The Masquarade

Okay, so this story was in my head like crazy the past few days. Hope u like it :) Feedback would be really great, to let me know to keep writing. 

Chapter One

Three days ago, I told my friend Cassie the truth. You want to know what the truth is? Even I don't know it. Seriously, I didn't tell her. I know, I know, I just told you I told her, but really, she found out on her own and won't tell me. I'm confused now, so I'm just going to drop it. Now she's not really talking to me, which means I have to resort to finding something else to do in my spare time. LIke petting Mr.Papers, my cat.

I know, pathetic. Sigh.

Right now, in the present, my father was calling, so I put Mr. Papers on the ground and went into the kitchen. Dad was trying his best to make us some speggetti, but was sadly failing. The noodles were in a big gooey clump and the sauce was sticking to the bowl. How did they even end up that way. Rolling my eyes, I looked at Dad with a raised eye brow.

"What? Will you help me?" he said, washing his hands. Shaking my head without a word, I scraped the noodles into the trash and rubbed a bunch of soap onto the sauce to make it come off. 

"So, you want take out?" he asked, coming over to help. I looked at him. 

"Yeah, sure, why not? We've only had take out every day of this week. How about Paroni's again?" I said. Paroni's Pizza was the best pizza parlor in town, so on a Friday, like today, it would be buzzing with service. Dad smiled and kissed my forehead.

"Fine, kiddo. Go get dressed. We can clean this up later." And with that, he went to his room to put on a fresh shirt. I went to my room down the hall and put on a tank top and some jeans along with a little eyeliner and eye shadow. My dark hair was too long to put up in my eyes, so I put a small bit of it in a clip. My blue shirt went well with my eyes.

Glancing out the window, I saw that the horizon was still slightly orange and pink while the rest of the sky was a deep purple. Cars passed by outside our house noisily, but the sound was comforting. I went back to the kitchen where Dad was waiting with a newspaper in his hands. My father was still young, in his late thirties and single. My mother had run out on us when I was only three months old, so he was a single parent. But he was a good one, and I loved him.

"Ready to go?" he asked. I took his arm and led him out the door. Paroni's was only about six blocks away, so we liked to walk there. Out town was one of those where you could easily walk everywhere, where there were sidewalks everywhere. The soft, cool breeze played with my hair as we crossed a street and walked down a alleyway. Somewhere nearby, a dog barked as a car horn blared.

"Hey, Dad, can I ask you a question?" I said, stuffing my hands into my pockets. I listened to our footsteps as a few seconds passed.

"Sure. Shoot."

"Did you ever go to any dances in high school? Or junior high?"

He paused for a moment, then laughed, stopping to put a hand on my shoulder. "Cellie, is this about a boy? Should I know about him?"

"No!" I said, surprised. Then I laughed too. "No, nothing like that. No boys.I mean, I was just asking because I've never really gone to one, and..." I trailed off, letting it hang in the air between us awkwardly. Dad nodded as we began to move again.

"Well, I did go to one with your mother. She was the life of the party. Well, for me, anyway. A boy who had had a crush on her all year wanted to fight me because he was jealous...and your mother stopped him. And I wasn't all too handsome, let me tell you. But your mother...she was the most beautiful one there." He looked at the pavement in that far away stare he does when we talk about Mom, though that was rarely.

Paroni's Pizza Parlor was in front of us now, with its big red neon sign hanging in the window and it's checkerboard tileing. As I said, it was packed. People streamed in and out, carrying cups of soda and pizza boxes. Kids ran around screaming at each other and playing on the few video games that there were. Dad and I sat down at one of the last available seats in the room and looked voer the menus.

"The stuffed crust, deep dish, cheese pizza please," I said, smiling and putting the menu down. I had already known what I wanted. Dad rolled his eyes.

"You know, kiddo, when you get older, that stuff'll give you heart burn so bad it would feel like hell itself." But he shrugged and went to go order the food and drinks. I glanced around the room and stopped on the door. Cassie and her other friend Jacey were coming in, along with a few boys from school. I sank down in my chair and put up my menu to try and hide myself, but I saw that Cassie's eyes had stopped on me.

"Okay, Cellie. Lets go get our drinks." Dad set my cup in front of me and I got up, covering my face with hair. There was a small line at the soda fountains, so we sat there for about ten minutes waiting for everyone to clear out. Finally, I was able to my Coke and sit at the table again. I caught Cassie's eye again and saw that she jerked her head towards the restroom. I immediately understood and excused myself from the table.