The Masquerade (13 page)

"Ella," I whispered.

His smile returned. "Ella." He repeated, testing my name in his mouth. Something fluttered in my stomach, warming my insides. I liked the way it sounded coming from him. "I'll let you go inside now, Ella."

I didn't want him to leave, but if I knew my friends, they'd be home any minute. Rather than object, I nodded solemnly. Sensing the discomfort in my expression. Ben leaned down and pressed his lips to my forehead. They lingered there for a moment before he pulled away. "I'll
see you tomorrow." Hope shot through me when I met his gaze. Instead of exchanging numbers, he said. "I'll find you."

I nodded, unable to come up with a witty remark.
"Okay," I merely breathed. He smiled in response, turned, and walked down the driveway. "Ben," I called. He stopped, his eyes flashed to mine. "I like danger."

Something flashed in his eyes. One corner of his mouth
turned up in a small, crooked smile. "Goodnight, Ella."

"Goodnight, Ben."

I took a few steps back, making my way up the driveway to my back porch. My eyes were still on Ben when I stumbled over the hose that I had
left out earlier after washing my car. I heard him laugh and I knew that he had witnessed my grace. My cheeks burning, I quickly turned and made my way to the back door. Hearing my footsteps, my dog began to bark anticipating my arrival.
I looked over my shoulder to see Ben still watching me from the end of my driveway. I gave a small wave with my hand. He returned it with a nod and the slightest trace of a smile. The semblance of his smile was already my favorite.
It was a ghost of a smile.

I unlocked the door and stepped inside quickly before Max, who always waited in the front hall, could make a run for it. After I shut the door, I leaned my back against it, a smile spreading from ear to ear. I raised my
hand to my face. My fingers touched the place on my forehead that had been occupied by a rock star's lips moments before.

I didn't come down from my bedroom until the following mid afternoon. My friends never stopped by, although they did call demanding
information. I gave them a brief "nothing happened" and promised I would provide more details when I saw them. I didn't fall asleep until the dim orange light began to shine through my bedroom window. I finally awoke after my
mom did, which never happened.

I practically skipped downstairs and slid into a barstool wearing black yoga pants and an Of Mice & Men band t-shirt. My mom leaned on the kitchen counter, a coffee mug in one hand, and her iPhone in the other.
It looked like she was playing Temple Run.

"Don't judge me." She said without looking up.

I grabbed the coffee cup from her hand and took a sip when the gorillas attacked her virtual character. My mom groaned and looked up at me
with an unsatisfied frown. I handed her the coffee back and gave her an ear-to-ear smile. "You've had a very productive morning."

Her eyebrows rose. "Same goes to you Sleeping Beauty.
How late were you out last night."

"I actually got home before midnight. I just didn't fall asleep until the sun came up."

"I didn't hear the girls this morning...or Hayley in
the fridge." Her gaze trailed up the back staircase, probably wondering where they were.

"They didn't sleep over. I left them at the field last night."

My mom's gaze shot back to mine. "What happened?"

I smiled before I could catch myself. My hands covered my mouth out of habit. My mom knew what that meant. Her eyes were on me, waiting with her own smile growing.

"I met a guy last night and he took me home."

She put her hands to her hips. "Oh, really?" She smiled excitedly. "Is he cute? Does he go to your school? How old is he?"

I laughed. "Um yes, no, and he's older."

She made some kind of girly squeal that was foreign to my mom. She moved to the fridge and pulled out some pancakes wrapped in Saran Wrap. She stuck them in the microwave for a minute. "An older boy how interesting. What University does he go to?"

"Mom, I didn't get that much information from him. He just walked me home."
And stole my heart.
I decided not to mention the fact that he was a rock star and probably never went to college.

She took the pancakes out of the microwave and handed them to me. I picked one up and took a bite, without bothering for silverware. I was the dishwasher in the house. The less I used the better. "So are you going
to see him again?"

"I hope so." She opened her mouth to press for more, but I beat her to it. "Mom, he walked me home. He didn't ask me to marry him. Can we hold off on the details until I know there is something to
talk about?"

She rolled her eyes. "Alright fine, but Ella you're glowing. I mean you've always been my happy little girl, but this" she motioned to my face, "is different. Something happened last night."

I pressed my lips together, but the smile grew anyway. I sighed, "I just really like him."

She stared at me for a moment. Worry creased in her features, but she erased it before I could question it, and replaced it with a
look that told me she was hoping for the best with me. I knew she thought about my father, a man who I didn't have an ounce of respect for. She was worried I would end up like her. Knocked up, a shotgun wedding to marry a boy who she was
madly in love, but would eventually leave her in the end. That wasn't going to happen.

"I think it's more than that." My mom commented with a sly smile. Before I could object the sound of our back door opening
caught me off guard. I leaned around the counter to see Hayley walk in. She didn't knock anymore. "Hayley," my mom welcomed. "I was wondering when you'd stop by."

"Checking your food supply has become a full time
job." Hayley flashed her famous mischievous smile. She moved to the freezer and pulled out a carton of ice cream. My mom had a spoon ready for her when she sat in the barstool next to mine. "Thanks Marilyn." My mom didn't like Mrs. Moore. She claimed after a certain age women were referred to
their last name more often than their first and it made her feel old.

Hayley turned to me. "The nasty details. I want them now."

My mom spoke before me. "I'm going to get some more
sleep. I'm working nine to nine tonight." My mom moved to the back staircase with her coffee cup still in her hands. She had mastered sleeping despite heavy doses of caffeine. "You're working at five?"

"Until ten, which means I'm closing." She blew me a kiss and turned upstairs. My dog trotted after. "That also means I have to leave soon." I said to Hayley. She pulled the spoon full of ice cream away from her mouth and looked at me.

"Want some?" I took it from her and stuck the spoon in my mouth. "So?" I she said with her mouth full.

"So what?"

She rolled her eyes. "Cut the crap. You know what.
Who's the lucky guy?"

I shrugged. "He's just some guy who was checking out Covington. He doesn't live here."

"Long distance relationship? You know what that
means." She said wiggling her eyebrows. "Great sex."

I rolled my eyes. "Uh, no. I don't even know him that well to talk about relationships." I wasn't interested in a relationship before graduation. That was until my night with Ben.

"What's his name?"

I bit my lip, contemplating telling her the truth. "Sloane."

"Oh that's a hot name." She said approvingly.

I smiled, thinking about the way our hands purposely brushed against the other when he walked me home. "Yeah, he is."

Hayley's eyebrows rose as eyed me closely. "So are you guys texting?"

"No, I don't have his number."

Hayley's interest fell. "Oh."

I didn't realize how bad that sounded until I caught the look on her face. His last words to me were exactly the type of thing that a
guy would tell a girl if he wanted to get rid of her. If he really wanted to see me again then he would have asked for my number. He didn't kiss me when he had the chance. I slowly fell off cloud nine when the realization seeped in. My
smile disappeared from my face as the pessimistic thoughts crowded my mind.

"Yeah," My voice sounded defeated. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how off my perception of the night was.

The frown on my face must have spurred the distaste in Hayley's voice. "Well I bet he isn't that great. He's probably some out of town loser."

I stared at her blankly, thinking
if you only knew
. I
couldn't break the ice now. A sinking feeling grew in my stomach and I bit the inside of my cheek to fight it. My conflicted thoughts continued to pull me back to last night. Why had I been so stupid? I thought he was there with me. His mind wasn't anywhere else. Or was it? We had moments of silence. The
silence felt nice. I didn't think it was the silence that needed small talk just to avoid the awkwardness.

"Ella!" Hayley snapped. I turned to her. "Don't think too much about it. He knows where you live. Maybe he'll stop
by." The doubt in her voice wasn't hard to catch. I tried to smile to assure her that her words were somewhat comforting despite the way they made my stomach drop. The sudden urge to get my mind off Ben overcame me. I needed to
get out of the house.

"Hayley, I have to get ready for work."

She knew what I was getting at. She got off the stool while sliding the carton of ice cream over to me on the counter. She winked, handed
me the spoon, and walked to the back door. "Call me when you get off work. We can watch Magic Mike or something."

I laughed. "That movie was awful. The plot was completely ridiculous."

She shot me a sly grin. "Babe, the plot has nothing to do with the intentions of the movie."

I smirked. "Good point."

"Call me." She said and she was gone.

My smile fell and the thoughts hit me again. There was still a part of me that believed I would see him again, but the reality of the situation was hard to ignore. Ben was a rock star. I was a small town girl who worked at a diner to help pay for college tuition. I wasn't anything special. I was an idiot for thinking I had a chance.

"I'm waiting on my last table to leave and then I'll take off." Ava said when she walked around the bar.

Shiloh looked up and frowned. "Waiting
on
them?"

Ava shook her head. "I'm southern honey. Get over it." I started laughing. She turned to me, shook her head, and spoke emphasizing the twang in her accent. "You can laugh but I'm pretty sure
you were raised born and raised here too."

I had no objections. "Hey, what do we know? You could have been standing on them."

I didn't mention that my mother grew up in the Big Apple. A
Yankee raised me, so a southern accent never stuck. My mom and her mother scrambled to Covington when she was only fifteen to get away from an abusive, alcoholic father. My mom never mentioned her dad and wasn't much of a talker
when it came to the random scars on her body. I always knew it was my grandfather who put them there. Since she never mentioned him, I never asked. As far as family was concerned, she didn't have a father, not anymore. It was another grim aspect we shared in common.

Ava smiled. "I do like to sit on people. How do you think Mallie came along?"

Shiloh held up her hand. "Stop right there."

Mallie was Ava's four-year-old daughter who was the most
adorable little girl I ever had the pleasure of babysitting. Ava was in her mid twenties so I knew Mallie was a bit of a surprise, but she married her father and she seemed happy so who was I to question it?

"I'll take care of the table for you. Go home and see your daughter."

Ava leaned over and gave me a peck on the check. "Thanks sweetie." She grabbed her keys and purse from beneath the counter. "Can you babysit next Saturday? Josh wants to have a date
night."

Shiloh scowled. "Which means I'm closing."

I smiled. "Sure, I'd love to."

"I'll text you the time," she told me before she
left.

I took dinner orders from a mother and her two children who just came in before I came back around the counter. Shiloh met me around the same time after clearing a couple tables. I moved in front of the cash register
and began to work numbers for a bill. I was waiting for her to question about the night before. I knew Hayley had already given her the details.

"Is it alright with you if I take off? My shift is
almost over."

I turned to her. "Why wouldn't it be?"

She gave a small sympathetic smile. "Hayley told me about the mystery boy."

I groaned. "Why are you two treating it like a break
up? A nice guy walked me home."

"Hayley said you were glowing before she smacked you with reality." Shiloh leaned on the counter watching me. "You just haven't shown interest in any guys since the beginning of school last
year." I arched an eyebrow. She knew the pickings at school were slim and I wanted nothing to do with them anyway. She nodded, taking my expression for a reply. "Good point, but you know what I mean. Hayley feels bad about
it."

"Shiloh, I'm fine." I said, looking her in the eye. "I'm glad Hayley knocked some sense into me. Don't worry." I smiled and decided to change the subject. "Where is Adam taking you?"

"My guess is Atlanta."

I smiled. Adam had given me the details two weeks ago. They were staying at his Uncle's condo in the city for the evening. He wanted to make the night really special. He had a reservation at her favorite restaurant
and everything. There wasn't an occasion. He just liked doing things to see her smile. The thought of the two of them together always warmed my insides. They were so good for each other and it made me happy to think about that kind of
love. That it actually existed for people that deserved it.

I wrapped my arms around her and squeezed tightly. "Have fun."

"Thanks El." She pulled back and looked at me.
"Don't go crazy tonight."

"I won't have sex with anyone. Not even if they pay me."

She nodded, her expression serious, "I mean it. No slutty business while I'm gone."

We laughed together and she eventually left after helping me clear another table. By the time was gone it was a quarter past nine and the diner was empty. I cleaned the floors, countertops and even straightened a few pictures from the seventies on the wall just to pass the time. It was fifteen
minutes before closing and I was in the kitchen just after Mack left. He had taught me a how to cook everything on the menu a few months ago for nights like this if we had the random customer come in before closing. It rarely happened.
Tonight was the rare occasion.

The bells chimed from the front door, announcing the entrance of a customer. I wiped the irritated expression off my face and pushed away the urge to stone the perpetrator. Those people who come in minutes before
closing at a restaurant earn corporal punishment if they order something other than a soda. They usually did.

I put a smile on my face and pushed past the swinging door of the kitchen that brought me directly behind the countertop. "What can I
get for ya?" The person sitting on a bar stool in the middle of the counter looked up. I froze when his eyes met mine.

"Eli."

He threw his head back to move strands of his brown hair out
of his eyes. He gave a small, friendly smile. "Ella."

I swallowed trying to think about the last time I had seen him. I couldn't point out a specific date, which proved it had been a while.
His hair looked longer. There were dark circles under his eyes. He leaned onto the counter watching me, watching him.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, my voice sounded small.

"I'm hungry."

"Right," I shook my head. "What can I get for you?'

"Coffee"

I should have figured as much coming from him. I didn't want
to admit it, but I already knew how he liked it, "Black?"

"Like my,"

"Heart" I finished for him. We shared a brief glance before I cut it off. I turned away from him and got the porcelain cup
from the rack while grabbing the coffee off the stove with my free hand. I placed the cup in front of him and kept my eyes strictly on the dark liquid until it was full. I wanted to avoid any more accidental eye contact.

"Don't worry it's still black." He told me.

I rolled my eyes. "You're hilarious."

"How are you?" I heard him ask when I had my back turned to him to put the coffee away. I hated that question. It was a horrible
conversation starter and every reply was a lie to comply the lack of interest of the receiver. I moved in front of him, placed my elbows on the counter, and leaned on it casually. The close proximity of our faces would have given me
chills two years ago. Now, I felt nothing.

"You know I hate that."

He smirked. "Because you hate when you realize people actually care. I know."

"Why are you really here?" His eyes dropped down
to the coffee between us as an answer. I shook my head. "You haven't touched it."

"It's hot."

I shrugged, "That hasn't stopped you before."

He smiled. "What are you doing later?"

I frowned, remembering Davey's same words. "No, Eli."

"C'mon, are you busy?"

The discomfort was unsettling as two parts of me fought to
answer. Part of me missed spending time with him and the other part of me wanted to smack him for asking. I made myself clear last year. Just because I hadn't seen him didn't mean I hadn't heard about his endeavors outside of
school. Two months ago I heard he was arrested for battery. The Eli I missed wasn't the Eli sitting before me.

He noticed the uneasiness in my eyes immediately. "What's wrong?"

"Can you not?" I asked him, holding up my hand.

"Why? It's not like I don't care Ella. You know that."

"I know you care, Eli." I said without looking at him.

"I'll leave if I'm making you uncomfortable."

I shook my head. "I'm fine."

"I'll call bullshit on that."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh blow me."

He smirked. Our conversations we shared in the past managed to stay the same. They always resulted in my vulgarity. I liked to swear, but I usually bit my tongue. When the word fuck comes from someone you least expect it makes the element of surprise more enjoyable. I liked to shock people. It
made life interesting. However, Eli managed to bring out the worst in me.

When I turned back to him his eyes were calculating as they stared at something behind me. The muscle in his jaw worked. I realized his
'hunger' didn't bring him to the diner. He had something on his mind.

"Eli, I'm not oblivious. There's a reason you're here."

His gaze flashed to mine. "I'm sorry about last
year."

He sounded sincere. I leaned back and crossed my arms over my chest. "I don't like to think about that night. So please drop it."

"I need to know who threw Davey off you, Ella."

My stomach dropped. After the past couple days, he chose now to ask me. I didn't believe in coincidences, but I wasn't going to give Ben up. The cool expression remained on my face. "I told you I don't know."

His eyes tightened. "Lie."

I shrugged. "Believe what you want."

"You know what I believe?" He stood up, crossing his arms over his chest the way I had. We stared each other down. He was
definitely built and much taller than me, but he didn't scare me. "I believe you're protecting him and I want to know why."

"He saved my life." I told him firmly. "No
one else was there and he was. If he hadn't been there, you know Davey would have had his way with me. That kind of trauma would have sent me over the edge and you, of all people know that." I swallowed, pushing back the memory of that night.

His jaw locked. "I tried to save you."

"
You
were the reason I needed saving." I sighed, realizing the conversation was getting us nowhere. I motioned to the door. "I'm supposed to close. You need to leave."

He made no motion that told me was planning on leaving just yet. "Have you thought about Noah lately?"

My stomach immediately clenched. The temperature in the room
seemed to drop ten degrees at the mention of his name. I blinked and sucked in a deep breath before speaking. My voice was tight. "He was my brother. Of course I think about him. I think about him all the time."

He nodded and he adjusted his gaze to the windows.
"Would you do anything to see him again?"

"What kind of question is that?"

He didn't answer. "I miss Neil. I know you miss Noah."

"Everyday, now please go." I was begging him now. My brother was a touchy subject that even my friends never brought up. My mom was the only one I could share a conversation with involving him and
that
took ages to break.

He finally looked at me. He stared long and hard so that I could catch the desperation in his eyes. It almost frightened me. It wasn't like him to look so uncontrolled.

"What if they weren't dead?"

A sharp pain ruptured in my chest. I shut my eyes tightly in an attempt to push back the numbing images of my brother that were branded to my memory. I knew what happened when I begin to relive the nightmares of my past and it wasn't something I ever allowed anyone to see. I needed Eli to
leave, now.

"Eli," I spoke through my teeth, but it was obvious my voice was breaking. "Leave."

"Don't you want your brother back? Don't you want to
see him again?" He pressed his hands against the countertop. "I need to know who saved you."

He was on something. He had to be. The fact that he was dragging me back into the unwanted memories of my brother's death while he was
under the influence made me want to scream. How could he do that to me? After everything we'd been through together, how could he shove my brother's death in my face?

"Get out!" I shouted at him, pointing to the door.

"They're still out there, Ella."

I hated drugs. My hands clenched into fists at my sides, feeling the anger roll off me in waves as I glared at him. "Our brothers
are dead!" I screamed at him. "I found Noah's body. I was there when they put his," my voice broke and my hands started to shake violently. I tried again, "I watched as they put his body in a bag!" A sob ripped out of my chest at the sight of my brother's open, lifeless eyes when he lay on
the cold tile floor. I knew when I found him that I had lost him.

"Noah!" She screamed when she snapped out of the frozen state.

She dropped to the ground. Her knees seemed to sink into
the pool of blood that his shirt was soaked in. Blood. There was so much of it she could hardly see anything but red. She choked back a sob as she picked up his head and cradled him in her arms.

Her tears streamed down her face, she could taste the salt in her mouth as they ran over her lips. She screamed again, but she couldn't hear the sound. Her mouth remained open as she held her brother. His eyes, glossed over with the frost of death, gazed up at her.

He was gone.

"Please, no!" She cried, gargling on the spit that formed in her mouth. "Wake up, Noah! Please! Don't leave me!" She cried. She screamed. She shouted. His body was still. He was heavy in her
arms and she continued to hold him, ignoring the dark wound in his chest.

There were sirens. There was someone behind her, pulling her back. The twelve-year-old girl screamed at him, but his hands tightened
underneath her arms and pulled her away from her brother's body. There were other people in the room, rushing around her, but she paid them no attention.

Adam held her on the ground as she cried. He turned her
away from her brother so that she couldn't see, but she didn't have to look. She still saw him in her mind, his blood. His shallow eyes, his conscience lost to the world. The last memory she had of her brother scarred her.

The memory snapped like a rubber band and my body jerked as if a bolt of electricity had shocked me back into the present. I blinked. Eli was watching me with wide eyes. I realized I was shaking when he held up his hands in surrender.