Masquerade by Cambria Hebert Page A

and lowering his head until his lips covered mine. His
lips were full and moist, and he knew how to use them. Too soon he
moved back, and I gripped his wrists before he could pull
completely away. His hazel eyes were an intense burning gold, and I
felt my hands begin to shake. Almost as if he knew, he closed his
eyes and came back to me, his lips brushing a gentle kiss over my
scar. The simple act melted me.
    “ I’ll be back,” he
whispered, reaching around me to open the door.
    It took a moment for the fog in my
head to clear. “I’ll be waiting.”
    I stood in the yard and watched him
drive away. It was only after he was gone that I realized I hadn’t
given him directions to get here.

 
     
     
     
     
     

Chapter Nine
     
    Heven
     
    I walked around in a dreamy
haze for the rest of the week. Sam was my boyfriend. I had a
boyfriend. Somehow I found myself smiling a lot more, and when
people looked at me in the hall, I looked back. Sometimes, I waved.
To my intense surprise everyone was nice. No one whispered about me
when they thought I wasn’t looking. Thursday night I found myself
standing in front of my closet pondering my wardrobe. While I still
knew my scars were ugly and the left side of my face was disfigured, I
wondered if maybe people wouldn’t notice it as much if the rest of
me looked nice. I rummaged around and tried on a few things, but
nothing fit. Everything was just too big. I reached for my cell and
punched in Kimber’s number.
    “ I need to go shopping,” I
said when she answered.
    She laughed. “I’ll be there in ten
minutes.”
    “ Wait! I can’t go tonight.
Bible study.”
    “ You’re wardrobe needs help
ASAP.”
    “ I’m supposed to go out
with Sam this weekend. If I don’t go to Bible study tonight, Mom
will never let me go out with him.”
    “ Does she know about him
yet?”
    “ Uh, no.”
    “ After school
tomorrow?”
    “ Thanks,
Kimber.”
    “ Don’t thank me! I cannot
wait to see you in something besides a baggy
sweatshirt!”
    I gave up on my meager
wardrobe and flopped down on my bed. My cell chirped, and I grabbed
it, opening the text. It was from Sam. Miss U.
    Miss U 2.
    C U n the AM B4
class?
    Can’t wait.
    “ Heven! Time to go!” Mom
called up the stairs.
    Have a gd nite. I quickly wrote then stuffed the phone in my
pocket and left my room.
    I thrilled my mother by offering my
help to Mrs. Bennet, the preschool Bible class teacher, who
accepted right away. And, just my luck, they were having a special
activity that night after classes, and she asked me to stay. The
way my mother was smiling I figured it would go a long way to
getting me out of the house with Sam this weekend.
    It was well after nine by the time we
had everything cleaned up from the kids, and I was exhausted. I
just wanted to go home and crawl into bed. The sooner I went to bed
the sooner I would see Sam. We hadn’t been together long, but I
couldn’t imagine my days without him. Just the few hours we’d been
apart I missed him.
    The last thing to do before Mrs.
Bennet drove me home was to take out the trash. I gathered the
surprisingly full bag and hefted it out of the can. Outside, night
had fallen and taken all the warmth in the air with it. I shivered
as I hurried around the side of the church toward the dumpster.
When I was almost there I heard a noise behind me. I looked over my
shoulder but I was alone. After a few more steps I felt certain
that someone or something was there.
    Watching.
    Waiting.
    It was just like that
night. A sob caught in my throat but I swallowed it. Think! Last time I ran
and I was pursued. So this time…
    I dropped the bag of trash abruptly
and pivoted, walking back the way I came. Out of the corner of my
eye I saw movement but nothing solid. “Who’s there?” I called,
sounding braver than I felt.
    A low growl came out of the
night.
    A whimper escaped me as I
scanned the area. I was going to be attacked again. If that
happened I wouldn’t survive. I