what I want to say."
"Okay Okay." Sienne smiled as she stopped teasing her friend. "I know what you want to say."
Indeed. Zane had helped her in many situations. When she had first transferred into the prestigious school and Maevie made it difficult for her, Zane had helped her from behind the scene. Just two months ago, if he had not taken her away from the party, she would have been amongst those who got arrested by the police for being in a drug party.
"But. He has never told me that he likes me. Maybe he just saw me as a friend and helped me as so…"
Heather understood where her friend was coming from. But as a person who had seen people fall in love left and right, she knew the signs.
"Sure, he had not said anything about his feelings. But he had been showing them. If not for the hornet's nest, I'm sure he would have confessed long ago."
The hornet being,
"What are you doing here?"
Abel glared at Zane.
"To celebrate Aunt's birthday." The latter replied.
Zane was a player in his team. The most valued one in fact. But he was also the one that Abel opposed the most.
The reason? The unneeded attention the person paid to his sister.
"The kid was bored at home on his own. So, I brought him out. Otherwise, he'll be stuck to the screen twenty-four x seven." Mrs. Arthic came to her son's rescue.
"Abel! Don't be rude to our guests."
Scolded Mrs. Cacia. Before she thanked the newly arrived mother and son for coming to her birthday party. She turned back to her youngest son and ordered him to take care of Zane.
The latter had a smug smile at having won this round. And of course, Abel had to tolerate it for the night. But he promised to himself to make the person pay.
"Expect the practice time to increase by two hours. Captain Zane."
That immediately wiped the smirk off the gamers face. Then the two went back and forth, bickering about this and that.
Maevie, who was observing from the side, had to hide her smile with the glass of juice she was drinking. Tyler had forbidden her from drinking more than two glasses after hearing what had happened at the farewell party from Abel. And she had finished her quota for the day.
She was enjoying herself. Enjoying the peace of having not to fight for attention. Enjoying her new chance. She watched the Cacia family. The real Cacia family interacted with each other… to the extent that she could not penetrate amongst them.
And she was happy with just being an extended member of their family….
Her only doubt of how she would react when she saw Sienne was solved. Although they still disliked each other's presence, they have a common understanding to not initiate any action.
'All my worries are solved.'
Or so she thought.
Until a person came and stood before her.
"Luther… You're here…."