"Come on, please Luciana. Everyone will be going! It's your chance to make more friends with me!" Merle says
"Merl, I'd love to go with you but my mom-"
"Fuck your mom. You're coming."
"I can't!"
"You can. And you will. Get your ass up."
Currently, Merl is trying to get me to go to a 'ball' that Mr. Linux holds every year. It's a tradition, and all the people here get dressed up really fancy. Every year there's a new theme. It's kinda like the Met Gala, Merl tells me.
"Merl. I can't go. Mom always wants me to be cleaning on Friday nights, and dad isn't even home." I frown.
"Hmmm," she says and thinks for a second. "What if I come to help you clean after school. I mean, it's only Tuesday, so we can go to dress shopping together at the mall on Thursday."
"Gosh, I love you." I saw with a big smile. "But, I think I can handle cleaning up myself. It's no big deal, silly."
I don't want poor Merle to meet my monstrous mom after school.
If I'm lucky, maybe dad will come home early from work. It's unlikely, but a girl can wish.
"Are you kidding? I love cleaning! It won't be a big deal at all. Let me help you, Luce." she grabs my hand as we walk down the hallway to science.
"Ugh, you're the best." I give her my best smile, faking it. I'm too worried about what my mom would think to be the focus on anything else.
Hey mom
Can I clean up tonight instead of Friday? There's a party that I have to go to for school. It's educational.
Lies. Lies. Lies.
I sigh and put my phone back into my pocket, listening to Merle talk about her new shampoo her dads had brought her. I hear a ding from my phone and check the message my mom set me.
okay. no party though. you need to study.
I frown and give my phone to Merle to read, her expression matched mine for a second before a mischievous one comes.
"If you can't go, sneak out."
"I don't know..."
"Please?" she gives me puppy eyes.
She looks ridiculous. I can't help but laugh.
"One day you're going to get me killed." I roll my eyes playfully with a big smile on my face. There's nothing for me to be complaining about, I know. I'm just scared of my mom.
"So you'll go? I'm so excitedly oh my." she matches my smile. "Come on let's skip math, wanna go to your house to get an early start on cleaning?"
"Of course." I scoff. "You think I like math? No, no. Definitely Not."
I'd rather suck an old man's toe than do an hour and forty minutes of math at the end of the day, and I'm not even into that kind of stuff. Yikes.
I take my bag from where we were sitting and start walking with Merle to my place.
"Why are we walking through a scary forest?" she questions.
"I like getting eaten by monsters every now and then. My favourites are the blue ones, they tickle." I deadpan.
"I-" she furrows her broad and looks at me, then laughs. "Gosh, sometimes I can't tell when you're joking or not!"
"Who said I wasn't." I turn to look at her with a mischievous smile.
"Then I'll leave you here to fucking die."
YOU ARE READING
The Shattered Mask
RomanceA new school. A new life. Getting paired up with a boy who would rather die than talk to anyone- and especially not a talkative girl isn't easy. Two opposites, who learn that they may not be so different in the end. They both have their trauma, but...
