M A S K
You know those books 'a series of unfortunate events' that you read as a child, well I've always felt a connection to them because that's what my life has been - a series of unfortunate events.
Wearing a mask is easy, but when that mask beg...
Jesus, this place is a mess, having a tiny apartment is great but when your whole house is three rooms it gets messy fast. Especially when every time you clean it, it's immediately messed up again by the sixteen-year-old leach that lives off of you.
"Skye!" I hear my brother screeching from the hallway.
"What?" I reply, why he feels the need to scream through the open door instead of taking the five steps into the apartment and speaking to me like a normal human being is beyond me.
A few seconds later and he's pushing past the makeshift curtain that separates my 'bedroom' from the main living space.
"Lexi's here," he says, now standing in front of me with a bored expression while I kneel on the floor, applying a last coat of lipgloss using the mirror I managed to sandwich into the small gap between my single bed and my dresser.
I had chosen to wear a simple black mini dress tonight. I say chosen but it wasn't really a choice seeing as it's the only dress I own. I paired it with my docs like always and my black bag. My hair is down and showcasing it's natural wave and my only accessory is the watch on my left wrist.
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"Oh great," I say, smiling up at him as he turns around, leaving the curtain open and walking back to the kitchen.
"Wait bubs, are you sure you're gonna be okay without me tonight?" I ask, following him and sitting down on one of the bar stools.
"You worry too much," he replies rolling his eyes at me, I continue looking up at him anxiously as he opens the fridge. He turns around to face me again, noticing my worried expression and puts his hands on my shoulders, "I'll be fine," he says seriously before he continus chuckling, "your social life needs some serious improvement, please don't worry about me Skye, okay, just go have fun."
I smile and hug him before picking up my bag and walking out the front door. I love my brother more than anyone else in the whole world, I really would do anything for him and after everything we've been through I can't help but worry every time we're apart. But he's right, I do need to start living my life and the first step to that is going out and experiencing it. I'm a twenty-two-year-old woman and I've been to a total of two night clubs in the past three years, all of which I've been dragged to against my will be Lexi.
Lexi's my best friend, the only person in this world I trust other than Leo. She's the complete opposite to me and yet we get along perfectly. Unconventional I know, but Lexi and Leo really are the best family I could ask for.
"Hey, Bitch!" I hear her shout before I can see her. I laugh as she launches herself into my arms. "I cannot believe you finally agreed to come out with me, this is utterly amazing. We are gonna have so much fun!"
Lexi has been begging me to go out with her since we met. Every time I have immediately shut her down because I can't afford to spend my time the way I used to. I have to work to ensure Leo has the life he deserves, a roof over our heads and food on the table.
"Yeah, well Leo said it would be good for me and I didn't want him to worry so..."
"Well, whatever the reason I'm just glad you're here," she says with true sincerity.
"Ugh, right yeah, me too," I try to sound convincing but I know Lexi sees right through me.
"Listen, babe, stop worrying okay, you don't have to drink or do anything else you don't wanna do. We'll just go, chat, dance a little and then just see what happens okay?" she says reassuringly.
Another reason I love Lexi, she never forces me to do anything I'm uncomfortable with, no matter how 'normal' it may seem to everyone else. Even though I have never told her - or anyone - the full story about my past, she understands that it was rough.
I push my doubts aside and link my arm with hers giggling and changing the subject, "Are you kidding Lex, I'm defiantly gonna get shit faced, it's the only way I'm getting through tonight,"
She laughs along with me as she leads the way down the steps and onto the street.
"So, where exactly are you talking me?" I ask her, seeing as so far she has refused to give anything away, claiming it's a 'surprise,' however I know in actual fact she's not telling me because she thinks that way I can't make up an excuse as why not to go.
"We're going to this really cool new club on the East side, it's called Cargo, it's like super exclusive," She says excitedly.
"If it's so exclusive then how the hell are we getting in?"
"Oh how you underestimate me little one," she says with mock offence, holding her hand up to her chest.
"My bad, I totally forgot your magical abilities, please go on," I say sarcastically.
"The new, and might I add totally hot, manager at work put me on the list," she replies wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. "Apparently he's friends with the owner of this place and helps manage on weekends or something."
Lexi works as a stripper, she has done ever since her parents kicked her out two years ago when she came out as bi-sexual. She was only nineteen at the time and so felt it was her only option to avoid becoming homeless.
We approached the subway and walked down the steps. Lex and I both live in the same apartment block in downtown Manhattan because it's cheaper than the Uptown yet close enough for work. Don't get me wrong, it's still fucking expensive, but that's why we both live in tiny apartments with barely enough room to move.
That's actually how Lexi and I met, Leo and I had been living in the apartment for nearly a year when one day we heard yelling outside the door. We presumed it was just the usual screaming match between Mr and Mrs Garcia across the hall but when I looked through the peephole, there was Lexi, shouting at our landlord, Bill. Bill is quite frankly a disgusting human being, he smells like he rarely showers, always has some kind of stain on his clothes and treats women like dirt. I didn't know what was wrong but I just knew she looked terrified. I opened our door as quickly as I could and ran over to the pair. Bill swiftly left and later that week Lexi moved in, we've been pretty much inseparable ever since.
Months later she told me why they were arguing, turns out Bill had put his hands on her and when she swatted them off he'd told her it was the only way she was going to be able to rent an apartment. She told me how scared she had been and how thankful she was that I'd come out before anything could have happened. That night Lexi and I really bonded because I understood that fear.
