Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Girl with the Masks and The Student Body President: Kabanata 81 - Kabanata 90

“I do,” he said, tossing his keys onto a small table by the door before moving further into the room. “Make yourself at home. Kitchen’s that way if you’re hungry—come on, lemme show you my room.”He was at ease, an indication he truly was used to such grandeur and no longer thought it such. He didn’t flinch away from the furniture the way I wanted to, nor did his eyes linger on any one piece of elegant décor for too long.“The house doesn’t end at the door, you know. Come in,” he teased.I shook my head, adamant in my new resolve. “I don’t want to break anything.” It all looked…expensive. I wouldn’t know how to begin to explain to my mother that we owed thousands to people whose house I had no business being in. The door was fine. From there, I could see how the other half lived and gained greater insight into why he was the way he was.At the door, the

When I awoke, it was to a gentle stroking motion against my cheek. My vision focused, revealing the dimpled smile I knew I’d fallen in love with. I smiled back as memories of the previous night danced before my eyes, stirring my insides with renewed desire. It had been unlike anything I’d experienced before. Jayden’s kisses had been tender to start then ravenous and all-consuming as we drew toward our climax.There was no residual disgust or diminishing self-worth, only a growing sense of satisfaction. Jayden had done everything in his power to ensure I knew how highly he thought of me, proving worshipful in his every move.“Good morning, beautiful,” he mumbled, still attempting to remove the last of the sleep from his eyes. “What would you like for breakfast?”“You cook?”“No, but the cook does. I could put in a special request before she gets started.”A cook? It reminded me of a m

Breakfast was the second heaven I never thought I’d get to enter after being granted access into the first the night before. The scrambled eggs all but melted on my tongue; they were light and buttery, enticing me to have more than my fill. The pancakes were as fluffy and filled with flavours that complemented each other as they swirled around in my mouth. It had been a while since I’d had such a fearless feast and it sparked grand festivities in my mouth the likes of which I never wanted to forget. Someday, all my meals would be that way. I would make them myself and bask in the security of knowing they were never two or three bites away from sending me to an emergency room. I would eat everything in sight and do so freely. Stuffed beyond belief, we lay together on the couch lost in mindless conversation. It hurt to laugh, but Jayden was unfortunately effortless in his ability to make me do just that. I was entranced by his charismatic storytelling and the ease that

As quickly as the assault began, it ended. Mom let me go, a deceptive calm washing over her. She spared a brief glance at Lilia, but her attention was for me. A menacing smirk slowly crept its way onto her face., churning my insides painfully."Let's go home."Home. It was the place that housed many knives, stores of poisons, thick belts of leather, and a sound-proof basement; the place that held my demise. I couldn’t think of a place more sinister. Going home with her wouldn’t bear too great a difference from any executively drawn decision I could make to take my own life; the difference was marginal at best.“Come on. Your father came by first thing this morning; he’s waiting for you.”…The son of a bitch.Had he stayed in whatever cockroach’s hollow he’d crawled into when he got back to town, my mother’s mind would’ve remained far from me. Without his aggravating presence bearing down

  His words faded into the background, appearing as little more than garbled mutterings too far away for me to hear as my eyes scanned document after document. Scepticism gave way to uncertainty then chagrin as the truth laid itself out before me. There were documents that dated back to as early as my 7th birthday…the year after he’d left. Many were stamped, some contained stains and other evidence of their paper aging. There were motions to move forward with hearings and other motions to suspend stemming from ‘an inability to locate mother and children’. My head swung from the revelation, my mind scrambling to make sense of the complicated court jargon that sought to further scramble my thoughts. “I’ve already got schools lined up for you and your brother. I—I know about Emily, too. She can come with us, of course, there’s no question about that. I started looking for daycares but wanted you having a final say in where she spends her