Part 6 (1/2)

Seven.

'WOW,' JASON BREATHED. 'You look incredible.'

Sienna smiled, her lipstick the same crimson as her long dress. 'Incredible enough for you to invite me in before someone sees me?'

'Oh, yeah, of course.' Jason stepped back to let her in. 'My parents and Dani are finis.h.i.+ng dinner. Let's go upstairs where we can talk.'

Sienna nodded. Jason grabbed her hand and led her up to his bedroom. 'Sienna's here, you guys. Somebody finish my dessert,' he called down the stairs, realizing he'd forgotten to say who was at the door.

'I'll handle that,' his dad called back.

'I can only stay for a minute,' Sienna told him once he'd shut the door behind them. 'Belle and I got permission to leave the auction early. I'm supposed to be over at her house studying. Her dad's home, and he will definitely report in to my parents if I show up later than he thinks I should. I told Belle not to go straight inside, to buy us a little time.'

Sienna started to pace back and forth across the room. 'I should have just called. Or texted. But I wanted to see your face. I wanted to tell you in person how sorry I am I stood you up today.' Her eyes were bright with unshed tears.

'It's OK. I know you didn't want to.' Jason stepped in front of her to stop her agitated pacing. He put his hands on her shoulders. 'It's OK, Sienna.'

'No, it's not. My parents somehow found out I was planning on meeting you,' Sienna burst out.

Brad? Jason couldn't help wondering.

'That's why my mom made me help her set up the auction,' Sienna continued. 'I don't know how they found out, but they did. And they are so furious with me for going behind their backs.' She gave a harsh laugh. 'Or, at least, for trying to go behind their backs.'

Jason felt a tremor run through her body, and he tried to wrap his arms around her. Sienna pulled back, holding him away from her. 'Jason . . .' Her voice shook. 'They told me since I can't be trusted, they don't want you and me to be alone together. At all. They realize that we have cla.s.ses together, that we have the same friends and go to the same parties. They aren't saying that we can't be, like, in the same room. But if they hear that we're alone together, anywhere, ever, then . . .'

'Then?' Jason prompted.

'Then they're sending me to boarding school. In France.' Sienna's lips tightened into a thin line. 'I have an older cousin there. She and her husband will ”keep an eye” on me apparently. And I'd stay at their place when school's out.'

Jason was speechless. How had things gotten so insane so fast? Just a few days ago he'd been hanging at Sienna's house, kissing her in her own room.

'Say something,' Sienna urged.

'I I can hardly believe this is happening. I keep trying to think of some way to fix it, but . . .' Jason replied.

'But there isn't a way,' Sienna sighed. 'My parents aren't kidding around. And they don't give a lot of second chances. We get caught out one more time, and I'm going to France.'

'No,' Jason said firmly. 'I couldn't take that not being able to see you at all. We just have to . . . we have to stay away from each other.'

Sienna shook her head. 'No. I'm not letting them split us up. We'll just be careful. Extra careful. I don't know how they're getting their info on us, so for now let's just be as paranoid as we can possibly be.' She glanced at the clock on his DVD player. 'I've been here too long. I've got to get to Belle's. We'll talk tomorrow.'

'In public,' Jason reminded her.

'In public,' Sienna agreed. 'We'll figure this out.'

'Definitely,' Jason answered, although he had no clue how. They'd been pretty careful today, and Sienna's parents had still found out about their plans.

He led her downstairs to the front door. 'So, I'll see you tomorrow,' he said. He wanted to kiss her, but the front door had a long window that ran alongside it. Could someone be watching them even now?

'Tomorrow,' Sienna agreed. She slipped out the door and vanished into the darkness.

Jason stared into the night for a long moment, then shut the door. He headed for the kitchen on auto-pilot. He might as well see if there was any cobbler left. Though it was doubtful. His dad loved cobbler.

'I don't know what it is about that girl,' he heard his mother saying, just as he was about to step inside the room. 'Even though I'm sure she's very nice, there's just something about her that makes me uneasy.'

'Overprotective much, Mom?' Dani teased.

Mrs Freeman laughed. 'I expect I am. That's what happens when you love your kids.'

If she knew the truth about Sienna, she'd be acting just the way Sienna's parents are, Jason realized. She'd build a dungeon in the bas.e.m.e.nt, or whatever it took, to keep us apart. What are we going to do? he asked himself. What the h.e.l.l are we going to do?

Suddenly, he couldn't stand still. Every nerve and muscle in his body was begging for release. He didn't bother to change. He was already wearing his sneakers that was good enough. 'I'm going out for a run,' he announced, and was out the front door before either of his parents had time to answer.

As soon as he could, he cut off the quiet streets of DeVere Heights and scrambled down to the beach. He ran at the edge of the sh.o.r.e. Ran until his lungs were burning and his legs were aching. And then he kept on running. He welcomed the pain in his body. If it kept him from thinking, he'd keep running.

But a half an hour later, he had to stop. He dropped onto the cool sand, his chest heaving as he gasped for breath.

Slowly, as he stared up at the huge arc of sky above him, his breathing returned to normal, and he realized the exertion had cleared his head. There was no way he could deal with his life without Sienna in it. But there was obviously no way they could continue their relations.h.i.+p in the face of all the parental negativity.

He knew what he and Sienna had to do.

And tomorrow, he'd tell her.

'No, turn a little more to the left,' Adam told Belle at the cafeteria table the next day. 'A little more . . . stop. Perfect.'

'This is a little extreme, don't you think?' Belle laughed.

'Not at all, and keep still!' Adam instructed.

Belle sat absolutely still for all of about two seconds before collapsing into giggles again. Adam shook his head in despair and adjusted himself so that his body blocked Jason's face from the door. 'When you've stopped laughing,' he said, frowning at Belle, 'you're blocking Sienna, and I'm blocking Jason. There will be no lip-reading on our watch.'

'You're too funny!' Belle exclaimed, settling into position. 'n.o.body is here to lip-read anyway. We're inside. No one sits inside for lunch. I didn't even know there was an inside until today.'

'Joke all you want,' Adam replied. 'Just don't move.' He shot a sideways glance at Jason. 'OK. You're clear.'

'Good. Now tell me what's going on,' Sienna said. She started to lean toward Jason, but Adam tsk-tsked her back into place.

Jason swallowed hard, gazing at her gorgeous face. Adam and Belle could have been on another planet as far as he was concerned. They were there for camouflage, nothing else.

'I know what we have to do,' Jason said. He took a deep breath. 'I think we have to . . . We have to go back . . .'

'. . . to being just friends,' Sienna finished for him. 'I know. I was up all night thinking about it. I won't be able to take it if I get sent away from you. At least this way, we can still see each other.'

'And talk to each other,' Jason said. Just not ever touch each other, he added silently.