Behind the mask

Chapter 15

       

I was sweeping the floor of the living room while listening to my favourite song and humming along.

My shadow's dancing

Without you for the first time

My heart is hoping

You'll walk right in tonight

Tell me there are things that you regret

'Cause if I'm being honest I ain't over you yet

That's all I'm asking

Is it too much to ask?

Is it too much to ask?

Suddenly the door opened with a bang and I saw Stella running through the living room and probably up to her bedroom.

And I thought I heard her... sniffling. Was she crying?

Victoria stood up from the comfort of her armchair and went after her daughter. I plugged out my earphones and stopped the song. I'm not the one that likes to eavesdrop but I need to make sure that my hunch is correct.

Luckily, I can listen to them from my room. Well, it's at the top but if you lie down on the floor, you could just hear most of the words.

"I did... she was too good...curly hair... had makeup... but... blue eyes... name? oh..."

Yep. She is definitely talking about 'Crystal'. At least she doesn't know it was me.

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The next day, I arrived at school with Maddie, obviously, and she was ranting on and on about the blind date that her parents set her up. She said it was for money, fame and other stuff. Maddie's family weren't rich and Maddie also work half-time in the weekend to help her parents.

The boy Maddie's going to meet seem to be quite... rich. Or, at least, his family should be.

I zoned out the moment I saw Oliver. He was with his friend, which I think his name is James, who, I think is a computer geek. They were putting up a poster all around the school and handing out flyers. One floated my way and I reached out to grab it.

I looked at Maddie and since we have this eye conversation, she pulled me to the dressing room and made me... Crystal.

Yeah.

People parted way for me, as girls looked at me, some with curiosity, others with disgust. The boys just looked at me and smiled as they probably undress me with their eyes by the look on their face. Perverts.

I opened the door to the music room - Are we even allowed in here? - and saw Oliver standing behind a long group of girls.

Great.

Out of his peripheral vision, he saw me and smiled. The girl at the front thought the smile was for her and touched his arm and cheek. Instead of swatting her arms away, he politely grabbed her arm away from him and let it go as he stood up. As he walked toward me, the others girl literally had steams coming out of their ears. They all stormed out of the room as Oliver chuckled at them.

"Hey... glad you could make it," We were only a few inches apart and as Oliver whispered into my ears, I blushed.

As the last girl stepped out of the room, the door slammed shut.

"Yeah. So what do you want to talk about?" I said, in my best British accent, just like last night, as possible. I didn't want him thinking why my voice sounded like Sophie's.

"Oh, so you didn't notice? You forgot your earphones, along with your phone last night. In the auditiorium," Oliver replied.

What? I checked my bag, trying to find my phone. Finally, I gave up and accepted the fact that it was with Oliver.

"What... how did I forget it?" I shook my head smiling, "Thanks for you know, keeping it for me."

"No problem." He replied, "So... you're British?"

No. "Yes. From New Castle. But my family moved here when I was only 1 year old. I guess I got this accent from my parents and by traveling in UK every year," I lied, hoping that Oliver would fall for it. But the fact that I travelled to Uk every year was true; my mom loves going there and her favourite place was in New Castle.

We stood there in a comfortable silence but it didn't feel awkward at all. I decided to break the silence by asking a question that would satisfy my curiousity. "How did you know none of those girls was me?"

Oliver just grinned and said, "From last night, you made it pretty clear that you don't want anyone knowing your identity. So I figured that you would come as... 'Crystal'."

Smart.

"Oh. Oh! My phone... so, are you going to give it to me?" I asked.

"Oh right," He walked toward his bag that was leaning against a piano and pulled out my phone along with my earphones, "I would blackmail you to reveal your identity for your phone but I guess it's up to you when you want to reveal your identity. I don't want to force you to do anything you don't want to."

"Thanks for understanding," I said, grabbing my phone from his hand, "So I guess I will see you at the rehearsal?"

"Yep," He nodded.

"Bye," I said, opening the door and head toward Maddie.