Masking Amaya Frazer

{15} Take on the World

Milo returned to his dorm room at Clark Weller University for the remainder of the summer, leaving me to count down the days until his course ended. Marcus rarely left his room and only ever did so to eat or use the bathroom.

I hadn't spoken to him for the entire duration of the summer after the first time we met in Milo's room, but tonight was different.

A high-pitched cry in the dead of night sent a jolt through my body, startling me awake as my heart pounded in my chest. Grabbing a robe, I tightened it around my body to ward off the slight chill as I rushed out in the hall.

Mandy's door was cracked open, allowing a sliver of light to shine out into the hall. Just as my hand met the cold doorknob, a deep, comforting voice filtered through the opening.

"It's okay, it was only a dream."

I paused, peeking through the crack to witness an unexpected scene.

The man who had previously threatened me not to go into his room under any circumstance was now smoothing back Mandy's sweat-soaked bangs as she cried into his shoulder. Patting her back, Marcus held the little girl close as he comforted her.

"Can I sleep with you, Daddy?" She asked, peering into his eyes.

My hand jumped to my mouth as I gasped. Marcus' eyes of ice froze my body, prohibiting me from moving away. There was no point in trying to hide; I'd already been caught.

Mandy wasn't Milo's sister, she was his niece.

Which also meant she was Marcus' daughter. No wonder she'd called Milo her dad when he'd come home for the weekend at the beginning of the semester; she'd mixed them up.

Mentally cursing myself for the surprised gasp that escaped my lips, I willed my legs to move to no avail. Marcus stood up, sent a heated glare my way, and yanked the door shut.

Why had Milo lied about Mandy being his little sister?

Leaning heavily against the closed door, I took a deep breath to calm my pounding heart. Marcus could not be older than twenty-three which meant he had had Mandy when he was around my age.

So, where was Mandy's mother?

I shut my eyes, resting my head against the door as I wondered the reasoning behind Milo lying to me. He had said that I never tried to get to know him, but what if it was his fault all this time that I could never get close enough to see who was underneath his dark mask? What if he didn't want me to know who he was hiding behind the mask? After all, he had lied to me about a simple matter...

...which meant he could also be lying about a lot of other things.

I shivered, realizing that I still knew close to nothing about Milo. He'd stood on the edge of a bridge and plummeted to the waters below, neglecting to care that he could have very well died from the decision. He'd even confessed to not knowing if it was a good thing that he had survived the fall while he'd had me perched on the wall of the balcony the night we'd completed our art assignment.

"Woah!" I exclaimed as I tumbled backwards, landing painfully on my backside as the door was pulled open.

Looking up through the hair strewn across my face, I found a pissed off Marcus glaring down at me with a tight-lipped frown. Letting go of the doorknob, he shook his head and stretched a hand in my direction.

Swiping the hair out of my eyes, I clasped my hand in his, and he easily lifted my entire weight off the ground as if I weighed no more than one of the feathers attached to the mask I wore the night I'd first met Milo.