Masquerade (16 page)

“
Why not?”

She flipped the price tag up and I
felt my mouth drop open. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” I said.
There was no way that little necklace was worth that much
money.

“
Nope.” The woman
said.

I turned my attention to another
necklace, this one not a locket.

The woman made a noise under her
breath and shook her head.

She was the worst sales person I ever
met. I turned to walk away but she spoke. “I have something that
isn’t on the table that I think you might like.”

I turned back, I felt compelled to see
what it was she was going to try and sell me.

She reached into a bag beneath the
table and pulled out a small bundle and unwrapped it. She held out
her palm to show me. It was a charm bracelet. All the charms were
keys of varying shapes and sizes. I liked it immediately. There was
something about it that seemed to say it belonged to
Heven.

I lifted it out of her
palm, and the keys made a small noise when they hit together,
almost like a chime. I jangled it again on purpose. It had a bit of
music to it.

“
How much?” I
asked.

She rattled off a number,
and I felt my eyes narrow. “Why isn’t it more?” I could actually
afford this
–
unlike everything else on the table.

“
The clasp is broken;
you’ll need to fix it.”

“
Okay.” I fished a few
bills out of my pocket and handed them over.

The woman seemed very
pleased with her sale and tucked the money into her pocket. As I
was walking away her voice followed. “Be sure to fix that clasp. It
would be awful if you lost it.”

The back of my neck
prickled, and I couldn’t help but feel like there was more to her
words. After a few more steps I stopped and turned to go
back.

She was gone

I knocked on the front door
and stepped back to wait. I couldn’t stop my swift smile when I
heard her soft gasp and footsteps rushing down the stairs. I liked
being anticipated. I liked that someone
–
that Heven
–
couldn’t wait to see me. When she
came closer to the door her footsteps slowed and then paused. I
pictured her looking into the mirror I remembered being by the
door. A tight knot of guilt formed in my throat, and I tried to
swallow it down.

I hated the part I played in what
happened to her.

When she found out she was going to
hate me too.

The knob turned and the
door gave way. Her scent, light and pure, floated around me. Then
her face filled the doorway and everything else fell away. She was
certainly the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. Her hair, the
color of a full moon, hung over her shoulders and around her face.
It looked different tonight than usually though; it was softer and
the light seemed to bounce right off it. But the biggest difference
was that she was staring straight at me. Her chin wasn’t tilted
down, and her hair wasn’t curtaining her face. There were large
waves of hair framing her face, not hiding it.

“
You look beautiful.” The
words came out as a whisper because it was all I could manage at
the moment.

“
Thank you.” She smiled an
open, warm smile and stepped out onto the porch pulling the door
around behind her. She stepped close, close enough that I could see
she was wearing make-up. Her cheeks were pinker than usual and her
blue eyes stood out against her fair skin and dark
lashes.

Without thinking I reached
out and caught a strand of her hair between my fingers. It seemed
to curl right around me and I tugged gently on the strand, pulling
her closer. She came willingly, and I could hear the fluttering of
her heart.

I kissed her then. I
brushed my lips across hers and caught a hint of strawberry. Her
lips were soft and welcoming, and I had to hold myself back from
deepening the kiss. She pulled away first, her eyes sparkling. “Are
you ready for this?”

I had been waiting for this
forever it seemed
.
I held out my hand and said, “Let’s go.”

She tugged my fingers, and
I marveled at how well her hand fit in mine. “You have to meet my
mom first.”

I didn’t want to. I
already knew that parents hated me, and Heven’s mother made me
uncomfortable. She was extremely religious and from what Heven had
told me, she wanted Heven to follow her path.

I was the total opposite
of religious. I didn’t have to be. I knew where I stood in God’s
eyes: unwelcome.

“
Sam?” Heven prompted,
increasing the pressure on my hand. She was gazing at me openly,
her freckled nose wrinkled in confusion.

“
Lead the way,” I prompted,
motioning to the door.

I reminded myself that it was just one
mother. I had faced down way worse than this. I felt my lips tilt
up at the thought.

Heven’s mom came out from the kitchen,
her eyes scrutinizing me from head to foot. It made me glad that I
took the chance to go home to shower and change. I didn’t bother
worrying about what she would see. I did the best with my
appearance, putting on dark jeans and a plain white short-sleeved
polo. It was the nicest shirt I owned. I guess I never much thought
about my appearance because I learned a long time ago that a
person’s appearance was only a disguise for who they truly
were.

“
Mrs. Montgomery,” I said,
smiling. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Heven dropped my hand when
her mother entered the room, and the skin on my hand tingled,
wanting the contact back.

“
Hello, Sam. I trust that
you will respect my daughter this evening.” She said, her voice
cool but firm.

“
Yes,
Ma’am.”
Her hair was light, but not
nearly as light as Heven’s. Hers was more of a golden brown and her
eyes weren’t blue. They were brown and they were staring at me with
mistrust. She was a little taller than Heven, thicker in
form.

“
I have a few questions
I’d like to ask you,” her mother said, pinning me with a
stare.

I stopped myself from
shrugging and nodded instead. She fired off questions like a drill
sergeant. Wanting to know things like where I lived, how long ago I
got my driver’s license and what part of town I lived in. I
answered them all, as truthfully as I could, and prayed that it
would be over soon. Then, as abruptly as the questions began, they
stopped.

“
Be home by curfew.” She
said turning to Heven.

“
Okay.” I figured the
meeting must be over because Heven hurried over to grab a jacket
hanging by the door.

“
Nice meeting you,” I said,
turning when Heven opened the door.

She didn’t say anything,
but she smiled and gave a little wave. I couldn’t help but notice
that the smile never reached her eyes.

Out on the porch, with the
door closed firmly behind us, I reached for Heven’s hand again.
Every time I touched her I felt a jolt of
excitement
.
Her
skin felt like cool silk against my heated palm. If I thought God
was listening, I would thank him for sending her to me.

She looked up at me, shyly and smiled.
“Sorry you had to go through that.”

“
I’d go through anything to
be here with you.”

In my palm, her fingers
curled closer into my hand, and I stroked my thumb over her
skin.

I opened the passenger side
door of the truck and watched her climb in. I couldn’t help but
notice the way her jeans hugged her curves. Usually she dressed in
clothes that were too big and sweatshirts with hoods to hide her
face. Not tonight. Tonight she wore jeans that showed off her thin
figure and a light colored lavender shirt that seemed to float out
around her slender waist. It was some sort of thin fabric that you
could see through so beneath it she wore a white tank top. I tried
not to stare at her; I didn’t want to make her
uncomfortable
.
She spent enough time like that anyway. But I couldn’t seem
to keep my eyes away. She looked beautiful and soft in my world of
rough edges. If I hadn’t been holding her hand only moments, before
I might have thought she wasn’t real. As if to prove that she was,
I reached out to touch her again, this time, leaning over her to
clasp her seat belt.

I heard her breath catch
when my hands brushed against her. Could she be as affected by me
as I was by her? I took my time clipping the seat belt in, and then
I pulled back, keeping myself close to look into her eyes. The blue
in them reminded me of a tropical ocean that I saw once on
TV.

“
You’re wearing the
whistle.” I said, my voice hushed as I picked up the thin cord that
lay against her chest. Her skin was unbelievably soft.

“
You asked me to wear it
always,” she said, her eyes looking down at my hand.

“
You listened.” I tucked
the cord back beneath her top and looked up.

She nodded, looking directly into my
eyes.

I thought about kissing
her, I wanted to, but I knew her mother was probably watching from
the window, and I held myself back
.

She raised her hand as if
she might grab me as I gently closed the door and went around to
the driver’s side. On my way, my eyes automatically scanned the
yard and street. I had to remember that I couldn’t afford to be
distracted. Heven couldn’t afford it. When I was at my apartment
earlier no one else was there. I had been glad, wanting to avoid a
fight. I really needed to get my own place. But now, I kind of
wished that they had been there. At least then I would know where
they were. I might even have been able to scare them off for the
night. Instead, I didn’t know where they were. I didn’t know what
they were up too.

And they have definitely
been up to something
.

Heven

My night with Sam was
finally here, and he took me to the last place I ever would have
imagined. Well, not the first part of the date
–
that
we
spent playing mini golf after he patiently endured meeting my
mother and answering all her questions. Turns out that my
almost-being-eaten-alive-by-some-homeless-dog fiasco the other
night had actually worked in my favor. Mrs. Bennett couldn’t wait
to tell her all about the upstanding young man who found me and
came to our aide
and
had a job. Before he knocked on the door she already liked
him, but his quiet respect, and I suspect his sincere hazel eyes,
got me out the door.

But here, now, I began to wonder if
that wasn’t a mistake. After mini golf, which was pretty fun, Sam
took my hand, led me to the truck and drove us here. To the lake.
In the dark. With woods all around. Every step into the night we
took, I became a little more afraid.

“
Why did you bring me
here?” I asked, hesitating to go further.

He stopped and turned back to face me.
His head tilted to the side as he studied me. I squirmed beneath
the scrutiny. “You’re scared?”

I shook my head quickly, not wanting
to admit such a thing. I mean, I trusted him, right? “It’s just
really dark and…”

Suddenly mere inches separated us, and
I was staring at his chest. I never really noticed how very broad
it actually was. I titled my head back and looked up. The golden
highlights in his eyes were magnificent, making it possible that
even in the dark I could see his expressions so clearly. I never
imagined anyone could ever look at me that way. He cupped his hands
around my cheek, the heat of him searing me to my very
soul.

“
I swear to you that you
are safe,” he whispered, “nothing or no one will ever touch
you.”

The only coherent thought that drifted
through my head was ‘I hope not,’ because I sincerely wanted him to
touch me more.

Then a bomb went off. Loud banging
rumbled the dark and vibrated the ground.

I jumped, reaching out and
grabbing handfuls of his shirt and while I buried my face in his
chest. Close to my ear he whispered, “It’s your
surprise.” I looked up and he caught my chin in his hand, “I
hope you like fireworks.”

I looked up. “You brought me to see
fireworks?”

“
If you don’t like them…”
he seemed worried.

“
No!” I yelled over the
loud booming. “I love them.”

He smiled and walked forward, carrying
me with ease. The lights were beautiful. Fireworks of every color
exploded against the black backdrop of the sky. Their shimmering
brilliance was extended because it shimmered on the water creating
twice the beauty.

I kept my eyes above until nothing
more burst through the sky. I sighed, laying my head against his
chest. “Beautiful,” I said.

“
They aren’t
over.”

We were near the water’s edge in a
private little clearing that I can’t imagine anyone knew about,
except someone had to because of the swing. It was wooden,
old-fashioned looking and hanging from a large tree by two wide
ropes. Sam sat me on it, moving behind me to push.