Page 1 of The Facade

1

Cambrielle

“Haveyou guys decided what you’re dressing up as for the Halloween dance?” my friend Scarlett, a senior with auburn hair and high cheekbones, asked Elyse and me when we joined her and her best friend Hunter at the table in the great hall for lunch.

“I’m not sure,” Elyse said with a shrug. “Usually, Ava and I plan our costumes together, but since she and Carter are coordinating this year, I’m not sure what I’m doing.”

Ava and Elyse were identical twins who had just come to Eden Falls Academy at the beginning of the school year. They had caused quite the stir when they first arrived, catching most of the guys’ attention at our private school since they were new and gorgeous. But things had settled down a bit now that we were almost two months into the school year and Ava had paired off with my older brother Carter.

“Any ideas what you’d like to dress up as? A character from a movie, or something else?” I asked Elyse, hoping to be helpful.

“I was thinking about going as Elizabeth Swan fromPirates of the Caribbeanor maybe even Cher fromClueless.”

“You would make the perfect Elizabeth Swan.” Scarlett’s eyes widened with excitement. “You have the perfect bone structure to pull off the Keira Knightley look.”

“You think so?” Elyse asked, her cheeks coloring slightly as Scarlett and I looked at her.

“You would look so good,” I agreed with Scarlett. “Were you thinking of wearing one of the fancy gowns? Or the pirate clothes?”

“One of the gowns,” Elyse said. “My mom has a dress she designed that would be perfect for it.” Elyse and Ava’s mom was a famous fashion designer, and so of course she would have the hookups for something like that.

“Dang, you’re going to look so good. All the guys will be asking you to dance all night,” Scarlett said, her tone envious. “Don’t you think so, Hunter?” She glanced at Hunter who was, as usual, reading something on his phone.

When he didn’t respond, Scarlett nudged him with her elbow.

“Uh, what did you say?” Hunter asked, finally looking up from his phone.

Scarlett eyed Hunter somewhat impatiently and said, “I was saying that Elyse dressing up like Elizabeth Swan is like every guy’s fantasy.”

“Oh…” Hunter narrowed his green eyes and seemed to take in Elyse’s long, brown hair and olive-complected skin for a moment, as if picturing her in eighteenth-century clothes. With a shrug, he said, “I guess I can see it.”

And then, he immediately went back to reading whatever he had up on his phone screen.

Scarlett cast our aloof friend a wary glance, like she wasn’t sure what to think about how distracted he’d been all year. But then she shrugged and turned her brown-eyed gaze to me. “What about you, Cambrielle? Have you picked your costume yet?”

“I just got the last piece of it yesterday,” I said, unable to keep a smile from lifting my lips as I thought about the costume I’d been working on for weeks. Dressing up was one of my favorite things to do, so of course Halloween was one of my favorite holidays.

“And what are you going to be?” Elyse asked.

My smile turned mischievous. “It’s a secret.”

“It’s a secret?” Scarlett asked, her eyes brimming with intrigue just as I’d hoped. “And why is that?”

I shrugged. “I just want to surprise everyone.”

Which was true. I did want to keep the Kelana costume my mom and I had been pulling pieces together for over the past few weeks a secret. Kelana being the main character from my favorite romantic fantasy movie.

Though, what would have been even more true was to say that I wanted to surprise aspecificperson with my costume. That person being the super-hot and amazing Ben Barnett.

Ben was in the grade above me—a senior like most of my friends—and I’d had a crush on him ever since last spring when he led the boys’ soccer team to the state championships.

There was just something about a guy who could handle a ball and lead his team to victory that was super attractive to me.

But since I was painfully awkward around guys I liked, I’d never dared do anything about my crush—in fact, I hadn’t even said a single word to him since the school year started. I didn’t go up to high school gods like Ben.

But I had a plan. I was going to channel my inner Kelana at the Halloween dance and under the disguise of my glittery, pink masquerade mask, faerie-queen makeup, and beautiful one-of-a-kind dress, I was going to finally ask him to dance.

And if the dance went well, I was going to ask him out.

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