Page 1 of Masquerade Mistake
Chapter 1
The room was spinning. That’s the first thing I noticed when I opened my eyes. That, and my pounding head. Or was it the bass from the blaring music? It took a moment to remember what happened, but it all came back in beats.
Boom. Stand up.
Boom. Shoe caught.
Boom. Falling.
“Are you okay?” someone yelled over the music.
I turned to the voice; embarrassment washed over me as I took in his appearance. Like me, he wore a mask over the top half of his face, hiding his identity. In the two seconds it took to formulate my answer, I studied his facial features around the mask; a roman nose over plush lips, a clean-shaven face with a chiseled jawline, and a concerned pair of eyes the color of deep jade. I didn’t need to see his entire face to know he was attractive, or that I looked absolutely ridiculous still lying there on the floor.
But let me back up.
I’d just graduated high school that afternoon, top honors with a partial scholarship to UCSD. While everyone else had family cheering them on, I had no one. I’d told my mom beforehand about my graduation. I’d stuck the invitation on the refrigerator and reminded her every few days, and still she didn’t show up. Not that I expected it. I hadn’t seen my mom in days, so I drove myself to graduation, bracing for silence when I walked across the stage. Instead, I heard my best friend Maren’s loud voice coming from the back.
“You fucking rock, Claire!”
How do I describe my friendship with Maren? She was the dark to my light, the yang to my yin. It was like we were two halves of one whole, with nothing similar in the other. I studied hard and finished high school strong. Maren dropped out at the beginning of the year and had been MIA the past few months. In fact, her presence at my graduation was completely unexpected.
“Where have you been?” I demanded when I finally found her in the crowd after the ceremony. She responded by flinging herself at me, engulfing me in a bone-crushing hug.
“Around,” she said once she released me. I knew this was the only answer I’d get. “There’s a rager across town tonight. Come with me.”
“Who’s throwing it?”
“Some theater guy I met a few days ago. Brad, I think. Or Brian. I don’t know. All I know is that it’s supposed to be huge.”
I already had tickets for Grad Night—the traditional all-night sober party in the high school gym. It sounded fun at the time, but so did sitting in bed with a book in an empty house. Though, now that Maren was here, this third option sounded intriguing. Especially after she told me the theme.
“Masquerade?” I squeaked.
“Yeah, weird right?”
“Maren, how are we supposed to pull together masquerade costumes?” I asked, even as I did a mental inventory of what I had in my closet; a few years of homecoming dresses, some odds and ends in the Halloween costume box, random material from my mom’s short-lived experiment with being Suzy Homemaker.
Back at my house, we pulled all these items out. By the time we were dressed, my room was trashed. But we looked incredible. Maren chose a dress I hadn’t worn since junior high, which fit her wiry frame like sapphire plastic wrap. Her coffee eyes shone through a strip of black lace, making her appear all the more mysterious. With the form fitting gown and her sleek black hair, she was somewhere between dancer and dominatrix. I, on the other hand, went full princess. I had on my mother’s old prom dress, an ice blue strapless ball gown with a navy cloak to keep me warm. It was so 1980s, but I didn’t care. My amber eyes appeared almost gold through the black fabric of my mask, with heavy shading and black mascara that Maren had helped me apply. Finishing the look off was a silver tiara with clear glass jewels, placed on top of my piled blonde curls.
“Cinderella, I believe we’re ready for the ball.” Maren grinned at me through rust-colored lips, and I felt a flurry of butterflies over a night I was sure would be full of surprises.
Surprises was an understatement. Maren had taken off within the first hour, and I’d spent the rest of the night sipping a drink that tasted something like gasoline and orange juice as I pretended to have fun. The house we were at was a tiny shack on the outskirts of Sunset Bay, and full of people in various interpretations of what “masquerade” meant, including some guy in a full body dinosaur costume, with a tail that cleared the path behind him.
I sat on the edge of a dirty couch, trying not to touch the couple making out next to me as I mulled over abandoning Maren for that book waiting for me at home.
“Fuck this,” I muttered, standing quickly. Unfortunately, the heel of my shoe was caught in the tulle under my dress. I pitched forward, flinging the contents of my red Solo cup.
That was the last thing I remembered before opening my eyes and looking into his.
“Are you okay?” he yelled, his voice competing with the techno music.
I know I mentioned this guy’s attractiveness, but honestly, it was enough to know he was out of my league. And the mask only made him hotter. Let’s just say if there were a fifth Hemsworth brother, this guy would be him. Except for the green eyes. Those were all his own, and right now they were waiting for an answer.
“I think so,” I started, lifting a hand to the back of my head. There was a tender knot on my scalp, and I winced as my fingers brushed over it. My crown was tangled in my hair, and I noted the syrupy wetness within the strands. Alarmed, I sat straight up, knocking my head into his chin. He grunted at the same time I did, releasing me as he rubbed his chin.
“Sorry,” I groaned, rubbing the new wound on my forehead as I inspected my sticky hand. No blood, just that godawful orange drink. I looked down at my dress, noting the dark stains spreading on the material. I moved to get up, but he stopped me with a hand on my arm.
“Easy there, Sparky. You’ve had a little too much to drink.”