The Face Behind The Mask

26

Skyden's watch and Cameron's phone pinged at 2:16 AM from their respective nightstands. The security camera alert woke them and offered a night vision image of a prowling raccoon with glow-in-the-dark eyes crossing the backyard.

"Security cameras," Cameron mumbled, pulling the covers up to his chin. "Excellent investment." He rolled onto his side and, within minutes, fell back asleep.

Skyden wasn't so lucky. When she finally drifted off an hour later, she heard his alarm. She felt him get out of bed at three-thirty. The mattress shook and then inhaled without the weight of his body. She heard the shower running and then a pause while he quietly got dressed.

When he emerged from the bathroom, he inched closer to the bed.

"I'm not sleeping," she whispered.

He kissed her cheek. "Did I wake you?"

She shook her head.

"Try to go back to sleep."

"I can't shut off my brain." He gave her a penetrating look. "Work stuff," she said. "Nothing really." 

He knew better. He leaned in and kissed her, brushing his lips across her cheek as he withdrew. "I'll be back in a few days. I'm only a text away."

She smiled and kissed him back, feeling the heat radiating from his face. She watched his silhouette grow smaller when he left the bedroom into the hallway and already the house felt colder. She heard him descend the stairs. There were a few moments of quiet before she heard the garage door open, and a short time later, close.

It was pointless to lie in bed wide awake. She followed a reliable pattern. A long shower, strong coffee, and navigate from there.

A few hours later she buttered two slices of toast in the kitchen, set them on a plate, and carried the toast to the dining room table. She was in disguise as the suburban homemaking mom and as far as she could tell, she was pulling it off.

She watched Brick take his cereal bowl to the sink and give it a perfunctory rinse. When he heard his sister coming down the stairs, he called, "Hey, Kelsey." She swiped a slice of toast from the plate in the dining room and hustled toward the door. He quickly shouldered his backpack.

"Have a good day," said Skyden.

"Bye, Mom," he said over his shoulder. "Kels. Hey, Kelsey." He called after his sister as they started down the sidewalk toward the bus stop.

"I can't miss this bus," she said without turning around. Even if he hadn't heard what she said, he got the message.

He raised his phone. "I need to show you something."

"Really?" She stopped, swallowing a mouthful of toast. "Now?"

He nodded. "It's important."

"Okay, what?" she said, drawing a long breath and exhaling. He looked down at his hands, not sure how to introduce the topic.

"Are you gonna show me or what?" She cocked her hip and glared at her brother.

Reluctantly, he raised his phone to show her his screen.

Her brows furrowed when she saw a photo of a classmate fresh from the shower with a towel wrapped around her hair. A second towel was secured around her waist but her upper body was exposed.

"What the?" She squinted. "Is that Mariah Farnelli?"

He shrugged. "There's more."

She scrolled to the next one featuring a naked young woman, her back to the camera. Kelsey's eyes went wide. "What the fuck? Somebody took these in the locker room?"

"I guess."

"How? I mean, why?"

The school bus arrived and idled at the curb. A small group of stragglers slowly climbed the steps into the belly of the bus. No one was in a hurry to get to school.

"You're not gonna like the next one," he said.

She gasped when she saw the photo of herself pulling on her panties, her back arched, her head turned in conversation with Alexa. It took a minute to find her voice, cutting through the anger welling inside her. "Where did you get these?"

"They're posted. A whole bunch of them. And Miles–"

"Miles? Miles what?"

"He and his friends got some girl to take the pictures," he mumbled. "Maybe Heather something? That's what Jonas and I heard."

"Heather Varga! That little bitch." Kelsey pushed her way onto the school bus and stomped down the aisle. Brick trailed. "Hey! Give me my phone!"

She made her way to the back of the bus where a trio of good-looking high school boys sat there like they owned the place. A broad-shouldered guy with piercing green eyes smiled as she approached. His smile vanished when she jammed the phone into his face.

"You know about this, Miles?"

"Huh?" he said, ambushed by her stormy disposition.

"Smash or pass. I get it. You and your pervy friends." They looked at their shoes, anywhere but at Kelsey. "What skanky trashbag is taking pictures in the girls' locker room for you?"

"Taking pictures for me?" A short laugh burst out of him that made his two buddies giggle. "Why'd you say that?" His cocky laugh was a useful instrument he'd applied successfully to blunt girls' accusations but it backfired. Badly.

"Who was it?" she said, bending forward to meet him at eye level.

"And how would I know?" He gave her the puppy dog eyes that usually worked like a charm but that charm was going nowhere this morning. His eyes shifted to Brick standing in the aisle and he got his answer.

As the bus rounded the corner, Brick retreated, grabbing the back of a nearby seat to maintain his balance. Without his phone, he took a seat, pretending he had nothing to do with the confrontation Kelsey was whipping into a froth.

A large girl seated a few rows away stifled a laugh. Kelsey turned on her heels. "Heather. Hey, Heather. You like taking sneak snaps of naked girls?"

She shrugged, her shoulders shaking with laughter.

"That is so totally fucked up." Back to Miles, Kelsey growled. "We're done. Don't call me. And if those pictures aren't down by the time we get to school, I'll burn you to the ground. Trust me." She started up the aisle, when Miles called, "Wait. Kelsey. Hold up. It's not like that."

"You should at least have the decency to feel shitty about what you did. But I guess that would require at least a speck of maturity."

"OOooooooo, burn," said someone seated nearby.

Miles made a weak attempt at salvaging his dignity. "I'll find out who did this."

"Take them down, Miles."