Chapter 81 Aria
I wasn’t expecting the knock on my front door to make my stomach drop, but it did like my body knew something before my brain caught up. Mom called from the kitchen, “Aria? Can you get that?” and I forced myself to move.
When I opened the door, Sienna was standing there like she hadn’t vanished again for days. She had changed her dark braids to brown now and they were French curls and with the same berry lip gloss she always used. Her smile was almost too bright like it had been drawn on a little too heavy.
“Hey, stranger.” She raised a brow. “Why do you look like you saw a ghost?”
My throat tightened. “Because you disappeared. AGAIN.”
She laughed brushing past me like it was nothing. “I didn’t disappear. My aunt needed help. I texted you.”
“No,” I said, following her into the living room, “you didn’t.”
She froze for a split second. Her fingers tightened around the strap of her bag before she turned around like nothing happened.
“Huh? It must’ve failed to send. Service sucks up there.”
Sienna was many things but vague wasn’t one of them. She would’ve told me the exact street, how many cats her aunt own, and what brand of tea she drank every night.
I sat across from her picking at my sleeve while she crossed her legs and looked everywhere but at me.
“So,” she said, “what’d I miss? Don’t tell me Ethan tried to fight Luca again. His inferiority complex is exhausting.”
She said it so naturally that for a moment I almost believed everything was fine. But then she turned her head, and her eyes caught the sunlight and I swear they looked different. Just something that didn’t used to be there.
“You sure you’re okay?” I asked slowly.
She blinked. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Because you left without telling anyone like before and didn’t respond to calls or texts,” I said. “And when Nora asked Charlotte if she’d heard from you, she said your Dad hadn’t mentioned anything.”
Sienna twisted a curl around her finger. “Charlotte’s dramatic. You should know that.”
I did know that but I also knew Sienna better than almost anyone. She didn’t forget to send messages or to tell her family things. Plus she didn’t vanish.
“Aria,” she said, softer now. “I promise nothing happened.”
But her smile didn’t reach her eyes. And for the first time since I’d known her, I couldn’t tell if she was lying or hiding something from herself too. After a few minutes of polite, forced small talk, she stood abruptly. “We should go to school before we’re late.”
“We have twenty minutes.”
“Still,” she said, straightening her bag, “we should go.”
That wasn’t like her either. Sienna was chronically five minutes late, always stopping to grab matcha or fix her hair or complain about her mascara flaking. She walked out too fast and I followed her, confusion gnawing at my ribs.
On the way to school, she asked me about Luca, about the game and whether Kai had gotten over getting elbowed in the face. She sounded like herself and acted like herself but something in her tone was different. When we got to school, Nora spotted us before we made it to the front steps.
“Finally,” she said, rushing over, her eyes scanning Sienna with an almost-glare. “You’re back.”
Sienna gave a little wave. “Yup! Alive and well.”
Nora didn’t smile. “Where were you, exactly?”
Sienna stiffened. “With my aunt.”
“Which one?”
“The um, the one in Elk Ridge.”
“You told Charlotte she lived in Bramblewood,” Nora said in a cool tone.
Sienna’s stories weren’t just vague. They didn’t match at all.
Sienna blinked fast. “Right, Bramblewood. Sorry, I got that mixed up.”
Nora shot me a look that said “Are you seeing this?” I nodded slightly cause I definitely was.
“Okay,” Nora said, crossing her arms. “Well, next time, maybe tell someone before going off-grid.”
Sienna’s jaw tightened. “I didn’t go off-grid.”
Nora raised a brow. “No service, calls, texts or social media. That’s literally the definition.”
Then something flickered across Sienna’s face. It was too quick to catch but it was there.
“I don’t need to report my every move,” she muttered. “I’m not twelve.”
“And we’re not strangers,” Nora shot back. “Disappearing without telling anyone isn’t normal, Sienna.”
Sienna swallowed. “You guys are overreacting.”
“We’re reacting,” Nora said. “You’re the one avoiding details.”
Sienna’s eyes darted away again. “Can we not do this in the middle of the hallway? People are staring.”
They were but that wasn’t the point.
“Let’s just go to class,” I murmured, stepping between them.
Sienna walked off quickly like she wanted escape more than company.
Nora leaned toward me. “She’s lying.”
“I know.”
“She doesn’t lie.”
“I know,” I whispered again.
“And did you see her eyes?”
I stiffened. “Yes. I did.”
“What was that?”
I didn’t have an answer neither did she. The day dragged. Sienna sat with us at lunch but barely touched her food. She told a story about her aunt’s “cabin near the lake,” except earlier she’d said it was “a townhouse near the market.” Nora’s eyes flicked to mine each time a detail changed.
Sienna didn’t notice or pretended not to. After school, as we walked toward the parking lot, she looped her arm through mine like she used to, but her grip was too tight like she was anchoring herself to me.
“Thanks for being chill about everything,” she said lightly.
“I’m trying.”
“I know you are.” She smiled, but her lips trembled slightly. “I just need things to feel normal again.”
Something in her voice made my chest ache. “Sienna,” I said quietly, “you can tell me if something’s wrong.”
She stopped walking. “Nothing’s wrong.”
“You hesitated.”
For a moment she looked like she might say something like the words were squeezing at the back of her throat. Her eyes glossed over like she was somewhere far away. Then she blinked it all away and forced another smile. “I’m fine, Aria. Really.”
But she wasn’t. I knew it and deep down, I think Sienna knew that we knew.
“Please don’t push,” she whispered.
“Okay.”
Sienna was back but she wasn’t the same girl who’d left. And I didn’t know whether she’d changed because of something she’d done or something that had been done to her.
AUTHOR’S NOTE:
Okay, I need everyone to take a deep breath now. Sienna is acting normal-but-not-normal and giving “I’m fine” with a side of “absolutely not fine.” Aria and Nora are noticing every crack in the story.
So tell me: What do YOU think happened to Sienna during those days she vanished? And who else thinks this is only the beginning?