Masquerade (46 page)

I’m not sure I’m ready for
this.

I’ll be here at your
side.

It gave me the strength to
wave and smile at them. If I wasn’t so nervous I would have laughed
at Kimber’s aura. It fit her perfectly and explained her exactly.
It was disconcerting to know that everyone’s aura I saw probably
fit them the exact same way too. I would never have to get to know
someone before I knew if they were a good person or not. A giggle
escaped me.
This sure cuts back on
time.

Sam grinned and then
attacked his cone.

“
I have been calling you
all day! Why haven’t you answered? And why weren’t you at school
today?” Kimber said, stopping before us. She put her hands on her
hips and glared at me.

“
Hey, guys.” I said,
getting ready to spew a lie. But I didn’t even get a word out
because Kimber gasped loudly.

“
Oh My God! Your
face!”

I swallowed hard as people turned to
look. Sam shifted closer beside me, and I resisted the urge to
shrink into his side.

“
Kimber,” Cole warned,
quietly. He looked at me though, with wonder.

Surprising myself I lifted my chin and
let them look, I even lifted my sunglasses. “I know, pretty
awesome, huh?”

Kimber was actually speechless for
once, her jaw falling open as she gaped. Her aura flared red, and I
frowned. “How?” she croaked.

“
It’s the reason I wasn’t
in school today. I have been talking with this plastic surgeon for
a few months now…I never thought I would be able to get in, but he
had a cancellation late Friday afternoon, and he called me. I got
laser surgery and had the scars removed.”

“
Why didn’t you tell me?”
Kimber exclaimed, smiling. “We are supposed to be best friends, how
could you keep this from me?”

“
I never thought I would
get it done, and I certainly had no clue that it would work. It’s
usually supposed to take a few treatments, but he said that once
the laser touched my skin the scars just seemed to come right
off.”

“
That is awesome!” Kimber
said, clapping her hands. “I am so happy for you!” Colors exploded
all around her, and I was reminded of the fireworks that Sam took
me to see.

I was beyond happy that Kimber and
Cole believed me and that they were happy but their emotions were
slapping me in the face. It was almost too much to
handle.

“
Yea, Hev. That’s awesome.
You deserved something good like that to happen to you.” Cole
reached out and hugged me with one arm. Surprisingly, some of the
emotion that was berating me fled. I was suddenly wrapped in the
soothing blues and greens of his aura and even some of the rare
magenta shade.

“
Thanks, guys. I was still
feeling kind of funny this morning from the pain medicine the
doctor gave me during the procedure, so I stayed home and slept in.
I didn’t call you back because this isn’t something I wanted to
tell you over the phone.” I hoped I wasn’t blushing but judging
from the heat I felt in my cheeks I figured I probably
was.

Sam cleared his throat and
stared pointedly at Cole and the arm that was still around me. Cole
looked up at Sam and a smug look flickered behind his eyes before
he released me.

Before I could do anything else,
Kimber lunged forward and hugged me. It was a tight, quick hug that
left me speechless. “Are you kidding? I forgive you! Wait here
while we get our ice cream, and we can sit together and
talk.”

Just the idea was exhausting, but I
saw no way out.

Sam ran a hand down the back of my
head and spoke to Kimber. “We have groceries in the car for her
grandma, and she’s still pretty worn out from the
procedure.”

“
Of course.” Kimber nodded.
“Will you be in school tomorrow?”

“
Sure.”

“
Cool. I’ll see you at
school in the morning?”

“
I’ll see you then.” This
time my smile wasn’t forced because I knew I was getting out of
there very soon.

I waved to Cole as Sam led
me toward his pickup.
You saved
me.

You’re worn
out.

Yeah. Thanks for the ice
cream.

You let him touch
you.
Sam said, steering the topic toward
something I thought I had avoided.

He’s my friend, Sam. He
was happy for me.

Sam walked along beside me,
not saying anything and I prayed that he wouldn’t ask me to stop
being friends with Cole.
I felt like
everything was spinning out of control, and I wanted my normal
routine, my friends. I
wanted things to
feel normal. I didn’t know if they ever would
again
. Sam lifted me up into the cab of
the truck and hurried around to get in. As he turned the ignition
he said quietly, “I won’t ask you to give up your friends. I would
never ask something like that of you, but I don’t like when he
touches you.”

“
I
understand.” I did understand. But I couldn’t help but feel like I
was somehow disappointing him in not offering to end my friendship
with Cole.
As he drove I closed my
eyes, wondering if a quick trip to the grocery store was this hard,
how an entire day of school would be tomorrow.

It was pure hell. I arrived the next
morning feeling like I could handle it. I’d handled the grocery
store yesterday, so I already knew what to expect. At least I
thought so. Now I understood that I didn’t know anything at
all.

It might have been okay, but I forgot
one major thing: my scar. Or rather, the lack thereof. I thought
since people didn’t much pay attention to me they might not notice
right away that it was gone. Wrong. From the minute I walked
through the doors, an onslaught of my classmates were coming up to
me, marveling at my face.

Before
people only stared and looked away, whispering behind my
back. Since the masquerade ball though, things had changed. My old
friends weren’t as concerned with giving me space. I’d encouraged
them: talking, smiling, and trying to get some of what I’d lost
back.

Now I wondered if that had been such a
good idea.

I couldn’t get
Before
back. There was
no going back to that girl. She was gone.

Forever.

“
What happened?” a voice
asked from beside me.

Amber came running up, “Oh My God! You
look so great!”

“
Heven, did you have your
scar removed?”

I barely heard their words. All I saw
was color. It exploded right on top of me, around me and it was all
I could see. The more that gathered, the harder it was to focus on
anything.

Sam was right there with
me, thank God. He tucked me into his side and smiled at our
audience.
Say something, honey.

What?

Tell them about your
surgery.

Knowing I had a lie ready
to go and that Kimber and Cole already bought it made me feel more
in control, and I looked up, trying to focus on faces, not colors,
and I plastered a smile on my face and managed a fake laugh. “Yeah,
I got totally lucky, and this plastic surgeon had a
cancellation at the last minute. It was this new
laser surgery.” It sounded convincing, and I held my breath while
waiting to see if everyone else thought so too.

“
It looks so great!” Amber
said enthusiastically.

“
Totally,” another
classmate agreed. To my absolute horror, she reached toward my
face.

Sam moved smoothly, swiftly, turning
so that the girl brushed his shoulder. “Heven needs to get to her
locker,” he announced. He shouldered us through the crowd but it
didn’t go away, it moved with us.

I can’t do
this.

Yes, you can. Focus on
me.

We made it to my locker, Sam opened
it, and I practically thrust my head inside.

“
Geez, people! She isn’t a
circus show!” Kimber’s loud voice came from behind me. I grinned
into the locker. “Let me through! Go on, shoo!”

People began moving off, and I sighed.
“Thank you,” I groaned to her, keeping my face in the
locker.

“
No problem.” She sniffed.
I turned to look at her and stumbled backward, Sam steadying
me.

Colors flamed around her; she had to
have the strongest personality of anyone I knew. It was unsettling.
I glanced at the floor trying to get control. When I looked back up
she was still flaming colors, but I tried to look past
them.

“
You look great,” I said,
lame
.

“
Thanks.” She
grinned.

Cole walked up behind her, smiling.
“Hey, guys.” He tipped Kimber backward, kissed her, then he glanced
at me and grinned. “Looking good, Hev.”

I smiled, but it faltered. Red
exploded around Kimber, and I knew instantly what it meant. I guess
I came hardwired not only with the colors, but their meanings as
well.

“
Hey? You okay?” Cole
stepped forward and laid a hand on my arm. The same vibrant magenta
shade from yesterday surrounded him, and he was still the only
person I have seen that carried that color. More red burst around
Kimber, masking Cole’s aura completely and making me jerk
back.

“
Yeah, great!” I reached
into my locker and grabbed a handful of books, not even looking to
see if they were right. “Better get to class,” I said, moving
backward, Sam moving with me.

Cole frowned, but Kimber smiled and
waved, her aura returning to its less-intense colors. I heaved a
sigh of relief.

What was that all
about?

Kimber’s aura is totally
intense.

That’s not all.
Sam insisted.
I can feel
it.

It’s just…never mind, I
might be wrong.

You aren’t wrong,
Heven.

How could it be?
I wondered.

Say it.

Kimber’s jealous of
me.

You didn’t know
this?
To Sam it was obvious.

No. I…we’re
friends.

Sam shrugged.
Sometimes friends get jealous.

He was right. It happened to me
sometimes, but seeing it in her aura made it seem worse somehow.
The way the red burst around her seemed violent.

It made me wonder if
having my old face back was going to put a strain on my friendship
with Kimber. She already admitted to being jealous once and that
was before I got my old looks back. I never imagined that not being
disfigured might actually cost me a friend. I shook the worrisome
thought away. Kimber was my best friend; she would see that nothing
between us had to change. Then, hopefully, everything would go back
to normal…

If only I could remember
what exactly normal was like
.

Chapter
Twenty-Six

Heven

As soon as Sam’s truck got
close to Gran’s I saw it. As if my day hadn’t been bad
enough
–
the
entire weekend really. First, I realized that my mother was going
to believe I was evil no matter what I said. Then, psycho China
tried to kill me – well, actually, she did. Then Sam sacrificed
himself and died. After we were both brought back to life, I was
hit with a ball of light, got a massive headache, and now I saw
auras. Did I mention that my BFF’s aura isn’t looking like a BFF’s
aura should?

Sam stiffened and the wheel jerked in
his hand. “We’re leaving,” he growled.

I sighed. “No. Let me just get it over
with.”

“
You’re sure?”

Round two with Mom. “Yep.”

“
I can’t stay,” he
worried.

“
It would make things worse
anyway,” I mumbled. Then I gasped. “I didn’t mean…”

“
I know, honey.” He took my
hand in his and pulled the truck to a stop next to my mother’s car.
“It’s all right.”

“
I love you.” I wanted him
to know.

“
I know. I love you
too.”

Despite my mother standing on the
porch watching, the bold colors exploding around her, I leaned over
and kissed Sam. Surprise flickered in his eyes as I leaned close,
but he didn’t push me away. He did what he always does: welcomed me
with open arms and took my breath away.

I hope you don’t pay for
that,
he said when I pulled
back.

I would pay any price for
that.

His fist clenched in his
lap, and he looked up with fierceness in his eyes.
Sometimes I love you so much I can
hardly…

I touched his cheek, “I know. See you
later.”

“
Hev.” He caught my hand.
“If you need me…”

“
I know you’ll
come.”

I got out slowly and walked to the
porch to stand next to my mother. I waved as he drove away. My
mother just stood there in shock. Then she went into the house. I
followed.