Masquerade (6 page)

Sam was standing in a crowd
of people who were all openly staring at him, yet he wasn’t really
part of the group. He seemed separate somehow. He was wearing a
black leather jacket, a snug navy shirt, and a pair of beat-up
jeans. His dark blond hair was messy, falling over his ears and
right eye, and when he saw Kimber heading toward him, he pushed it
up onto his forehead. He didn’t smile as he watched her slinking
toward him but watched her like a predator might watch his prey. It
made gooseflesh rise along my arms. As he watched her his eyes
flashed up over her shoulder – searching for
something or someone – and
not
knowing why, I stepped back into the shadows so he wouldn’t see me.
Kimber walked around the open fire pit that separated her from her
target and reached out her manicured hand and placed it on his arm,
drawing his eyes back to her. Her mouth moved, and the side of his
mouth kicked up in a small smile. His lips barely moved, but I knew
he’d spoken, and I wished I was closer to hear the deep, raspy tone
of his voice. Kimber laughed and her hand went a little more firmly
around his arm. It made my stomach hurt, and I looked over at Cole
to see if he was watching the show.

He was seeing it all right. He was
standing erect, watching with his fists balled at his sides and an
angry expression on his face. Kimber laughed again, and I looked
back in time to see Sam turn fully toward her and look down to
smile. God, he was so beautiful. For a split second I imagined that
he was looking down at me smiling that way, and my heart nearly
stopped. From behind, someone bumped into me, and I stumbled
forward.

“
Sorry,” the guy mumbled,
but I ignored him because as soon as I moved, Sam’s eyes flashed up
to where I was standing, like he knew I was there. But I knew my
imagination was working on overdrive because I was in the shadows,
and I knew he couldn’t see me. As if to prove my point, his eyes
went back to Kimber who brazenly leaned up and whispered something
in his ear.

I glanced at Cole who was
clearly having a hard time staying rooted to his spot. He was so
angry that the guys with him were turning to see what he was
staring at. In fact, it seemed Kimber and Sam were
attracting
quite an audience.
Unfortunately for Kimber, one of her audience members
stepped forward, making a beeline for the
pair.

Jenna looked like a woman with a
mission and by the evil glint in her eye, whatever that mission was
would not be good for Kimber.

Somehow Jenna managed to wedge herself
between Sam and a perturbed Kimber. She flicked her dark locks over
her shoulder and placed a single finger on his chest and leaned
into him. She really was a skank, and I wanted to gag at the
thought of her touching Sam. He stared down at her with an
unreadable expression on his face. She said something that made
Kimber go red in the face and glare daggers at her back. With a
sigh I headed over toward the unfolding drama. Cole was stepping
through the crowd also, and I caught his eye and waved him back. He
would only make things worse.

I stopped beside Kimber who gave me a
‘can you believe this?’ look before putting her hand on Jenna’s arm
and yanking her around. “Why don’t you go torture someone else with
your presence?” she snapped.

Jenna hissed and slapped her hand
away. “Don’t touch me.”

“
Chick fight!” someone
behind us yelled, and a crowd began forming.

Kimber pressed in close to Jenna, and
I put an arm between them. “This is so third grade,” I said, trying
to sound bored.

Jenna turned her icy stare to me.
“Careful freak, might find yourself with some more unsightly
scars.”

Some ‘oohing’ and ‘ahhing’ went
through the crowd, but I barely registered it. Her words made my
face flame with embarrassment. I knew that everyone was now staring
at the girl with the disfigured face.

“
You dirty bitch!”
Kimber yelled, pulling back her fist.
Unfortunately, my arm was still in the way, and Jenna used it as
her shield, pulling my arm up so it would take the impact of the
hit. It was solid and spun me backward toward the roaring fire pit.
Jenna shrieked, trying to pull away from me, but like anyone who
loses their balance, I groped for something to grab and right
myself; it happened to be her. She didn’t pull me back up, rather,
I pulled her down with me. I felt the back of my knees buckle at
the impact of the edge of the stone border and felt the heat from
the flames through my clothes and panic stole through me. As I
fell, I wondered where my scars would be this time.

One minute I was falling toward a
flaming death, and the next I was lying on the ground, away from
the flames, unburned and unhurt. I heard Kimber asking me if I was
all right, and I blinked, trying to clear my head, trying to decide
if I was or wasn’t. But I couldn’t think because my heart was
thundering in my chest, and Jenna was screeching at the top of her
lungs.

I sat up and looked at Jenna who was
lying on the ground clutching her arm. “It’s broken! She broke my
arm!” As she screeched she rolled to the side and glared at
me.

I drew back. I did not do that to her.
Did I? What the heck happened? I thought for sure I was going into
the flames.

Kimber stood, placing herself in front
of me. “Heven isn’t responsible for your arm,” she spat. Then,
dramatically, she flung herself to the side at someone. “Thank
goodness you were here!”

Sam caught her easily and patted her
shoulder as she wrapped her arms around his waist. Pain lanced
through my chest, and I winced. Maybe I was hurt after
all…

I looked up and my eyes fastened on
Sam, who was watching me. Emotion flashed through his eyes, but it
was gone so quickly I was unable to name it.

“
Heven? Hey, you okay?”
Cole leaned over me. He looked so sad I couldn’t be angry at him
for blocking my view of Sam.

“
I’m sorry,” I
whispered.

“
This isn’t your fault,
Hev.”

“
Help me up?”

He lifted me up and onto my feet with
ease. When he pulled back I swayed a little, and he came back,
anchoring his arm around me. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

My eyes went back to Kimber
and Sam
. I watched as he gently tried to
detangle himself from her and then push her aside. The pain in my
chest eased considerably when they were no longer touching. Sam
seemed more interested in my conversation with Cole and was staring
between us
with that unreadable expression
he did so well. I looked up at Cole. “I’m fine.”

“
Need a ride home?” he
whispered.

I nodded. “I want to go.” I was
extremely sorry I came at all.

Kimber was beside me instantly. “You
know I didn’t mean to push you.”

“
I know.”

“
I would have died if you’d
gotten hurt! Thankfully, Sam has some bad ass reflexes and pulled
you out of the way.”

Sam saved me from the fire? It
happened so fast that I wasn’t sure what had happened.

I pulled Kimber’s keys out of my
pocket and stepped out from beneath Cole’s arm. I held them out to
her. “You’ll be okay to drive?”

She stared at me for a few
seconds like she couldn’t believe I wanted to leave. I wasn’t sure
what I would
have done if she’d said no.
But I knew I couldn’t
stay here, but I
would worry if I left and knew she wouldn’t be safe…

“
I’ll make sure she gets
home safe.” Sam’s husky voice made me shiver and then he touched
me. It was a simple, insignificant brush of his hand as he took the
keys from my palm, but I would remember that one second contact
with him like it was my first kiss.

Every single nerve in my arm tingled,
and my skin burned. Every coherent thought I might have had
completely faded away. I stared at him, entranced by his hazel
stare, caught by the golden highlights that sparked through his
eyes. “Uh…”

His mouth opened and broke the spell.
“You okay?”

I just knew that my face
was glowing from embarrassment. Geez, he said two words, and I
practically fell at his feet drooling. He must think I am
pathetic.
I let my head fall so my hair
would curtain my face. “Thanks,” I mumbled, as my eyes focused on
something…I gasped and grabbed Sam’s
arm.
“Are
you
all
right?”

“
It’s nothing,” he said,
gently trying to pull his arm away.

I wouldn’t let him. I stared at his
leather jacket, which was burned all the way through. I brushed my
finger over the hole; the fabric was still hot. My fingers grazed
the skin of his arm. I sucked in my breath and dared a glance up at
him. He was watching me intently, and I forgot what I was going to
say. “Y-y-your shirt is…the fire burned through your jacket and
shirt.”

He grasped my fingers and removed them
from his arm. “Forget it.”

Did he reach into the fire to get me?
Would I be burned right now if he hadn’t put his arm in the way of
the flames? “Are you all right? Are you burned?”

He cleared his throat and shot a
nervous glance to the people gathered around. “I’m fine. No burns.”
He held up his arm, pushing back his ruined sleeve. His skin was
completely unmarked.

“
Oh,” I mumbled,
feeling
embarrassed yet again. How many
more times would I humiliate myself before I left? “Well,
thank you–” I took a step back toward Cole. “–for
pulling me out of the way.”

It seemed like he might say
something, but Kimber spoke first. “It’s a shame Jenna wasn’t as
lu
cky.”

I turned and watched Jenna being led
away by her henchmen and dismissed her. She would be fine. Girls
like her always were.

“
Heven?” Cole asked,
touching my shoulder. “Ready?”

He and Kimber completely ignored each
other. “Yeah, just a second.” I turned back to where Sam was
standing, hoping to hear whatever he might have said.

He was gone.

The interior of the truck was dark and
cool. I didn’t mind either. It gave me an excuse to huddle into my
jacket and not worry that my facial expressions would give away my
sour mood. It bothered me that Sam and Kimber were together right
now. I wondered what they were doing…

“
Sometimes I wonder why I
bother.” Cole said quietly.

I glanced over his way.
The dashboard lights cast a glow over his strong features. His jaw
was set, and his brow was creased but even so he was attractive.
His dark hair was mussed, but not the kind of mussed that guys do
now on purpose. His was like that because he didn’t care what it
looked like. His brilliant blue eyes were staring out at the road,
slightly squinting when he looked at a sign. I found that little
detail endeared him to me. It kind of reminded me that we were all
human and we all had flaws. The skin of his face was pulled taunt
over strong cheekbones and a square jaw. His lips were pressed into
a flat line.

“
Bother with what?” I asked
just as quietly as he had.

“
With Kimber.”

“
I’m sorry about the way
she’s treating you, Cole.” I probably shouldn’t say that or
anything else against my best friend, but then I got a vivid flash
of Kimber pressing herself into Sam and him lowering his face
towards her…I squeezed my eyes shut and blurted, “She really is
acting like a bitch.”

As soon as the words left
my mouth I regretted them. Talking trash behind Kimber’s back made
me as bad as her
.
“I didn’t mean that.” I rushed out.

Cole glanced at me and
laughed. He had a dimple in his cheek. “I won’t tell.” He winked at
me before returning his eyes back to the road. “Besides right now I
would have to agree.”

“
You really hurt her.” I
said, trying to make amends with my own guilty conscience for what
I said.

“
Do you think I like
seeing her with that other guy?”

“
I guess not,” I mumbled.
He turned onto my street and I felt a wave of relief.

“
Sometimes I think it might
be easier just to date someone who isn’t so…” his words trailed
off.

“
You’ll never find anyone
like Kimber.” I said loyal to my friend even while I asked myself
why I should since she was with Sam. Clearly her loyalty to me
wasn’t as strong as I thought.

He pulled up to the curb
at my house and shifted in his seat to look at me. “I’m not so sure
about that.”

Something about the way he said it and
the look on his face made me swallow hard. “I should get
inside.”

He stared at me for another long
moment before smiling and giving a nod. “Yeah.”

Before getting out I turned back. “You
should try and make up with her. You two make a great
couple.”

“
I’ll see you on Monday.”
Cole said softly.

“
Thanks for the ride.” I
said before hurrying away and into my house. I leaned against the
front door as I listened to him drive away. On my way upstairs to
my bedroom I wondered who it was that Cole thought would be so easy
to date. I shied away from the obvious answer because that wasn’t
something I was prepared to think about.