The Lace Masquerade

Hey guys! Here’s chapter three! I wanted to thank you all for your AWESOME reviews. Three on one chapter! Holy crap! Thanks so much! I left the last chapter on kinda a cliffy, so the beginning of this one kinda explains it all. Also, read my note at the end for more info.

October 11, 2010
12:22 PM
Location-Under a tree outside
Feeling: Empowered

I found out! What that whole interlude between Eli and Clare was, I mean.

Once the bell rang to dismiss us for lunch, I literally dragged Clare into the girls room and choked it out of her.

“It’s nothing, Hollie, really.” She blushed again, and looked at herself in the mirror, adjusting one suspender attached to her skirt.

“Bullshit.” She turned to me, shocked. What? It was bull. “There’s something going on that I don’t know about. I’m glad to play monkey in the middle, but only for the right reasons.” She moves her mouth from side to side, much like I do when I’m thinking, and seems to be pondering the idea.

“It’s a long story,” she says, crossing her arms.

“I have time.”

She then proceeded to explain to me that Eli was a junior, he liked Metal Music, and he drove a hearse named Morty (I know right! So funny!). They’d been paired up at the beginning of the year, and since then, they’d become friends. Best friends, actually. But according to her, there’d always been something there. Something underneath everything.

“And so, Saturday, we were all at Alli’s house at one of her little ‘get togethers,’ which, I might add, never go well for me, and he sat with me while I waited for my mom. He made some joke about what would happen if Alli’s parents came home and saw her and Drew together, and did a little impersonation of her mom, and we were laughing and everything.” She spilled all of it to me, like I was a therapist or something. But I didn’t mind. I like being there for people. Especially when it comes to guys. “And all of the sudden, the laughing just…stopped. We both got quiet, and he was looking at me, I was looking at him. I was like we were going to…you know. Kiss.” She blushed again, and I giggled. This was getting cute! “And I looked away. I just, I couldn’t do it.” She sighed, looking down at the black flats donning her feet (which were really cute, I might add!). “I just didn’t know what we would be like. Afterwards. We’re so different…” She trailed off, and then looked at me.

“Oh god,” I said, my forehead resting on my hand. “You guys have UST.”

“UST?”

“Unresolved Sexual Tension.” Her eyes widened in horror, and I laughed. “It’s also called Underlying Sexual Tension. It’s a term writers use to describe people in books who have issues that need to be dealt with that involve them…together.” She raised her eyebrows at me. “It basically means you two wanna jump each other’s bones.” She let out a little gwaff, and then covered her mouth in shock.

“I do not want to jump Eli’s bones,” she mumbled from behind her hand. She held up her left finger, which held a silver Claddagh, or Irish purity, ring. I smiled, and smugly held up my own left hand, which held a similar ring in the same place. I’ve been wearing it since I was twelve, and didn’t plan on taking it off any time soon. Even if I have broken a few “rules,” I still have my V card. Unlike my best friend back home (hem hem, Marcie). A few of my friends are still virgins though; Dakota (yeah, Fanning), Debby, and Michelle. I bent down, grabbing my bag from the sink, and motioning for her to do the same.

“You just keep telling yourself that, kid.” She rolled her eyes, and lead the way to the cafeteria. I grabbed my lunch from my locker, and Clare went to find Alli and tell her that she was eating with me, Eli and someone named Adam outside. Fiona caught me on her way out, saying that she and Declan were having a last minute lunch with their mother, but we made plans to meet tomorrow at some place called “The Dot.” I watched as Alli and Clare talked, and Alli rolled her eyes, and then made a gesture that said “go,” like she was used to hearing this. I’d agreed to sit with Clare under the condition that she didn’t give Eli the cold shoulder, and just dealt with what had happened. There was no point in her ignoring one of her best friends just because they wanted each other with an undying passion, now was there?

We finally sat at a bench under a chair outside, and I spotted Eli working on his car a few feet away. I’d heated up my food, and was about to dig in when a boy sat down across from us. A relatively femininie looking boy, but a boy none the less.

“Hey guys,” he said, and the pulled a sandwich out of his backpack. He seemed to realize that I wasn’t Eli, and did a double take, much like Eli had earlier. “Oh, hey.” He was surprised to see anyone else with Clare, I guess. “I’m Adam.” I introduced myself to him, looking him over. Baggy jeans. Knit top with a bill. Baggy jacket. Typical high school guy, I guess.

“Hollie!” someone called. I turned around, to see Chantay and Anya sitting on the ledge near the entrance to the school, waving me over. I sat up, realizing I’d promised to talk to them at lunch, and excused myself from Clare and Adam for a minute.

“Hey guys!” I said, finally reaching them. “What up?” They sat with a few girls, one oh whom was a short blonde, currently chowing down on a banana.

“Just wanted to see how your first day was going so far,” Anya said, smiling.

“Pretty good.” I leaned against the pillar next to Chantay. “Made a few new friends.”

“Oh yeah?” she said, looking at me. “Who so far?”

“Uh,” I started, somewhat surprised. “Well, Declan Coyne.”

“Resident heart breaker,” Chantay said, smiling. “Dated Trish for a while.” She gestured to a taller brunette girl sitting further down on the wall. “And then Holly J. Everyone th-

“Whoa.” I stopped her, holding my hand up. “He dated Holly J?” I asked. “As in…”

“The one you met this morning, yeah,” Anya said. That explained what Declan had said on Friday, though. “Suites you better than my ex” or something, he’d said about my name.

“Geeze. Talk about opposites attracting.” They laughed. “I’ve known his sister for a while, so she’s not really new.” I thought for a second. “Then I guess it was someone named KC?”

“Sophomore. Football player.”

“Good hair,” Anya added, nodding her head.

“Who’s got good hair?” I heard someone asked. And then noticed KC coming to sit down next to the blonde next to us, his arm going around her shoulder. “Hey babe.” He pecked her on the cheek, and she smiled.

“No one,” Anya said, looking around. “This is Jenna,” she added, pointing to the blonde, who waved. I waved back, and she then seemed to realize who I was. But I ignored her open mouthed stare (ew! Swallow the banana, girl!) and went back to naming people.

“Clare Edwards.”

“Cute, her big sister was power squad captain for a while.” I glanced at them, confused. “Power Squad is our equivalent to cheerleading,” Chantay clarified.

“Oh, okay.” I smiled. “Hm…Alli Bhandari, I think it was?”

“Nice one.” Anya laughed as she spoke. “I dated her brother for two years. Pretty crazy family.”

“Eli Golds…” I stopped, thinking.

“Goldsworthy?” The blonde, Jenna, was the one to speak, and I nodded.

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Ahhh,” Chantay said, smiling. “One of the new kids this year. Kinda mysterious. He and little Edwards are always hanging out. He’s friends with that Adam kid.”

“Drew’s stepbrother,” Jenna threw in. “Drew and Alli are…well, they’re something.” She laughed, and KC rolled his eyes.

“Geeze,” I said, crossing my arms. “You sure know your stuff.” Anya rolled her eyes, and Chantay beamed.

“Future Perez Hilton, I know everyone at this school that’s worth knowing, and everything about them.”

“Really, now?” I laughed. “Okay, lets see your skills.” She smirked, looked around, and smiled.

“Well, you picked a nice day, so everyone’s outside.” She points to a guy in a grey V-neck and vest. “Sav Bhandari. Alli’s older sister, ex of Anya. Student body president.” She gestures to a group of boys, one of whom I recognize as Dave.

“The Three Tenners, also known as Dave Turner, Wesley Betenkamp and Connor Deslauriers.”

“Yeah, I’m Dave’s French partner.” Chantay gave me a lopsided smirk.

“I wish you luck with that. My cousin can be a bit…odd sometimes.” She looks around. “Oh, there are a couple more. Riley Stavros, resident hottie and bachelor number one.”

“Followed closely by bachelor number two, Zane Park.” Anya sighed. “If only he played for our side.” I smiled. Finally. Someone gay. I was starting to worry this school was completely straight. West LA was always fun to visit, so I was glad things weren’t so…stark here. I looked around, seeing more people passing by. But according to Chantay, all the important people had been announce. There was a couple sitting on the bench next to where Clare and Adam still were, talking and cuddling. And a football game going on between a few guys out in the street. One of them was tall, with dark, almost black hair, and a little too…built and tall for me. He was cute, but eh. I looked at another one…and my heart skipped a beat.

I know. I feel like I’m writing one of my novels right now. In all seriousness, I’ve never really believed at love at first sight. Lust, maybe (and there was definitely some of that going on right now), but never love. Even if I have written about it time and time again. The stuttering, the serenading. The romance. All I’d ever been awarded in my life was a few hurried dinners, some make out’s in the back of theatres during premieres, an the occasional bouquet of flowers (thank you, Logan :)). So to say that my romance meter is at a pretty despicable low would be an understatement.

But I looked at this guy, this tall-ish, brown-red haired, slightly built guy, and I thought my heart was going to rip out of my chest.

“Who is…that?” I pointed to the guy, trying to act as normal as possible, as if I’d just picked some guy at random.

“Fitz,” Anya said, shrugging.

“Just Fitz?” I laughed. “What, is he trying to pull a Madonna and do the whole one name thing?” They both giggled, but Chantay shook her head.

“His name’s Mark Fitzgerald. Had a little bit of a…run in with the cops a few weeks ago.” My jaw went slack. Cops. Of course. Out of all the guys I’d seen at Degrassi, this was the one that I had to pick. The bad boy.

“As in?”

“Fake ID. Nothing big. But he’s kind of an asshole.” Chantay rolled her eyes, and then gave me a pointed look. “Why? You like him or something?” Just as she said this, the guy with the dark hair threw Fitz the football, and he glanced over at us, just it time to catch me looking at him. He did a double take to make sure, and then winked at me, a half-smile on his face. I let out an un-ladylike snort.

“As if.” I said goodbye to Anya and Chantay, and gave a little wave to KC and Jenna, who were now in full on make out mode (PDA much?!), and went back to sit with Clare and Adam, who were talking about an English assignment coming up (I guess Adam is in Junior advanced classes, but is a Sophomore like us). About a minute after getting back, and having dug into my food, Eli sat across from Clare with a large huff.

“Get Morty running?” Clare asked, holding out a bag of chips to him. She was obviously trying to be normal, cause there was a tightness to her voice.. He took a few and crammed them in his mouth before answering. Typical boy!

“He still needs a few things, but he’ll drive for now.”

“Good, cause you’re my ride home.” Eli smiled at her and pulled a tuperware container out of his bag, and then looked at me.

“So you’re sitting with us now, eh?” I laughed. He wasn’t being rude, and his tone wasn’t offending. Anyone else though, and I probably would have slapped them.

“Yeah, I guess so!” I smiled and held out my hand to him. “Sorry I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself to you earlier, I was a bit…overwhelmed. I’m Hollie; Hollie Peterson.”

“I know. I’m Eli.” He shook my hand, and then opened up his tuperware, taking a bite of the pasta inside. “I’m assuming our Blue Eyes here has told you all about me?” He gestured to Clare, and I looked at her before answering. She was looking down, and there was a pink tint to her cheeks.

“More or less.” And then she pinched my leg! I tried not to make a noise, but I’m guessing I squirmed away, because both Adam and Eli ave me looks. I laughed, before seeing that Eli wasn’t looking at me, but staring off behind me. I turned around to see Fitz with his friends near the other side of the wall.

“What the hell are they looking at?” Adam asked. They were looking at us. Correction; they were looking at me.

“Uh, Hollie,” Clare started. “Why are they…?”

“No idea,” I said, and then turned back around. But inside, my heart gave a little flutter. So, he’d noticed me, huh? “Just ignore them.” I smiled, and took a bite of rice. “It’s what I do when people stare at me. Which is, I might add, a lot.”

“He needs to learn some manners,” Eli said, grimacing. “You’d think he would have figured that out after last time.” I was intrigued.

“Last time?” I questioned.

“Lets not go into it.” Clare said it. Short, sweet, and loud.

“No, lets.” Eli gave a little smirk. “I like sharing tales of my sheer genius.” Clare, Adam and I all rolled our eyes in unison.

“Someone’s cocky.”

“Always,” he replied to me. I laughed. And he explained what’d happened; Fitz had been screwing with him and Adam (even gone as far as kicking Eli between the legs! Ouch!), so Eli’d made a truce, and ended up making Fitz a fake ID with the stats of a Most Wanted criminal. He wasn’t kidding when he said he was a genius. I glanced at Clare while he talked, and almost wanted to laugh. Though she seemed to disapprove of Eli’s evil plan, she still had this proud look in her eyes, like the mother of a kid who’d just made the Dean’s list.

“Okay, I was wrong. You aren’t being cocky. You are a genius.” Eli laughed, and put his hand on his chest.

“Why shucks, being called a genius by such literary geniuses as yourself, why, that just makes me feel all warm inside.” I couldn’t help it; I blushed, and then burst out laughing. Clare laughed with me. But before I could ask him if he’d actually read any of my books, Adam let out a little snort. I looked at him, and he was covering his mouth, trying not to laugh.

“Uh, Hollie.” He pointed behind me, and I turned around to see Fitz’s friends still looking at me. Only this time, Fitz wasn’t looking. He was doing pelvic thrusts in mid air, his arms rocking back and for with the motions. I heard faint sex noises coming from the area, and his friends started laughing. I almost wanted to too. The visual of Fitz was pretty damn funny. But it was still kind of…vulgar.

“Damn it…” I heard Eli mutter behind me, and I heard him stand up.

“No,” I said, turning back around and standing up from my seat. “I got this.” I threw my napkin, which I’d had in my lap, down on the bench, fixed my blazer on my chest, tossed my hair, and turned around, plastering a grimace on my face. I have to admit, I wasn’t as pissed as I probably should have been more pissed at Fitz. But I wasn’t. And so…I was going to overreact. Just slightly. I mean, if Eli and Fitz really have some sort of…animosity between them, I couldn’t have just been like “all well, he’s hot, I’ll forgive and forget.” Eli would have shunned me from the start. And those three were the most genuine people I’d met here, aside from Declan and Fiona.

“Someone’s about to get a visitor,” the guy with the dark brown hair said, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall. I finally approached Fitz, crossing my own arms and raising an eyebrow. He smirked.

“Is there something I can help you with?” I said snidely. “Because in case you haven’t noticed, I’m trying to have a nice, quiet lunch with my friends.”

“Friends?” Fitz looked surprised.

“Yeah, you know. The people you depend on. They’re usually nice to you. And don’t make sexual gestures behind your back.” I gave him a pointed look.

“Listen, babe, I don’t know why you-

“Whoa whoa WHOA.” I put a hand up. “I’m no one’s babe, least of all yours. I don’t even know you.”

“You wanna?” He raised his eyebrows suggestively, and I scoffed.

“In your dreams.”

“Every night.” I tried not to gag/jump for joy, and ended up going with an eye roll instead.

“You listen, asswipe. I don’t know what the hell is going on in that pretty little head of yours but-

“Pretty?” He smirked again, and I ignored him.

“But if you keep at it like this,” I said, making the same gesture he had earlier with his hips and arms, and then pulled my phone out of my pocket, holding it up. “I will personally make sure that Morgan Vias, one of the best and biggest bodyguards in Toronto, knows that you’re harassing one of his clients, and I won’t hesitate to give him your full name to look up your address.”

“You don’t even know my full name,” he said smugly, crossing his arms. I raised both eyebrows and crossed my arms right back.

“Wanna bet, Mark Fitzgerald?” His eyes went a little wide, and then he looked over at his friends.

“Whatever.” He turned around, and then grabbed the football from the other guys’ hands, holding it out. “Go long!” I turned around, a grin on my face, to see Eli, Clare and Adam laughing, and Clare gave me a thumbs up.

And then it happened. I was about to step off the curb to walk back across the street, when I felt something smack across my ass. I stopped, midstep, and stood there for a second. No. He. Didn’t. Eli, Clare and Adam all stopped laughing, and I saw Eli and Adam’s eyes narrow. I raised my eyebrows again, and I felt myself smirking as I turned around. Before he could do anything, I grabbed his arm, tugged it forward, and twisted it behind his back, hard, and then kicked him square in the ass, to where he fell on the ground, me still clutching his arm. I thanked God that I was wearing boots as I straddled his back, twisting his arm tighter, and leaned down, close to his ear.

“Did I mention he also taught me self defense?"