Masquerade of Lies (8 page)

We sashayed up the paver stone pathway that led to a wooden arch door, then wandered inside to marble floors, high ceilings, and two spiral staircases that led to a massive entryway. We hiked up the steps, and Claire led me to her room. She had a glamorous canopy bed enclosed in white curtains. White goose down-filled pillows were propped against the headboard. Photos dotted the walls of the room, most of them of her, Jessica, and Katie. Beside her bed was a huge poster of
One Direction
, and adjacent to her closet sat a stunning white vanity, complete with three mirrors and a pink cushioned chair. An oak desk was positioned in the corner of her room, and a closed laptop sat on top of it. A heart-shaped framed picture of her and Josh sat alongside it.

I sat down on her bed and crossed my legs. “Where’s your parents?” I asked.

“You mean parent.” She padded over to her vanity and sat down, admiring herself in the mirror. “My parents are divorced. Now my dad’s married to a woman named Agnes, who has a daughter about my age.” She turned around to face me. “
Chloe
. He’s always telling me I’d love her and some crap like that. Whatever.” She rolled her eyes and turned around to face the mirror again.

“Oh, sorry.”

“Forget about it. I did.” She picked up a brush and began brushing her hair.

“What does your mom do?”

“She’s president of a huge advertising firm. That means a lot of late nights for her and take-out for me.”

“Sounds lonely.”

“You get used to it.”  She put down the brush and stood up with her hands on her hips. “Besides, in return I get whatever I want, and I don’t have her in my face all the time.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Well, what are you waiting for?” I looked at her quizzically, and she rolled her eyes. “Go and look to see if there’s anything you like,” she said as she gestured towards her walk-in closet.

“Are you sure?”

“Do you wanna borrow something or not?”

I stood up and ambled over to take a look. Her closet glimmered with chiffon dresses and designer bags, everything from Coco Chanel frocks to Michael Kors clutches. The wall was coloured in couture shoes. I was sifting through the hangers when something stashed on the floor behind a shoebox caught my eye. I crept towards it and leaned over to take a closer look. When I realized what it was, my heart seized in my chest. It was a pink jersey top, and one of the sleeves was smeared with what looked like blood. Could that be Brooke’s blood? Wait a minute...it couldn’t be, because Claire was with Jessica the night Brooke was killed...or was she?

I jumped back and sifted through the hangers, pretending I hadn’t seen anything. Besides, I didn’t want Claire to think I was snooping.

“How’s it going in there?” she asked.

“Fine.”

My voice trembled, but I don’t think she noticed. I tried my hardest to forget what I’d just seen, but I couldn’t. Even though my heart was racing, I acted normal because I didn’t want Claire to suspect anything. I picked up a black Versace halter neck cut-out dress and put it against my body.

“You would kill in that dress, new girl,” came Claire’s voice from right behind me.

“Aah!” I jumped, and the dress tumbled to the floor.

“What’s
your
problem?”

“Nothing! Just a little jumpy, I guess.”

“Well, maybe you should lay off those lattes, new girl.”

“Yeah. I-I know, right? Anyway, can I borrow this dress?” I asked, changing the subject.

“Sure.”

I took off my clothes and slid on the dress. I was debating whether or not to wear her dress to the party because I’d never worn anything that expensive before, but when I tried it on, there was no going back. I stood in front of her long mirror, looking at myself.

“You look hot, new girl. Somebody’s gonna get laid tonight!” she shrilled as she strutted towards me and leaned against the closet door frame.

“I don’t think so...actually, I’ve never done that before.”

“Shut up! You’re a virgin?” she blurted, straightening up her back.

“Yup. I’m not ready to give up my v-card.”

“What are you waiting for?”

“The right guy. My cookie is precious, and I don’t wanna give it to just anybody.”

“Your ‘cookie’?”

“Just sayin’.”

“Nice.”

“Was Josh your first?”

“Are you kidding?” she said with a sneer.

We both burst out laughing. She then entered her closet, stood next to me, and began playing with my hair as she peered at me with a strange look in her eye.

“What?” I asked.

“I
know
,” she said in a low voice.

“Know what?”

“I
know
you were in a mental institution.” 

My pulse started racing. I swallowed hard and turned around so she couldn’t see my face.

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“Are you
really
gonna act like you don’t know what I’m talking about?” she said.

I turned around to face her and clenched my fists. “How did you find out?”

“Let’s just say I did a little digging.” She crossed her arms over her chest and flashed a devious smile. “I knew there was something different about you.”

My heart hammered in my chest. “I-I have to go home,” I stammered.

I couldn’t catch my breath. As I gripped my throat and started taking off the dress, she walked over and put her hand on my shoulder.

“It’s okay,” she said. I froze. “What I don’t understand is why you felt you had to hide that from me. I thought we were friends?”

I looked at her with fury in my eyes. “That was private! You had no right!”

I finally got the dress off and threw it on her bed. As I reached for my clothes and began to get dressed, Claire just stood there watching me. My watery eyes met hers.

“You have no idea what I’ve been through, and I’d appreciate it if you kept this to yourself,” I said.

An awkward silence lingered between us for a moment.

“Of course…God…but I want you to know you can be real with me,” Claire said. I nodded my head and wiped the tears off my face. She gave me a closed-mouth smile in response. “Good. Now that we’ve cleared that up, let’s find you some shoes.” She went into her closet and came back with a pair of silver Gucci heels and a couple of jeans and tops, then tossed the clothes on the bed. “Here, try these on,” she said, dangling the shoes from her fingers.

“What are the clothes for?”

“I was just thinking…if you’re gonna hang with us, you can’t wear
your
clothes. You need a make-over.”

I looked down at what I was wearing. “What’s wrong with my clothes?”

She put her hands on my shoulders and said, “Trust me.”

I put on a fake smile and took the shoes from her hand, then sauntered over to her bed. After I sat down and slid them on my feet, I stood up and walked back and forth to break them in. After a little while, they didn’t feel that bad. Marisa would die if she saw me right now.

“What do you think?”

“I think you’re gonna drive all the boys wild,” Claire said with a smile.

I looked at the time on my Motorola. “Shoot! I gotta get home for dinner! Can I get a ride home?”

“Where’s my gas money, beeotch?”

“What?”

“I’m just kidding! Ohmigod, you should see your face!”

I smirked as I tucked some hair behind my ear. After I grabbed the clothes off her bed, we left.

***

When I got home, a savory smell hit me in the face. My mother was in the kitchen preparing dinner.

“Hi, Mom.”

“Hi, sweetie. Did you have fun at Claire’s house?”

“Yeah, I guess. She has a beautiful house. What’s for dinner tonight?”

“Meat lasagna.”

“Mmm…can’t wait!” I noticed the table was set for three people. “Mom, are we expecting company? Is Dad coming over for dinner?” I asked, excited.

“No.”

“Then who?”

“You remember the manager at Starbucks?”

“Are you serious?”

“Are you okay with that?”

“Whatever. It’s your life.” 

The truth was, all I wanted was for her to be happy. Obviously, I’d like my parents to be together, but it didn’t look like that was going to happen, so I had to accept that. When my parents were dating, they hooked up one night and my mother got pregnant with me. Shortly afterward, my father proposed to my mother and they got married. Did they marry for love, or because they thought it was the right thing to do? Did they settle? Sometimes I blamed myself for all that had happened.

All of a sudden, the doorbell rang.

“He’s here! How do I look?” my mom squeaked. She was so excited; it was like watching a high school girl going on her first date.

“You look beautiful, Mom.”

Her hair was pinned up, and she was wearing a pair of blue jeans, a white fitted shirt, and a blue scarf. She opened the door, and there he was. He had on dark blue jeans and a black golf shirt. His wavy hair was gelled back.

“Hello,” he said.

“Hi, Hank. This is my daughter, Hanna.”

“Hello. I remember seeing you with your mom at Starbucks. It’s nice to officially meet you.”

“You, too,” I said.
I
guess
.

Shortly after Hank arrived, we sat down at the table for dinner. My mom scooped a piece of lasagna on each of our plates, and I could see the steam rising from it. My mom also prepared a bowl of Caesar salad, and there was a small platter of dinner rolls. Next to the bread was a butter dish.

“So Hank, were you ever married?” I asked while reaching for a dinner roll.

“Uh…yeah, I was.”

“What happened? Did you guys get divorced like my parents?”

“Hanna!” my mother called out, her eyes bulging out of her head.

“What?” I answered.

“It’s okay,” Hank said. “My wife died five years ago from cancer.”

I finished chewing my food before I spoke. “Oh...sorry,” I said in a soft voice.

“That’s okay. I’ve made peace with it.” He picked up his glass and took a sip of his water. “To tell you the truth…I wasn’t sure I’d ever fall in love again…until I met your mom.”

He looked at my mother, and they smiled at each other. I saw my mother’s cheeks turn a light shade of pink.

“Do you have any children?” I asked as the television buzzed in the background.

“I have two children, a daughter and a son.”

“How old are they?"

“My daughter is nineteen, and my son is twenty-three.”

“Nice.” I was kind of delighted to hear he had a daughter, as I’d always wanted a sister.

“What are their names?” I asked before putting a forkful of Caesar salad in my mouth.

“Carol and Steve. My daughter lives with me, but she works full-time at a call center. My son is away at college.” 

I nodded my head.

“Okay, Hanna…are you done with all the questions?” my mother asked sarcastically.

I smirked and looked down at my plate, then looked up at Hank. “Yeah, I’m done. Just treat my mom right…don’t cheat on her like my dad.”

My mother shot me a mortified look. “Hanna, I don’t think Hank wants to hear about that,” she said while scooping some Caesar salad on her plate.

An awkward silence followed.

***

After dinner, my mom pulled a chocolate cake out of the fridge for dessert. As she started cutting it to pass pieces of it around, she asked me, “So Hanna, what are your plans for tonight?”

“Well…there’s this party–”

“Absolutely not. No party.”

“Why?”

”You know why not.” She shot me a look. “Besides, with everything that’s going on right now, I think you should just lay low for a little while.”

“But I’m innocent!”

“Look, I know you probably think I’m being a little overprotective, but it’s because I love you. I just don’t want a repeat of last year.”

“Mom!” I protested, shooting her an angry look with my

eyes wide open.

“What happened last year?” asked Hank.

“Nothing!” I hissed. “Mom! Josh is gonna be there!” She wrinkled her brow.

“I’m sorry, Hanna, but the answer is no.”

“Thanks for nothing, Mom.” 

I pushed my plate of half-eaten cake away and pondered for a second with my arms crossed over my chest. I then began thinking of a way to get out of the house to go to the party. I got up from the table, went into the kitchen, and got a sandwich bag from the pantry and the pill crusher from the drawer. I then went to the bathroom and got a bottle of sleeping pills out of the medicine cabinet; my mother started taking them after my dad left to help her sleep. I took four sleeping pills out of the bottle and crushed them into powder, then put the crushed sleeping pills in the sandwich bag and stuffed it in my pocket. As I went back into the kitchen, I saw my mom and Hank cuddling on the couch in the living room; it was so weird seeing my mom with somebody who wasn’t my dad.