~ SIERRA ~- - - - - TWO WEEKS LATER - - - - -Sierra was pacing nervously in front of Professor Howell’s office. It was mid December and the cold air was blowing down the long hallway. Sierra pulled her jacket tighter and gripped the letter in her hand harder. She let out a long sigh as she stared at the envelope. It was addressed to her from the dean of Columbia University.The reason why she got that letter was because it was the end of the semester and grades were due. Sierra got the letter in the mail this morning and she didn’t have the guts to open it at breakfast. For some of the classes, she felt pretty confident in, but in others, such as The Rhetorics of Science, Sierra could only hope she pulled off a C. Classes in Columbia were no joke. The professors were intense and the other students were all gifted and ambitious. Sierra was homeschooled all her life, she didn’t know what it was to compete with her peers. And it didn’t help that Colton was distracting her during final
~ SIERRA ~“Do we really have to do this?” Rosie groaned as she watched Sierra putting her clothes into her suitcase. Winnie was following behind her master, picking up a fallen scarf and dragging it over to Sierra.“Rose, come on. I told you, it’s gonna be fun!” Sierra said as she packed her cousin’s clothes as neatly as she could.Sierra had told Rosie about Colton’s plan for a trip since the idea first came last week. Unfortunately, Rosie wasn’t nearly as excited about it as Sierra thought she’d be. For Rosie, the Christmas break was reserved for trips to Europe or the Maldives, not to some unknown house Upstate.“I can’t believe this!” Rosie huffed and crossed her arms in protest. “Instead of flying to Paris or Milan, you expect me to spend our precious Christmas holiday in some cabin in the woods in the middle of nowhere?”“It’s not some cabin in the woods,” Sierra rolled her eyes for the umpth time that day. “It’s Colton’s cousin’s holiday house or something like that,”“Yeah, b
~ SIERRA ~“Go! Quick!” Sierra slammed the car down shut as she jumped into Ethan’s Mercedes Benz. Ethan and Rosie, who were sitting at the front seat, turned their heads to her in confusion.“What’s going on–”“NOW!” Sierra yelled in response, pushing Ethan to put the car in gear.“Miss Sierra! Stop!” Right behind them, several of the guards were calling after Sierra. Ethan and Rosie shared a worried look.“Please!” Sierra yelled again, and this time, Ethan complied. Ethan quickly put the car in gear and they speeded out of the driveway. A guard was trying to stand in front of the gate, stopping them from leaving, but Ethan hit the gas anyway, forcing the guard to jump away at the last minute.“Shit!” Rosie cursed and put her hands to her eyes.“Goddamn, what the hell’s going on?” Ethan hissed as he maneuvered the steering wheel as best as he could. This was supposed to be a chill ski trip, a casual two and a half hour drive Upstate. But all of a sudden, they were in a car chase li
~ SIERRA ~“Dad! Please!” Sierra was bawling her eyes out as the guards escorted her back to her dad’s study. “This is so unfair! You said I could go!”“Yes, but we weren’t done talking. Now sit down,” Henri ordered rather sternly. Sierra had no option but to sit her butt down on that chair in front of her father’s desk. The clock on the wall showed it was already 8.30 PM and Sierra’s shoulders slumped in defeat.“The guards told me you were going to meet that boy. He was waiting there for you,” her dad continued, and Sierra was at a loss for words.“Dad–”“Where were you going to go, huh? You lied to me about going with Rosie and Ethan?”“No, I didn’t lie–”“But you didn’t tell the truth either,”“Dad–”“No more, Sierra. I’ve given you too much freedom and you’ve abused it,” Henri shook his head violently. Sierra could only stare at him in disbelief. “Too much freedom?” she scoffed. “Dad, you’ve homeschooled me all my life. I never even get to have any friends! He is the first decen
~ SIERRA ~- - - - - THREE DAYS LATER - - - - -Sierra laid in bed as she mindlessly toyed with Winnie’s ball. Winnie was waiting for her under the bed, staring at the bright red ball. Every now and then, Sierra would throw the ball lamely to the floor and it would roll. Winnie would race for the ball, bite it with its mouth, and return the ball back to Sierra. This used to be a fun game and Winnie would get lots of kisses for being a good dog, but not this time. Sierra had no energy or motivation to get up from the bed. For the past three days, all she did was lay on this bed and cry herself to sleep. Sierra’s freedom was now reduced to this bedroom, at least for the time being while her dad was out on a business trip. Her dad instructed the maids and guards that Sierra wasn’t allowed to leave it under any circumstances. She also wasn’t allowed to meet anyone and she wasn’t even allowed to talk on the phone. Her dad had her phone now and that was it. Unless she had a magical owl tha
~ SIERRA ~- - - - - THREE DAYS LATER - - - - -Sierra was losing her mind. After Rosie left her house and promised to talk to Colton three days ago, she hadn’t come back or called with any news. If Sierra had her phone back, she’d be blowing Rosie’s phone up non-stop. But since she was still on house arrest and had no access to phones or the internet, Sierra had no way of contacting her cousin. In the midst of this craziness, Sierra’s dad had also returned from his work trip and he was now busy with his annual New Year’s Eve party. Henri Ascott was known to throw big and lavish parties, but none of his parties were greater than his New Year’s Eve parties. They were always over the top, extravagant, and a lot of fun. Her dad’s NYE parties used to be a favorite event of Sierra’s, but not this year. This year, she was in no mood for parties. And who can blame her?Sierra hadn’t seen or talked to Colton in over a week now and it was driving her insane. The worst part of this whole thing
~ SIERRA ~“Sierra! There you are! I’ve been looking all over for you!”Sierra couldn’t catch a break. Suddenly, the door to the emergency exit swung wide and her father was standing at the doorway. Luckily, Colton was already gone by the time Henri got there. He had swiftly jumped down the row of stairs and disappeared behind the shadows.“Dad?” she croaked.“What are you doing here?” Henri narrowed his eyes suspiciously.“Nothing, I just needed a little break,” Sierra thought fast and she took off one of her heels. “These shoes aren’t made for standing around for hours,”“Do you need a costume change? I can send someone to the house–”“No, I’ll be fine,” she waved her hand carelessly in the air and pulled her father away, leading him back outside. “I’ll just sit down or something, don’t worry about me,”“Well, okay,” Henri searched his daughter’s face, but she kept smiling reassuringly like nothing was wrong. Mainly, she just didn’t want him lurking around the emergency staircase an
~ SIERRA ~Sierra was running like there was no tomorrow. Her heels were getting in the way, so she took them off and ran barefoot across the streets of New York City. She pushed past all the drunk tourists and the cheering crowd, and even cut through Central Park to get to the Plaza Hotel faster. Even though Colton said he would wait for her, it was already past midnight. Who knows, maybe he had left already?Sierra was all out of breath by the time she reached the Plaza Hotel’s garden. Standing under the willow tree were three guys and Sierra instantly recognized one of them. The biggest smile curved up her face as she raced over to him. The guy lifted his head up and their eyes met. His beautiful blue eyes shone as bright as the moon when he saw her, and it made Sierra’s heart explode into a million pieces like the fireworks above.“You came!” Colton beamed, opening his arms to receive her.“I came,” she squealed, pressing her body into his embrace. She linked her arms tightly arou