Sydney & Adrian
Unsurprisingly, Sydney Sage did not need to be compelled to come to Jill's party. It was a party that her friends were all likely to attend and Sydney wouldn't have missed it. When she entered the ballroom, she was glad to see so many of Jill's classmates in attendance. No doubt they were helped by a bit of Adrian's compulsion as Jill was forever having problems with bullying at school.
What was surprising, however, was the outfit that Sydney had chosen to wear. A few paychecks ago, a red dress had caught her eye in a store she walked past every day. She didn't know why. It was the kind of dress that someone who was wild and sexy would wear. It was the kind of dress Rose would wear. It wasn't a neutral earth tone like Sydney and the other Alchemists always wore.
But Sydney couldn't stop thinking about how excited everyone was by the outfit she had worn to the dance at Amberwood. The red in it had especially caught everyone's eye and everyone, including Eddie, had something to say about it. She felt herself cringe inwardly as she considered how much she would stand out, how people would notice all of her flaws and inconsistencies. Sydney had a lot of self-esteem issues.
Just breathe, Sage.
She looked around the room to distract herself and immediately spotted Eddie who was stalking around like the guardian that he was, half blending in and half playing wallflower. She saw Rose approach him and she looked away.
Jill and Mason were talking near the bar. Jill looked ethereal and beautiful, like always. Mason looked alarmingly like Micah. Sydney could have sworn she was looking at Jill and Micah for a second. Interesting. She wondered if anyone else had caught onto that yet. Lissa and Adrian and Dimitri were all nowhere to be seen but she was sure they would appear eventually.
Sydney went to the bar, still self conscious in the red dress as she ordered a soda water. The bartender asked her if she wanted something else in it at least three times before Sydney grew irritated.
"I'm eighteen," she said sharply before snatching the cup of soda water and stalking away with it. Why did everyone think everything she did was strange?
Sydney had no idea what she was doing. Social interactions were not her strong suit. So she stood awkwardly by the door and sipped her soda water.