Beautiful Bedlam (24 page)

“What are you talking about?” he asked perplexedly.

“Forget it.” she sighed and looked out of the window, at the snow falling on to the ground like pretty white confetti decorated everything it touched.

“No, tell me. What do you think is happening between me and Rose?” he asked irritably which only spiked the bottled anger and resentment she had towards him.

“I know she’s the girl you were supposed to take to the dance today. I know you and she…you know what forget it. Its none of my business.” She sighed and looked at her cellphone, still no reply from Noah.

“Rose and I never-“

“I don’t want to know Logan!” she cried and closed her eyes trying to contain the moisture that had formed in her eyes. Logan quickly parked the car in the high school parking lot. Sienna rushed out eager to get away from him.

“You listened to her explain, to Noah, hell you even let Bethany give you some glorified fabricated info, but you never once, not once did you let me explain.” He hissed and slammed his car door shut.

“Because I don’t want to know, Logan.” she said jadedly as they walked towards the school entrance. Her voice cracked as she said his name. He sighed and put his jacket around her shoulders as she trembled in the cold. He stood behind her and wanted nothing more than to put his arms around her, to kiss her neck and to have her hear the truth but he could read her moods like a deck of tarot cards. She was not in a consoling mood. She turned around and threw his jacket back at him in defiance.

“The truth is I don’t want hear the details about how the two people I loved most in the world hurt me despite the fact that you both knew how much I loved you. You knew…and you did it anyway.” She said as she saw Rose titter up behind him dressed in a pretty black dress. She didn’t say anything but looked up shamefacedly. Logan just stood there looking at her, his handsome face filled with despair. It’s as if it physically hurt him watching her in pain and killed him even more to know it was all his fault.

“Why were you even friends with me? I mean we’re completely different. Was it because I was a complete nerd and it made you feel good having someone constantly boosting your ego?”

“That’s not fair-“

“Oh to hell with fair! You think I’m stupid? You don’t think I know how you must have laughed countless times with Trent and all those other meatheads every time they teased you about how nice it must be to have the good little Christian girl at your beck and call every hour of the day?” she spat out. He couldn’t even look at her, which only reaffirmed her fears. She hated him. She really hated him just then.

“You strung me along for
years
, for years I watched as you dated and danced and most recently slept your way through every dumb floozy in school but you crossed the line when you decided to have sex with my best friend.” She said fervently with tears rolling down her pretty face then looked at Rose.

“Sienna…” she mumbled and gulped unsure of what to say.

“And
you
don’t you stand there and act like some victim because you broke my heart not the other way around. You both did.” She said and turned on her heel without so much as a glance back, retreating inside.

19.

Although, the winter formal theme this year was black and white attire, Sienna seemed to be one of the very few minorities wearing white. That must have been the reason as to why everybody turned to look and stare at her when she made her late arrival. She could hear people’s shocked gasps
. Really? Do I look that bad when I don’t dress up for school everyday?
She asked herself marveling at how a dress and a hair curler could make all the difference in the world. The high school gymnasium was almost unrecognizable. It actually looked
beautiful
? The entire ceiling was filled with shiny black and silver balloons with ‘Haven Falls High Winter Formal’ written in fancy Italic typing. The dance committee certainly went all out this year with white pillars and white roses and white fairy lights at every turn. She had heard from Candice that the school had booked a band but they had apparently cancelled at the last second. But the DJ sounded great pumping out all the latest hip hop dance tracks and all the usually moody adolescents seemed to be having a great time for once. She could see Logan already melded in between the crowd. It was strange how every step he took people paved the way out for him hollering his name. He barely acknowledged half of them as he swayed his way towards Trent and pulled him in to a back thumping manly embrace.

“Erm, maybe it’s the not so non-alcoholic punch talking or I’m guessing the plan backfired?” Trent yelled over the sound of David Guetta. Logan merely grabbed his red plastic cup and gulped it down wincing slightly at the aftertaste.

“Jesus, what the hell is in that?” he asked clearing his throat smiling at his crazy friend. “Let’s just say my friend, the less you know the better. It’s ‘Trent’s Special Prom Night get the hot girls drunk and laid’ cocktail.” He grinned brazenly.

“So, I’m guessing Cinders over there didn’t take the bait?” he asked lowering his voice slightly and noticing Logan’s worried pensive expression for the first time that night. “No, No she did not.” He sighed and snatched a cup out of the hands of a wide-eyed freckled frightened short kid standing nearby and drowned it instantly. He scrunched up the plastic cup and handed it back to the boy who was at least a foot shorter and still had his palm stretched out.

“She doesn’t want me.” He whispered to himself.

“Okay, enough with the doom and gloom and brooding forehead! Its dance night, look around; there’s so many loose white girls here. Take your pick.” Trent smirked as he put his arm around Logan’s shoulders. Logan just stared at him bleakly.

“Okay, fine. It’s not only white, we got some lovely foreign delicacies too.” He added noticing the hot new exchange student across the room. Logan couldn’t help but chuckle and shake his head at that.

“I’m not saying forget about her forever, just for tonight. You did everything you could. You got rid of that nerd Noah whose probably so pissed off stuck in the middle of nowhere with four flat tires. You almost begged her to be your date. You went to her house to pick her up. You even got her a damn corsage! And she still wants the nerd. Leave with whatever little dignity you have left bro.” Trent sighed exhausted with the whole Sienna drama. It was clear to the entire world that those two were already completely in love with each other; the only people unaware were the two lovebirds themselves. 

“Ah shit, I forgot the damn corsage in the car. Anyway, she probably wouldn’t have taken it from me seeing as she’s waiting for her
date
.” Logan scoffed disdainfully and rubbed his jaw with his hand.

“Look dude, Sienna’s a great girl but there are better girls out there.”
“No there aren’t. I’ve been around the world yet I still want the girl back home. She’s perfect. She’s everything right in this world, she’s kind, and funny and so beautifully insanely weird and she just gets it. She gets me.” Logan said wistfully with a small sigh and smile as he looked across the crowded room to the beautiful girl in white.
“Are you even listening to me?” he asked bewilderedly as he noticed Trent’s unusual silence and fixation on his IPhone.
“Boom! Oh yeah! I got a hit.” He exclaimed giddily then looked up apologetically at his friend.
“Seriously, I’m trying to profess to you about the love of my life and you’re on Tinder? You’re at a high school dance, you don’t need Tinder tonight.” Logan resisted the urge to roll his eyes and settled for a smirk instead as he snatched his cellphone out of his hand. His eyes widened in shock at the middle-aged blonde whom his best. friend had apparently been sexting. You’ve got to love technology. Seriously, she had to be nearing fifty. Trent quickly snatched his phone back
“Hey! I will always need Tinder. Besides what are you telling me for? Go tell her.”
“I
can’t
.” Logan replied hesitantly just as Bethany Simmons sashayed her way over to him in the smallest tightest little black dress he’d ever seen on a girl. He was sure she was going to get hell from Principal Sharpe because that dress pretty much violated every rule of the school dress code.

“So Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome, do I get a dance tonight?” she asked smiling up at him flirtatiously.

“Play your cards right, you might just get a lot more than just that sweetheart.” He smirked as he took her by the hand and began dancing with her, anything and anyone to distract him from
her
. Bethany with a lot of effort managed to keep her squeals of excitement buried within her.

Sienna was all of five seconds away from drowning her stupid cellphone in the punch bowl. ‘
Where the hell was Noah? This is the first and last time I ever ask a guy out! To hell with feminism’!
She thought bitterly, still angry with herself for being so easily persuaded to come to the dance. She looked around at the pretty dresses and the happy, albeit some slightly drunk faces and felt out of place. She thought back to her father and his weird abrupt declaration of love to her. From the corner of her eyes Sienna could see a couple of boys looking toward her urging each other to come up to her. She pretended not to notice and shifted her legs and body away from them. She wished they would go away. She hated the stupid dress. It was simple yet too much. It drew too much unwanted attention and she felt nervous under the scrutiny of so many prying eyes. She hated dances. Dancing always felt so intimate to her. Sienna was hardly the handholding hugging type of girl. She could barely remember the last time she had even hugged her mom. She couldn’t help but look over at Logan slow dancing with a girl she didn’t recognize. 

Already there were a herd of girls scattered near him watching him over the shoulders of their dates. She couldn’t help but smirk at the view. They were merely moths drawn to the flame just the same as her, a fire so frighteningly bright, so beautiful yet so dangerous to the touch. She had never thought of herself as a jealous person until now as he watched him spin the girl around and smile and whisper in to her ear. Her fingers lightly tapped the plastic cup of punch thoughtfully.

A guy in her Biology class had given it to her when he asked her to dance when she first entered. Sienna being the great charmer that she was politely declined thus terrifying any other potential dancing partners. Boys were not her only admirers. She could see a number of her classmates looking over at her with both pity and awe over her dress. She felt like a jilted bride. She didn’t know how long she sat there for just waiting for Noah. She wondered where Candice was. She had a feeling her and her new beau Trevor must have taken their ‘party’ elsewhere. That one really was a dark horse. She could see Rose laughing and dancing happily with her date. So maybe Sienna was wrong. Maybe she wasn’t Logan’s mystery girl. Maybe he just made her up to piss her and Bethany off.

“A penny for your thoughts?” a smooth deep voice came from behind her as Blake pulled out a chair and sat next to her. She felt her jaw drop slightly at the sight of him. He wore a simple black suit with a black shirt with the top button undone. She shut her mouth realizing that she must look like a star struck idiot.

“You clean up pretty well.” She gulped.

“I could say the same to you.” He replied softly his violet blue eyes twinkling and enrapturing her in his warm gaze. She marveled at how a few words so softly spoken could cause her heart to palpitate so rapidly.

“So, I’m guessing you got stuck chaperoning the dance. Sucks for you.”

“Ah, its not so bad. Although it is a little creepy watching your students make out.” She laughed at his half horrified half repulsed expression.

“I mean part of me wants to banish them to opposite ends of the room, and the other part just wants to give the poor kid some advice to stop using so much tongue. Look, he’s practically suffocating her.” He added nodding his head towards the direction of a lovesick pair of teenagers completely engrossed in each other.

“Ew, yeah, he kind of is.” She replied cocking her head to the side as she watched before shaking her head and looked back at Blake.
Poor
girl
.

“Where’s your date?” he asked curiously.

“Honestly, he could be in New Mexico for all I know.” She sighed feeling a surge of anger flare up in her heart again. Great, she looked so pathetic and alone even Blake felt sorry for her.

“His loss.” He replied instantly. She looked at him surprised at his immediate response but his eyes were busy scanning the room. She followed his stare; most of the other chaperones were in the other corner of the room.

“I don’t even know why I’m still sitting here…just waiting. I’ll be the talk of the school tomorrow. Bethany Simmons has already made her rounds whispering things about me. Guess I’ll find out how heinous the gossip is then.” She said airily pretending not to care.

“Ah, Miss Simmons and her notorious sharp tongue and tall tales. Ignore her. She’ll bore eventually. They always do. I didn’t exactly enjoy high school either.”

“Who says I don’t enjoy high school?” she retorted wide-eyed pretending to be outraged.

“Your face.” He smiled audaciously.

“Wait, you didn’t like high school? Let me guess, all-star athlete, probably quarterback, crazy rich parents and flashy car not to mention stellar grades? How could you
not
like high school?” she asked with her eyebrows raised at him knowingly.