The Masked Singer

The Masked Truth (Preview)

C H A P T E R T H R E E

As I grab the Grande coffee off the counter, I can't help but think this is something Lucy should be doing. Somewhere after finishing high school and moving out here together, we've somehow completely swapped roles in each other's lives.

I'm always stressing about something perfect and complete to leave the house in, and Lucy, well, you can't get her out of a pair of sweats. I guess moving to study fashion was beginning to take a toll on her dress sense along with a few other things.

Despite living in comfortable clothing, she still has a good head for custom designing, which is why I often get her to collaborate with my other personal designer for gowns worn for award shows. Lucy knows me so well, it makes the process a little easier when messing around and coming up with something.

It also gives us quality best friend time to throw our problems around for advice and reassurance, along with binge eating our favourite takeaway foods in the process to help make us feel better about everything.

Today we're going window shopping to try and find something to give us an idea of what I want. Lucy has been throwing a few mock designs together, today is going to help shape those raw ideas even more. We're looking for a fabric colour, style of dress, something to pin on my design board to get this process rolling!

After all of this time touring around, I've begun to appreciate these moments I get to spend with Lucy shopping and just having fun. When I throw this all away, I want to be able to cling to the fun memories of strangers staring at us weirdly as we try expensive, overpriced gowns on we'll never buy.

I walk down the pathway towards Lucy's place. The morning sun shines down on me, so I use the end of the coffee cup to knock my sunnies off the top of my head and onto my face. I have to shake my head to make the glasses settle on my noise comfortably, but it feels better than being blinded by the light.

While I walk, I take small sips of coffee as I make my way over. The excitement inside of me bubbles to a new level when her building comes into view. I quickly down my lukewarm coffee and toss it in a bin, and then grab my phone to call Lucy.

My call goes straight to voice mail, but that doesn't stop me from leaving a message for her later.

"Get your lazy bum out of bed!" I shout out. A few people in the street give me a weird look, but it makes me chuckle internally.

I let myself inside her apartment building and make my way up to her floor. I pull the key out of my bag and unlock the door, then close it with my foot. The door slams shut, which slightly scares me. I also hope it's enough noise to rattle Lucy away.

"Wake up, lazy bones!" I scream out.

I head towards her bedroom and open the door. I'm met by a dark space and the low snores of a sleeping Lucy. She could honestly sleep through an explosion and still not wake the slightest bit to the ruckus.

However, light always seems to irritate any sleeping person. I walk towards her curtains and rip them apart to allow some light into this dark space.

The light quickly fills every inch of the room, and also highlights how messy this place is. There's clothing all over the floor and hanging off the end of her bed. Her desk is filled with papers which go all the way up the wall on her large pin-up board.

I'd like to believe I'm better with my organisation, but I'm probably much the same with my creative wall. It's organised to me at least. It's sectioned, colour coded and has a place, I can't say the same for Lucy's desk.