Behind The Mask

Chapter 44

"You look perfect Will, seriously," I say, looking him up and down.

"But are you sure this isn't too much?" he asks, checking himself out in the mirror again. "Maybe I should rather go with the red t-shirt. Maybe a button-up is too formal?"

"If Cameron loves you he won't care what you look like," I say with a sigh. "You know, maybe you should ask Grace. I could go and get her quickly?"

"Nope. She's probably getting ready as well," Will answers. "I think I should go with the Quidditch jersey. Cameron always loves it when I wear that."

"I think maybe a little less geeky could work tonight," I answer with a bit of a grin. "You know we are going to a drag club right? If you'd like to fit in you should be wearing pink."

"Really?" Will asks with a serious frown on his face.

"No Will, I'm just pulling your leg. E.J. just texted. Grace and him have been waiting in the lobby for the past fifteen minutes already."

"Yeah, I don't want to be late," Will says, looking down at his watch. "Shit. The show starts in like ten minutes."

"And it's still a twenty minute drive until we get there, depending on traffic," I mutter, already opening the Uber app on my phone, starting to type in the location we need to be at. "And seriously, I am ordering the Uber now, so if you want to grab another shirt, this is your last chance."

"Nope, I think I have everything," Will answers, now pulling on a black blazer.

"Got the ring?" I ask, looking Will up and down. It's not like I ever really looked at him in a way of how he looks, but he looks quite handsome tonight. If it wasn't for E.J. I might have been interested.

"Right here," Will answers, tapping his jean's pocket.

"Then we better get going. The Uber is six minutes away," I answer, opening the hotel room door and stepping out into the hallway, Will following right behind me.

"Brody?" Will says, taking me by the top part of my arm, making me turn around and face him.

"Yeah?"

"I'm doing the right thing? Cameron won't start running again, right?" he asks with the innocence of a small child.

"Fuck Will... You have two choices. You can go, and Cameron and you could live happily ever after, or you could decide not to go and never know how it could have ended up. You know, you can always look back and think how glad you are that you went, rather than wondering for the rest of your life what could have been," I answer. "I know it will be okay, no matter what happens."

Will breathes in deeply, and after a few seconds he lets him breath out loudly.

"Then let's do this shit," Will says, making his way to the elevator.

Half an hour later we enter a club with its name spelled out in big pink neon letters in front. A older dragqueen with a beehive and huge purple feather eyelashes takes our money and ushers us inside.

"Now you jus' go and take a seat anywhere ya' want," she says, showing us the inside of the rather seedy-looking, smoke filled club.

The decor looks like something from a late 1800's brothel with a stage at the far right, and little tables to the left. In the center is a dancefloor which I guess is made to look like a giant chessboard, pawns, queens, and rooks, painted on black and white squares where mostly women dressed up for bachelorette parties are twerking.

"Now I understand the name," E.J. says with a smile, pointing down at the floor.

"Yeah, Check Mate... I wondered about that," I laugh, watching a girl who is clearly drunk rip off a small white veil from her head and stuff it down her bra. "Looks like people are having fun here."