Breaking Masks

by Josh Aterovis

  My grin grew wider. “Don't worry. I don't intend to let him get away.”

  Steve winked at me, then turned back to his work.

  I walked outside, thinking about Kody and how glad I was that he'd come after me. Now that I knew he loved me and that he wanted to be with me despite my past, I couldn't imagine living without him. How had I ever thought I could just walk away from him?

  I heard voices out in the small copse of trees in the back yard and headed in that direction. I found Nick and Kody in the small park-like area Steve and Adam had created around the old family graveyard in the woods. A stone bench sat facing an angel statue, and they'd planted flowers all around. Nick was kneeling next to one of the headstones, while Kody sat on the bench, his arms wrapped around his slim body in an effort to keep himself warm in the cool fall air.

  As I got closer, I could see that the headstone was for Amalie Marnier, the woman for whom the house was named.

  “She died so young,” Nick was saying. “I wonder what happened.”

  “Her husband killed her,” I said, causing them both to jump. Nick fell backwards onto his bottom. Kody giggled nervously.

  “Hey,” he said, jumping up off the bench and running to meet me. “I didn't expect you back so soon.”

  “Mom and I had dinner, then she brought me over. Steve told me you guys were back here.” I gave him a quick kiss.

  “Did her husband really kill her?” Nick asked, still studying the worn words carved into the stone.

  “Yeah.”

  “Did they catch him?”

  “Nope. No one ever knew.”

  “Then how do you know?”

  “She told us. Well, she told Killian.”

  “Huh?” Kody asked, his eyes wide.

  “It's a long story, but the short version is she haunted the house for a while, but she doesn't anymore.”

  “That's what you were talking about earlier?” Kody asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Did people see her and everything?” Nick asked excitedly.

  “Yeah.”

  “That's really freaky,” Kody said. “I don't know if I want to sleep here now.”

  I slipped my arms around Kody. “I'll be here to protect you—not that you'll need protection. She's gone now. You don't have anything to worry about.”

  “Maybe she'd come back if we held a séance.” Nick sounded quite eager.

  “No way,” Kody said firmly. “Let's go back up to the house. It's creepy out here now that it's getting dark.”

  “Oh come on,” Nick begged. “It would be fun!”

  “I agree with Kody. No séance. Besides, the ghost was hurting Steve's business before she left. We wouldn't want to do anything to bring her back, assuming we even could.”

  I slid my hand into Kody's and we started walking back towards the house, Nick trailing along behind us, pouting.

  We went to Nick's room for a while, just talking and hanging out. Nick tried to talk us into a séance again, but once more, we shot him down. Finally, I suggested we get some sleep since we had to get up fairly early in the morning to pack all my stuff into Toshi's car and drive all the way back to Albany.

  Kody and I went to his room, but once there, a sudden awkwardness came over us. This would be the first time we'd ever spent the night together, and neither of us was sure what the other expected. After a few seconds of silence, we both started speaking at the same time.

  “Look, Jake—”

  “Kody, I—”

  We giggled.

  “Go ahead,” he said.

  “No, you go first.”

  He sighed. “Fine. I was just going to say that I know we're taking it slow, so if you don't want to do anything but sleep tonight, I'm cool with that.”

  I thought about it for a few seconds, then gave him a shy smile. “Let's just let whatever happens happen, okay? I'm not promising I won't freak out if something does happen, but...let's not worry about that.”

  He came over and gave me a hug, then we silently undressed and slipped into the bed. We cuddled together without saying a word. I think he could feel the nervous tension in my body, because he didn't try to do anything. We just lay in each others arms for a while, Kody's hands softly moving up and down my back sending tingles across my skin.

  “Thank you for coming after me,” I said finally.

  It was too dark to distinguish his face, but I could sense his smile even if I couldn't see it. “It was my pleasure. Just being held by you like this—it was worth the six hours in the car with Nick.”

  I laughed. “I love you.”

  “I love you too.” He moved closer and pressed his lips against mine. I pulled him against me and soon we were making out.

  I woke up abruptly the next morning to the sound of someone pounding at the door. “Wake up,” Nick called.

  “Be quiet,” I barked back. “You'll wake up the whole house.”

  The banging stopped and I turned my head to find Kody staring back at me, a contented smile on his face. “Can I wake up like this every morning for the rest of my life?” he asked softly.

  “With Nick beating your door down?”

  “No, with you by my side.”

  My heart melted as I leaned in for a good morning kiss—screw morning breath.

  Nick didn't give us long, however, before he was back knocking at the door again.

  “We might as well get up,” I said with a sigh.

  “I already am,” Kody said with a giggled. I burst out laughing as an adorable blush crept up his cheeks.

  I left Kody under the covers and went to the door to assure Nick that we were awake and we'd be out shortly. Then we took turns taking quick showers, got dressed, and joined Nick downstairs for a continental breakfast courtesy of Steve.

  Once we'd all had something to eat, we drove over to my house. True to her word, Mom's car was gone. I let us in the house using my key, and the three of us loaded up Toshi's car. Once we were finished, we realized that there was only room for one person in the backseat. Kody and I stared at each other in horror as we realized that we'd be separated for the duration of the trip.

  “Oh, for God's sake. Give me a break,” Nick groaned. “You too are so sickeningly sweet I'm getting a cavity. Move some stuff up front and you two can both sit in the back seat.”

  “Or I could drive and you could sit in the back,” I offered.

  Nick pondered that for half a second. “No way, Jose. We'd never make it back to school with you two making moony faces at each other. You'd crash the car. Move your shit up front. I'm driving and that's final.”

  We shifted the stuff around, climbed in, and we were off. The trip itself wasn't that bad. In fact, it seemed to fly by. Then again, Kody and I were pretty caught up in each other, cuddling and kissing for pretty much the whole trip. Nick kept threatening to barf all over us if we didn't stop, but it was out of our control.

  We rolled onto campus in the early afternoon. Seeing the school again made my stomach clench up a little. I knew I'd have to deal with Becca at some point, a prospect I was not looking forward to. I was, however, looking forward to seeing all my friends again. I was surprised to realize how much I had missed Erin, Roy, Carlos, Toshi, and Miranda.

  The car had barely stopped rolling when Erin burst out of the dorm, vaulted over a bench, and skidded to a stop next to the vehicle.

  “You could have called somebody,” she accused indignantly as we got out. Then, before I could answer, she threw her arms around my neck and whispered fiercely, “Welcome back.”

  Chapter 20

  Breaking Masks

  Josh Aterovis and Dave Dabeagle

  © 2004

  "Jake"

  The Epilogue

  Word spread quickly. In a shockingly short time, the whole gang had assembled, forming an impromptu welcoming party outside the dorm. Roy was the last to arrive, racing across the courtyard at a pace I hadn't known his bulk capable of attaining. He slammed into me full-force, and I was
pretty certain he'd cracked a few ribs and possibly knocked some teeth loose. He swept me off my feet and swung me around in a grip that finished off the few ribs I had left intact. He dropped me to my feet with a toothy grin and ruffled my hair affectionately.

  “Welcome home, Jake,” he said merrily.

  “Thanks, Roy. After that greeting, I may need to go to the hospital for some x-rays.”

  Roy gave me a concerned look. “Why? Did I squeeze you too hard?”

  I laughed and hugged him. It was good to be back.

  “How `bout if we get all my crap out of Toshi's car so he can spirit it away to its hiding place,” I suggested, and everyone quickly fell into unloading his car and carting my belongings upstairs to my room. I ran ahead to open the door, which is where my big welcome back celebration ended.

  When I opened the door, Foster glared at me in indignant disbelief. “I thought you left,” he said accusingly.

  “I did. Now I'm back.”

  “Fuck!”

  “Yeah, I missed you too.”

  I looked around and saw he'd already spread his junk all over my half of the room. I frowned. “You need to move your stuff.”

  “You move it,” he growled just as Roy came up behind carrying a large box.

  “No, you move it,” Roy rumbled threateningly.

  Foster's head snapped up. His expression darkened, but he got up off his bed and resentfully cleared his stuff from my side. Apparently, he remembered his last run-in with Roy—or more specifically, Roy's fist. Roy sat his load down on my bed and left to get another load. I followed after him, but we met a caravan of friends carrying the rest of my stuff coming up as we started down. We piled everything on my side of the room, and I eyed it with dread as my stomach grumbled.

  “I'll unpack it all later,” I announced. “I'm too hungry right now.”

  “Let's all head down to the Coop,” Erin suggested.

  “We can make it a welcome home party,” Miranda added brightly.

  “I'm always up for a party,” Alex said with a contented smile.

  As walked across campus to the Coop everyone chattered excitedly. Their delight in having me back was palpable, wrapping around me like a hug. I felt a warm glow inside my chest that, for a moment, I thought might overflow into tears. A hand slipped into mine and I looked over to find Kody watching me with a huge smile.

  “What?”

  He leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. “I love you.”

  “I love you too. Thank you for coming after me.”

  “My pleasure,” he said with a wink.

  I squeezed his hand then released it. “Hang on a sec. There's someone else I need to thank.” I hurried to catch up with Toshi. “Hey.”

  Toshi looked over and gave me a shy grin. “It's good to have you back.”

  “It's good to be back. I guess I have you to thank for that.”

  He made a face. “I think Kody gets some of the credit.”

  I laughed. “Yeah, but he couldn't have done it without your car. Thanks for letting him and Nick use it.”

  “You're welcome. I really am glad you came back. You guys make a great couple.”

  “Thanks.” I felt a warm glow at his words.

  “Now, if only I could find somebody. You've got Kody, Nick has Steve, Erin has Carlos, and even Roy has been talking to that girl Jen.” He threw an arm across his eyes dramatically. “I'm all alone in the world.”

  Miranda, who had been walking in front of us, stopped and turned around. “Hey, I'm single too. Maybe we should date, Toshi.” Everyone else stopped to catch Toshi's response.

  Toshi made a show of looking her up and down. “Sorry, babe, but you're just not my type.”

  Miranda cocked a hip and raised an eyebrow. “What? You're not down with the brown?”

  “I don't give a damn about the color of your skin,” he said with a grin, “you've just got the wrong equipment.”

  “Obviously you've never heard of a strap-on,” Miranda said with a suggestive leer. Everyone burst into laughter at Toshi's startled expression.

  Kody sidled up next to me, and his hand found its way into mine once again. We walked into the Coop, still hand-in-hand. Everyone piled in around us as we looked for a couple empty tables we could move together to accommodate our sizeable group. As I scanned the room, my eyes fell on someone I would have just as soon never seen again. Becca sat at a booth facing the doors. The expression on her face was pure hate as she stared at me and Kody. My hand tightened on Kody's and he quickly followed my gaze.

  “Ignore her,” he said softly.

  “She almost broke us up.”

  “But she didn't, so forget about her.”

  I nodded. He was right. I broke our eye contact just as Carlos said, “There's a couple tables.” He, Nick, and Roy quickly moved across the room to the corner where the two tables had just opened up.

  “I'll go put an order in for a couple pizzas,” Toshi said and headed for the counter.

  I turned to go to the table Roy, Nick and Carlos were preparing and found myself face to face with Becca. She was going to make ignoring her as difficult as possible.

  Kody's hand gripped mine tightly as I moved to step around her. She placed a hand in my chest.

  “Don't touch me,” I said through clenched teeth.

  She ran a finger down my chest and I smacked her hand away. Her eyes flashed.

  “Your little plan to break us up didn't work,” Kody said evenly. “So why don't you just get lost and leave us alone.”

  Becca's eyes never left mine. “It's just a matter of time,” she said loudly. Several people sitting nearby turned to see what was going on as she continued. “Everyone knows faggots can't stay together. Besides, he was a whore, and once a whore always a whore.”

  My hand itched to smack the smug expression off her face, but I restrained myself with great effort. I tried to think of a suitable comeback, but my brain was completely blank. The hammering of my heart drowned out coherent thoughts.

  “You don't know anything about Jake,” Kody said, coming to my defense. I was amazed at how calm he was.

  “I know he's a dirty little faggot, just like you—and I know faggots burn in hell. I hope you both die of AIDS.”

  My hand flew up of its own accord to strike the bitch, but Kody tugged me sharply aside. “She's not worth it,” he said and started pulling me towards the corner where the guys were watching us with horrified shock. Pretty much the entire place was now watching the drama unfolding before them like a live soap opera.

  I couldn't resist looking back at Becca, and saw her start to follow us, but Erin and Miranda quickly stepped in front of her. I yanked Kody to a stop. This was one showdown I had to see.

  “You've said and done enough,” Erin said in a dangerously low voice. “Get lost and stay away from them.”

  “Or what?” Becca spat. “You think I'm afraid of you? You're just a pathetic, ugly fag hag who can't get her own man so she has to hang out with faggots.”

  Carlos made a move towards his girlfriend, but then thought better of it. We all knew Erin was more than capable of taking care of herself.

  “For your information,” Miranda chimed in, “she has a man, which is more than your skanky ass can say. You're the pathetic one, chasing after someone who obviously isn't interested in you and then attacking them for no reason when they find someone else to be happy with.”

  “Who asked the token black girl?”

  Erin raised her hand to hit Becca, but Miranda caught her wrist. “You're an RA. You can't hit her.” She released Erin, then quickly backhanded Becca across the face. “But I can,” she added with satisfaction as Becca head snapped back.

  “You fucking cunt!” Becca seethed.

  “Look, you little twat tassel, you can call me whatever you want,” Miranda shot back and several people giggled, “but the truth is everybody here knows exactly what you are—a no-good piece of trash that somehow thinks the world owes you because you'r
e rich and pretty. Well guess what, honey? The real you shines through quite clearly, and no matter what you look like on the outside, you're ugly.”

  Becca reared back and spat in Miranda's face, but before Miranda could react, Erin pulled back her fist and plowed it right into Becca's nose. Becca stumbled back with an enraged scream and both hands over her nose. She pulled her hands away to find blood.

  “I'm going to press charges,” she screeched. “I'll have you removed as an RA. I'll have you kicked out of the whole damn school.”