The Beauty Underneath

Chapter Twelve: A Masked Party

I stared at him. I have to say, him in a tuxedo was absolutely hot. Plus his mask finally gets along with his outfit. “You look… nice,” I complimented him.

Winston smirked. “Wow, you must really think I’m hot.”

I blushed and turned away. How come he always read my mind? Was I really that easy to read? I hope not. “Charlotte’s going to arrive in a few minutes. You better get ready, she might bombard you a lot of questions. She does that to people when she doesn’t know them that much.”

“Okay, but—”

But whatever he was about to say was cut short when the door opened and in came Simon. Damn it, I forgot to lock the room! “Erin, Gina told me—” He immediately stopped when he saw I had company. He looked genuinely surprised. “Uh, who’s he? And why is he wearing my clothes?”

Stupidly, I just stood there, my mouth hanging open. I was too shock to do anything. Plus, I was thinking of a million excuses to say. Luckily, Winston’s a smart person and immediately went beside me. “Hi, I’m Winston. I’m your sister’s date,” he told Simon smoothly.

“My sister’s date?” Simon repeated. “I guessed the last part, but why are you wearing my clothes?”

“Well, I have nothing to wear,” Winston explained. “So I asked her if she could borrow from you.”

“And why are you inside my sister’s room?” Simon said, suddenly annoyed. “That’s like invading her privacy. You could have always used the public bathroom downstairs.”

I blinked at my brother. Was it only me or did he sound so overprotective with me? Aww, that’s really cute. “Simon, trust me, he did not do anything to me,” I said, trying not to laugh. “What were you saying before?”

He turned to me, clearing his throat. “Gina told me that if you wanted a ride, she would happily take you to the school. She’s chaperoning, by the way.”

I groaned internally. “Tell her never mind. My friends are going to pick me up. They rented a limousine.”

My brother looked impressed. “You’re actually going to ride in a limo?” he said, and he even sounded envious.

“Yep,” I said, and I couldn’t help but smirk at him smugly. “Listen, why don’t you leave now? Winston and I are still going to prepare.”

“Fine,” he grumbled and closed the door.

“So that’s Simon,” Winston said thoughtfully. “If I didn’t know ahead of time, I wouldn’t have guessed that was your brother. You are so different from him.”

I sighed and shrugged. “He’s the popular one, and I’m the nerdy one. Nobody would believe us until we show our birth certificates.”

“So what’s a limousine?” Winston asked curiously. “Is it something grand?”

“Well, it’s a vehicle. It’s a really nice one too. I’ve never rode something like that before, so this is going to be my first time,” I explained. I suddenly noticed that he was wearing the tie. “You know how to wear your tie? I’m… surprised.”

“It was a lucky guess,” he said modestly. “So how are we going down without Josephine noticing?”

“I think she’s not here. Maybe she’s back at home?”

“I hope.”

Silence enveloped us as Winston grabbed my comb and started combing his hair. I always told myself that guys with messy hair looked sexy but with Winston, it’s different. He would still look hot with neat or messy hair.