Page 95 of The Masks She Wore

?Little plants decorated the bookshelves, she loved reading about herbology, fantasy, love stories. She had beaded curtains along her windows, a flat screen. Nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing that screamed ‘I’m not who I say I am’. Although, what would scream that?

?I walked up to the pictures she had of us, of her family, studying them carefully. How could Malachi say Viv wasn’t who she said she was if I could remember everything about her? I remembered hanging out with her during lunch at school, going to parties on every birthday after our 17th, sneaking out of the house and drinking in analley because we could. I remembered so much, a life of memories. She had to be real. This wasn’t some spy movie. She wasn’t born and raised as a spy, sent to infiltrate my life. Stuff like that didn’t exist.

?It couldn’t.

?She was the only friend I had ever had; she couldn’t be bad. She couldn’t be behind this. I was sure of it.

?I pulled a little photo of us out of the corner of a picture frame. It was taken from a polaroid when we were 16. 11thgrade. I hadn’t been allowed to go to prom that year, so we snuck out and had our own dance. I lost my virginity that year. To some guy at some party. I couldn’t even remember what color of hair he had.

?I glanced towards the hall, hearing Viv putting away her makeup. Without thought, I slid the photo away. I didn’t keep anything sentimental like that. It wasn’t my thing, which seemed strange with how many pictures I took to put online, but I don’t know, I guess I never saw the need for it, the reason behind it.

?Memories were fleeting, it didn’t matter how many pictures you took, they would all fade. I suppose, thinking about it now, that seemed like a jaded way of thought.

?I should have kept them all.

?My gaze traveled over the pictures again. Pictures of her parents, her siblings. Good people, from what I could remember.

?“Hey,” Viv finally greeted. “Rehashing good times?”

?I shrugged. “Do you know why I never kept any pictures?”

?She gave me a weird look as she made her way over to her couch. “You said it was pointless, remember? Our memories lived within us. It was poetic.”

?Poetic. What a crock. “Yeah, I guess. I just can’t see why I never kept any pictures of my mom, of us,” I went on, turning to her. “I don’t have anything.”

?Her face fell as she flicked her hair up over the collar of her jacket. “I’m sorry, Rae. Maybe I can go through some photo albums, eh? Find you some good ones of us, of your mom? She was gone a lot, but I’m sure we caught her once or twice.”

?I gave her a grateful smile, one that I really meant. “Thank you.” See? How could someone that genuine not be real? Malachi had to be wrong. He had to be.

?“Hey, you’re welcome, now come on,” she laughed, pulling at my hand. “Let’s go, I don’t want to be late.”

?I didn’t know this city as well as I did LA. The streets were unfamiliar, and I had no guesses as to what this surprise would be, but the drive seemed long.

?I chewed on my cheek as I stared out the window, nervous. I wasn’t sure why. If she betrayed me, then I wanted nothing to do with her, but losing a friendship? That was hard. She was it. She was all I had left of my old life, the life I knew. Once I destroyed this, all I had was Jack.

?The serial killer I was fucking.

?I winced, my eyes falling to my hands. Fuck, stop doing that to yourself. You can’t change it—

?“Are you okay? You look like you just smelled shit.”

?“Oh, yeah,” I laughed nervously. “Sorry, I was thinking about earlier, that phone call.”

?Her face twisted. “That guy who brought that girl over? He’s a piece of shit, Rae, don’t give him another thought. We’ll find you another man tonight that will make you forget all about him.”

?My brows furrowed. “Tonight? Where are you taking me?” We were going to a party? God, I really didn’t have the energy for a party tonight.

?She waggled her eyebrows knowingly. “A secret, I can’t tell you. Oh, but here.” She fished something out of her pocket and handed it to me.

?It was a small baggy with little white pills lacing the bottom. “Molly?”

?“Molly,” she confirmed, her smile mischievous. “They’ll kick in by the time we get there.”

?I stared at them for a long time. I really wanted to take them, mainly because of how it felt the night Jack had fucked me on them. I wanted that again. Maybe it would make it easier to destroy this friendship too. If that’s what it came down to.

?I inhaled deeply and opened up the baggie, sliding one under my tongue, wincing at the taste. I always hated the way they tasted.

?I handed her the baggie and pulled out my phone, sending Jack a message.

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