Page 9 of Mafiosa
What about Under the Sea?
Sophie!! We’re not going to a five-year-old’s birthday party!
I wish we were. At least there’d be cake.
You don’t even like children. Remember that time you tried to shake a baby’s hand?
You’re underestimating how much I love cake. And I was just trying to be cordial.
By the end of class, I had twenty-nine rejected dance themes under my belt.
Millie got to her feet. ‘Well, that was a bust. I can’t believe I thought you’d be good at that.’
‘To be honest, neither can I. I mean, as much as I’d like to, I can’t just masquerade around here like someone who’s expec—’
‘Sophie!’ Millie’s eyes looked like they might fall right out of her head. ‘You’re agenius! I can’t believe I didn’t think of it before, but of course it makes total sense, especially with it being around Halloween!’ She raised her hand above us, unveiling a picture only she could see. ‘Sophie, I give you… Cedar Hill High’s Masquerade Ball. Classy, sexy, mysterious…’
‘Masks.’ I could almost taste the irony. ‘You want us to wear masks.’
A memory undusted itself deep in the corner of my mind. The first time I met Valentino at the old Priestly mansion in Cedar Hill. The mask he wore then. The masks he said we all wore for fear of the alternative – being our true selves, risking being rejected for who we are deep in our core, for what we really desire. Even now, I was pretending to my best friend. I was pretending to be happy, I was pretending to get better. Inside, I was twisted and raw.
I was already wearing a mask.
Millie was jumping up and down like an excited puppy and pulling me back into the hallway, where people spread out from me in purposeful arcs, as though I might cry if they brushed against my shoulder, or curse them if they looked me in the eye.
‘At least if we have to wear masks, people might start treating me like a normal person again.’
‘Bah!’ Millie twirled into her locker, throwing me a look over her shoulder as she fiddled with the combination. ‘Normal is boring. Weird is where it’s at.’
I tried to smile at her but this time it wobbled. I was conscious of where I was going next. Of which Falcone might be outside waiting to collect me. I was brushing off the old Sophie, and stepping outside, back to my new life, where murder and betrayal swirled around me like thunderclouds.
‘At least it’s Friday.’
‘What?’ I blinked her back into focus.
‘You’re looking very pensive and sad,’ Millie pointed out. ‘I thought maybe you’d forgotten it was Friday. You have all thisextra time to make out with Luca now.’ She started making elaborate kissing noises.
‘Oh my God, shut up!’ I swatted her in the arm. I glanced over my shoulder, fearful that a rogue Falcone might be hiding inside a locker, or that Nic might be stuck to the ceiling. ‘That’s a secret. Ahugesecret.’
Millie wiggled her eyebrows.
‘He hasn’t kissed me since I moved in. He’s barely even spoken to me.’He’s too busy trying to keep me as far away from him as possible, as far away from everything it really means to be a Falcone.I tried to pretend I didn’t care, but a big part of me couldn’t shake off the feeling of his arms around me, of his lips on mine, of how comforted he had made me feel. How the badness hadn’t seemed so bad when we were facing it together. But now that I was living atEvelina, things were different: it was like there was a pane of glass between us.
Everything, according to Luca, was temporary.
Temporary.
The word burnt inside me.
‘Well, he did make his entire family offer you sanctuary despite the fact that you’re… you know…’
‘A Marino,’ I supplied. ‘It’s not a curse. You can say it.’
‘Yeah, well, my point is he stuck his neck out for you, and from what I know of him, he doesn’t really seem like the type to do something like that so lightly. Maybe he’s biding his time… or,’ she raised her finger, ‘maybe he’s scared of something… or someone. It’s probably his twin. The boss-man. Old blue-eyes-creepy-smile. What’s his name again?’
‘You know his name,’ I said. ‘And can you keep your voicedown, please? I’ve taken a vow of secrecy and anyone could be listening to you right now.’
Millie rolled her eyes.
