~ Silver Mask ~
“Where’s Lance?” I asked Sassy when I got in line with them.
“Talking to Jerry about something. He’ll catch up with me later.”
“What are you voting for?” Harmony asked me. They still had no idea I knew anything.
“A fountain that mirrors your emotions with smoke? Duh, The Baring Springs.”
“But with the Cyclone you can fly like a bird.”
“Haven’t you heard of jet packs?” Sassy asked.
“You can’t compare those old things to a Cyclone.”
We had a lot of fun debating on which one would win, with Harmony and Nadine vs. Sassy and me.
When Headmaster walked past us with his eyes fixed on me, I was sure he was going to pull me out of line, since those who knew about the invention weren’t supposed to be allowed to vote. But he walked on past me.
Nadine was the first of our four to go through the black curtains and I was the last. Miss Tripside waved me through and then I was in a small room, made up completely of black curtains. Miss Neighbors, the music teacher, sat in a chair with two giant baskets at her sides, one filled with blue chips and one filled with green. I picked up a green one and dropped it through the slit in the box on the other side of the room.
Harmony, Sassy, and Nadine were waiting for me on the other side. We all walked around the curtains to the food table, where we loaded up our plates. I remembered I was supposed to find Luke as I reached the table’s end. “I should probably go eat this with my date, guys. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
“Kay.”
“See ya.”
I stepped out of the way of the other people moving through the food line and looked around for Luke. He was sitting at a half empty Cinder table not far away. He’d pulled out his chair so he could lean back in it and watch me.
“I thought you’d forgotten me,” Luke said as I sat down next to him.
“That would be impossible. I just got something to eat. You want some?”
He shook his head and reached out for one of my hands. Leaning forward and resting his elbows above his knees, he kissed each of my fingers as he watched me eat. It was hard to concentrate on getting food onto my fork and into my mouth when all I wanted to do was stare back and smile.
Eventually I noticed Bane standing near our table, mesmerized by something. I turned around and saw tables full of people. He could have been staring at any one of them. But I could have sworn he was staring at a table of North Haven girls, including my girls. And I began to wonder if it was a North Haven girl he was interested in.
I watched expectantly as he moved across the room, past tables full of girls, to the one I’d suspected he was watching. He extended a hand to Harmony and asked her to dance. I gasped as I watched her take it and stand, looking very unsure. “Did you see that?” I asked, turning back to Luke.
“I saw it. Bane’s mentioned her a few times, so I had a feeling.”
I glanced their way a few times during the song and was glad to see them having such a good time together.
But they were soon forgotten as Luke and I talked and laughed through the next few songs.
I didn’t realize Harmony had taken the stage until the music stopped. We looked up and saw her con open as the fire-head guy handed her a cord to plug into it.
“What’s going on?” Luke asked.
“She’s going to sing something.” I was really looking forward to it. It would be the first time I saw her perform, but Sassy had told me how she really gets into it, like she can actually feel the song and put it into motion.
Harmony looked excited as she stood in front of the microphone. “Hey, North Haven and Cinder High. Are ya’ll havin’ a good time?”
Everyone screamed their approval.
“Fantastic! I’m gonna do something I’ve never done before and sing a song for the Cinders, because one of my best friends took the time to discover that some of you are actually not so bad.”
There were a lot of whispers and surprised faces, including my own.
“It’s not the lyrics, but the song itself that brings you to mind. The melody. The way the music makes me feel. I hope you like it.”
She touched the blank con floating behind her, and a flute began to play, followed closely by a bass drum. It paused and she began to sing. The soft, sleepy music came on again as she closed her eyes and let her hands slide seductively down the mike’s stand. It sounded familiar somehow, like I’d heard something like it before, but not like that, not with the passion she put into it.
And judging by the way Bane was watching her, I was positive Harmony was the girl he was referring to earlier that day.
“Dance with me for just one song,” Luke said, standing up.
“But I swore off dancing forever. For-ever.”
“It’s a slow one.” He forced me into standing and pulled me close. “I won’t let you fall. Trust me, Kristine.” His heart beating against mine and arms holding me against my will—except that it was exactly what I wanted—made me powerless to deny him anything.
“A, all right.”
He led me into the slow dancers and put both hands on my back.
“Just don’t let me go,” I said, putting my hands on his shoulders.
He leaned down to kiss my eyelid gently, picking up a few tiny sparkles as he did. “I will never let you go.”
I laid my head against his chest, hard as stone, and closed my eyes. It felt safe and secure. How did I ever survive without Luke?
The music remained slow and hypnotic as Harmony’s voice rose for the chorus. It was easy to move perfectly to the song with Luke leading my every move.
“I love you, Luke,” I said. “I love you so much.”
His breathing slowed as he took a deep breath, just as he did every time I said that. The look he always got was like he was inhaling some kind of drug. He crushed me against him as he let it out. “I love you, too.”
It almost felt like I couldn’t breathe, with him holding me so tight. But I hardly cared. I would have gladly given up all my breath to stay pressed against him like that. I opened my eyes with the intent to lean up and kiss him.
But what I saw terrified me. A silver mask was watching me from behind Luke. I screamed with fright as the person behind it reached out for my arm—and then everything went dark.
I fell forward as Luke jerked back and let go of me. I heard a broken shout and grunting, then a lot of scuffling.
“Luke?”
Someone grabbed my arm and helped me up. “It’s okay,” he whispered.
“Luke?”
He searched the darkness with a hand for my face before he kissed me. For a moment I thought it must be him, but it didn’t feel right. The person kissing me wasn’t quite big enough. The hand on my back didn’t hold me the right way. Through my eyelids I saw bright light fill the room and then, when I leaned away and opened them, I found Roman in front of me.
“Can’t you feel it?” he asked me. “You love me, not him.”
“Roman!” I reached back and slapped him across the face, then looked around for Luke.
The rest of the North Haven Snow Riders were holding him in place, maybe ten feet away, and he was staring at me in sheer horror. It passed as rage took its place and he began jerking around and shouting.
“Let him go, you dirt bags!” I cried, running toward them and falling over my stupid shoes.
I caught a glimpse of silver on the ground somewhere to my left. The mask Roman must have been wearing. I kicked off the wretched shoes and stood up as Titus came running with an empty platter and smashed it against the back of James’ head. Spinner came next, and then the whole Cinder Snow Rider team was launching a vicious attack. Nearby Haveners jumped in as someone grabbed my arm.
I turned around to face Roman again. “Didn’t you feel it?” he asked.
“No. I hate you, Roman! Let me go.” He let out the tiniest sob as his eyes began to mist. Then his grip was becoming painfully tight. “Ouch, LUKE!” I screamed, turning around. But he was nowhere to be seen.
Roman finally let go and I turned to see Luke grabbing his white shirt and pounding his fist against Roman’s face until his shirt slowly began to turn red. All around us, people were joining the brutal fighting.
“Luke, we need to get out of here,” I said, grabbing his arm. He was losing control and, even though I detested Roman entirely, I was afraid he would do permanent damage. Or worse.
“No!” he pulled it away and kept hitting Roman, who was struggling to stop Luke’s fist from coming, again and again.
Someone slammed into me and knocked me over, making me scrape one of my elbows on the stone floor. I stood up and tried again. “It’s not safe here. We have to go. Please!”
“Not until he pays for what he did.”
“But he—”
All the air was knocked out of me as someone hit me in the stomach and I crumpled on the ground. It hurt so badly I couldn’t cry out. Then it was agony, as a foot kicked me just as hard. I looked up and saw Thorn leaning over and reaching for my hair. Halfway down, her eyes popped and then closed as she fell over on me, unconscious.
Luke was behind her, clenching one very bloody fist. He grabbed her by the hair and rolled her off of me. Then he scooped me up off the ground and began carrying me through and away from the fighting.
As we got closer to the tables I could see that the violence hadn’t spread away from that central area. Adults were rushing toward it from every direction. I spotted Sassy and Nadine sitting at a table with two guys from North Haven before Luke kicked open a door and carried me through it. The voices and shouting were shut out when it closed behind us.
Luke carried me partway down the empty hallway before he set me down. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” My side was still throbbing, though.
“I’m sorry. I should’ve left when you asked me to.”
“It’s all right.” I rubbed my side gingerly.
“We could take the Cyclone out. I’ve got it right here.” Luke patted his pocket.
“But what about the dance?”
“What about it? You’re the only person I care about spending my Christmas with. And you hate dancing. I just wanna enjoy you...under the stars...I can finish taking care of Armstrong later.”
Well, I had hardly seen him that day. “Okay.”
We only made it halfway to the arena, where our snowsuits were still stashed, before my con began bubbling. Once I had it out, Connie said, “Headmaster wants all North Haven High School students who aren’t in the hospital wing to report to the dining hall immediately.”
“That’s not good,” I said.
“Let’s blow it off. They’ll think you’re in the hospital wing.”
“Yeah, but if Headmaster’s making an announcement it’s probably serious enough that I should be there.”
Luke hit the wall behind me. “Everything’s getting in our way.” He pressed me against it and kissed me. “I can’t wait until we’re out of this place and on our own.”
I realized, for the first time, that I would have a very difficult choice to make when it was time to leave school. But that was far away. I decided not to worry about it yet.
* * * *
When Luke and I reached the dining hall, Harmony waved to me from our table and held up the shoes I’d hoped I would never see again.
I quickly realized the front tables were empty and that not a single Cinder was there.
“Your Headmaster is having his students meet where the dance was held, Mr. Knight,” Headmaster said, looking dangerously like his brother.
Luke gave my hand a little squeeze before leaving me to cross the solemn room alone.
“Does someone want to tell me what happened?” Headmaster asked.
James stood up at the other end of the table. “Titus attacked me. That’s what’s happened.”
“Liar!” I shrieked, standing up in outrage. “He was defending Knight, who you attacked.”
“I didn’t attack anybody!”
“Yes, you did. You grabbed him and dragged him away from me so Roman—”
“That’s not an attack.”
“SILENCE!” Headmaster shouted.
James stuck his tongue out at me as he sat down, which made me madder than anything else had for some reason.
“Harmony Foxen’s con was open, I’ve been told, and probably caught everything. I am very disappointed in the ones of you who were involved in what happened tonight. Five Cinders are in the hospital wing, in addition to seven of our own. Instead of fighting back, you should have done everything you could to stop it. As soon as I find out exactly who was involved, they will spend the next two weeks as janitors and kitchen aids to the Cinders. And you will not be allowed to attend the end-of-competition party.”
My spirits fell. What if that included me?
I glanced around to see if Roman was even there, but I didn’t see him anywhere. It wouldn’t have surprised me if he were one of our seven after what Luke did to him.
“I’m sending you all to bed early. The dance is over. And in case anyone’s wondering, the Cyclone won. Another point to the Southland Cinders.”
There was a lot of complaining as we left the great room. I walked past our Headmaster and Luke who’s talking with a few teachers in the hallway. “Miss Foxen,” Headmaster said. “Would you please lend me your con until morning?”
“Yes, sir.” She handed it over and we got halfway to the girls’ quarters before I realized I’d left my shoes behind.
“Dang it!”
“I know, all that work and we don’t even get to finish the dance,” Harmony said.
“No, I need to go back for my shoes. Will you come with me?”
“Yeah, if you tell me what really happened when the fight started.”
“I’ll tell you who started it—Roman.” I vented my frustration all the way to the dining hall and back about him and the trouble he’d caused.
When I saw all the North Haven guys crowded on the stairs outside of the girls’ quarters, I knew something was very wrong.