“Where in the world did you find a paisley-colored mask, J?”I asked when Jamaica pulled her eyewear from a box she’d left on the kitchen table in my apartment.
Her cheeks heated to a rosy pink as she shrugged.“I ordered a plain mask and decorated it myself.”
“OMG!I love it!So freaking awesome.”I wiggled my fingers in a “give me” gesture, and she handed me the mask to inspect.“Where did you find these feathers?”I ran my fingers along the array of purple, green, and gold plumes.
“It’s pretty impressive what you can find at the Dollar Store when you think outside the box.”She shrugged.“I pulled those from a couple of cheap feather dusters.The ‘rhinestones’”—she said with air quotes—“are craft beads.If you have a decent brush, fabric paint is easy.”Again with the shrug as she took the mask back.“When you grow up without money, you learn to improvise.”
“Yeah, well, your talent isn’t improvised.Damn, girl.You could make those and sell them for a fortune.”A thought came into my head.“Maybe next year we’ll commission you to make custom masks for the SCRs so we stand out when the Pikes host the ball.”
Jamaica dismissed me with a wave.“It’s not really that special.”
“Uh-huh.Wait till everyone sees this at the party tonight.”
We’d agreed on all of us wearing our favorite little black dresses.By the time we’d finished helping each other style our hair around our masks and stepped into our heels, we were one sizzling-hot foursome.Each of us wore heels to match our masks with Chess borrowing my neon pink pair, Piper in flashy purple, Jamaica in paisley heels she’d embellished with her fabric paint prowess, and me in my electric blue combo.I set up my phone on one of my camera tripods, hit the timer, and joined my friends for a group photo in front of my tiny fireplace.The mirror above it showed off our hair in the pic, and I kind of wished I’d used a proper camera for the shot.
My friends cuddled around my phone to exclaim over our collective awesomeness, then I shot off a copy of the photo to our group chat.Jamaica’s secret smile as she sent a text told me Callahan was getting a preview before the four of us made our grand entrance at the party.
Ahead of time, we’d agreed on taking two cars in case someone wanted to stay longer than someone else.Chess rode with me while Jamaica rode with Piper.We rolled up to the front of the SCR house where purple, green, and gold fairy lights, accentuated with a massive satin bow, twinkled across the balcony above the fancy two-story entrance to the house.Inside, the balloon flowers in Mardi Gras colors, which my committee and I had spent half of yesterday arranging, hung from the beams of the open dining and living-room combo.Long, satin ribbons had been draped from one set of balloons to the next, coming together in the center at the chandelier some long-ago SCRs had hung to light the massive room.
We’d pushed the furniture against the walls, leaving an impressive dance floor in the middle.A DJ who’d set up opposite the entryway was in his happy place as he took requests from a group of girls gathered around him.
We handed our coats to one of the pledges assigned to the task and stepped en masse to the edge of the dance floor.Our grand entrance didn’t go unnoticed.A palpable, almost visible, surge of energy washed over us—then suddenly, Callahan O’Reilly, Finn McCabe, and Wyatt Baxter were standing in front of us.
Even with their masks on, I didn’t have to guess who they were.Their impressive size in their tailored suits and plain black masks outed them as football players.Their singular attention on Jamaica, Chess, and Piper did the rest of the work to identify them.
Piper’s purple mask perfectly complemented her hair, and Bax let out a low whistle as he sidled up to us.Callahan was even less subtle as he took Jamaica’s hand and brought it to his lips, turning it at the last second to plant a kiss on the inside of her wrist.None of us could miss the full-body shiver that stole over her at his gesture, but it was so freaking hot that none of us called them on it either.Though Finn stood slightly apart from his friends, his singular focus on Chessly was intense enough to draw a flush over her skin above the bodice of her dress.
“Day-um.You ladies sure know how to make an entrance,” Bax said, a bright smile flashing below his mask.“Every guy in this place has his eyes on the four of you.”
Planting my hand on my hip, I struck a pose and said, “Good to know our efforts are appreciated.”
Chess shook her head.“You are such a ham, Saylor.”
“No.I’m a fiery femme fatale,” I corrected her with an upturn of my chin.“If I’m lucky, somewhere in this crush is a man of mystery equal to my sizzle.”
The guys cracked up, but I didn’t miss the quick once-over they gave me.They weren’t being creepy or cheating on their ladies.Rather, I had the notion they were considering which of their friends in the crowd might be up for my kind of fun.
Right then, the fourth roommate from the Jock Street house joined us.A petite brunette in a killer green dress and matching mask was resting her hand in the crook of his arm.
“Hello, Danny.Taryn,” Callahan said.“Glad you found the place.”
“I was driving.”Tarvarius Johnson, with his mask pushed up on his forehead, stepped up beside Danny.“This is my date, Zoe Lampe.”
The look he gave her explained why he’d put up his mask.His smitten expression said the woman in the loud tie-dyed sheath dress was more than his date.
For crying out loud, was everyone at the party in a dating relationship?
As though she’d read my mind, my favorite of the sisters in the Little Rhos, Helena Norcross, shimmied up to us.
“Now that was an entrance!”She gave a low whistle.“On your own in your black dresses you impress, but the four of you together?”She licked a finger and held it in the air while making a hissing sound meant to mimic fire.With a wave of her hand at the Wildcats players, she added, “No wonder this bunch moved right in on you.”
Considering Helena was quite possibly one of the few other single women at the party, I linked my arm through hers and said, “How ’bout we lead the way to the drinks?”
Throwing back her head, she laughed.“The guys should have put some of us on the drinks committee instead of only giving us decorations.”
“Why is that?”Bax asked.
“Because no matter how you try to dress it up, jungle juice is still jungle juice.”Helena laughed again.“At least the SCRs sprang for some decent beer instead of that nasty keg stuff you athletes like to serve.”
