Super smooth, Jacky boy.
Is my current trek to the dorms an overeager wish to see her again?
No way. This is me being decent and honest. Fessing up to ruining her modern torture device. Mom brought me up to tell the truth, and that’s the only reason I texted Siena this morning and asked which dorm she lives in. Theonlyreason.
I usually go up the stairs two by two, but since I’m very casual today, I settle for one by one, which feels a lot like a funeral dirge. Maybe that’s appropriate since, based on how crispy this hair feels, it might need one.
I check my phone for the apartment number and pass two doors before reaching the right one.
Taking in a breath, I rap on the door with the hand holding the hair.
That was a mistake. It made it look weirdly alive. Also, it has me second guessing myself. Who shows up at a girl’s door with a clump of soda-saturated hair in their hand? I move to put it in my pocket, but the door opens.
Caught red-handed—or hair-handed—I freeze.
“Jack?” My sister Madi has confusion written all over her face. Suffice it to say, we are not the sort of siblings who randomly show up at one another’s doors. At least, I might be that sort of brother, but she would hate it because, well, she kind of hatesme. Her anger with me hasn’t totally fizzled since I broke up with her best friend a few months ago. Herlatebest friend, I should say.
From the kitchen behind Madi, a head pops out. It’s Siena, her hair in a high ponytail and an oversized sweatshirt hanging unevenly on her shoulder. The gears turn in my mind, and it hits me.
Holy cheese snips.
My head fills with every variation of swear word I’m aware of. This is bad. So so bad.
Madi looks at the hair in my hand, and her nose wrinkles. “Ew. What is that?”
Mama-raised-me-right Jack is immediately knocked out by save-all-of-us-from-a-nightmare Jack. “Oh, this?” I hold it out. “I dunno. It was outside your door.” I hand it to her because the extension is a hot potato, and I’m about to get burned.
She takes it and cringes at the feel.
“I know. Gross, huh?” More distance from the extensions is for the best. I stick my hands in my pockets. “Anyway, I came to say hey and see how your first week went.”Don’t look at Siena. Don’t look at Siena.
A hint of suspicion rests on Madi’s face. “I didn’t know you even knew where I lived.”
“I asked Mom.” Truth-telling is out the door, but I honestly don’t know what else to do. Ididtext Mom about Madi a bit yesterday, and now I remember her mentioning how much Madi loves her new roommate.
What sort of sick sense of humor does fate have?
“Oh,” she replies. “Well, that’s nice of you.” She turns. “Siena, is this one of your extensions? It looks the right color.”
Siena walks toward us, her eyes on me like she’s trying to figure out what to do with me. “That’s your brother?”
“Yeah. And yes, he’s cute,” she says like she’s giving her usual spiel, “but he’s a player. He chews up my friends and spits them out like gum.”
I open my mouth to take issue with her characterization of me, but Madi doesn’t let me get a word in. She’s still very salty about the lastincident. I had really thought something was there with Carly. Until it fizzled as fast as it sizzled.
“Jack, this is Siena. Siena, Jack.” She stares at me pointedly. “I really like Siena, and I plan on keeping her as a friend, thank you very much. So stop looking at her like that.”
I give the old chin toss greeting. “’Sup.”
I might as well have served Siena a platter of rotten seafood. That’s what her expression morphs into at my greeting.
“Does this look like yours?” Madi asks again, letting Siena take a closer glance at the extension.
“Yeah, it is.”
I stiffen, worried she’s going to out me. Given the way she’s looking at me, I wouldn’t be surprised. The only thing worse than Madi finding out I kissed her new friend last night would be her finding out I lied to her about it.
I send Siena a pleading look while Madi inspects the sugar-crisped hair.
