CelesteMy heart raced, and a chill ran down my spine as Matt's words lingered in the air.“I know who you are.”The universe seemed to hold its breath, waiting for the weight of the revelation to crash down. My mind raced. How? When? Was it Sabrina who told him?The myriad of possibilities replayed in my mind: a slip of my tongue, an unwitting recognition by a mutual acquaintance, or maybe the mask hadn’t been as concealing as I’d hoped.Memories of the past, moments of vulnerability, and my reasons for donning the mask in the first place cascaded through my thoughts.The pain of old scars, the years spent constructing the walls around my heart, and the hope that tonight, just tonight, I could be someone else—all of it threatened to come undone.Was I so transparent, so easily deciphered? If Matt had seen through me, how many others had as well?With every heartbeat that thundered in my ears, fear intertwined with embarrassment. I was on the precipice of being exposed, and the freefa
CelesteThe suffocating weight of the ballroom’s atmosphere and the tumultuous whirlwind of emotions pressed me to seek solace. It was time to call my brother before he got suspicious again.Without a moment’s hesitation, I slipped out of Matt’s grip and darted towards the restrooms. My heels clicked against the marbled floors, echoing the rapid rhythm of my heart.Barely catching my breath, I locked myself into a stall, carefully placing my mask on the hook and pulling my hair back tightly. With trembling hands, I dialed Jack’s number, holding my breath for what felt like an eternity.“Finally,” came his gruff voice. The tiny screen lit up with a FaceTime request. “Face me,” he ordered.Trying to control my racing heart, I angled the camera towards the white-tiled wall, ensuring he couldn’t discern my location.“Celeste, where are you? Why can't I see you?”“Just... bear with me,” I whispered, sliding the straps of my dress down and turning the camera towards my face, still carefully
CelesteWhile I was busy at the ball, the winter weather picked up. The atmosphere inside the warm greenhouse garden was a facade, just like my mask.Now, as I walked back to Fiona’s house, the icy wind whipped around me and the fresh snow crunched under my feet, causing the hem of my dress to become damp. Every sound was muffled by the snow, casting the world in a heavy silence.But I didn’t feel any of that, because with every step towards Fiona’s house, the crushing weight of the evening bore down on me more than the snow and the wind.Tears blurred my vision, causing the snowflakes in the air to morph into shimmering white stars. The realization that the fairytale, the brief respite from my daily life, had come to its end was more crushing than I had anticipated. I felt as though I had been suspended in a beautiful dream, only to be jolted awake by the cold slap of reality.Of course Matt would choose Sabrina over me. She was a bitch, but she was a hot and beautiful bitch. For all
MattThe Moon Goddess Festival Ball was held in a vast ballroom with an adjacent greenhouse.It had been mostly abandoned for a long time, but ever since Nina made contact with her Alpha King father, he had been sinking a good amount of his endless money into fixing up this little town. This ballroom was one of his first projects.I still remembered clearly seeing the sudden flood of workers, all of them werewolves, seeping into the building and restoring it to its original beauty.It was a project that only took them a week, maybe two; it would have taken human workers much longer, but between the strength and stamina of the workers and the Alpha King’s vast stores of cash, it was over quickly.Now, to honor his donation, we moved the annual tradition of the Moon Goddess Festival ball over to this beautiful building. The humans in Mountainview were none the wiser, thinking that it was just some anonymous donor who decided to fix the place up and fund the lavish parties.But I knew be
CelesteFiona and I were watching a movie and talking about the night spent at the ball when the doorbell rang. Fiona paused the movie and gave me a quizzical look, because we both knew who was out there: Jack.He was coming to ‘check on me’—or, rather, he was coming to make sure that I was where I said I had been all night.But he wasn’t alone. I could see the silhouette of another person standing behind him, and I recognized those broad shoulders and dark hair immediately. It was Matt.“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” she asked, giving my shoulder a squeeze. “I think…”“I know.” I nodded and stood. “I can see him out there with Jack. It’s fine.”Fiona, nodding, stood alongside me. She made her way over to the door, then opened it a crack and gave my brother a disdainful look. “What do you want?”Jack frowned. “Where’s Celeste? I wanted to check on her.”“What, do you think I’m holding her hostage or something?” Fiona asked, ever the fire-started.Jack, with a huff, folded his a
Celeste“I think you forgot to take out your colored contact lenses.”The shock of Fiona’s words hung heavily in the air. My eyes widened.“No,” I said with a wry laugh, shaking my head. “Stop teasing me, Fiona. It’s not nice.”“Celeste.” Fiona grabbed my wrist, her eyes burning with sincerity. “I’m not joking. Come here.”Still holding my wrist, she yanked me to my feet and headed for the bathroom. I followed close behind, my heart pounding in my ears, matching the rush of panic swirling in my gut.With a light shove, Fiona pushed me over to the mirror. Upon seeing my reflection staring back at me, my stomach dropped.“God, how could I be so stupid?” I muttered, staring at the reflection in the bathroom mirror. The vivid blue contact lenses that had transformed my mismatched green and brown eyes for the ball were still there. They were supposed to be my perfect disguise.Fiona’s eyes widened in the reflection. “Celeste, I’m so sorry I didn’t notice sooner.”“It’s not your fault,” I w
MattThe Mystery Girl was running, running out of the ballroom. I had to stop her.Wading through the sea of people, I kept my eyes glued on the twilight blue dress. I saw her slip out through a side door, and I chased after her. But there were a lot of people in the way, and I couldn’t get through. I wasn’t able to slip out of the door after her for too long, and by the time I emerged, she was gone.The smell of a cigarette caught my attention. I whipped around to see a girl standing by the door, leaning against the wall. She had a smirk on her face.“Looks like Cinderella’s carriage turned back into pumpkins and her horses turned into mice,” she cooed, staring at me through her thin eyebrows. “Maybe you should go and see if she lost her glass slipper somewhere.”Frowning, I made a face at the girl and whipped back around. The Mystery Girl had left footprints in the snow, but they were being covered fast by the new snow that was falling. I quickly followed them, not caring if my pant
CelesteBlocking Matt sent a whirlwind of emotions crashing down on me. I felt a mixture of pride, sadness, and overwhelming regret.At first, I was able to keep myself busy by cleaning the entire house from top to bottom, just as Jack ordered.As I moved around the house, the rhythmic motions of cleaning became almost therapeutic. Jack’s words echoed in my mind, reminding me of my ‘duties’. But I wasn’t cleaning for him; it was a welcomed distraction, a physical way to keep my mind off of Matt.The sound of the vacuum roared, drowning out my thoughts as I methodically went over the carpet. The repetitive back-and-forth motions were soothing, keeping my racing heart in check. With every swipe of the cloth over the dirty surfaces, every piece of trash picked up, and every dish scrubbed clean, I tried to erase the lingering thoughts of our last encounter.I took particular time polishing the wooden coffee table, letting the lemony scent of the cleaner envelop me. The wood gleamed, refle