Page 8 of Set the Moment
I should feel bad for my tone, but I can’t. Hearing that you should marry one of your best friends every day for almost a decade is fucking annoying.
Georgia, Cleo, and even Ryan have been the only constant people in my life besides my family. I wouldn’t touch any of them with a ten foot pole.
Georgia, with her blonde hair and green eyes is the feminine equivalent of me. She acts like me, talks like me, looks like me—and I’m pretty sure she’s a demon. The thought of evenhuggingher, let alone kissing her in front of a church, gives me the heebeegeebees.
Unlike Georgia, my best friend, Cleo, is the exact opposite of me. I admit that as a kid I had a teensy crush on her and we did kiss once, but that ship sailed before it ever reached its dock because Hurricane Sienna came through wielding all the power.
I haven’t been attracted to either Georgia or Cleo, because not only have I watched them grow up, know all of their secrets, but I’ve also seen them down twelve hot dogs between the two of them.
Only one girl remains on my mind, and I have a plan in motion to get her.
“Language…” My mom’s soft voice reminds me that we’re still on the phone.
“I’m sorry, Mom, but it’s been over ten years of you scheming and I don’t have any feelings for Georgia nor Cleo,” I say, officially giving up on my painting for the night.
“Fine, I'll stop for now, Jace. You know that if you ever need help I’m just a call away right, honey?”
Chuckling as I take a seat on the foot of my bed, I nod.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Good, because I have a feeling this school year is going to have a lot more drama than last year…” My mother sighs, and with that, she hangs up.
three
Sienna
“I’dlovetotakeyou out sometime…”
My brain replays the words of the pretty stranger from last night. After my performance yesterday, my body buzzed with anger and adrenaline. I’ve been an instructor for the Mini age division at the MDDA since I moved to Summerfield in mid-May.
In the time that I’ve been an instructor, I’ve met every single parent—except for one. The father of Delilah Perez, my golden student. Delilah, unlike the other girls in her group, is eager to dance and the most patient. She wants to learn new things and is always front and center for warm ups. It hadn’t even crossed my mind that I’d never met her dad because an older lady had been dropping her off, whom I’d assumed was her mother until Friday night.
Her “mother” asked me to babysit her for a few hours, and I’d agreed only to find out later that the sweet older woman was in fact Delilah’sgrandma,and Derek Perez, one of the goalies for the men’s hockey team at SFU, was her dad.
It upset me that another young dancer's parents weren't as active in her dance life as they should’ve been, so when I saw Delilah on stage last night, searching the crowd for him only to be met with disappointment, I was livid.
Derek showed up a few minutes after her performance, wet, and with a pitiful look on his face. I hate to say it but, I cursed him out.
Me!
You’re probably thinking, Si Si, you’d never…Oh, but I did!
I eviscerated him with my words then danced on his tombstone…and his friend.
The friend who was with him was collateral damage—he’d shown up right after the verbal lashing and got the ending of it.
After I did one of the most irresponsible things of my life with a smile on my face, I danced away all of that anger I felt towards Derek.
As I danced, I couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. Growing up, the feeling was familiar. Welcoming, even. I’d thought I was crazy at first considering I was dancing on a stage in front of about two hundred people and being watched was kind of the point, but then I sawhim.
Or at least I think it was him.
Jace Heart.
The theater was dark, but even in a crowded room with very little light, I think I’d know the feeling of those light green eyes anywhere. My skin buzzes as my mind replays all the moments where those eyes tracked me.
“Was Jace there?” I mumble, chewing on my nail with furrowed brows. Tugging my knees to my chest, I stare at the TV aimlessly as my mind goes through last night.
