Two-Faced (Masks #2)

by Melissa Pearl

  It was brief, but it felt like enough to dampen the bad vibes swirling around us.

  “See you tomorrow.”

  “Night, Caity.” He ran his fingers down my cheek, his thumb gently brushing my chin before he walked away.

  I felt sick as I watched him leave. What the hell were we doing?

  Hiding stuff from each other?

  That wasn’t the way we worked. Sure, we hadn’t even been together a year yet, but it felt weird to be so secretive. We were both playing stubborn mule and I didn’t know who would break first. Most likely me, since I was the weaker one when it came to those kinds of things, but what would he say if he knew what I was up to?

  He’d be disappointed and maybe even angry. He already looked mad and I didn’t want to add to it.

  Tears burned my eyes as I gripped my binder and slowly headed for my dorm.

  Would Eric and I survive?

  I hated the idea of breaking up with him; I loved him. But if I really did love him, then why was I keeping secrets from him? Why was I pursuing something that was driving a wedge between us?

  I sniffed at my tears, slashing them off my face as I walked.

  Because I saw something that I couldn’t ignore. That was why.

  Damn my stupid eyesight, it was ruining my life!

  16

  Caitlyn

  I slouched back to my room, too depressed to move quicker than a slug. All I wanted to do was crawl under my covers and sleep the night away. I glanced at my watch and scoffed. It wasn’t even six o’clock. I was so pathetic.

  This whole Eric thing was really dragging me down. I guessed it was too good to be true. I mean the guy was so freaking hot and gorgeous. I’d been drooling over him since the second he moved in next door. He’d kept his distance at first and I always thought he didn’t like me, but then I got this new eyesight and everything changed. It was the thing that pulled us together...and now it was pulling us apart.

  I sniffed, feeling more tears brewing as I neared my dorm room. I hoped Piper was with Scott. I didn’t want to explain my tears to anybody.

  Pushing my door open, I slumped into the room, my shoulders drooping when I noticed Piper at her desk. She was obviously trying to study, but totally failing. Her pen was tap-tap-tapping on her notepad and her brow was furrowed.

  “Hey,” I mumbled, dropping my binder onto the desk.

  “Hi.” Her reply was curt. She was obviously in a bad mood. I’d seen her like that before. I should have probably peeled back the layers and figured out if there was something nice I could say to make her feel better, but right then, I didn’t want to know.

  With a huff, I unzipped my bag and yanked out my wallet and phone. Shoving my phone into the back pocket of my jeans, I grabbed my ATM card and decided to head off campus for some dinner. The idea of staying with a grumpy Piper was plain unbearable and I could use a walk by myself.

  “See ya.” I didn’t wait for Piper’s reply, just shot the words over my shoulder and left the room.

  I raced down the stairs and out into the night air. It’d be getting dark soon. I couldn’t stay out for too long. Memories of Mason pulling me into a side alley and threatening me still played in my mind.

  I crossed my arms and squeezed as I walked, deciding to stick near campus. There was a burger joint nearby that wasn’t half bad. I veered in that direction, keeping my head down. My steps were quick and agitated, hardly the relaxing walk I was going for. I couldn’t get over what a suck-fest the year was turning out to be. It was my freshman year at college; it was supposed be freaking awesome!

  But I wasn’t having fun.

  My roommate was a neat-freak bitch. My classes were boring. My boyfriend had turned from mellow-perfection into a ticking time bomb. Sure, he’d struggled with some anger issues in the past, but I’d never seen him as fired up as he was that afternoon. At least we ended on a good note, but I still felt uneasy.

  And then there was the whole drug issue. That was what had started the whole mess. The very idea of Connor taking drugs made Eric schizo, which made me wonder if something had happened in his past to make him so sensitive to the issue.

  But was Eric’s past really my business?

  “Uh...yeah!” I said to the air. “He’s your boyfriend, so it kinda is.”

  Besides, I’d been given my eyesight for a reason. I couldn’t just deny its power over me. I had to act. It didn’t matter if I wanted to or not. There was no doubt in my mind that Connor was high that night...but I was also pretty sure he didn’t know he was.

  How was that possible?

  And his blood results...and Liam’s! Nothing illegal in his system?

  Was it possible to get high on natural substances?

  The thought made me pause, like some invisible force reaching out of nowhere and pulling me to a halt. I glanced to my left and noticed I was standing outside a drug store. Pursing my lips, I pulled out my phone and found my sister’s number.

  She picked up after two rings. “Hey, chicky. What’s up?”

  “Hey, Holly. How’s Hawaii?”

  “Good.” I could hear the smile in her voice. “Hawaii is always good.”

  I grinned at her cute giggle. She’d been doing that a lot since getting engaged to Max. He asked her over the summer. Took her out on some exotic boat cruise and popped the question. I had barely been able hear her news when she squealed it down the phone to me.

  “Are you okay, babe?”

  “Yeah, I’m great.” I tried to push some sunshine into my voice. “Actually, I was wondering if I could talk to Max. I have an assignment question for him.”

  “Oh, sure. Let me get him for ya...Max, baby, you got a sec?”

  I waited for the shuffling of movement, heard a little murmuring.

  “Me? Why?” Max’s voice was muffled, but I could still make it out.

  “Some assignment question,” Holly chirped.

  “I haven’t been to college in years.”

  “Yes, but you’re a pharmacist, and it’s probably for some chem paper she’s doing.”

  “Does she even take chemistry?”

  “I don’t know, just talk to her.”

  I rolled my eyes at Holly’s exasperated tone and then Max’s voice came on the line. “Hey, Caity, how’s it going?”

  “Hey, Max. Thanks for your time.”

  “No worries. What do you need to know?”

  “Well, um, I was just wondering if you knew much about getting high from legal drugs.”

  The question stumped him. I could tell by how long it took him to reply. “Caity, is this really for an assignment?”

  “Yeah.” I walked into the drug store, trying to sound convincing. “We’re researching the dangers of medication taken incorrectly. I was just wondering what you knew or could tell me.”

  He let out a sigh. “Well, unfortunately, a lot of college students experiment with mixing legal substances together and it can end really badly.”

  “Like, what do you mean?”

  “I read an example a few months ago about these guys who overdosed on No Doz to try and do an all-night study session. It totally messed with them. There’s other examples of mixing different substances which are legal, but put together they can give you a high.”

  I turned toward the No Doz section and scampered down the aisle. “Yeah, that’s what I mean. Do you know what kind of substances would do that?”

  “I heard about one case of mixing sleeping pills with energy drinks. That gives an energetic rush, but people can’t remember anything the next morning.”

  I stopped short, my heart racing as I pictured Connor’s fuzzy brain the day after his game.

  “Energy drinks,” I whispered.

  “Yeah. They have caffeine, guarana, taurine... stuff like that.”

  “Oh, okay. So mixing that with sleeping pills can give you an energetic high?”

  Max clicked his tongue. “Caity, what’s this assignment again? What class is it for?”

 
“Just a...biology paper I’m doing.”

  “Biology? I thought it’d be more chemistry related.”

  “Yeah, weird, huh?” Oh, man, I was such a crappy liar.

  “O-kay.” Max paused and cleared his throat. “Caity, I don’t know what you’re messing with, but please don’t go mixing substances, okay? The consequences can be deadly.”

  I thought of Liam and swallowed. “I know, Max, don’t worry. I’m not doing anything that will get me hurt. I would never take anything like that.”

  “Trying to protect someone else, huh?”

  “Maybe.” I bit my lip.

  “Sounds like you.”

  I grinned.

  “Just be careful, okay?”

  I knew what he was saying. Don’t have another Mason incident. The whole family had stewed over that one for weeks. None of them knew about my eyesight...all they knew was I went out of my way to look after my friends and that got me into hot water. It didn’t matter that it was only one time. The family worried about me.

  I didn’t want to admit that they had every right to.

  “Thanks for your help, Max.”

  “Call with questions anytime...and I hope you manage to help your friend.”

  “Me, too.”

  I clicked off my phone with a sigh. I really needed to work on my ability to lie. I could read people like a pro, but I had to learn to hide what I was thinking...to mask my own face and voice better.

  Shoving my phone back into my pocket, I reached for a packet of No Doz and searched for the ingredients. Max said energy drinks and sleeping pills. It seemed like a really weird combo, but if I could figure out the ingredients in both those things, then maybe I could make some connections.

  It would be easy to give the players energy drinks. They probably downed a bottle or two before the games, but surely they wouldn’t happily pop pills at the same time.

  Maybe the team doctor was shady, too. Maybe he was the one orchestrating this whole thing.

  I reached forward to put the No Doz back and was considering scouring the aisles for non-prescription sleeping pills when I noticed a tall guy beside me. He was a little odd looking, had eyes that were too big for his face, dark eyebrows that naturally pointed inwards, like he had the male form of bitchy resting face.

  “Hi,” he greeted me with a lop-sided grin.

  “Hello.” I scratched the corner of my mouth and wrestled to put the box back into place on the shelf.

  “You, uh, looking to pull an all-nighter?”

  I chuckled, finally getting the box to sit right, and glanced up at him. Peeling off a layer, I could see his instant attraction. His enamored gaze made me blush. It was kind of awkward and I was working out a way to politely leave when I noticed something else.

  I peeled back the next layer and saw a glint in his eye. There was something mad-scientist about it and against my better judgement, I remained where I stood and told another lie. “I have a lot of assignments due and I’m struggling to keep up.”

  “Yeah, a very common problem.” He nodded.

  “You go to UCLA?”

  “Post-grad.” His lopsided grin was a little smug.

  “In what?”

  “Organic Chemistry.”

  “Wow, that’s...wow, you must be really smart.” I didn’t know why I decided to play flirty. Did I honestly think I could pull it off?

  But I could instantly see that he liked it.

  He let out this funny little titter as his chest puffed with pride.

  Yeah, definitely mad scientist.

  “You know...” He took a step toward me. “There are better ways to get that extra boost you want.”

  “Really?” I looked up at him, desperate for him to show me more.

  He smirked and lowered his voice. “You don’t need drugs like this.” He tipped his head toward the No Doz boxes.

  “What do I need, then?”

  “Different techniques.” He wiggled his eyebrows and for a second I thought he was about to reach forward and touch my face. He wanted to. Actually, from the look in his eyes, he wanted to do a lot more than that.

  I swallowed and subtly shuffled back.

  “There’s this study group I help run with Professor Hoffman. We can teach you ways of expanding your concentration, your ability to focus. It’s very safe and natural.”

  Professor Hoffman.

  Alarm bells started ringing. Was that the study group Piper attended?

  “How? Through like, meditation or something?”

  “A little bit of that, but also with natural vitamins and diet. There are things you can eat and drink that are completely safe and give you the boost you want.”

  Fear coiled tight in my belly. “Wow, sounds amazing.” I could feel a quiver forming in my voice; I coughed to try and clear it. “Where do I sign up?”

  The guy grinned and pulled out his phone. “Give me your number and I’ll text you when the next session is happening.”

  “Okay.” I pressed my lips together, my body resisting me.

  He glanced at me, his large eyes expectant.

  I forced a smile and rattled off the number quickly.

  “What’s your name?”

  “Caitlyn.” I squeaked.

  “Well, Caitlyn, I’m Cameron.” He leaned forward, his lips brushing my ear as he whispered. “I’ll text you soon.”

  It was creepy. My skin crawled as he slowly looked me up and down one last time before walking away. I glanced over my shoulder to watch him pause at the counter and collect a prescription from the pharmacist. He turned back in time to catch me staring at him. His look of triumph made my insides quake. He thought I was into him too...and that was probably what I needed him to think, but ugh!

  What the hell was I doing?

  I raced for the exit, jitters making my feet move double-time as I headed back to my dorm. I’d made it less than fifty feet when I got a text. Pulling it out, I didn’t recognize the number, but opened the message anyway.

  Now you have my number, too. Nice to meet you, Caitlyn.

  Cameron Darby

  I swallowed, wondering if I should reply. I didn’t want to encourage him, but then again, I did.

  An organic chemistry student working with Professor Hoffman—he was exactly the kind of guy I needed to get close to.

  I didn’t have all the dots connected, but I could feel the faint links. I was onto something, and since Tyson was a no-go, I had to follow through on the Cameron thing.

  With a grimace, I sent back a sweet reply and then deleted the text. It wasn’t like Eric ever went through my phone messages or anything, but after his reaction to Tyson, I sure as hell didn’t want him finding out about Cameron.

  17

  Eric

  My surf was good, just what I needed. Breathing in that salty air and riding those waves calmed me in a way that nothing else could.

  But it still hadn’t been enough to have me knocking on Caity’s door that night and apologizing.

  She was hiding something from me. I could feel it. I guessed I was hiding stuff from her, too. I’d never told her about Harvey. I hated feeling vulnerable, and retelling that part of my life always made me feel that way. I had avoided it with Caity, but the whole Connor thing had brought it back to the surface and it was affecting my better judgement.

  The urge to skip town and spend a couple of days with Gramps was strong, but he’d probably tell me that running away from the woman I loved was a lame-ass move. He’d kick my butt, tell me to get a backbone and go confess all.

  “If you love her, son, then that’s what you oughta do.”

  I shook my head with a wry grin as I listened to his voice in my head.

  Taking the steps two at a time, I turned right down Caity’s corridor and stopped outside her room.

  I knocked once and the door flew open. It was Piper, looking rushed and agitated.

  “Hey, Eric. She’s not here.”

  “That’s okay, I’ll—“

&nbs
p; “Leave her a note if you want, but can you lock the door when you leave?”

  “Sure.” I nodded. “Hey, are you okay?”

  She kept her head down, her eyes glued to the floor. “I’m fine.”

  She wasn’t fine. I’d have to ask Caity why. My girlfriend would have read her for sure. She couldn’t help doing that when she thought someone was in trouble.

  I watched Piper storm down the hallway, her shoulder-length hair covering her face. I knew the girl could be moody, but it seemed a little extreme, even for her.

  “Poor Scott,” I muttered as I eased into the room.

  Grabbing a pen off Caity’s desk, I shuffled some papers around, looking for a scrap I could write on. I should have sent her a text, but the idea of a love note left on her pillow felt kind of romantic.

  Lifting her binder, I brushed my hand underneath it, hoping to pull out a notepad, but instead a business card flicked out and onto the floor.

  I reached down to put it back, and frowned.

  Detective Kyle Sullivan

  Los Angeles Police Department

  Homicide Division

  A cop. Since when had Caity talked to a cop? And homicide? What the hell was going on?

  I flipped it over and was tempted to call the number to find out who the guy was.

  Was that what Caity was hiding?

  Why a cop?

  Anger sparked, followed by worry.

  Was Caity in trouble? Why hadn’t she told me about it?

  Love note forgotten; I rushed out the door and down the stairs.

  Bursting out of the building, I snatched the phone out of my pocket and was about to call her. It was time we got together and had an honest chat.

  “Honest chat,” I mumbled as I pressed her contact details.

  I lifted the phone to my ear and looked up in time to spot her walking my way...with a really tall guy who was looking down at her like he wanted to rip her clothes off and lick every inch of her skin.

  My angry sparks hit a powder keg as I touched the red END button so hard on my screen I thought it might break. I nearly dropped my phone as I fumbled it back into my pocket and approached them.