true colors - jb & ag 《completed》

{twenty-seven}

The mayor's antebellum mansion appeared to float in a sea of fog as Ariana and Lisa approached arm in arm, the gauzy material of their costumes brushing in a whisper. Eerie music filled the air, old-fashioned gas lanterns lined the winding driveway, and fairy lights twinkled in the trees. Beautiful and haunting, the atmosphere ignited memories from years past. All the times Ariana and Justin had attended with her dad, his eyes twinkling behind whatever creature he'd painted on his face.

Lisa squeezed Ariana's hand. "I'm sorry I'm your date instead of . . . you know."

Ariana had survived the last few days by stuffing her feelings down into the basement of her soul where no one would ever find them. She was good at it. She'd had a lot of practice after Justin left the first time. But she didn't want to talk about him now. "Let's just focus on tonight. I've been coming to this ball since I was a kid. It's totally over the top. You're going to love it."

"I'm not so sure about that." Lisa's voice quivered as they reached the first bend in the driveway. Thick mist swirled up their legs and the sounds of moaning spirits echoed all around them.

"Don't be a ninny," Ariana chided as a Victorian ghost drifted by covered in iridescent paint from her crow-topped hat to the sweeping hem of her bell-like skirt. "I'm the one who's supposed to have the anxiety disorder."

"Where I'm from, you follow your instincts, and if something doesn't feel right, you cut and run . . . or you die."

"That might be a tad bit dramatic." Ariana's words were drowned out by the blast of organ keys as all the lights in the yard blinked off. Lisa shrieked, and every window in the house flashed like lightning with thunder booming close behind.

After a few beats of silence, the haunted tune wound back up and the lights flickered on one by one. There were a few nervous laughs, and a nearby Jack Skellington whooped and pumped a spindly arm.

"You were saying?" Lisa demanded. "That was just dang creepy."

"That's kind of the point."

Once inside, they checked their coats, and Ariana stopped to look at her costume in the hall mirror. Lisa had painted Ariana's face with swirls of black, purple, and silver so that it appeared that a mask was tattooed to her skin. The tiny crystals glued to her temples, fake violet-tipped eyelashes, and lavender-glitter lipstick transformed her into something magical—Ariana the Wicked Fairy, to be precise. Lisa had thought it would be hilarious to make straitlaced Ariana dark and herself light.

Ariana had to admit, being someone else felt kind of freeing. She smoothed the gossamer layers of her skirt and straightened the laces of her bodice while trying not to imagine what Justin would have thought. Not that it mattered, she reminded herself. He'd be gone tomorrow anyway.

Pushing down the rise of grief and anger, Ariana lifted her chin and smiled as Lisa joined her in the mirror, all pink, gold, and fluffy—Lisa the Light Fairy. Ariana scratched her scalp where the purple extensions clipped into her hair.

"Stop messing!" Lisa smacked Ariana's hand away from her elaborate updo of braids and curls. "You'll ruin my masterpiece."

A woman with an enormous blue wig drifted behind them, and they both spun and shouted, "Effie!"

The woman turned her chalk-white face to them and lifted a gloved hand. "You look fabulous, darlings."

Ariana and Lisa exchanged grins and followed the techno-beat of a Sam Smith-Disclosure remix into the packed ballroom glittered with candlelight and cobwebs. A life-sized mausoleum housed the DJ booth, where Jeff White, dressed as a zombified member of the Grateful Dead, mixed songs like a master. Colorful costumed couples mingled and danced across the floor, making it hard to know where to look first.