Page 32 of Monster's Delight

Hazel shrugged. “Maybe they were hoping for a break?”

I frowned. “Breaks have to be scheduled in advance, and they’re school-wide.”

“You’re incredibly literal after taking an exam, has anyone ever told you that?”

“You just did.” I dragged her to the middle foyer, and the stairs going up. “Come on, we need to get dressed for the masquerade!”

“What about dinner? I’mstarving!” Hazel complained.

I wavered until my stomach grumbled. Loudly.

Hazel smirked at me. “Your belly agrees with me even ifyoudon’t. Come on, we’ll grab something portable.”

Now it was her turn to pull me by my hand, this time to the other set of stairs going down. We made our way to the mess hall and grabbed sandwich wraps and fruit from the trays, not even bothering to look into the seating area before taking the stairs two at a time up to the fifth floor.

We half-fell onto the couch to eat.

“You still haven’t told me about your costume,” I said, wiping ranch dressing from the corner of my mouth with a finger.

“No, I haven’t.” Hazel’s eyes danced mischievously. “Neither have you.”

“True. I thought you wanted to keep the costumes a secret.”

Hazel started laughing. “And I thoughtyouwanted to keep it a secret!”

“This is what happens when we don’t communicate!” I shook my head. “It’s been so hard to stop myself from telling you. I’m dressing as the classic Marie Antoinette from her very first masquerade ball.”

“Whoa! That’s going to be stunning. How do you know what she wore specifically to her first masquerade?” Hazel’s eyes were wide.

“Oh, I don’t know for sure. It’s more of an educated guess.” I grinned. “But she was well known for wearing a domino mask, and I borrowed several ideas from gowns in the history books. Did you know that she was a witch?”

“That doesn’t surprise me in the slightest,” Hazel said thoughtfully.

“Oh yes, one of the most famous witches in history, although the magic stuff wasn’t well known, obviously.”

“Obviously,” Hazel repeated soberly. “Poor woman. It was terrible, what the people did to her.”

“War and famine will do terrible things to people, not to mention mob mentality.” I gave myself a shake. “Okay, we shouldn’t be morbid. What’s your costume?”

Hazel smirked. “A human.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Sorry?”

“Well, specifically, the human from this book.” She caught a book that flew neatly into her hand at a gesture from her. She showed me the cover. “It’s a romance novel about speed dating in Purgatory. Lots of shifters, gods, and fun action. And sometimes,” she wiggled the book in my face, “they fall in love with a human.”

“Looking forward to what you do with that,” I said, trying not to laugh. Hazel had been reading that series ever since Una had gotten her hooked on the first one in September.

Hazel wiped her fingers on her sweatpants before snapping them. A mask, a perfect replica of the person on the cover of the book, appeared out of thin air. She put it against her face, and the mask sealed over her greenish-brown skin. Her brown eyes blinked at me and she cocked her head. “Hello, I’m a human. I have to wash my hands at the sink instead of cleansing them with a spell!”

I burst into giggles. “Gross!”

She got up and started walking around the room. “I’m a human, I don’t know how to wash dishes without getting my hands wet. I’m a human, the only way I can fly is by putting myself in a giant metal tube with jet engines.”

My stomach was starting to hurt from my laughter.

“I’m a human, when I get sick, I sniffle and cough for weeks, spreading my germs everywhere.”

“Ewwwww,” I gasped out. “Humans are disgusting.”

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