Behind The Mask

Chapter 6

With no idea where E.J. could have run off to and wanting to kick myself for what I have said I slowly start making my way into the mall, trying my best to see if I can spot him in the sea of people, although I very much know that if someone doesn't want to be found they won't.

It's pretty obviously that E.J. is right. That I have no actual idea how he feels about everything that has been done to him. I haven't stood where he stood. Sure, my stepdad might have been just as big of a perv, but I got away. He didn't get to me emotionally the way that James got to E.J. What happened to me only happened once. I'm not just a normal statistic. I am truly the exception. How many people can say that they have felt it while the acid burned away half of their face? It's quite a unique situation when you start thinking about it.

A little girl points at me and I want to laugh as her mother quietly tries to scold her for pointing and looking at me in my mask. Her mother takes her hand and faces away from me, walking into the opposite direction, but the girl still looks at me over her shoulder, and even though I want to scream out of frustration about the situation I am in I smile to her and wave. She waves back, but doesn't return the smile. When she is completely out of site I start walking, trying to find the Hot Topic in the mall. Hopefully he will be waiting there for me, seeing as it is the only place we spoke about going to, plus he is probably so cold without my hoodie on. Luckily the mall has some indoor heating going on, not that it really helps that much at first when you walk in from the cold since I am still shivering.

The Hot Topic in the mall looks like any other to be honest, although for some reason I was expecting it to look completely different just because it is New York. Apparently not everything is different just because it is New York. Some things stay the same. The only thing that has seemed to change for some reason is the fact that I have become some type of asshole towards E.J. Oh, and off course the feelings and emotions currently going through my mind. The fact that I want to hug E.J. so close to me that he becomes part of me so that no one can ever hurt him again – that's completely new in fact. It must in some way be the cold. So part of animal instinct in me that has kicked in, making me want to protect him and now my brain is just interpreting it in the wrong way.

I walk into the store, feeling a bit warmer than before. I barely notice a girl with a septum piercing asking me if I need some help as I scan the store for E.J. She must find me really rude because she turns around and walks away as I make my way through the store. Batman hoodies and Iron Man shirts line the walls with small displays of Harry Potter merchandise stacked in between. Usually I would have already gone for everything Marvel, grabbing as much as what I could possibly carry, which was the idea when I suggested to bring E.J. here, but now I can't seem to focus on the colours around me as I search the store for him, hoping that he is hunched behind one of the Harry Potter displays checking out a Dobby figurine.

"E.J.?" I say as loudly as I can in the store to try and get his attention, but without drawing so much attention that people would stare at the mask on my face.

I have this sudden urge to take the mask off my face and to show the people around me the monster that hides beneath it. The molten face of the person who just hurt one of the most sensitive people in the world.

"Sorry sir, can I help you?" I hear a voice behind me that makes me jump.

I turn around to find another store clerk behind me. This time a guy. According to his name tag his name is Albert, which I find a strange name for an emo kid in this day and age, but then again, he probably didn't pick it either.

"Just looking for a friend," I answer, watching this guy's eyes play over my face, surely wondering by himself if it is a new fashion trend or rather just me being weird.