Lies, Blue Eyes and Thunder Thighs

Chapter 34 - Masquerade

                                                                           Damien

                                                                              ♥

Brendan.

Brendan.

Brendan.

I don't know what drew me to him. I don't know what it was about him that latched onto my heart, like a virus; slowly deteriorating me from the inside once he was no longer mine. The length of our relationship was slowly fading into a blur, and as much as I love Miles, I can't let it disappear completely.

The line to the dance is agonizingly long. A small group of girls giggle a few spots ahead of me. One turns in my direction with a telling bloom on her young complexion. 

She bites her lip like a porn star in heat, and her friends giggle and grab onto her arms like she had just accomplished an amazing feat. 

They must not go to this school.

"Damien." Layla's voice soothes my irritation. She's leaning on the door frame in a vest and tight knee-high skirt. 

Thank god.

"Hey, Laya." I grin, eagerly shoving my way through the dimwitted blondes. They eye me as I pass, but I've grown accustom to it. My attention isn't on them, anyways.

"Hey. Pays to have a friend in the committee, right?" She nudges me and winks her lengthy lashes, gesturing for me to come in. Glares shoot through me and towards her, like laser guns. 

"Was dressing like a flight attendant in the job description?"

"Sadly, yes." She sighs and hugs a glossy steel platter to her chest. We travel under an elegant ribbon arch and step inside of the smoldering gym. Couples dance and grind on the floor, in large bubbley dresses and charming suits.

I myself wore a plain black suit and tie. I figured nothing else was necessary.  

"Have you seen Miles?" I call over the screaming, laughing, and thundering music.

"I think he went to the bathroom." She blinks up at me with vibrant doe eyes, and I return the glance with a grateful smile. 

"Thanks, Lay. Save me a dance." 

I pass through crowds of sweaty students, and through the opposite set of gym doors. Usually the staff has a baracade assembled between the gym entrance, and the back side. I assume it's to keep kids from wandering around in empty classrooms, and screwing in janitor's closets.

"Hey, handsome." Erica's voice clings to my ears like vibrating glass. I turn to see her at the end of the hall, strutting my way in towering black heels. A feathered black mask hides a portion of her face, but it's not hard to recognize her.

I tense up immediately. Something about her sends a restlessness through my bones.

"Erica." I acknowledge her, and her thin arm finds it's way under mine.

"So, you may or may not owe me a biggy." She sings, clinging to my side like static on a balloon. 

"Why is that?" I grin, as we walk in unison down the vacant hall way.

"Cousin. 23 years old, freshly out of the closet. We'll talk numbers later." She winks at me, a ruby red smile finding it's way to her cheeks.

"I'll have to get back to you on that."