His Mask Of Duplicity

⚜ 5 ⚜

THANKS FOR READING!

I ended up buying three new articles of clothing on Saturday with Adrian . Two of them Adrian has already seen because he picked them out for me ... surprisingly. One is a lavender muscle tee, the ones where the arm holes droop down to your sides. The other I bought is a navy nice-but-casual shirt that is just barely too tight around my stomach; it's long-sleeved, but has cut outs for my shoulders to stick out. Another clue about Adrian's reputation was the comments he gave me when I tried on the clothes he picked out for me.

"Mm. You look hot," he eyed my outfit hungrily and bit his bottom lip which happened to look very sexy.

The other outfit he hasn't seen is the classic white pant suit or jumper—whatever you want to call them. I'm planning to wear it for my first day. You know, make an impression.

Although, I want to impress people. I don't want to show up in garbage bag looking clothes—it'll just look like I don't care or don't try. I want a good reputation; I want to be likable. Other than that, I have no one to impress but myself.

And certainly not Adrian.

***

"So, how exactly are you planning to get to school?" Mom eyes me as she packs the last of my lunch. I hadn't really put any thought in to my transportation situation.

"Hold on," I raise my pointer finger as I pull out my phone from the pocket of my white jumper. As I search up the time estimate of walking to school, Mom taps her fingers impatiently on the counter, clearly irritated. "Okay! So, it's only a five minute walk to school from here. There's no need to waste money on a bus ticket if I can walk."

Mom sighs and nods her head. "Okay, well, better get going if you want to make it on time. Good luck!"

I wave my mom a goodbye and head out the apartment door. I ride the elevator down to the lobby by myself and thoughts of how my day will unfold play in my head. I'm nervous, but not too nervous. My outfit is on point, which my backpack coincidentally matches, and my makeup looks good for once.

I get to school early. Some students are on campus as well, but most aren't present. I decide I fit in—my clothes are a little nicer than some of the other students, but not by much. Their outfits are nice like mine.

As I turn the corner on the sidewalk and am now entering the building, a gush of cold, air-conditioned wind blasts me. Some scattered students roam the halls and are opening their lockers. I make my way to the main office to retrieve my schedule for the semester.

"Why hello there!" a very high pitched voice greets me.

"Uh, hi," I wave, looking around aimlessly.

"You must be new," the desk lady assumes. Her librarian-like glasses are pushed to the end of her nose, her eyes peering over them to study me.

"How would you know that?" I ask in a tentative way.