Chapter 2

Moments later, Sienna opened her eyes, stretching her body contentedly.

“Alone again,” she sighed, “Who are you??!!”

The kiss lingered in Sienna’s mind the rest of that week. Not only because it was new, but because it had been so delicious. She wondered if such a kiss could happen outside of her imagination. She’d certainly enjoyed mind-blowing kisses before, but now she knew of something better.

“Hey… Hannah,” Sienna nudged her friend. The two of them were studying in the library reading room, cramming for the next day’s finals.

Hannah chewed on her pen, “I am totally screwed if we get a question on Ampere’s Law. I always overthink it and get it mixed up.”

“Go over the midterm question on the coaxial cable,” Sienna replied, “It’ll help.”

Hannah made a face as she looked through her midterm exam. “I got that question right. Huh. So why is it confusing now?”

“Because you are panicking and your brain’s stopped working. Which is good. Because I want to talk about something other than electro-magnetic fields for a sec.”

“Ok, shoot,” Hannah threw the midterm back onto the pile of papers on the table.

“I definitely maybe for sure, almost, think that it’s definitely Alex I’ve been dreaming about. Had the dream again the other night. After I talked to Mel earlier that day.” Sienna looked at Hannah meaningfully.

“You told your coach about your dream?” Hannah looked shocked.

“No, I was telling Mel about Spring Break and what a disaster it was. But then she got an email from Alex while we were talking. I think it was a trigger for the dream.”

Hannah lifted an eyebrow, “Oh man, I thought you were over Alex. Is this why you’re breaking up with Sydney?”

“‘Broke up.’ She came over last night and we talked. Hannah, it was never going to work. I mean, we had fun and all that, but we are fundamentally incompatible: our lives don’t mesh! She works the late shift for the student union four nights a week. I have morning practices 5am five days a week. I’m gone most weekends for meets. I’m pre-med and on West campus. She’s theater studies and downtown. It’s a miracle we actually even met.”

“And now you are running straight back to the Alex-is-the-woman-in-your-dreams theory,” Hannah stretched, “And you were doing so well without it, Sienna!”

“There was something new in the last dream. We kissed. So now I kind of feel like there’s something I can use to compare in real life. You know, without…”

“Without having to make an indecent proposal?”

“Exactly! And according to Mel’s email, Alex is in New York….”

“Your grand plan is what? ‘Hey Alex, give me a kiss so I can see if it measures up to the one that is actually a figment of my imagination’?”

“When you put it that way, it sounds ludicrous. Forget I said anything…”

Hannah shook her head, “Give me Ampere’s Law any day. At least it’s grounded in fact.”

Chapter 3: Though She be but Little, She is Fierce (Junior Year, September)

Sienna leaned back happily into her beach chair, loving the sound of the ocean in her ears and the feel of the warm sun on her skin. It was Labor Day Weekend, and Sienna was looking forward to three days at the beach before the official start of classes.

Hannah had invited Sienna and Amy, a mutual friend from FAC, to stay at her family’s house on the Cape. The guest list grew when Amy’s boyfriend Steve wanted to join and brought along his friend Pete — ostensibly to use Pete’s car, but truthfully it was because he didn’t want to be the only guy. Pete was on the swim team with Sienna, and Steve was in Hannah’s Chemistry Lab so the five of them all got along well, which was fortunate as it was a cramped ride in Pete’s car as they drove up to Massachusetts.

Just as she was about to drift off to sleep, her phone started ringing. “Hey Hannah, what’s up?”

“We are headed into the village. Amy wants to give Steve the full tourist treatment. Wanna come?”

“Nah, I’m staying put.”

“Ok. We’ll be back before dinner, we can go back out together. Reservation is at 7:30.”

“Okay — see you then.” Sienna dropped the phone back into her bag. She stared out at the ocean and watched a cargo ship make its way steadily across the horizon. Now there’s a job for you. Months and months way out there…

Sienna stared at the ocean a little while longer, and then fished out her book from her bag. “I’m going to finish this book even if it kills me,” she muttered to herself. It was a novel that critics and friends had raved about for months, but it just wasn’t doing it for Sienna. She was, however, not one to abandon any book once she started reading, so along she plodded, feeling a small sense of victory each time she completed a chapter.

A shadow fell across the page and she looked up, “Hey Pete, you guys back already?”

Pete shook his head and dropped himself onto the sand next to Sienna, “They’re still out. Got too hot for me. Better back here with the breeze from the ocean.”

He dipped his head to try and look at the cover of her book, “What are you reading?”

Sienna held up the book. Pete grimaced, “Oh, I couldn’t get into that.”

“I’m struggling with it too. I’m halfway, so I am just going to push through.”

Sienna went back to reading. Every now and then, she sensed Pete looking at her, and then looking away again. After about five minutes of this, she finally put down her book, and said gently, “Pete, if you want to say something, just say it…”

Pete went beet red, “Oh. Uh, no. Nothing. I was just thinking… it’s nothing. I better get back inside. I’m kinda getting burned anyway. Sorry.”

Pete jumped up and practically ran back to the house. Sienna felt bad. Oh shit. Was he about to tell me he has a thing for me? She checked the page number in her book and chucked it into her bag.

When she walked into the kitchen, Pete was sitting at the counter, flipping through the newspaper.

“Hey, sorry about being a bit of an ass just now. I just noticed you kept looking at me, and it felt like you wanted to say something. I didn’t mean to be pushy.”

Pete shrugged, “It’s ok.” Then, with a look of resolve on his face, he added, “You weren’t wrong though. I… um… I just wanted to ask you what Hannah likes to do… uh, you know, on dates…”

“Oh… OH!” Sienna smiled, “Cheesy movies. Boot up one of those sports movies with long emotional arcs. That’ll get her every time.”

Pete nodded, “Ok. Ok. I can do that. What about—”

“SIENNA!! SIENNAAAAAA!” Hannah burst through the front door.

“Yee-ee-s?” Sienna said quietly as she watched Hannah stride into the kitchen.

“You’ll never guess who we ran into!!” Hannah was grinning, “Sasha! We saw Sasha in town with her girlfriend… uh, Stacey?”

“Anastasia,” Sienna corrected.

“Yeah. Sorry. I’m horrible with names. I remembered the “sta”… anyway, we ran into them, and they might join for dinner!”

Sienna stared at Hannah, “Are you insane? Hannah! How could you?”

Hannah looked confused, “What? I thought you’d be happy! You’d been saying how you wish you had spent more time with Sasha when you were both home over Spring Break… and how shitty that was? What did I miss?”

“I knew you weren’t really listening to me. Spring Break was a shit show because Anastasia kept inventing reasons why Sasha couldn’t hang out. Sasha and I would make plans and then I’d get a text from her saying something came up. That’s what I meant when I said I wish Sasha and I had hung out more.”

“What happened?” Amy jumped up and sat on the counter, “Hannah said you guys know Sasha from high school?”

“Yeah. Hannah and I have been friends with her since kindergarten, actually,” Sienna explained, “She brought her girlfriend home for Spring Break. When Sasha introduced us, it was immediately clear that Anastasia did not like me and it just went downhill from there.”

“She met you and she didn’t like you?” Amy swung her legs back and forth, “Why?”

“I made a joke about Sasha going out with blondes. It didn’t land the way I thought it would.”

Amy laughed, “You are blonde! Doesn’t that mean you have immunity for blonde jokes?”

“Apparently not. Soooo. If they show up and I’m there, I might end up with a drink in my face.”

“I told them you were here. Anastasia seemed fine. We’ll just sit you and her at opposite ends of the table.”

“I know! Pete can be your date,” Amy offered, “Right, Pete? You can play the part? That way, if Sienna needs to bust a move, you guys can make up a post dinner date or something….”

Pete nodded, eager to help.

“Pete, you do not have to do that. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you guys.”

By the time the five of them arrived at the restaurant, they all felt like they were gladiators walking into the Colosseum. Hannah convinced Sienna it would be worth trying to mend fences with Anastasia. Sienna appreciated her friends’ support, but mostly, she just felt like hiding back at the house.

Initially, it seemed as if the whole thing would be theoretical, as the clock crept towards eight with no sign of Sasha and Anastasia. But just as the group was about to start ordering, the pair arrived. Anastasia looked like she was ready for the runway at Fashion Week: her hair fell in golden waves around her shoulders, her dress was flowy and revealing in all the right places, and her make up seemed flawless. She was wearing a pair of heels that made Sienna’s calves hurt just looking at them.

Sienna kept her face frozen with a half-smile, and tried not to roll her eyes. Not because Anastasia was so put together, but because she seemed so out of place — everyone in the restaurant was in casual summer gear; Sasha was wearing a faded polo shirt, shorts, and the perennial baseball hat atop her head.

Even with the heels, Anastasia was still a good six inches shorter than her girlfriend, which was apparent as Sasha stood behind Anastasia, looking over the blonde’s head as they sought out the right table.

Hannah waved them over, and Steve jumped up and offered Anastasia the open seat that was the farthest away from Sienna. Pete introduced himself and Sienna waved hello. She received a stilted nod from Anastasia in return. Sasha walked around the table towards Sienna, who reluctantly got up to greet her friend.

“Hey you!” Sasha wrapped Sienna in a huge hug.

“Uh, yeah, hi, Sasha,” Sienna patted Sasha on the back and sat back down as quickly as possible. All eyes turned to Anastasia, who looked like she had swallowed something unpleasant. The table’s first attempt at conversation was thankfully interrupted by a very cheerful waiter who asked if they were ready to order.

“Let me stop you right there,” Anastasia said imperiously as she gestured to Sasha and herself, “We won’t be ordering. We have another engagement somewhere else in half an hour.”

Sienna raised her eyebrows.

“Oh, that’s too bad,” Hannah said. She turned to the waiter, “The rest of us can order though.”

As the waiter took down the table’s orders, Sienna glanced at Sasha, who was telling Hannah about the dinner party they were about to go to. The beak of Sasha’s baseball hat bobbed up and down as she talked. Sasha’s eyes looked bluer than usual against her sun-kissed skin. Bet she forgot the sunscreen again. Sienna missed her childhood friend. They started to drift apart during Senior year of high school after Sasha came out. It was as if Sasha felt compelled to live a whole new life that was unrelated to anything that existed before. It didn’t help that Sasha’s first girlfriend, Valerie, insisted on monopolizing all of Sasha’s time.

“How are you doing?” Pete asked quietly.

Sienna smiled at him, and placed a hand gently against his cheek, “You are very sweet to ask. Not the disaster I thought it was going to be… yet.”

Sasha caught Sienna’s gesture out of the corner of her eye and nudged Anastasia, “Hey, now you can make fun of Sienna dating a blond too!”

“She wasn’t making fun of me being blonde. She was making fun of you and that’s not okay.” Anastasia snapped, loud enough for Sienna to hear.

“Hey, she makes fun of me just as much,” Sienna threw back, too angry to remember to correct Sasha’s erroneous assumption about Pete.

“We always have, it’s our thing.” Sasha said as she tried to placate her girlfriend. It became abundantly clear that it was exactly the wrong thing to say.

“Sasha, can I talk to you for a moment? Alone?” Anastasia stood up and walked towards the bar.

Sasha muttered a quick “Sorry,” and left the table.

“Anastasia, what the fuck?” Sasha asked, looking back at the table with more than a little embarrassment.

“All these “things” you have with Sienna. The Wolverine thing, the Massachusetts thing, the swimming thing. And now this making-fun-of-each-other thing.”

Sasha sighed, “For the hundredth time, we grew up together, what do you expect? And I haven’t swum since I busted my shoulder. Sienna is actually really awesome if you give her a chance. Why are you so fucking sensitive?”

Anastasia crossed her arms, “I’m not. You are the one who’s being insensitive. You know I don’t like her. And you know she hates me. No — don’t shake your head. She pretty much took my head off just now. Why did we even have to come here?”

“Because it’s for thirty fucking minutes, for the love of Christ. I want to see my friends for thirty minutes, okay? Then we can go to Georgia’s thing.”

“I’m going to go now. Just meet me there. Don’t be late.”

“You guys okay?” Amy smiled congenially as Sasha and Anastasia returned to the table.

“No. We are not okay.” Anastasia sneered, “But here we are anyway. What’s that they say? ‘Time flies when you are having fun?’ Sadly, time is definitely not flying.”