CinderEli Read Online Free PDF Page A

still looped
through mine, I managed to tie the ribbons together behind my head,
securing the mask in place over my eyes without even messing up my
hair.
    By the time we made it to the landing at the
top of the stairs, my arm was starting to sweat where Maya’s
touched it, and I was trying to think of a polite way to extricate
myself from her hold. “This is going to be so much fun,” I told
her, pulling my arm out of hers and clapping my hands together.
Then I set both hands on the banister and leaned over to survey the
foyer below.
    At the bottom of the stairs, partygoers were
already milling about, moving from one downstairs room to another,
exploring. Still more guests were arriving—some servant, or
caterer, or whatever, I didn’t recognize was opening the door every
few seconds it seemed like, to allow another group to enter.
    “Hey hey, beautiful!” Brad’s voice sounded
from somewhere behind me.
    I closed my eyes and counted to three, hoping
that when I opened them and turned around, Brad wouldn’t be there.
Maybe if I wished hard enough, he wouldn’t even be here at the
party. Inviting him had been a mistake. I knew that when I did it,
but even if I hadn’t invited him, he would have come anyway. Brad
was like that, too cocky to realize when he wasn’t wanted. And he
definitely wasn’t wanted. If I could have been rid of him
completely when we broke up however many months ago, I would have
been perfectly happy. But I just couldn’t seem to shake him.
    Sure enough, when I turned around, there he
stood, dressed as a vampire, complete with fake blood at the
corners of his mouth. “Brad. You do know it’s a masquerade
right?”
    “Chyeah, totally. That’s why I’m wearing this
costume.” He posed proudly, voguing the way he must think a vampire
would with hands on hips, feet askance, and fangs showing.
    What did I ever see in him?
    “Ooh, who is that?” Maya’s question drew my
attention away from my mistake of an ex-boyfriend and toward the
front door. The guy standing in my foyer hadn’t drawn only Maya’s
attention, but also the attention of several of the other kids
loitering in the entryway. And with good reason. He was dressed
head to toe in black, from his scuffed motorcycle boots to his
black denim pants to his black T-shirt under a black leather
jacket. And he’d topped it all with a black motorcycle helmet,
aviator sunglasses, and a black half-mask over his mouth. He was
impossibly tall and lanky, but his lean build didn’t make him any
less imposing. His look, his whole countenance was both alluring
and dangerous at the same time.
    “So, babe, when’s the music going to start?
I’m saving my best dance moves for you.”
    Ugh. Brad.
    “Yeah, yeah. Later.” I waved him off like a
pesky mosquito and made for the stairs, making sure to place each
step carefully, with purpose. A few minutes ago, my heels had
seemed so perfect; now they seemed ridiculous because they were
keeping me from getting downstairs to figure out who this
mysterious bad boy was.
    I kept my eyes glued to him as I descended,
and my heart sank when he started toward the
great-room-turned-temporary-ballroom. A quick scan of the room
ahead of him proved that it was already overcrowded. If he made it
in there before I could get to him, it would take me quite some
time to find him again. I picked up the pace, practically racing
down the final few steps. On the last one, my right heel caught in
the hem of my gown. I grabbed tight to the banister and lifted my
foot to remove my heel from my dress.
    By the time I’d extricated my foot from the
lace, my mystery guest had disappeared into the crowd beyond the
foyer.
    “Hey, Katie! Great party,” Amanda Simpkins
sidled up to me and wrapped me in a hug. Her too-large nest of
teased red curls tickled my nose in an unpleasant way, smothering
me with the scent of too much hair product. “Happy birthday,
Bestie!”
    Bestie? We were barely friends. She must have
been trying to