Behind The Mask

Chapter 12

I open my eyes to the morning light coming in through the gap in the curtains, only to see E.J. cuddled up in his Charmander onesie, only his nose and mouth sticking out. He must have pulled the hood over his head throughout the night, and once again I cannot think how anyone would want to hurt this innocence lying next to me.

"E.J," I whisper, touching his shoulder, knowing that just like the storm has ended here in New York, our journey has come to an end as well. It's time to get the hell out of here.

"Hmmm," he makes a sound, pulling the hood further over his face, hiding him from view.

"E.J, the sun is out already..." I whisper again, this time daring to put my hand on his shoulder, touching him softly and hoping that he won't get a fright.

"I wanna sleep," he answers, turning around, ignoring my hand on his shoulder.

"I was thinking we could leave New York. I'm over this place," I answer and I can feel that I mean every single word of it. I think I might even go as far as to hate this place. This city hasn't made my dreams come true. This is the place where you get hurt, and then she spits you out.

"But you still said we're going to go to the theatre," E.J. says sitting up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

I can't help but take a moment to just stare at him. He's so perfect in the morning when he wakes up. His eyes sparkle and it's like he hasn't yet remembered his dark past, just having a moment where everything in the world is just right and he is just a normal guy who doesn't have any shadows looming over him.

"We can stay if you want, but I really want to get out of here. Maybe we can catch a show tonight and leave tomorrow morning," I say still wanting to do anything I can for E.J. He came on this trip with me. And no matter the fights, he has made life better. It's because of him I could have crossed off two numbers on my bucket list already. If he wasn't here I might have skipped them all and just crossed off the last number with immediate effect.

"No baby... If you want to go..."

E.J. clamps his hands over his mouth, his eyes wide as he looks at me.

"I'm sorry... I just woke up..." he says lifting his hand from his mouth and then clamping them over his lips again.

Before I can say a single word he jumps out of bed and runs for the bathroom as fast as he can, slamming the door behind him.

"E.J.?" I ask walking over to the door. "It's okay. Just come out."

I still feel warm. My entire body is still shaking. Who would have thought that one word could make me feel this way?

I scratch the inside of my palm, trying to figure out why he would call me that, and why it feels so good. I can't help whispering to myself that I am straight. That what I feel for E.J. is just me being protective. I have been doing that for hours until I fell asleep. I whispered into the darkness that I am only feeling what I am feeling because of this messed up situation I am in. If life treated me normally and half of my face didn't melt off, I would have probably knocked up the head cheerleader by now and started working in her father's garage, getting ready to get married when spring comes along. But now the cheerleader is screaming and I think I am in love with a boy, just because he is the only one that can look past my face and be the real me.

"Why don't you start packing? I'll be out in a minute. Just wanna get dressed," E.J's voice comes from behind the closed door, making me sigh, knowing I would get anything more than that out of him.

"Okay," I answer as I sit down on the bed and pull out my phone, starting to search for some bus tickets to get the hell out of New York City.

I remember one of my foster moms telling me that she came from New York City, and that it's a place where all your dreams can come true. I don't think I agree with that. I think your dreams could come true anywhere you are, just like they can fall flat no matter where you might find yourself.