True Colors (The Masks #1)(18)
"Do I have a choice?" I couldn’t help stealing a glance at him. Thankfully a small smile was playing with his lips.
“Of course you do. If you don't want to hear it, I won't tell ya."
"Okay, well now I want to know.”
His smile grew to full beam. Man he was gorgeous. I smiled back and felt instantly better, but then I saw how serious his gaze was. His hazel eyes were rich with concern...for me.
My top teeth caught my bottom lip.
“Caitlyn, whatever it is that's eating you up, you either can't do anything about it and you have to let it go, or there is something you can do about it and you have to do that thing."
I swallowed and willed my eyes not to start leaking. Finally, once I’d cleared the boulder from my throat, I whispered. “That’s good advice."
"I thought so." His mock smugness made me chuckle. We both grinned at each other and then it got awkward. He was thinking I was cute again and I just had no idea what to do with that. Stella was like a power cat when it came to guys. She knew exactly how to play them. Me? I was the swooning klutz who stumbled over my words and ended up looking like a moron.
I guzzled down the last of my drink and handed over the bottle, praying I didn’t burp in his face. I willed my tummy to behave itself.
“Thanks, Eric. For the drink...and the advice.”
“Anytime, Caity.”
Caity on his lips was like melted chocolate on a marshmallow. It took every ounce of self-control not to blush up a storm and beg him to marry me right then.
I turned away before he could even get a whiff of my thoughts and scurried up my back steps. I paused at the door and waved one last time, nearly flying when I realized he was still at the fence watching me. The look of open admiration on his face made my insides turn to mush.
I wasn’t sure if he wanted me to see it, but at that moment I didn’t care. I might not want this power of sight, but in that second I was almost grateful for it.
Chapter 9
I wasn’t grateful for it! What the hell was I thinking? Grateful! I felt like my brain was going to explode and I’d only been in school for ten minutes. I avoided my parents this morning, not wanting to know if they had any secrets to hide. I didn’t know if they actually had any, but I sure as heck didn’t want to find out. I knew school was going to be bad enough, but I never expected this.
I went to Palisades Charter High School. It catered to the wealthy, Westside families and was considered one of the better schools in L.A. The grounds were pretty wicked. I loved all the outdoor walkways and how the orange brick buildings were connected. If schools could be good-looking, Pali High definitely was. A few movies had even been shot on site. That was testament enough. Listen to me, all school proud, but I was.
Basically the school was filled with privileged kids from privileged homes. I had grown up with most of them and, for some reason, I had been living under the naive assumption that my perfect school was filled with together kids who had no issues.
Man, was I wrong!
No matter where I looked I spotted hidden emotions. It sucked. Was no one in this place genuine? I thought all my friends were nice and amazing, but it turned out half the people I hung out with were self-centered jerks. Chase wasn’t the only guy with a dick for a brain, that’s for sure. The amount of leering looks I spotted walking down the corridor with Stella was revolting. She seemed to love it though. Her smug smile and arched eyebrow said it all, but the longer I stared at her, the more layers seemed to strip away and her smug smile dropped to a wide-eyed insecurity that I didn’t want to know about.
Not Stella. She was the strong one. The confident one. The one who showed me what to do. I didn’t want to know about her inferiority complex. I stopped looking at her after that, making sure I kept myself busy whenever she was talking. Candy Crush on my iPhone became a lifesaver. I knew this would eventually tick her off, but it was all I could handle for now.
Libby bounced past our blue lockers with a friendly hello. I tried to make my smile genuine to counter Stella’s aversion to Libby’s presence, forgetting that both girls were unaware I was seeing it all. Libby flounced away, feeling rejected, but looking like the chirpiest person at school. Stella strutted off with her boobs sticking out, feeling I don’t know what because I couldn’t go there, and looking like the belle of the ball.
So much for a gift. I told the guy he’d picked the wrong person. I couldn’t even look my best friend in the eye and I didn’t want to delve any deeper than that one layer. How was I supposed to help people if I could barely handle a walk down the hall? The bell rang, saving my life. I shuffled off to class avoiding eye contact at all costs. I nearly smashed straight into an open locker at one point, but Micah pulled me out of the way in time. His bemused grin made me blush.
“See you in Biology,” I mumbled to my lab partner and shuffled into class.
Algebra brought with it a new type of anguish, partly because it was Algebra and secondly because the girl sitting next to me was a tightly wound mess. She answered all the questions perfectly when asked, but the look of sheer panic raking her features as she spoke was enough to give me heart palpitations. The guy behind her spent the whole period rolling his eyes at the girl and loathing her...probably for being right all the time. His dark vibes unsettled me, so I kept my eyes on my book, only looking up when I absolutely had to.