Beauty (20 page)

“Everything’s fine,” I said faintly. I felt a sharp pang of guilt at all the lies I’d been telling my mom lately, but I reminded myself of the promise I’d made: if I still looked like this when they got back from their trip, I would tell them the truth then.

“Good,” my mom said, pulling back.

“But I meant what I said: I don’t want this stuff.” I thought of the one card I did want, the only one that wasn’t there. “Can you just throw it out or donate it or something? Except for this one.” I hugged the monkey close to me. What if it
was
from Hudson? There was no way I was giving it up a second time.

“That one from someone special?” my mom asked, a grin spreading across her face.

I looked down at the monkey. “I don’t know,” I said honestly. “But isn’t it cute?” I held the monkey out in front of me, making it do a little dance.

My mom laughed. “Precious. All right, I will take care of all this stuff, I promise. But first, we eat dinner, okay? I made the ravioli you love.” She eyed my mask. There were small slits for my eyes and mouth, but otherwise it pretty much covered my whole face. It wasn’t exactly designed for eating. “Are you, um, planning to remain Cinderella throughout dinner?”

I put my hand on my hips in mock-indignation. “Of course, mom. I’m a
method
actor. I can’t just be my character when the mood suits me. I have to be her all the time!” Even, I thought, swallowing back a sigh, if that meant having to cut my ravioli into eensy-weensy mask-sized bites.

“Okay,” my mom said, shaking her head. “Whatever you say, Cindy.”

Eat, Drink, and Play Monopoly

I WAS HAVING a party. A real, parents-away, keg-in-the-kitchen, the-cops-better-not-show-up party. It had been Ashley’s idea, and as I dashed around my house, putting away my mom’s valuables and closing all the bedroom doors, I was starting to wonder why I’d agreed to it in the first place. But then I thought about last Saturday night, and how I’d stayed in with my parents while half my grade went to a party at Blair’s house, and I quickly remembered.

“I so need this,” Ashley said when she showed up an hour later, directing her cousin and his friend into my house with a keg. “My parents have been on my back about my grades all week.” She dropped a big stack of plastic cups onto the coffee table. “I am ready to blow off some steam.”

“Me too,” I agreed. I glanced nervously at the boys setting up the keg. After this week, I could use some steam-blowing as much as anyone. I’d just never done it by drinking out of a keg. Or drinking out of anything. The truth was, if you didn’t count the half-glass of eggnog Hayley had stolen for us to split last Christmas, I’d never actually had alcohol before. Not that I planned on telling Ashley that.

“Let’s tap this baby,” Ashley cheered, giving the keg a loving pat. I had no idea what she was talking about, but I smiled in agreement anyway.

A half hour later, the keg was tapped (translation: the beer was flowing), Ashley had made me do the honors of taking the first sip (which apparently actually meant chugging half a cup), and people were starting to show up. A lot of people. “How many people did you invite, Ashley?” I asked as more and more people poured through my front door. The only people I’d told about the party were Kemper, Hayley, and Josh. And, of course, Karen Baker, after she texted me to ask about it.

Ashley wiggled her eyebrows at me. “As many people as I could.”

By the time Kemper and Hayley showed up at nine like I’d told them to, the party was already well under way. “Nine?” Hayley said accusingly, eying the keg in the middle if the kitchen, where Tyler Merryweather was in the process of doing a keg stand. Even more braids had sprouted up on her head, only a few strands of hair hanging loose now. “Did you
want
us to show up late?”

“Sorry,” I said apologetically. “Ashley told people earlier.” Behind Kemper and Hayley, I saw a familiar head of blond hair walk through the front door. Hudson. Several sparks shot through my body. I thought about how close we’d been to kissing the other day. Maybe tonight it would happen. I could picture us up in my bedroom, his head lowering toward mine… . His eyes landed on me and I blushed, hoping he couldn’t read my thoughts.
Hi
, he mouthed.

Hi
, I mouthed back.

“Yo, Hudson,” Brandon said, wandering over to slap him a high five.

“Hey, dude,” I heard Hudson reply. He smiled a little, waving me over to them.

“Be right back,” I told Kemper and Hayley.

“Nice turnout.” Hudson grinned when I reached him and Brandon.

“Well, I was aiming for having the entire school in my house,” I said dryly. “But it looks like I only got half.”

“Don’t beat yourself up about it, Molly,” Brandon reassured me. “It’s your first party. They’ll get better with time.”

I opened my mouth to tell him I’d just been joking, but Hudson caught my eye first.
Don’t bother
, he mouthed over Brandon’s head. I bit my lip to keep from laughing.

“Thanks, Brandon,” I said instead.

“Anytime,” Brandon replied seriously. “All right, I’m off for a topper.” He nodded toward his half-empty cup. “You want a beer, dude?” Hudson nodded. “And you, Molly? The host should never be empty handed, you know. It’s, like, the golden rule.”

“Not right now,” I said. I’d already finished my first cup, and I was trying to pace myself. I’d seen the movies; I was not about to be the girl who had a barf fest at her own party.

“Okay,” Brandon shrugged. “If you want to break the golden rule …” He headed to the keg, leaving Hudson and me alone.

“Sorry about Brandon,” Hudson said. “He takes his partying very seriously.”

I laughed. “I can tell.”

“Hey, Hudson, Molly, want to play quarters?” Chad, a senior football player called out from across the room.

“You want to?” Hudson asked, raising his eyebrows at me questioningly.

I shook my head. “Not right now. I should probably say hi to people and stuff. You know, host and all.” The truth was, I had no clue what kind of game you would play with quarters at a party. Heads or tails? Spinning top? I decided I wasn’t really in the mood to find out. “But you go ahead,” I added.

“That’s okay.” Hudson took a step closer to me, and I caught a whiff of his cologne. “I’m not really in the mood.” He glanced over his shoulder, waving Chad off. “Later,” he said.

The party just got better from there. All over the house, people were vying for my attention, pulling me here and there and back and forth like I was a yo-yo. And the whole time, Hudson stuck by my side, like we were a pair. “You can go play, you know,” I said whenever people called him over for quarters.

But he just shook his head. “I’m having plenty of fun right here.”

Hayley kept asking me to be on her team for some card game she was playing against Kemper and Josh, but things kept getting in the way. “I’ll be there in one sec,” I told her after she asked me for the fifth time. But then Brandon demanded everyone fill up their beers and Hudson made a joke about him being a party dictator, and everyone was laughing so hard I completely forgot.

“Come on,” Ashley said a little while later. She grabbed my hand, pulling me over to the couch, where Zach, Brandon, and Blair had spread out my dad’s Monopoly set. “Time to kick some boy ass in Monopoly.”

“You want to play Monopoly?” I asked doubtfully.

“
Drinking
Monopoly.” Ashley squeezed onto the couch, pulling me down next to her. Hudson was on my other side, his knee pressed against mine.

“No cheating, Puppet Master.” He grinned.

I put my hands up in the air in mock-surrender. “I would never dare.”

“So this is how we play,” Ashley announced. “It’s boys versus girls. We each have an opponent on the other side. Molly, you’re with Hudson; I’ll be with Brandon; and Blair, you can be with Zach. Every time you buy property, your opponent drinks. Got it?”

“Let’s play already,” Brandon groaned. “My buzz is wearing off.”

“Don’t worry.” Ashley tossed her hair over her shoulder. “You’re playing against me, so you’ll be drinking plenty, Brandon.” And she wasn’t lying. Ashley was a mean Monopoly player, but so was Brandon. I was terrible, on the other hand. Luckily, Hudson was just as bad as me. Two games in, Ashley and Brandon were both on their third cup of beer, Blair and Zach were on their second, and Hudson and I had barely made a dent in our first.

“Yeah, Molly!” Ashley cheered when I finally made a good move, buying up Boardwalk. “I love Molly,” she went on loudly, waving her cup through the air drunkenly. Don’t you love Molly, Blair?”

“I love Molly,” Blair squealed, raising her own cup in the air. They clinked cups, sloshing beer all over the couch. I cringed, trying not to look at the spot I’d have to scrub out later.

“Seriously, Molly,” Ashley went on. “You’re the best. Isn’t she the best, Hudson?”

Hudson raised his own cup in the air. “She is,” he said slowly, keeping his eyes on me. “The best.”

We were just finishing up our game when I felt eyes on my back. I turned around to see Hayley glaring at me as she cleaned up the cards she, Kemper, and Josh had been playing with. At the other side of the table, Kemper and Josh were deep in conversation, clearly oblivious to the rest of the world around them. Hayley’s eyes narrowed into furious slits as she noticed me watching her.

Oh no
. The game I’d told Hayley I’d play with her. I’d completely forgotten.

I slid off the couch to go over and apologize. But before I could, Hayley spun on her heels and marched straight toward the door. She paused in the doorway, her back to me, and turned the box of cards upside down in her hands. “Oops,” she said loudly as the cards fell to the floor, scattering everywhere. “Hopefully someone won’t be too
busy
to clean that up.” Then she was gone, the door slamming loudly behind her.

I stared at the spot where she’d been standing only seconds before. I knew I should go after her, but part of me just didn’t want to. That look she’d given me, and that voice she’d just used … it was like they didn’t belong to the Hayley I knew. I thought of Seth’s
Mars Attacks!
game, how the aliens would swoop down and, in an instant, take over a person’s body. I’d been wanting so badly for things to go back to the way they used to be with Kemper and Hayley. But I was starting to think that maybe they couldn’t. Maybe Hayley wasn’t that girl anymore. Maybe none of us were. The thought made my chest ache, like there was a hand in there squeezing with all its might.

“You okay?” Hudson asked, coming over next to me.

“Yeah, it’s just …” I shook my head. “You know what? It’s nothing.”

Hudson put a hand on my shoulder. “You need a break for a few minutes? Want to go out back or something?”

I looked back at the couch, where Blair was challenging Brandon to some kind of drinking duel. “Yeah,” I said. “I think I do.”

We sat in the swinging bench in the backyard. “So,” I said. “It looks like you’re as bad at Monopoly as I am.”

Hudson shrugged. “I’m actually not so bad. But I could tell you didn’t want to drink a lot, so …”

I looked over at him in surprise. “Thanks,” I said softly.

“No problem.” He pushed off with his feet and we swung slowly through the air, the only sound the creaking of the chains as we went back and forth, back and forth.

“You know,” Hudson said after a while, breaking the silence. “I really like you, Molly.”

My heart leapt in my chest. “I like you too,” I said. Gingerly, Hudson took my hand, our fingers intertwining. He rubbed his thumb against mine, making every nerve in my body jump to attention. I could feel the little beer I did drink rising to my head, making me feel light and airy.

“So,” I said playfully, bumping my shoulder into his. “Here’s a question for you. What if I woke up tomorrow with … eleven fingers? Would you still like me then?”

Hudson arched his eyebrows at me, clearly amused. “Sure,” he said. He gave my hand a squeeze. “It would just make hand-holding more of an adventure.”

“Oh yeah? Well, what about if I … got a nose ring?” I tilted my head up to him, gesturing to where my brand new hoop would hang. “Would you still like me then?”

Hudson tapped his chin, pretending to think it over. “You’d still look hot,” he decided.

“But what if I
also
started wearing all pink every day? Pink shoes, pink socks, pink pants, pink shirts—”

“No problem,” Hudson cut me off. “I’d start wearing only blue.”

“Hmmm.” I nodded thoughtfully. “Okay then, how about this? What if I”—I paused for effect—“shaved my head?” I flipped my hair over my shoulder. “All of it gone. Just like that.” I looked at him challengingly.

Hudson smiled calmly back at me. “I’d write my name on your scalp.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at that one. “So,” I said, scooting a little closer to him. “You’d like me even with a shaved head? Interesting …”

“As long as you’d like me with one.” Hudson smiled at me as he ran a hand through his shaggy blond hair.

“Of course,” I said automatically. And it was true, I realized. I loved how Hudson looked—his hair, his eyes, his smile—but I’d like him without all that too. I’d like him with a shaved head and eleven fingers and blue-only clothes. I leaned my head on his shoulder, listening as his breath kept pace with the swing, in and out, in and out, in and out. “As long as you were still you, I’d like you,” I whispered. My words were so soft they were barely even there, but it didn’t matter, because I could feel them deep down in my gut, like a promise.