All Chapters of The Girl with the Masks and The Student Body President: Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

That was it then.I wanted to be angry, to rage the way at least three of them expected I would, but I couldn’t. A soothing balm of numbness seeped into my bones, spreading out across my body so that all but the most extreme of feelings appeared as little more than a prickle along my skin. I supposed I should’ve felt betrayed—Jayden had promised me his vote, after all—but it was too difficult a feeling to muster. The fairytale had been too good to be true from its outset. Make a story too fantastical and the audience would have a hard time believing it.This was more in line with the reality I knew; it made the most sense to me and raised no alarms. There was an odd sort of comfort in the familiar, one that softened the blow to little more than a gentle breeze.“Why?” I asked. It was better to carry on the pretence, if only in small part. I was meant to care and that required asking questions when given such news regardless of

I remained quiet, too consumed by my own feelings of inadequacy to begin to process the fact she’d referred to me with a term of endearment absent external provocation. “Jayden will be here any minute; why’re you just sitting around?”“I can’t go to the dance…” I sniffed once, willing the tears back into their glands with minimal success. To have her see me crying was unlikely to improve my evening and, while I doubted she could make it worse, she had the ability to come dangerously close.“Are you out of your mind?” she asked, crossing the room to join me by my bed. “I’ve already got the camera out—that dress was $85.”I turned to her, my eyes clouding over so that it became difficult to see the rising agitation in her eyes. “Look at me, Mom.” I wiped at my nose. Against my better judgment and the survival instincts I’d gained throughout the years, I broke dow

I leaned onto the counter, trying to steady myself. It was the first mistake. The movement caught my eye in the mirror’s reflection, forcing them up to take in the sight that was me.They’d done a crude job of cutting my hair, tufts both long and short sticking out at odd ends in asymmetrical patterns. Some places went down to the scalp while others retained a few inches. The look complemented the bruises now once again on display in a manner most macabre. They weren’t alone; new bruises had risen in the places the hands of those girls once were.I stared on in a daze, allowing myself to be transfixed by the girl who stood before me now. This was the second mistake. She was a stark contrast to the girl who’d managed to woo me with her beauty moments earlier.A rage I hadn’t felt since I was seven filled me. Self-loathing and disgust swelled inside me; they fuelled the ferality that forced its way in. She was staring at me; pathetic,

"Come on Kai." Jayden took me by my good hand and led me past the boy who’d only been trying to ensure I was okay. He didn’t care about the affront he’d levied, nor did he see the need to portray himself in a more charismatic light as president. Jayden was of a more singular mind. In that moment, I was the one and only concern that plagued him and his every instinct insisted he make me safe.Jayden brought me to the board room, closing the door behind us. He hoisted me onto the meeting table, setting himself before me. His expression was resolute and there was purpose in his eyes. “Who did this to you?”“It doesn’t matter.”

The monotonous humming of the blow dryer replaced the silence for a time as Jonie got me and my dress dry.None of us spoke, understanding that the girl had fallen into a zone of focus that transcended time and space. She was off in her own world working her magic with the makeup as deftly as she’d worked through my hair.Satisfied, she took a step back to look at me. “Get up; the nurse is over in the gym.”I was anxious to get back.The night had taken so many twists and turns since I’d first arrived at the school. It was strange