She stayed at the window, staring at him. He didn’t know what she was thinking; she was too far away and it was too dim to make out the expression on her face.
But then Cassidy held up a single finger and disappeared from the window.
It seemed that all the clocks in the world stopped ticking while Ash stood alone in his backyard, holding his breath until she came back.
The Riveras’ patio door slid open and latched shut again. Cassidy jogged into view but slowed as she approached the hole in the fence.
“Hey,” she said softly.
“Hey back.” Ash set the mask back into the papier-mâché boxand carried both with him as he walked over. But he stopped a couple feet shy of the broken boards.
Him on his side, Cassidy on hers.
This was the fence that had separated them all these years.
The fence on which he’d painted the mural of her soul.
And the hole where he’d left his heart this afternoon.
They stayed like that on either side of the fence. Neither said a word.
Finally, though, Ash broke the silence.
“I thought you would’ve already left for the party with your friends,” he said.
Cassidy shook her head. “I didn’t feel like going anymore.”
“Why not?”
She looked away for a second, and when she looked back at him, she only shrugged.
“I like your costume,” Cassidy said, changing the subject. “It’s from thatKisspainting, right?”
Ash took a step back in surprise. “You know Klimt?”
“Doesn’t everybody?”
He laughed. “No, definitely not.”
“The other mask you made…” Cassidy pointed at the open box that Ash was still holding. “I couldn’t see it clearly from my room. It matches your costume.”
“Yeah…”
“Oh god.” The tip of her nose pinked. “I’m an idiot. I thought you meant the mask was for me. But if it matches yours…” She wrung the hem of her T-shirt. “It’s for Onny. Wow. I’m…” Cassidy began to retreat into her sport court. “I should go.”
“What?” Ash frowned, confused.
But then he remembered the conversation he and Cassidy had had earlier, when she’d asked if he was really close to Onny, and he’d said yes, and then there had been an awkward pause.… “Wait, do you think Onny and I are together?”
“Isn’t that why you made her this mask?”
“Onny and True are my best friends, but they’re like sisters to me. This mask isn’t for Onny.”
“Then…”
“I made it for you.”
She let out a sharp exhale, as if she couldn’t quite believe it.
