UnMasked

by Yara Gharios

  “She was with someone I know the whole time,” he tells me. “Someone who is family. Honestly, you’re safe. Trust me on that.”

  It amazes me how just seconds ago, we were arguing, and now he’s reassuring me that I’m not in danger. This is a seriously messed up relationship.

  “Okay, then,” I pathetically say. “Um, I better go.”

  Logan stares at me sadly, and I dread that he’s going to stop me again. “Okay,” he mercifully agrees. “Remember my conditions. Don’t think I’ll let it go or forget. I’m going to find a way to convince you to give us a chance, I promise you that.”

  I don’t know what to say to that, and I’m too scared to even open my mouth, so I don’t say anything. All I know is that I don’t want to go to my own graduation party as a boy. Marianna and Sadie are going to freak when I tell them I’m going to need a full makeover this time.

  CHAPTER 16

  “But why can’t I just use a razor?” I complain. “I don’t understand why I have to suffer to get something I’m not even sure I want.”

  Marianna and Sadie are still trying to force me into the bikini thing, whatever it’s called. This is what’s really scaring me. If my arms and legs were so painful, what’s the rest of my body going to feel like? I was dreading this moment all day, to such an extent that I wasn’t paying any attention during the graduation ceremony, and I didn’t realize when my turn was up until Sadie pinched me.

  Danny went first, then me, and then Sadie, as we were arranged alphabetically. I was in a tux that was too tight around the neck and waistband, and I felt too hot in the poorly ventilated auditorium. I literally zoned out during the entire thing, and only woke up when my name was called. I didn’t even realize it was over until Sadie and Danny started screaming in my ear.

  To be honest, it’s not really the makeover I was worrying about, although that was partially true as well. I don’t know what I’m going to do at the party.

  I’m going to be a girl for the first time.

  Although this is what I’ve wanted all along, I’m really scared to be myself. When you spend your life hiding behind a mask, removing it becomes a terrifying thought. I’m also worried about what people’s reaction will be, and whether or not they’ll hate me more after I show my true self –certain people in particular.

  I can’t think of that right now, so I focus only on what Sadie and Marianna have planned for me.

  “Waxing will make your skin softer,” Marianna tells me. “Besides, it’s really hard to shave another person, and there’s not enough time to teach you the proper way to do it.”

  Giving up, I heave a sigh. “Fine, let’s get the torture started so we can get it over with as soon as possible.’

  “Chill out, it’s just your arms. It’s really not that bad,” Sadie lies.

  Ten minutes later, I prove her wrong. After they’re done with me, I have alternately yelled and held my breath a hundred times, and I’m starting to develop a migraine. People have tried to come in and see what it was all about at least five times, but the girls wouldn’t let anyone in.

  “Okay, now the face!” Sadie cheerfully announces, like we’re all just having a blast!

  Let me tell you something about getting your eyebrows plucked and your facial hair removed: that is a completely other sort of torture. By the time they’re done, I am red all over and I have a rash growing in patches on my face.

  “Let me see,” I demand when they’re done, wanting to see if my face truly caught flame like I feel it has.

  “No!” Sadie objects. “You have to wait until we’re finished to see all of it at once.”

  Just like the baby oil they made me put on my body to calm the sting, they give me some kind of cream that’s supposed to settle the rash and take away the burn. My skin does cool down a bit when I apply it, but it still hurts. Mercifully, that’s when they give me a break, and allow me to relax, while they start doing my nails in a color that matches the outfit I was allowed to pick out myself.

  It’s weird not having bandages wrapped around my torso. The slightest shift causes movement in my chest area, which is awkward because I keep having the urge to cover up. I decided not to wear a dress, like they were insisting. I never got the point of them anyway; they’re just a ruse for men to be able to see a girl’s legs. A long one might have been fine, but that would be overdoing it. I mean, this is a party, not a high school dance. Plus, I would feel nervous and exposed in anything that doesn’t cover my pelvic area.

  As it so happens, I discovered that boy jeans and girl jeans are completely different. Girl jeans are so much tighter. I’m suffocating in them, because I’m used to having more space in there. Seriously, how do girls walk in those things without feeling like they’re getting a double wedgie from the school bully? Because that’s exactly what I’m going through.

  That’s why I decided to go with something a little baggier, although it is certifiably worn only by females. It was the only way I would be comfortable and still look decent enough to pass for a girl. Sadie tried to get me in heels, or at least flats, but I put my foot down there. Literally; before we’d even started on the waxing, I shoved my feet into my neon green high converse shoes, before she could even open the closet and start sprouting suggestions at me of what to wear.

  As for the rest, I opted on a black, half tank top that matches my loose pants, with a lime green, over the shoulder, top. If I stretch my hands upwards, it will lift up and reveal my stomach. I’m planning on keeping my arms locked firmly against my sides all night, thank you very much! I don’t need anyone seeing that.

  Marianna and Sadie end up using some kind of liquid that dries my nails in a matter of seconds, just so I could take a shower. Although they tell me to be quick, I take my time in there, like that’s going to help delay the inevitable.

  “Michael Dylan Connolly,” Sadie yells through the door. “Get your ass out here before I get Cade to kick this door open and get you out myself!”

  “Alright, alright, I’m coming!” I yell back.

  They give me a body lotion that smells like jasmine to put on every part of my skin. I don’t see the point in that since it’s going to fade anyway, but I do as they say without complaining, for once. Then after I’m dressed, I step out of the bathroom and into the chair they’re pointing to. One does my hair and then the other puts a little makeup on me. While they’re doing that, I hear the music being turned up in the pack house and deduce that it’s nine already; the party has started. I’m growing more nervous by the second.

  “Done!” Marianna declares around twenty minutes later, and she smiles at me. “You look gorgeous, soeurette.”

  “Do I look slutty?” I worry.

  “Not at all,” she reassures me.

  “Girly?”

  She giggles. “I promise you, this look suits you. It’s very you,” she assures me.

  “Let her see!” Sadie exclaims excitedly.

  I stand up and open the closet door that has a mirror in it. I’m blown away by what I see. I recognize myself somewhere in there, but that’s not what I’m used to seeing. Aside from the clothes showing clearly my feminine curves, my skin is smooth and creamy, and the lotion makes it look like it’s glowing. My eyes look bigger with a thin black line circling them, and my lashes seem to have grown in size and volume. What little lip gloss they put on my lips deepens their red color.

  My hair is perhaps the biggest shock of all. I thought that their shortness would it make it difficult for the girls to do anything with it. Instead, it’s lifted up in a kind of punk hairdo. I literally look like some kind of hip-hop dancer, and surprisingly, I love it!

  “You’re ready,” Marianna tells me proudly, as she and Sadie come to stand on either side of me.

  It’s terrifying to have so many people know my secret. Weirdly enough, it’s not the lack of secrecy that has me so worried. I trust Logan’s faith in his pack. What’s really scaring me, and has my heart beating a mile a minute, is not knowing wh
at their reactions will be like. Not even my family has ever seen me look like a girl, and it’s going to be as strange for them as it is for me.

  This isn’t a party in the regular definition of the word, for obvious reasons. It’s just going to be the SMP members and my family, adults not included. Security measures have been tightened for the first time so that no one sneaks in. There will be music and drinks, but it won’t be too loud because it’s not that crowded. Plus, I think it’s very likely someone will start a game at some point. If anyone tries to rope me into truth or dare, I will probably lock myself in my room. I never liked that game, and I never dared to play it.

  Although some would disapprove, I have a plan to avoid people as well as serious confrontations of any kind, while at the same time putting my worries behind me and having fun. For the first time in my life, there’s no reason for me to remain sober all night. No one expressively said that I could drink, but why shouldn’t I? The worst has already happened. Why shouldn’t I let loose and have fun for once in my life? Plus, it would be a good excuse so as not to be bothered tomorrow by Logan.

  “Come on, Dylan,” Sadie urges me on, poking me in the back to get down the stairs.

  No more delaying the inevitable, I think to myself in nervous anticipating.

  I’m glad she and Marianna are walking down the stairs with me, because I don’t know how I would have held myself when we rounded into the living room and came face to face with the thirty people gathered in there, already dancing to the music. The first person that sees me is Blake. He fully stops and nudges Tyler standing behind him. One by one, everyone in the room freezes and stares at me like I’m a freak show.

  The room has been rearranged. The couches are pushed up against the walls. The lights are dimmed and replaced with a blue disco-ball glowing in the center. There’s a small stage in front of the chimney where the sound system is set up, and a microphone stand is in the center. I’m guessing there will be a karaoke session later on. The space in front of it where the couches used to be is turned into a makeshift dance floor.

  There are people gathered in the corners playing some sort of card game that involves drinks somehow. At the wall opposite the stage is where the bar is, and of all people, I notice Zoey behind it serving drinks. She smiles at me when I catch her eye. She’s changed so much from the cold and distant girl I met a while back.

  I can’t see Logan or my brothers anywhere, which means there’s really no way out. I’ve never been good at being the center of attention. I’m just about to bolt when someone jumps at my side and holds my face in his hands.

  “Is this the almighty Michael Dylan Connolly standing before me?” Cade asks with amusement. “You know, I almost thought you were lying.”

  He roughly turns my face left and right for effect, and I know he’s trying to bug me as a way to distract me from my self-consciousness. It works, and I slap his hand away.

  “Cade, you idiot, you’ve already seen me naked, this shouldn’t come as a surprise,” I snap playfully at him.

  His laugh is lighter than I’ve ever heard it be, but it helps settle my nerves. Unfortunately, that’s the moment my brothers pick to come join us from the kitchen.

  “What?!” Nate is the first to yell with indignation. “You didn’t tell us that part, Mickey!”

  I face them with a grin on my face. “What do you think I meant when I said I had to show him my secret?”

  Whatever he was going to say dies in his throat the moment I turn around and they get a full view of me. They’re all to stupefied to answer. Marianna smiles and goes to stand beside Mason, who puts his arm around her. That’s the only movement any of them make for a full five seconds before Andrea, who is tucked casually under Connor’s arm, speaks for all of them.

  “You look awesome… uh… I don’t know what to call you,” she admits.

  Ever since she became part of the family, I have kind of warmed up to her. I’m not forgetting her name anymore, at least, and I can carry a decent conversation with her for ten minutes now, before it gets awkward.

  “Mickey could still work, but I kind of like Dylan best, now,” I answer her question. “I’ve gotten used to it.”

  That’s when one of the guys finally speaks. “Whoa,” is what Daniel says.

  “Damn,” Connor adds. “You really are a girl.”

  I give him a flat, unimpressed glare and punch his shoulder as hard as I can. “Ass,” I snap with annoyance.

  They look relieved and grin all together. “Maybe just on the outside,” Mason teases.

  I roll my eyes. “Seriously? You guys are idiots.”

  Nathan chuckles and says, “Yup, same old Mickey, but with a different face.”

  “And body,” Danny goes on. “You’re actually hot, Mickey. Who knew?”

  Although I smile with delight, there’s a collective groan from most of the guys. “Dude, why did you have to go there?” Nate complains. “That’s your twin!”

  Danny shrugs. “So? What’s wrong with giving her a compliment?”

  “You’re just going to inflate her ego,” Connor protests, “and it’s already big enough.”

  “Hey!” I object, but I don’t get a chance to finish.

  “Look, we all need to get used to the fact that our sister is attractive. Now can we just move on from there and start having fun?” Mason backs Danny up.

  Before anyone could answer, a voice calls my name from up the stairs. I know it very well, yet I turn with surprise at the source.

  “You’re… you…” Logan stutters.

  He’s got this awestruck look on his face that makes up only a little bit for the awkwardness I’m feeling. But even though he’s trying, he can’t say anything. I’m not comfortable with the way he’s staring at me, so I do the first thing that comes to mind. I grab Sadie and Marianna’s arms and make a beeline for the bar. They let out little sounds of protest because my grip is too tight, but it takes me only a couple of seconds to get to the bar.

  “Easy there, wolfie,” Sadie uneasily jokes as I let her go. “I don’t know if you know this, but you could easily break my arm with your pinkie.”

  I don’t acknowledge her and instead face Zoey. “Can I get a drink?” I ask.

  She smiles at me. “Sure, what would you like?”

  I shrug. “Anything, just make it not taste horrible but still strong enough to give me a buzz.”

  “Shouldn’t you go easy on your first time?” Marianna asks with worry.

  “I don’t care,” I tell her, looking her in the eyes. “Tonight, I just want to have fun and not think about my problems.”

  She senses my mood and stares at me disappointingly. “Alright,” she reluctantly agrees. “I don’t like it, but I’m not going to stop you. It’s your life.”

  That’s all the approval I need before I take a sip of whatever Zoey gave me. The drink tastes like exotic fruits, but with a bitter taste to it that makes me cringe. I’m guessing that’s the alcohol.

  “Dylan,” Logan’s voice calls.

  When I notice him getting closer, I swing my head back and gulp down the drink in one breath. Then I ask Sadie for a bottle of a similar drink, and she hands me something lime flavored.

  “Come on, just talk to me,” he says.

  I take another swing, straight from the bottle this time and then I face him. “No,” I firmly say. “You promised me I’d have fun tonight, and that you wouldn’t bother me. This is the first party I’m allowed to fully participate in, and that’s exactly what I plan to do. Now, I’m going to dance with my best friend. Bye, Logy!”

  He flinches at the nickname, and I take advantage of that to pull Sadie onto the dance floor.

  I never knew how much fun dancing could be. It’s awkward for the first dance, because I also never learned how to do it. But I get the hang of it after a few songs. By then, the two bottles of alcohol –and third one currently in my hand– I consumed so far have settled in my system, and I get to feel their liberating effects.


  Everything is suddenly very funny to me. I can’t stop laughing. My bad dancing even becomes completely uncoordinated. Not that it was before, but at least I felt like I was actually doing something. Now, it’s like someone else has attached invisible threads to my wrists and ankles, and is controlling the strings in my place. When I lift up my bottle to finish my drink a strange tickling sensation trickles from my shoulder down to my fingertips.

  “My arms feel like worms,” I tell Sadie in a laugh.

  She laughs with me, sharing my excitement. Abruptly, I cut off my laugh when I notice that my bottle is empty.

  “I need another drink,” I announce and take off in the direction of the bar again.

  Marianna is still standing there, watching me. She frowns when she sees me approaching. “Maybe you’ve had enough,” she says.

  I groan. “No,” I whine. “I’m still very focused! I want to lose my mind!”

  “I think you already have,” she points out.

  Zoey chuckles from behind the bar. “Oh, let her have fun,” she begs Marianna. “What’s the worst that can happen? It’s not like she can disappear from all of our sights. And a hangover never killed anyone. Plus, for a werewolf, she’s such a lightweight. I’m sure it won’t take her long to pass out.”

  I pout at Marianna, like a child waiting for their parent’s approval to go on the dangerous swing.

  Ooh, a swing would be nice right about now!

  Marianna finally sighs and says, “Alright, fine. Just promise me you’ll always have someone with you? I don’t want you making choices you’ll regret in the morning.”

  I grin like a child on Christmas morning and jump up and down excitedly. “Thank you, Mary!” I cheer and give her a hug. “I love you Zo!”

  I lose count of how many songs I dance to, or how many bottles I drink, although I know the mean girls would never let me have a lot. But I’m having too much fun to care. I’m shouting the lyrics with the songs, while somehow remaining on key. But my dancing moves involve a lot of tripping, duck faces and V shaped fingers passing over my eyes while my head bounces left and right.