Chapter Nine – Costumes and Masks

We attached the alligator clip to the negative terminal of the battery and the motor whirred to life. "Yes!" I exclaimed. After a grueling four hours, it was finally running without dying or spontaneously violently shaking.

"Ok, I'm going to pack it up before it dies again." Holden picked up the motor and carried it to another room, probably putting it into his bag to bring the next day.

"Good for you," Parker muttered as his motor spluttered.

"Who's your partner again?" I asked.

"Celeste."

"So why isn't she helping you?"

"Because she doesn't care," he laughed. "But I'm on a 4.0 right now and I'd like to keep it that way."

"4.0!?" I exclaimed, probably sounding a bit more shocked than I should have been.

"Why? What's your GPA?"

"I'm also on straight As," I replied.

"Uh huh."

"Do you guys know how late it is?" Holden asked when he came out carrying a box.

We all glanced at the clock. It was twelve. "Good morning everyone," Holden grinned.

"I should get going. My mum is going to freak out. See you guys tomorrow," I said.

Holden walked me to the door and waved the car over. I gave him the 'seriously' look, but he insisted. "Play by my rules," he said. I got in. Just as he was about to shut the door for me, I held my arm out to hold it.

"Holden, don't forget to bring it tomorrow," I reminded him.

"Re-lax. I got it."

The driver glanced back and forth from his GPS to the streets, obviously slightly lost. We'd moved a while ago, but even I wasn't familiar with the way home. I was familiar with the routes to Pemberton and Marco's, and that was about it.

I spotted the gigantic oak tree near a bus stop and I knew we were at the right street. "Left here I think," I said. The driver nodded and the GPS seemed to agree because it didn't tell us to turn around.

"Thank you," I said when he dropped me off.

"No worries Miss. Enjoy the rest of your night," he said.

I reached into my backpack and grabbed my set of keys, trying to open the door as quietly as possible in case my mum was already asleep. Although, that was unlikely, given that group assignments didn't usually take all night.

"Done with the assignment?" She asked, looking up from her laptop.

"Yeah, it works now," I replied, setting my backpack down. "What's with the luggage?"

"Um..." She began. "Grandpa is unwell. The doctors don't think he'll last the week; that's why I was planning on flying out tomorrow, if I can buy tickets tonight," she replied.

"Oh my gosh. Why didn't you tell me?" I asked.

"I only found out this morning." I could see her eyes watering up, but she looked away and sniffled before looking back at me, pretending that we both didn't know what had just happened.

"But I'll only go if you –"

"No, mum. Go. I'll be fine," I replied.

I hadn't grown up around my grandparents, so they weren't awfully close to me, but I knew they meant the world to my mum.

"I mean it," I said, trying to reassure her. "Just book your tickets, and go. It's going to be okay." Her shoulders were slouched, her eyes fatigued. She was still wearing her work clothes, and her neat bun was now a messy droop of hair. If we were the soft and cuddly kind of people, I would've hugged her, but we weren't, so I helped her book the ticket and went to bed.

I woke up to the smell of bacon and eggs. When I made it out of my room, I saw an extensive note, a long list of things I needed to do, and a now cold plate of bacon and eggs. The suitcases were gone and I could only hope her flight had been a safe one and that she'd get to spend some more time with grandpa.

We reached school, and only then did I realise I hadn't texted Holden to remind him to bring our motor. "Hey," a girl who I didn't recognise said, walking up to my locker. "Daisy right?" She asked.

"Yeah?" I smiled.

"I love your skirt!" A girl exclaimed, stopping as she walked past.

"It's the same as your skirt...we wear a uniform..." I mumbled.

The girl I was speaking to before continued talking to me. "What are you and Holden going as?"

"Umm..."

"I know, I get it, it's meant to be a secret, but maybe a little insider information?"

"Holden actually wants to keep it y'know, a secret," I said slowly, mostly because even I did not know what I was going to wear. I figured he'd probably wear a suit, and I'd probably wear some evening gown, judging from the formality of high society's social events.

"Ok, out of the way you ass kissers," Elaine growled, pushing past the girls.

"What are you doing here Elaine?" The girl asked.

"I go here okay buddy?"

The girls reluctantly left, still waving to me as they left. "See you around Daisy." I gave them an awkward wave.

"Vultures," Elaine laughed. "They're probably the ones who were carrying out Logan's orders, stealing your uniform."

"Huh. Yeah, I haven't gotten that thing back yet." I'd been so caught up with everything that I'd completely forgotten about my missing set of designer-priced uniform.

"What are you wearing to the dance?" I asked Elaine, hoping to get some idea of what would be appropriate.

"I think I'm going to go as a sexy cop, maybe a sexy nurse...I don't know, something sexy," she grinned. "Might as well live up to my reputation."

I just stared at her. Going to a ball-like event in a costume?

"It's a masked costume dance," she explained, noting my shock and horror. "You didn't notice? There are posters everywhere!" She walked down to the end of the row of lockers and tore down a piece of paper, handing it to me.

Costumed, Masked Dance. Be anyone you want to be.

Sure enough, I had not paid attention to the details; there was another problem: the dance was only a few days away and I had no idea for a costume, let alone a costume. I had work the next few evenings, so that afternoon was the last chance for me to get a costume.

"Are you free this afternoon?" I asked Elaine.

"Yeah, why?" she replied.

"Do you want to come with me to the shops to grab costumes?"

"Sure," she grinned. "Good to have a gal pal with some opinions."

There was a rapid series of footsteps coming down the hallway and I looked up to see Holden in a fast walk towards me, a worried look on his face. "What is it Holden?" I asked slowly.

"So...I forgot the motor," he replied.

"You what buddy?" I exclaimed.

"Aw you guys are cute," Elaine commented. "Relationships like that, they're the ones that last."

"So I was in a hurry this morning and I just left it on the table," he said nonchalantly.

"I swear, Holden, one job!"

"Don't worry," he said, putting his hands on my shoulders, facing me. "I will sort it out, I will not ruin your perfect record." Before leaving, he leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. I went a lovely flamingo pink again with Elaine giggling beside me.

"Honeymoon phase," she commented.

Man, Holden was committed to the act, I'd give him that.

Later on in the day, when I got to physics, Holden was standing outside, as happy as a cherub, despite forgetting our assignment at home. "Problem solved. We hand it in tomorrow," he said.

"No penalization?"

"Nup."

"How'd you manage to spin that?"

"I'm Holden Vermont, I can fix any problem," he grinned proudly.

"I swear if you forget it tomorrow," I threatened.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got it."

"That is exactly what you said yesterday."

"But I really got it." I whacked him in the arm and he just laughed. We filed into class and sat down. Parker was seated proudly with his motor.

"Does it work now?" I teased.

"I'll have you know, this is a fine specimen of creation," he replied, demonstrating. Surprisingly, it had gone from a spontaneously combusting mess to a smoothly whirring motor.

I turned to Holden. "What are you wearing to the dance?" I asked.

"Aw, you wanted to coordinate? That's cute," he said mockingly.

"Fine, dick."

Later that afternoon, Elaine and I stopped by the closest shopping centre on the way home; she'd given me a lift since apparently taking the bus was uncouth. She was weird.

"So, since we're shopping together, wanna give me a hint about what you and Holden are going as?" She asked as we walked inside.

"We're not going to match, you know, keep it casual," I replied cooly.

She nodded. "You don't seem like the type to go casual, Sorenson, but okay," she grinned. "I like that."

"Now, sexy nurse was it?" I laughed, leading the way into the first costume shop we spotted.

Elaine beelined for the Halloween type section and picked up the sexy anythings she could find. She passed me one that was labelled 'schoolgirl' and I rolled my eyes. "This screams you," she said. "Just try it on."

"Fine," I agreed. There were some typical princess costumes that I picked up to try as well.

"The kids at Pemberton are probably going crazy buying costumes. Not in a place like this anyway," she said. I looked at the tags on the costumes. They were around eighty dollars each anyway. For something we'd probably never wear again. How the hell was this even remotely cheap? "I like you. Simple."

I just laughed. Sure, if she counted fake dating Holden Vermont as simple.

We went into the changerooms and tried them on. "You done?" I asked, waiting outside for Elaine. She came out in her nurse costume, holding a comically large syringe, posing with a hand on her hip.

"Think this will get me kicked out?"

"Let's try not to get kicked you out, right? I'd like friends at the dance."

"Alright. I think the cop one's better anyway." She stopped to look at me in the schoolgirl costume. "Nope. We need something a little snootier; you still look way too much like a nice girl."

"And why wouldn't I want to be?"

"You're dating Holden Vermont. You don't want people thinking you're nice," she laughed. Right. What exactly that was supposed to mean? I had no idea.

Just as I was changing back, my phone vibrated from inside my pocket. It was Holden.

H: Let's go as angels.

D: Thought you said you didn't want to match?
H: No need to play hard to get Daze. After all, formal debut as a couple right?

D: Sure, if I can find an angel costume.

I wondered what'd changed his mind all of a sudden. I waited outside for Elaine. "How's it look?" She asked, twirling in the cop costume.

"I like it," I grinned. Her light blonde hair was a perfect contrast with the dark navy of the costume.

She went out and changed before paying for the costume. "Change of plans," I announced. "Me and Holden are going as angels."

"That is so cliché!" She guffawed. "I mean, classic, sure, but let's try and spin it."

She grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me towards a huge lingerie store.

"I don't like how excited you seem by this."

After countless skimpy white crop tops that I rejected from her suggestions list, she handed me a top that was styled like a corset and a pair of white fabric shorts. "It's a shirt, I swear, not lingerie," she said.

"Fine," I agreed.

"Hang on." She rushed over to the shoe section. "What's your size?" She yelled back.

"Seven? I think," I replied.

She came back with a pair of white knee-high boots. "it'll look good. Trust me." She spun me around by the shoulders and pushed me towards the change room.

I put the top and shorts on and clambered into the knee-high boots. They were surprisingly challenging to lace up. They were mid-thigh height on me and I had to loosen the laces the entire way before tightening them again. I stepped out to show Elaine.

"You have to buy this," she said. "You look hot!"

"Uh..." I mumbled, turning in the mirror.

The shorts were short, and the top was relatively tight. It wasn't really a 'me' outfit, but then again, there was always a time for change.

"Alright," I agreed. "Where can I buy wings?"

Elaine pondered for a moment. "Easy, there's a store at the other end that does them."

We went out to pay for my outfit which was going to set me back a whole two hundred and fifty dollars. I could feel my bank account shedding tears. I handed out my card to pay, but Elaine stopped me. "It's on me," she said, giving the cashier her card instead.

"No way! I am not letting you pay for that," I protested.

"I owe you. Big time," she said. "Seriously. Let me do this for you."

It was too late because the cashier processed the transaction and handed me the bag.

"Thanks," I said.

"No. Thank you," she said. There was an earnest look in her deep brown eyes.

The store at the other end stocked white angel wings. In hundreds of different styles. I grabbed the classic one. If angels were real, surely their wings would've looked something like that. The white feathers were intricately sewn onto the frame. The eighty dollar price tag nearly sent me into cardiac arrest, but I willed myself to stay alive as I swiped the card.

While I waited for the cashier to finish packing the gigantic pair of wings away for me, I looked into the store opposite, a suit store. At their counter, I could've sworn the guy was Parker. He looked relatively concerned, a hand on his forehead, rummaging through his wallet.

"Hey, can you wait here for a sec? I'll be right back," I said to Elaine.

"Sure," she replied.

"Parker?" I said as I approached the counter. Parker looked at me just as the cashier went to tell him that his card had been declined. He handed the cashier another card but that one was also declined. I took out my card and passed it to the cashier. As it turned out, the suit Parker bought was a thousand dollars worth of fabric. Well, that punched a hole in my account.

"You didn't need to do that," he said.

"It's okay," I replied. His jaw was clenched.

"Thanks anyway. I'll pay you back."

"What'd you get?" I asked cheerfully, trying to lighten the mood.

"A suit."

"Colour?"

"Black."

"What about the inside shirt?"

"Black."

"Black on black. Nice," I said sarcastically. "No costume?"

"I refuse to be dragged into such a ridiculous idea. They're lucky I even bought a mask." He looked at me for a second. "What about you, pizza, what are you wearing?"

"It's a secret," I grinned. Elaine was waving at me from the store, holding the bag up. "See you tomorrow," I said. Parker waved me off and left.

"I bought you this cute white mask," Elaine said, passing me the bag. "It just goes across the eyes, it's got lace trimming and everything," she grinned. "I got myself a navy one."

"Let me pay you back," I insisted.

"No. No way. You're the only decent human being at Pemberton," she laughed. "What'd top dog Lennox need?"

"Oh, nothing. Just suggesting a tie," I lied.

I was officially set for the dance, the only thing left was to wash the costume, and wear it. And hopefully convince everyone that Holden and I were a legitimate couple. Then there was the whole matter of Logan being bent on destroying me.

Joy.

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