Just For Glory | COMPLETED

Chipping the Mask

That Saturday, I spent the entire day at Laser's house, smoking weed and raiding his parents' liquor cabinet. We ended up throwing a party, a crazy one in which I got more drunk than intended and woke up the next morning in Laser's bed next to a blue-haired girl I was didn't know.

I managed to make it home somewhere around 10 that morning, all the while cursing the sun. I showered, discovering several bite marks on my chest. Grimacing, I made a mental note to avoid that girl in the future. I got out of the shower and fell asleep for almost four hours.

At 2:45, I remembered that I was supposed to be at Piper Nolan's house at 3:00 yesterday. I found the paper with her address on it in my pocket and was surprised when I saw how close she was to me. Lira Street was only about a quarter mile from my house. However, since I was hung over and it was cloudy, I decided to drive there.

I found her place easily enough; it was smallish but not tiny or uninhabitable. I walked up to the front door and knocked, which was immediately followed by the loud barking of what sounded like a very large dog. I heard Piper's voice, saying, "Hush, Key!" Then the door opened, revealing the girl in question with her left hand curled around the collar of a black lab with floppy ears and a big tongue.

She didn't look up as she soothingly said, "Key, don't worry it's only..." Piper trailed off, staring at me oddly. "What do you want?"

"English project?" I offered.

"Yeah, no kidding. I meant, what you are doing here today?" she said, wrapping her fingers more tightly around the dog's collar.

"Better late than never," I told her, employing my best dull voice.

She rolled her eyes at me, taking a deep breath. "Fine, just...come in, then." I glanced warily at the enormous dog she was apparently restraining. Piper noticed and quirked her lips up slightly, but I had a feeling she was smiling at the dog, not me.

"Don't worry about him. Key doesn't like the front door, but he's ancient and harmless, and he might lick you," she said in one breath. Then she moved to the side, pulling the big dog with her. He followed easily enough, but I was still careful. For being "ancient and harmless," he sure had a loud bark.

I stepped into her house uncertainly, feeling incredibly out of place. Everything was bright and pastel; my heavy black pants and bomber jacket seemed to be the only things lacking color in the room. Then I glanced over at Piper and saw I was wrong, noticing for the first time that she was wearing baggy, dark green sweatpants that hung low on her hips and a black long-sleeved thermal. I smirked at her, raising my eyebrow, relieved that the new piercing had stopped hurting for the most part.

"Honestly, Piper, you didn't have to dress up for me!" I said, patting her dog's head. He closed his eyes lazily, opening them only when she clicked her tongue at me yet again.

"Honestly, Donovan, you can get over yourself any time now. I didn't even know you were coming," she said easily, turning and going through a doorway. I followed her into a kitchen. A short, plump woman who must have been Piper's mother stood by the stove, and a guy with a beanie on who looked like he was about my age sat at the table, eating a sandwich and reading the paper.

Piper walked over to what had to be her mother, and I marveled at the image. Piper was at least six inches taller than the woman and looked even slighter-of-frame next to the slightly overweight woman. They had similar noses, thin but rounded, that made them look more related.

"Mum, this is Donovan O'Byrne. Remember I told you about my English project? He showed up," Piper said dully, moving over to the guy at the table, and her mother turned around fully, beaming at me. I was taken aback. It was like I was an old friend, the way she looked so happy to see me.