Kat and Hina don’t know that it’s starting to meaneverything.
A free day.That’s what Irene’s abrupt message to the group was.
No cameras. No crew. Just the group and time for us to have fun at a masquerade club.
I find it a bit odd they’re letting scenes go to waste, but they’re the professionals.
The ground vibrates beneath my heels.
When Hina, Kat, and I got to the venue, I instantly darted towards the bathroom. Dean is going to be here, and I need to be prepared. I’ll talk to him. Ask him if what I know is the truth or not. From there, we’ll go back to having space.
If IamDean’s bucket list, then this changeseverything.
Newfound confidence courses through my veins like I’ve injected myself with drugs. But that drug simply being the truth.
I run a hand down my figure.
Thanks to Kat, a black lacy corset hugs my top half. The V-neckline stoops low to my belly button. A dark, sheer fabric is the only protection I have from a closet mishap. Skin-tight sleeves in the same material wrap around my arms, narrowing when it reaches my middle finger, hooked by a single, rubber thread.
Paired with it is a simple leather mini skirt in the same colour.
Silver, dainty jewellery adorn around my neck and ears.
My hair is back in the messy updo from before.
I’m most amused by the mask. Black, handcrafted silk with articulate design of metal on the outside. The twists and turns of elegance in each curve belong in a museum, not on me.
Before heading out, I reapply my lipstick and tuck it away in the tiny pocket of my skirt. Then, look for Hina and Kat, which doesn’t take long because one’s doing shots and the other is smiling stupidly at her.
My eyes are on them, every other part of me is on the lookout for Dean.
“Didn’t the night just begin?” Laughing, I sit on the chair next to Hina.
She scrunches her whole face after the shot, instantly sucking on a lemon. “What do you mean I drank three shots, and I don’t want more?”
“It’s called getting old, babe.”
Hina gives Kat a look, who simply kisses it away. “I love you, but we’re not built for club life anymore.”
“Says the one who keeps bouncing her leg and goingI love this songevery two minutes.”
Kat rolls her eyes, then looks at me. “How are you doing, pretty girl?”
Automatically, I touch the earbuds. “Good. Great, actually. These are magic.” They really are. Not once have I paid attention to the music even though I can feel it bouncing off my skin. I can still hear well, but it muffles loud sounds. Best way to describe it is like I finally have control over one of the triggers.
“I’m glad,” she smiles into her glass.
“Ugh,” Hina’s looking at herself in a compact mirror. “Does anyone have lipstick with them?”
“I do,” I reach for my pocket, only to find it empty. What the heck? I pat and reach into it, but nothing’s there. “Or well I did,” I look at the ground around me. “I lost it.”
My heart falls at the realization.
“Was it expensive?” Hina asks.
I’m someone that gets sentimentally attached to objects. Back when Nadine wasn’t married and we lived in the same house, I always used her lip combo. Before she got married, she gave me a new set. It’s not about attachment issues, but about how every object she had that’s now with me is a part of her that hasn’t changed—will never shift into a person I don’t know. An object remains permanent, even when the paint chips away, it doesn’t grow legs and walk away. The lipstick is a lot more than the colour on lips for me.
I release a well-concealed shaky breath, “No.”Everything happens for a reason.
