Masquerade

by Nyrae Dawn

  Just then my sister walks up the stairs and stops when she sees us. “I was worried about you guys. Is everything okay? Maddy, I’m sorry for—”

  “I’m in love with Bee.” Shock colors her face at my admission. “I love her and she left. I want to fight for her, Laney. Adrian . . .” My eyes dart to him and then back to my sister. “He taught me I need to fight for those I love—no, to fight with them.”

  Her chin trembles and tears drip from her eyes. “Adrian?”

  “Yes.” For the first time in possibly my whole life, I’m the one to pull her into a hug. I don’t stiffen, only hold her as tight as I can. “I’m sorry for everything I’ve done to you. I’m sorry for how Mom treated you and sorry I hurt her too. And . . . he loves you. I’ve known that and I should have told you. I’m glad you have him.”

  Her hand fists in my sweatshirt as she hugs me tightly, crying on my shoulder. “I love you, Maddy.”

  “I know, little sister. I love you too.” When I pull away, Adrian has walked partway down the hall, waiting, without looking at us. “He needs you. Go to him. I . . . I told him some things I should have told you a long time ago and I’m sorry for that.”

  Laney nods. “Go, find Bee.”

  “Mom . . .”

  “Is gone. You’re still here. I can handle this. For once you need to let me take care of something. I want you to go.”

  Once more I hug her. “Thank you.” And then I do exactly what she said. I go to find Bee.

  As soon as I get back to Brenton, I go straight to Bee’s house. Her car isn’t there but somehow I knew it wouldn’t be. Still I ring the doorbell a few times before going to Masquerade.

  It feels fucked up using my key to get in without her being here but I do it anyway. Wherever she is and whatever she’s dealing with, I want her to know she doesn’t have to do it alone anymore. Finding her—going to her—is the only way to do that.

  I look through the stockroom, the back room, any and everywhere I can think of that might tell me something about where she might have gone. I don’t even know her last name or where her parents live. I love this girl and I want to know everything about her—to fight for her and with her until we know every part of each other.

  Each place I look and each time I come up empty I feel more like a failure. I told her to leave for being exactly how she told me to be, how I’ve always been, and now I can’t get to her either.

  Dropping into the chair at her desk, my leg hits the bottom left drawer. The one she always keeps locked. It would be locked right now if it wasn’t for the corner of a folder, sticking out, holding it open. That little voice in my head tells me it’s wrong to open it. Part of her secrets are in there but damn it, is it wrong if it’s done out of love? I don’t really know. I’ve never felt it before and damned if I don’t want to try and keep on feeling it, so I rip the drawer open.

  Without hesitating, I pull one of the folders out and open it. Newspaper articles are stuffed inside. One after another, I pull them out, each of the headlines making ice slither through my veins.

  LOCAL GIRL KIDNAPPED

  GONE WITHOUT A TRACE

  AFTER YEARS PARENTS STILL FIGHTING THE ODDS TO FIND MISSING GIRL

  MIRACLE! NINE YEARS LATER, MISSING GIRL BACK HOME

  It keeps going on and fucking on. Trials and sentences and interviews with her family. Leila, mixed with Coral, but all really about Bee. The girl with the tattoo of the twins because she doesn’t know who she is. Who the fuck would?

  The more I read, the more my stomach constricts. There aren’t a lot of details about it. Still, she was kidnapped. She was taken from her family only to discover the truth nine years later.

  Tossing them on the desk, I bury my face in my hands, my eyes still drawn to the papers in front of me. It doesn’t make sense—why she thought she couldn’t share this with me. Then, whose ghosts really make sense to someone else? You have to live it to understand it no matter how much people might think otherwise.

  Scanning the top newspaper article again, my eyes stop on the word Kansas. I power up her laptop, hoping I can find more information online. I don’t know how in the hell I expect that to help me find her but it’s the only thing I can think of to do.

  Kidnappings with the word Kansas, her name and Kansas. I keep looking, my eyes burning from lack of sleep, but I’m determined to do this one thing right. To do it for her.

  Scrolling down through the links, my eyes stop when they come to a picture of a sunflower. The same flower she has tattooed on her right calf.

  One click tells me why she has it—the Kansas state flower.

  Pushing to my feet, I grab the keys off the desk and I’m gone.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  ~Bee~

  I sit on one side of the clear glass, waiting. My leg’s bouncing and my heart’s jumping and I’ve gagged three times, so close to vomiting I’m still not sure I can hold it back.

  But I’m here.

  I’m not leaving.

  My body goes numb when the door opens and they walk her in.

  Melody.

  That simply, my heart rate slows, happy memories I don’t know if I have a right to feel creating pictures in my mind. Baking cookies, looking at stars, burned dinners, and laughs. They morph into pictures of Mom. Of her trying to do the same kinds of things with me, but my heart fighting the happiness just out of reach.

  It doesn’t make sense—my feelings for either of them. It’s not that I don’t love my parents; it’s that I don’t know how.

  Melody’s green eyes are teary when she sits down. Her red hair shorter and tied into a little ponytail in the back.

  She picks up the phone, so I do the same. “Coral. I can’t believe you’re here. It’s so good to see you.”

  “My name is not Coral.” She flinches as though my words are a slap to the face. The anger in them surprises even me.

  “You’re right. Leila. I’m sorry.”

  That makes me laugh. Melody’s eyes crease in confusion as she looks at me, making more of the past flicker in, turning my feelings into a tornado of sadness and anger. “Funny you should call me that because I’m not Leila anymore either. You took that away from me. Did you know that?” My eyes dart down because it’s hard to look at her, but then I focus on what I came to do and tilt my head up again.

  The phone in her hand shakes but she doesn’t hang it up. She sits there, listening, waiting. That’s one thing she has in common with my real mom. They’re both strong.

  “I never thought I would come here. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if it was because I was scared of hating you more or not hating you enough.”

  Melody nods, her face wet with tears.

  “My mom and dad, did you know they tried to call me Coral at first because they thought it would be easier on me? Because I didn’t know how to be Leila and all they wanted was to find a way for me to be happy. Then . . . then I felt guilty, guilty because they kept my room the same and had pictures of me all over their house. They missed Leila and they thought she came home but I was Coral instead.”

  Wetness rolls down my face. I’m crying. God, I’m crying and I didn’t even know it.

  “So I told them to call me Leila. I tried, tried so damn hard to be the girl they lost but I never could. They did game nights instead of movie nights like we did. We went together somewhere as a family once a month. Mom never, ever got so busy she forgot to cook dinner and at first I hated her for it. Hated her for not being like you, for not being who I was used to.”

  Now that the words are flowing, I can’t stop them. My brain and mouth are working together without me having the ability to stop them. I hate that my words hurt Melody but I need to evict them from me if I ever want to be free. And as much as it pains me, she hurt me too. She needs to know that.

  “For years it went that way. Hell, it still is. I’m fucking trapped in between two lives, neither of which are mine and both adding this weight to my chest because in some ways they both feel wrong
and they both feel right.”

  “Cor—Leila. I’m sorry. I can never tell you how sorry I am but I wanted . . . the moment I saw you I fell in love. We loved you so much.”

  “Love?” There’s that word again. The one that makes people hurt and still it threatens to take over my heart. “I used to believe you. I wanted to but now I don’t know. You didn’t know me when you stole me. How could you have loved me?”

  She wipes her eyes. “We wanted a daughter. Wanted someone to love so much. I couldn’t have babies and with both mine and Rex’s past, we couldn’t adopt.”

  “I get that and I’m sorry, but I wasn’t yours. That didn’t give you the right to take me. To hurt my family and ruin my life . . . in the name of what? Wanting a baby? If that’s what love is, screw that. I don’t want anything to do with it.”

  Her voice rises. “Don’t you think I know it was wrong? That there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t wish we’d made a different decision? I will never forgive myself for what we did to you and your family but I also don’t go a day without hurting because we lost you too. No matter what you believe, we loved you.”

  My grip on the phone loosens, and it almost falls free. My eyes flitter, trying to rid themselves of the tears. “I loved you too . . .”

  This time it’s me who wipes my eyes. Fear lodges in my throat, trying to keep me from talking. I force the words around it. I’m here and I’m doing this no matter what.

  “I remember . . . I don’t know how I forgot, how I could have thought you guys explained to me that my parents had died and I didn’t realize that hurt but I hadn’t. I remember now. I remember the pain of losing them. The memories of being grabbed keep resurfacing. I cried for them, for my family, and you guys let me believe they were dead . . . in the name of love.

  “And eventually I moved on. I had you and Rex and I loved you guys and you loved me but then they found me and I lost you too. My family was back, only now I cried tears for you. My parents didn’t have a choice in their loss and neither did I. I’m still fucking losing because I’m scared—scared to love them because I don’t want to lose someone again. Scared I’m not worthy of them because I’m not Leila anymore. Because I don’t know how to love them like I don’t know how to love . . . What is it to love?” Maddox.

  “Sweetie—”

  “Don’t. Don’t you dare call me that. It’s not fair.” I push to my feet, ready to leave.

  “They love you. It doesn’t matter if you’re Coral or Leila. They love you.” Her words make me pause, still holding the phone to my ear. “They always loved you. We . . . we watched them. They brought you to the park almost every day. They loved you so much, and that makes what we did even worse. Don’t be afraid to let them love you. Don’t be afraid to return their feelings. What we did . . . God, I loved you, too, but what we did, that isn’t what love is. Don’t ever think that. Love is support. It’s doing your best to take care of people instead of hurting them. It doesn’t mean you’re perfect. It means doing everything you can to be there for the ones you love. Wanting what’s best for them and loving them for who they are too. That’s how your parents feel about you, Leila. And I know that you feel that way about them too.”

  My hand is shaking so bad I have to squeeze the phone tighter. Her words unlock my heart. No, I wasn’t Leila anymore but that never stopped them from loving me. They don’t understand my tattoos yet they still helped me start Masquerade. We don’t always see things the same way, but I have no doubts in my mind that they want me happy. Still, is being Bee enough?

  “You fell in love, didn’t you?” Melody’s voice is soft in my ear.

  “Yes.” The word comes out automatically. A part of me wants her to know it before I say good-bye.

  And he accepts who I am and tries to be there for me too. I know to the marrow of my bones he would be there for me with this. He’s tried. All I do is push him away. “I don’t know if I can love him the way he deserves.” One more time, I look at her. “I can’t forgive you for taking me but . . . I don’t hate you either.”

  She gives me a sad smile.

  “Good-bye.” After hanging up the phone, I walk out of the room.

  The house I lived in with Melody and Rex is empty. I don’t know anything other than that, which means at any moment, someone could find me here. It doesn’t matter.

  I’m wrapped up tight in a sweatshirt and jacket as I sit in the backyard, waiting for the stars. Actually, I don’t even think it’s for them I’m waiting on, but for answers.

  Somehow I thought telling Melody how I feel—by getting a good-bye—I would magically change. That didn’t happen.

  It’s late afternoon, probably an hour or so before dusk. Mom’s called but I ignore it like I do pretty much anything important in my life.

  My eyes dart to the side of the house when I hear the gate open. I don’t try to move. What’s the point? Whoever comes through will see me and know I’m not supposed to be here, and I’ll deal with it.

  “Bee?” A cocktail of excitement and fear shoots through me at the sound of Maddox’s voice, right before he steps around the side of the small house. “Hey . . .”

  “How . . .?” It doesn’t even occur to me to be mad. He had to have talked to my parents or something to find out enough about me to think to look here. Instead of that anger, the tenseness in me releases and my heart slows.

  “You’re going to be pissed.” He smirks but it’s obviously an effort.

  “Tell me anyway.”

  “I looked in your desk . . . I found the articles, did some more detective work that led me here, and people in town are quick to answer questions. Finding the house was the easy part.”

  I feel a moment of panic and shame at the thought of him reading about my past, but I’m so numb that it fizzles away.

  He kneels in front of me and I wish like hell he would touch me.

  “Why didn’t you tell me, baby?”

  My chest swells at the endearment. It’s not something I ever would have thought I’d like—to be called baby. “It’s not usually my conversation starter, Scratch.”

  He frowns. “And that’s still where we are? We haven’t moved forward at all since we met?”

  There’s a pain in Maddox’s voice I’ve never heard directed toward me before. “You know that’s not true. You’re . . .” Everything. “You know I suck at this.” He still hasn’t shaved and I wish I could rub the dark stubble on his face.

  “You know that’s a bullshit excuse. I don’t know how to do this either.”

  This time I can’t stop myself from touching him. I haven’t been able to since we first met and I don’t think I want to. “You do, Maddox . . . You might not know it but you’re good at it.”

  Maddox sits next to me in the middle of the lawn. “If I was good at it, I wouldn’t have told you to leave. I would have told you I loved you and if you weren’t ready to say it back, I would have supported you and been there for you. Probably would have fucked up a few times but I would have been there until you were able to trust me.”

  This is how you love. Right here, what he’s doing.

  It’s probably the wrong thing to do, most girls probably wouldn’t, but I need to be close to him, so I crawl forward and climb into Maddox’s lap. Facing him, I straddle his lap and touch his hair to make sure he’s really here.

  The things he said I never would have imagined hearing coming out of his mouth and they were scary, but somehow that fear is eclipsed by their beauty. “I trust you probably more than I have anyone in my life. I . . . That’s why I came here. I thought maybe if I understood how they felt or why they took me, I could . . .”

  When my words trail off, Maddox speaks. “I talked to Adrian. I told him about Ash. He’s telling Laney. I would have. I needed to go, though. I had to be here—”

  “Oh my God.” I try to push off him. He holds me instead. “You shouldn’t be here. I’m so sorry. How could I have forgotten? Your mom. You need to be with your sister. Y
ou shouldn’t have followed me all the way to Kansas.”

  Maddox shakes his head, holding me tight. “I needed to do something for me.”

  A tear slips out of my eye. “You came here.”

  “Because I need you.”

  I have never wanted to swoon over a guy before. I never thought that was me. There have been hot guys and I’ve screwed around with them or admired them but that’s all. Maddox is so much more than that. His words burn me alive and make me melt at the same time. They fill me when I’ve made myself empty for so long.

  “I’m scared.”

  He pushes my hair behind my ear. “I am too.”

  “I’ve lost so much. I lost my parents, my sister, and then Rex and Melody.” In this moment, I’m glad he read the articles . . . glad he knows everything. Still, there’s a part of me that wants to be the one to tell him.

  “I was so scared to love them when I went back home. I didn’t know how to be who they expected me to be and felt guilty for it at the same time. They love me and I hurt them. Rex and Melody claimed to love me but they hurt me. What if . . . I don’t want to lose you too.”

  “My dad hurt all of us. I hurt Mom and Mom hurt us. I think . . . that’s life, baby. It doesn’t come with a guarantee. Just know I’m not walking away from you. I’ve never wanted anything in my life enough to actually fight for it. I’ve folded and given up but I’ll be damned if I give up my fight for you.”

  Wrapping my arms around him, I cry into Maddox’s neck. I hold him so tightly that I fear I’m hurting him before I realize nothing can hurt him. Not really. He’s strong and he’ll keep going and he makes me want to do the same. Like him, I realize I’ve never really fought for much. I’ve spent my life like I’m living some kind of masquerade. I became Bee instead of fighting to be Leila. I didn’t accept my parents’ love so I wouldn’t lose it and I clung to Rex and Melody because I knew I could never really have it. They were in prison so it wasn’t like I could really have their love; therefore, I wouldn’t have the pain of losing it.