The Masquerade Read Online Free PDF Page A

brother's senior portrait. Finally, last year, my mom and I found the strength to frame it. He never graduated.
    "Noah went to lots of concerts." I heard my mom say. I turned and found that her eyes were on the same photo. I watched her
    swallow and turn to me with her lips pressed tightly together. She concealed her pain from my eyes. I knew it was there. I didn't have to see it.
    The shard of ice in my chest returned, but I smiled anyway.
    "He saw Underoath live and I was so mad at him because you wouldn't let me go." I laughed. "Your decisions were always his fault."
    A smile touched her lips at the memory. "I
    remember."
    "Noah is with me at every concert momma. He's the one that makes sure I come home okay." I truly believed it too. My brother was the one who got me into hard rock. He took me to my first concert a few months
    before he died when I was twelve. I still believe that he makes it to every show.
    "I know he is." She smiled. "But it would still be nice if a guy was with you." She bit her lip, which meant she was
    contemplating an idea. I knew her mannerisms well because I had many of them myself. "Maybe if you asked, Eli," she started to say.
    I shook my head. "He's out of the picture mom."
    She nodded. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad he is. I
    never liked the way he treated you. But it was nice when you were together. I knew you were safe with him."
    A knot in my throat tightened. Shiloh's words from before haunted me. "I'll find someone else."
    My mom shot me a stern look. "You can say that, but I know you're not opening yourself up to any opportunities."
    I frowned at my mom's contradicting words. "You're one
    to talk." She shut her mouth. I caught the pained look in her expression and immediately regretted my words. "I'm sorry."
    She shook her head and turned to me. "It's okay, Ella. We're both on the same ship."
    "Yes, but I didn't marry and have kids with Eli." I paused. "Or I guess have kids and then marry that asshole. Either way, you have me beat, so I have to step up my game." We laughed together at my
    obvious sarcasm. My mom was pregnant with my brother at sixteen. My parent's finally married six years later when I came along.
    My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and read the lit screen, which displayed the new message. Get your fat ass outside,
    bitch. I didn't have to look at the name to know who it was.
    Laughing, I held up my phone for explanation, "Hayley."
    My mom nodded. "Go have fun."
    I leapt off the counter. "I will. I love you, mom."
    "I love you too, be safe please."
    I kissed her on the cheek, "always."
    Outside, Hayley parked her mother's shiny black BMW in the
    driveway. The driver's window rolled down and Hayley leaned out the window. "How much?"
    "Too much for you, babe." I scoffed and slid into the back seat of the car. Hayley backed out of the driveway while Shiloh
    cranked up the volume and The Masquerade's second album began to blast through the speakers. We drove for nearly thirty minutes, listening to their music, and singing along to every word we knew.
    When we reached Atlanta's city limits, Shiloh turned the
    music down. Hayley and I both scowled at her. It was a sin to turn down the music when the car was in motion. "Now," she began. "We have to make a pact. No matter what happens tonight, we will get to the front of the
    stage."
    "Eye sex is impossible when you're not up close." Hayley commented.
    Shiloh turned to her. "I'm sure you'd find a way, dear."
    "Alright," I said and leaned forward, my hand on
    the storage compartment between the two front seats. Shiloh placed her hand on top of mine while Hayley let one hand off the wheel to finish the stack of our hands. "We will get to the front," I vowed. "And we will have
    rough eye sex with every rock star on stage."
    "We will have the best night of our lives." Shiloh finished. To seal the deal, we all screamed, our voices trying to match the low
    pitch of Ben's scream in that part of the song. Our voices cracked at