Unmasked:

Chapter 1

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Chapter 1

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"I can't believe you!" I yelled after him. "You got the whole school believing your stupid lies?”

He turned around, watching me warily. “What are you talking about?” Brad replied.

“You started all those lies about Grace sleeping around just because she wouldn’t sleep with you!” I exclaimed angrily. A headache almost immediately built up behind my eyes, and I could feel my hands burning up. I had the urge to scratch the back of my neck but I repressed it.

“This has nothing to do with you-"

“It has everything to do with me! And if you don’t tell everyone that you invented the whole thing, I’ll break your neck.” I threatened.

"You and your slutty friend are psychos! You need to be locked in a cli-”

Heatedly I moved my hands up to his chest, to try and shake some sense into him, but before I even made contact, he flew 15 feet away, hitting his head on a rock nearby. I stood there frozen, trying to ignore the blood pounding in my ears. What just happened? Red liquid poured out of his wound, like a waterfall. He didn’t move or make a sound. The blood just kept pouring out, more and more, until it began forming a messy puddle underneath him.

The screaming of a girl nearby shocked me into reality.

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I woke up, panting hard, with strands of long, dark hair sticking to my forehead. It was all a dream, I repeated to myself. Except, it really wasn't. I was the reason Brad was now in a coma. My mom, who was always one step ahead, made plans for me to go live with my grandma for a while, until news about the accident settled down. But in an unforgiving and never forgetting town like mine, that would never happen.

The breeze, coming in from the cracked window, carried in the overpowering sent of white lilies. It soothed me and calmed me down a bit, making my heavy breathing slow down a notch. Having a mom that loved to garden had its advantages. I inhaled deeply, trying to appreciate it all fast, before I had to leave it.

“Goodbye.”I whispered, my eyes fixed on the sunlight coming through my window.

No more rollerblading down the boardwalk at Trevor Beach. No more hearing the slap of wet feet on the concrete at the public Wave Pool. No more shopping at the mall with Grace. I sighed with frustration and slowly got out of bed. I was going to miss home a lot. Lazily, I began to pack what was left of my belongings into suitcases.

When I was done, I looked at every corner of my room. There was barely anything left, and it made my heart break a little. This is were I grew up. My favorite white painted dresser was now empty, and my bed, with it's misty white bed curtains that made me feel like an Arabian princess in a fairy tale, now only held it's white empty sheets that were there the day me and my family first moved here. My stereo was still on the nightstand, and so was my favorite picture. I walked towards it and picked up the picture of my dad, who died in an incident three years ago.

I felt knots twisting in my stomach just thinking about it. He was only 36 years old, young, with a family to take care of. In the picture he was holding a baby girl- me- in his arms and had a bright warm smile on his face. After a couple of minutes of staring at it, I carefully placed it and the stereo in the last suitcase.

Grimly, I made my way down the hall and into the turquoise-and-gold-mosaic-tiled bathroom. I splashed cool water on my face and stared in the mirror. The girl in the reflection, looked back at me with sadness clearly visible on her face. She had olive skin that glowed and long but tangled dark brown hair. I grabbed it, pulling it up like a ponytail, and touched my hexagram shaped birthmark that was on the back of my neck. I always left my hair down, hiding it from everyone.

Nobody knew about it except for my parents and my best friend Grace. I let go of my hair and shook it so that it fell forward and cradled my face, hiding my birthmark and half of my cheeks. My hair was thick and long enough to completely cover my neck, and it fell down in waves down my back. My hazel-green eyes seemed slightly bloodshot from the dream, but I knew I couldn’t go back to bed. I needed something to wake me up. I left the bathroom and turned toward the stairwell, my feet light on the steps as I went downstairs.

“Hey, Mom” I said quietly, stepping into the kitchen.

“Brooke! I didn’t know you were up.” My mom replied, startled. Her emotions spiked all over the place; Confusion, sadness, anticipation, fear. All of it was too overwhelming for me to handle, and I looked away from her feeling a little nauseous. Ever since my dad past away, I could feel what everyone else felt. It was like I held this sixth sense, and it allowed anyone's strong emotions to pour into me, physically and mentally.

I rummaged through a cupboard and found a box of Frosted Flakes, grabbing it, a bowl and milk and bringing it all to the table. I ate the cereal slowly, staring out the window absentmindedly. I couldn’t stop thinking about Brad, and how his body looked pale and drained of blood. Guilt coursed through me as I remembered the puddle, and my inability to do anything about it.

When I was done, I went upstairs with my mom and grabbed the two suitcases I would take with me . Neither of us said anything as we started packing the suitcases into the back of my dad’s beat up 1991 ford.

“I’m going to miss you, Brookie.” She said, stating the nickname she always called me when I was young. I closed the trunk of the car with my suitcases inside, then went over to the drivers side, her quickly following behind. I could feel she was worried about me, but afraid all at the same time.

“I’m going to miss you too, Mom.” I replied “But don’t worry, I’m going to be fine”I assured her.

I hugged her hard, and in that one moment I was aware of so many little sensations. The faint coconut smell that clung to my mother’s hair from her shampoo, the warmth that only my mother’s arms could give me, and the love and kindness that I'll only probably ever receive until all of this mess was over.

I broke the embrace quickly, not wanting to cry. She then went over to the passengers side, and with that we headed to the airport because I had a flight to catch.

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This chapter was edited by LongGoodbyes -> She's Awesome <3

Hope you enjoyed it, let me know what you think so far :)

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Sam.xo