True Colors (The Masks #1)(13)

I turned back to spot Stella watching the exchange. Her hungry eyes were on fire and I couldn’t see a scrap of her usual subtle flirting. Eric took the trail that lead straight towards us. His eyes were down, obviously trying to avoid coming in contact with Stella’s leering gaze. Were we that obvious? No wonder he hated it. Stella was repulsing me right now!

“Hey Eric,” she said in a husky voice, running her tongue over her top lip.

Oh she didn’t!

I grimaced.

He nodded politely, lifting his hand with a short wave. He wouldn’t look at either of us and I didn’t blame him.

“Hi Caitlyn.” Lacey grinned as she bounced past me. I waved, unable to form any words. I was still too grossed out by Stella’s mental undressing of Eric.

“Come on, Stella, let’s go.” I tugged on her arm.

“Just one more minute.” She spun to watch Eric’s sleek frame make it all the way to the sand. I mean I got it, I enjoyed watching him too, but Stella looked ready to eat him alive.

“Do you have to leer at him like that? I don’t think he likes it very much.” I kept my voice light, hoping not to offend her.

“What do you mean?” She whipped around to face me looking guilty and surprised. “I wasn’t leering.”

An innocent veneer swept across her face, but it didn’t take a second for it to fall away. She was totally exposed to me right now and I don’t think she had any idea. She shrugged, smiling with what she obviously thought was her adorable smile. To me it just looked forced and weird.

Yesterday was clearly not going to be a one off.

I tried not to let this bug me as I made my way to the sand. I noticed Eric had taken his sisters as far away from my crowd as possible. Part of me wanted to go and join him and his sisters. Playing frisbee with them seemed so much more appealing than what I was about to do. But my friends would never get it and Stella would kill me, assuming I was flirting with a guy she had her eye on.

Dragging my feet just a little, I forced myself to catch up with Stella, dumping my bag on the ground next to Audi and Indie. I greeted both of them, but didn’t really want to get into conversation. Instead I kept my eyes on the ocean.

Audi was going on about Kurt and their night of clubbing. I so didn’t want to hear about it. Friday night was the beginning of the end for me. Stella started giggling as Audi went on about Sean and Chase getting drunk off their faces and dancing like fools.

My mood was growing blacker by the second. I wanted to get out of here. I wanted to go back to bed. It didn’t help that I had spotted Chase. He was playing volleyball with the guys. They were all shirtless and looking mighty proud of themselves as they spiked the ball and jumped around heroically. They made it look so dramatic. I rolled my eyes before taking in different facial expressions, frowning as every emotion was laid bare before me. Chase was feeling smug because a group of tweens were checking him out. They were all openly drooling over the high school seniors. The guys were loving it, except a few who were serious about the game and became majorly pissed with the show offs trying to impress the girls. Their emotions were all so raw and apparent, I was surprised no one else noticed.

Cheers went up as a point was scored. Chase ran his hand through his hair, looking annoyed that his team hadn’t gotten to the ball in time. He caught my eyes on him and I saw a flash of guilt, but it was quickly replaced by disdain. He looked away from me as if I were a stranger and focused back on the game. I couldn’t believe how quickly our relationship was over. I also couldn’t believe how much I didn’t care.

And I was planning on sleeping with him. Ugh!

I looked away from the boys with a frown.

Running my fingers through the sand, I zoned in on the feel of the grains on my skin. My head was starting to hurt again and my insides were buzzing.

“Hello! Caitlyn?” Stella’s sharp tone made my head snap up.

“Huh?”

The girls all giggled at me. It was hard to tell what they were thinking. All of them were wearing big shades that covered most of their faces and hid their expressions.

“So do you want to come?”

I had no idea what Stella was talking about and I didn’t have a chance to ask, because Libby Phelps bounced up to us with a cheerful greeting.

Man she looked nervous. I watched her chubby arm wave frenetically before she stopped at our feet.

“Hey girls.” She beamed. “How’s it going?”

Poor Libby. I’d never really noticed her desperation before. Behind that bright smile of hers was a nervous wreck. Her eyes darted to each of us as we smiled back. I don’t know why people had a problem with her. I mean, sure, she used to hang out with the brainiacs, which made her a slight know-it-all, but she was really sweet. Stella thought she was fat and repulsive, which was way harsh. She wasn’t that big and she had a gorgeous smile. But Stella just seemed embarrassed at having her nearby.

I don’t really know how Libby suddenly made it into our group. It had been a mystery that perplexed a few of us. One day we weren’t talking to her and then all of a sudden she was in...but from the expression on the faces beside me, I could tell that no one really wanted her included. I thought she was really nice. I liked her, although being the sheep that I was, I behaved as though I couldn’t care less.

I was so weak sometimes.

I glanced at my best friend. Stella’s legs were squirming and I could tell by the tense set of her shoulders that she didn’t want the guys to see us conversing with the chubby brainiac.