Masquerade (7 page)

When Kimber put her mind to something,
it got accomplished. It was an admirable trait to have – except in
this instance. This time she set her sights on Sam, and things were
definitely swinging in her favor. Since the night of the party, Sam
and Kimber had been spotted together several times: in the halls at
school, outside once classes were dismissed, at the local ice cream
shop, and once Sam went to a game that Kimber was cheering at. I
knew every detail about every encounter because I had to sit
through the play-by-play at lunch. Every. Single. Day.

Ugh.

It made me ache from the inside out. I
felt like a tire with a slow leak, except the leak was in my heart.
Every single time she mentioned his name and every single time I
saw his vibrant white teeth flash at her in a smile, a little bit
of my heart deflated. I was hoping that soon there wouldn’t be
anything left so it wouldn’t hurt anymore.

As I walked from my locker
to the cafeteria, my stomach knotted in anticipation for today’s
report. It was Monday, the crappiest day of the week, and it just
got crappier because now I had to sit through an entire lunch of
her details of the weekend. Her weekend with Sam. I tried to
console myself with the fact that she said all their ‘dates’ were
strategic, meaning that they only went places where she would be
seen with him, and she was certain it would get back to Cole. She
told me that they hadn’t ever been completely alone on a date, and
I was curious what Sam
thought of that. I
wondered how much he liked her and how much he would hurt when she
dumped him and went back to Cole. Then I wondered if Cole would
even want her back. As if he knew I was thinking about him he
appeared at my side.

“
Hey, Hev.” He said, giving
me a smile.

“
Hey.”

“
I thought about calling
you after the other night…I wanted to see how you were
doing.”

“
See how I was doing?
You’re the one who had to watch Kimber drape herself all over Sam.”
I muttered darkly.

Hurt flashed in his eyes,
and I felt bad for my comment. Just because I was suffering didn’t
mean he had too as well. “Do you know him well?”

I glanced at Cole swiftly.
“Who?”

“
The new
kid
–
Sam.
The way you said his name…” he looked at me with questions in his
eyes.

“
Uh-no. I’ve heard her talk
about him a lot.” As soon as the response left my lips I felt
guilty again.

“
I’ll catch you later,”
Cole said, stopping just outside the cafeteria doors.

“
Aren’t you coming to
lunch?”

“
I forgot my lunch money in
my locker.”

Before I could respond or
try to apologize for my foul mood and grouchy comments, he stalked
off.

Exhaling, I walked into the cafeteria
to our usual table where Kimber was already sitting, lunch bag open
in front of her. I slid into my chair, bracing myself.

“
How was your weekend?” she
cheerfully asked.

“
Fine
–
and yours?”

“
So great. I had a date.”
She smiled and her eyes sparkled. I was beginning to wonder if she
was even doing this to get back at Cole anymore
. I wondered if she enjoyed playing with people’s hearts like
this. Then she said, “He came over
to my
place.”

The bottom dropped out of my stomach,
and my vision blurred. I blinked several times. “Sam came to your
place?”

“
Uh-huh.”

That’s all she had to say?
Usually it was, ‘Sam this’ and ‘Sam that’ and blah, blah, blah. She
never shut up! But the one time I wanted just a single detail, she
was being closed-lipped. It could only mean one thing. She liked
him –
really
liked him.

I couldn’t do this. My
chest tightened, and a cold sweat prickled my skin.
Do not freak out right now. Calm down.
I took several deep breaths until I felt more in
control and then looked up at Kimber who was chomping on her
sandwich, oblivious. Then a bright smile broke over her face. “I
invited someone to join us today.”

Oh no.

Sam pulled out a chair next to Kimber
and sat down. I think my heart stopped beating. So far I’d only had
to listen to the gory details and see them, briefly, from across
the hall. But never once did I have to witness Sam and Kimber up
close and personal. I couldn’t bear it.

“
Sam, you remember
Heven?”

“
Hey, Heven.” I swear his
voice turned huskier than usual when he said my name.

“
Hey,” I returned, blushing
furiously.

“
Where’s your lunch?”
Kimber asked him.

“
I need to go through the
line.”

“
I’ll save your seat.” She
giggled, leaning toward him.

He smiled, and I wanted to gag. I
scooted my chair back so I could get out of there when Kimber
turned toward me. “Here.” She reached into her bag and handed me a
sandwich.

I took the sandwich, laying it in
front of me. “You brought me a sandwich?”

Kimber rolled her eyes. “I’ve been
bringing you a sandwich every Monday for months.”

She had? Sure, she shared sometimes,
but every Monday?

At my blank look she rolled her eyes
again. “Mondays are the hardest day of the week for you. You never
remember food. Can’t have you wasting away.”

Her thoughtfulness touched me and made
me regret the things I’d been thinking earlier. Then Sam cleared
his throat. My eyes shot to his face; he wasn’t looking at me, but
at Kimber. “I’ll be right back.”

When he was gone I tried to
escape, using the same excuse Cole had used only moments
before
. “I forgot something in my
locker.”

“
Not so fast.”

“
What?”

She sighed. “I know you’re
uncomfortable around new people, and I get it, but Sam, he’s
important to me.”

“
More important than Cole?”
I shot out.

She seemed taken aback.
“I…”

“
Don’t you think he’s
learned his lesson? How much longer are you going to hurt
him?”

“
He hurt me
too.”

“
Not like this.” He
wouldn’t do that to her.

Kimber frowned and looked to where Sam
was in line.

“
You really like him?” I
whispered. When she opened her mouth to answer I cut her off.
“Don’t answer that. It isn’t my business anyway.”

“
Of course it is. You’re my
best friend.”

But I couldn’t stand to hear her
answer, which was ridiculous, because I didn’t even know him, and
he had no clue I was alive. He arrived back at the table and sat
down. Kimber looked at me with pleading eyes, and with a sigh, I
scooted my chair back to the table.

“
I need to talk to you
about something,” Kimber said, taking a bite of her turkey
sandwich.

“
Okay.” I was only
half-listening, distracted by Sam’s presence.

“
You know Jenna broke her
arm?”

“
Uh-huh,” I answered. Sam’s
hands were huge; he had long fingers and short square fingernails.
The fork he was eating with looked like a child’s toy.

“
Earth to Heven” Kimber was
waving her hand in front of my face.

“
Sorry,” I mumbled, and Sam
looked up to catch me staring at his hands. Quickly I ducked my
head, but not before I saw his lips tilt up. My heart beat
faster.

“
Anyway, I thought you
could think about it,” Kimber finished whatever she was
saying.

I stared at her.

“
You didn’t hear a word I
said, did you?” she frowned.

“
Uh, yeah, Jenna and her
broken arm.”

Kimber brightened a bit and nodded. “I
want you to take her place at the cheer competition next
weekend.”

“
Me?” I choked on the water
I was drinking. The cap from my bottle flew out of my hands and
landed right in front of Sam. He scooped it up before I could reach
for it and held it out. It looked small lying in the center of his
palm. I flicked my eyes up to his face, but then looked back down
when I saw him watching me. “You lost something,” he rasped and
held his hand out to me.

“
Thanks.” I tried to touch
as little of him as possible, but someone jostled his chair from
behind just as I was reaching into his palm. Instead of the ‘no
contact’ I’d planned, his arm shot out, and I automatically grasped
his hand to try and steady him.

His skin was warm.

And slightly rough.

I sighed.

I swear he
heard the small breath, and his eyes locked on
mine. I didn’t pull away as I wanted to because I was surprised by
the shot of gold that was like lightning through his whiskey-
colored stare. I blinked then looked back at him, but the gold was
gone. Had I imagined that
?

“
Heven, are you okay?”
Kimber worried from somewhere far away.

To my intense surprise Sam squeezed my
fingers before gently sliding his hand from beneath mine. He
grabbed my water bottle, and I watched as he twisted the cap back
into place. When he was finished he returned the bottle beside my
elbow.

“
Thanks.”

“
Anytime.”

“
Heven, the cheer
competition?” Kimber reminded me.

“
I don’t cheer
anymore.”

“
It hasn’t been that long,
and I can teach you the routine.” I shook my head, ready to shoot
her down, but she interrupted. “Please! The team won’t be able to
compete because we’ll be short.”

I looked doubtful, and Kimber hurried
to add, “Two girls are out because of injury already, and now with
Jenna…”

“
Find someone
else.”

“
There isn’t anyone, and
you’re the best!” Kimber smiled over at Sam. “Heven was going to be
head cheerleader.”

I kicked her under the table. Sam
looked at me. “Yeah?”

I nodded, blushing.

“
Cool. How come you stopped
cheering?”

Wasn’t it obvious? Kimber
made a sound, but I held up my hand. “I cheered
Before
.”

He seemed confused, so I motioned to
my face and looked right at him so he could see.

“
You stopped cheering
because you have
scars
on your face?” He put his fork down like he was sickened by
his food. It made my stomach hurt to see his reaction to my
ugliness, and I quickly ducked my face, reaching for my hair and
pulling my
hoodie as close around my face
as I possibly could. Desperate for a new subject, I turned pleading
eyes
on Kimber, but she was staring in the
opposite direction, so I followed her gaze. Just entering the
lunchroom, Cole was standing in the center of the room, staring at
our table. He looked angry and hurt at the same time. Abruptly he
turned and banged out the doors, and Kimber jumped up from her
chair.

“
I’ll be right back,” she
threw out and then ran after him.

I resisted the urge to go
after them both and find out what was happening. Did Kimber finally
understand that she was breaking his heart? Could Cole possibly
forgive her? I prayed that he would, because things just didn’t
seem right when they weren’t together
. And
because selfishly I didn’t want her to be with Sam. I reached
across the table and gathered Ki
mber’s
forgotten lunch – I knew she wouldn’t be coming back this period. I
couldn’t wait ‘til the final bell rang so I could find out what
happened between them. As I zipped up her fashionable pouch I felt
a whisper against my ear. “You didn’t answer my
question.”

A shiver started at the base of my
spine and went all the way up to my shoulders. Ever so slowly I
turned to peek at him from around my hood.

“
Remember me?” He
smiled.

Something familiar ghosted through me,
but I couldn’t think about that now. I would never forget Sam. I
nodded. His chuckle slid over me like honey, and of their own
accord, my eyes briefly closed.

“
So?” he
prompted.

I sifted through the fog in my mind
for whatever it was he’d asked. Oh, yeah, the scars. “Yes. I gave
up cheering after my accident.”

“
I don’t think you should
let
a few little
scars keep you from what you love.”

He was closer than ever. Somehow his
chair was right next to mine, and he was the only thing in the
universe. “I-It isn’t little.”

“
Your beauty overshadows
it.” He said the words easily, as if they cost him nothing. Yet
they were words that were more valuable to me than anything, and I
was very afraid
that they cost me my
heart. The very heart I had been trying to protect. I watched in
slow motion as
his hand came up and drew
closer, his hazel eyes hypnotizing me. Right before he made contact
I realized what he was doing, and I jerked away. No one had ever
touched my scars, except for my doctor. Not even my mother. As a
result of my quick reflexes, his hand brushed the side of my hood
and landed on my shoulder. I kept my eyes down, trying not to
struggle for air. I felt his fingers move over me, almost like a
caress, and then his touch was gone. “I didn’t mean to frighten
you.”