Chapter Twenty ~ Hide and Seek-1

The hem of my dress fluttered over the damp, peeling floor, my golden heels landing on crumbs and creaks as I descended my apartment stairs. My fingers—painted a deep red—traced down the banister, and I wondered if anyone would see me. If they did, they might not even recognize Joselyn Preston beneath the glittering mask disguising me against the night. The parking lot was soaked in rain, and I stifled a shiver as I exited the falling-apart complex. Felix's car was idling nearby. When he saw me, he opened his door and climbed out, his mouth dropping open. I painted on a red-lipped smile, one that said I didn't care that I was standing in one of the worst suburbs in Oakley. "Wow," Felix said. My focus shifted to him as I devoured in his well-fitting suit and slicked hair. He opened the door for me. "Wow, yourself." "You look... fucking incredible." I pursed my lips and lowered myself into his car. "You want to tell me why I'm picking you up from here?" he asked. I could tell by his tone what he thought of it. Like Sebastian, he kept looking over his shoulder, like someone might rob him. He locked the doors as soon as we were both inside. "Felix," I said, shifting so I was facing him in my seat and taking a deep breath. "I've been lying to you. I don't really live in Candard Heights. There's something I've been—" He pressed a finger to my lips. "You don't have to explain everything to me. I get it—" I brushed his finger from me. "I do, though. You don't understand. I live here." He was quiet for a moment, looking between me and the complex. Eventually, his hand moved to cup my cheek and he kissed me on the forehead. I wished I wasn't wearing the mask so I could be even closer. "You don't have to explain anything to me that you don't want to. I trust you." Fuck, he was making this so hard. His hand rubbed over my knee in reassurance before moving to pop open the glove compartment, pulling out a black mask, its edges cut sharp like flames. He gave me a wink, slipped it on, and put the car into gear. I fidgeted with the gold rings layered on my fingers and watched as the suburbs disappeared outside of the window. Penelope was throwing her party at a fancy mansion on the other side of the woods, far inland enough that it'd take almost an hour to get there. Its isolation made me nervous. I didn't know what she'd have planned. My hopes were that, with masks, maybe I could blend into the background. Maybe, like her relationship with Cole, she'd want to control everything so it went smoothly. In fact, that was likely exactly what she was expecting. To fix things. If she knew Cole was cheating for so long, why didn't she end things? "You know, I knew you didn't live there," Felix said softly. "Even before I knew the situation with your family and everything... you didn't seem to fit." "What do you mean?" I asked. I turned down the tunes I'd been blasting to try and distract my racing mind, turning my attention to him. "You're not like the people who live there," he continued. "I know Penelope lives there, and Cole did too for a while, so that sounds bad, but... It's full of trust-fund babies and cashed-up mistresses. Candard heights is swarming with greedy and corrupt people, but that complex is full of the worst. I suspected that wasn't you, and I was right. I'd noticed you long before you came to steal our seat, remember?" He'd admitted once that he noticed me at the edge of class before, yeah, but I didn't put two-and-two together that he might have seen through the demeanor I'd put on to do Penelope's bidding. I'd always placed him as suspicious, but maybe for different reasons than I'd thought. "That sure is a lot of stereotyping," I said. I didn't mean to sound defensive, but I couldn't exactly seem relieved, either. "You know, I'm usually one to see the best in people. Maybe that's it, that I just believed your heart was too good for that," he said, his eyes creasing. "I still do, for the record." For a moment I clung to the false hope that maybe he'd understand all this. Even when he did find out the truth. I noticed the lanterns strung in the trees become more frequent on our approach. Felix's GPS said we were only three minutes away, and what I'd mistaken as random lights were apparently the start of Penelope's decorations. "Huh," Felix said as the place came into view. It was practically a palace on the top of the pine smothered hill. As we went down the drive I took in the elegance of the front yard, trimmed hedges silhouetted in the dark. A valet. A suited man took Felix's keys and we stepped up the marble staircase, a bizarre mix of a classical band playing over an electronic beat emanating from inside. Other party-goers were slowly arriving, tulle and silk everywhere I could see. Instead of faces, there were jewels and lace, masks covering the upper half of each. "Penelope goes overboard, but this is something else." "This is amazing," I said, letting out a breath. As we entered the house, the lower half transformed into a huge ballroom, my admiration only grew. Felix, with his penchant for interior décor, seemed mesmerized with the chandeliers. A glass of champagne landed in my hand from one of the waiters framing the room. The back garden led to a hedge maze. A freaking hedge maze. Party-goers giggled, running off with champagne flutes into the fairy-light framed darkness. "Felix, Josie!" Poppy's voice came from behind her diamante clad mask, fuchsia lipstick brightening her smile. "We finally recognize someone here!" "I had no idea Penelope had so many friends," Ella said in a voice low enough for only me to hear as Poppy hugged Felix before coming to me. It was true, there were so many people here. Most were our age, but some were older. They looked important. "Come on, I want to do the maze before it gets too cold!" Poppy and Ella led us outside. I think most people seemed to have the same thought, the backyard a lot more crowded than the slowly arriving guest milling inside. I didn't really like the idea of venturing into a maze in the dark with everyone around me wearing a mask, but I could understand the appeal. "Let's split up," Poppy suggested. "Me and Ella versus you two." Felix shrugged, chuckling as Poppy poked out her tongue and disappeared into the leaves. I think I'd recognize him easily even if I didn't already know his mask, from his height and the crazy hair barely tamed within its styling. "Better hurry," he murmured.