Unmasked Read Online Free PDF

this much.
    But the truth suddenly shattered before her as she realized that she wanted to return to Blade. His touch dissolved any thoughts of loneliness that she felt. He had made her feel wanted, special, desired, and loved.
    And she hated him for it.
    Hated him and…loved him?
    She meandered over to a rustic mirror in the corner of the room and gazed at her reflection for the second time that day. Her hands did the best to deflate the puffiness in her cheeks, but the effort proved useless.
    Every mistake glared back at her as the rolls of fat could clearly be seen when she pulled her loose shirt behind her back to make it tighter. Suddenly images of the beautiful girl Blade pointed out in Fame or Flop burned into her head as she began comparing every feature.
    Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a piece of paper on the aged-oak cabinet next to the full-length mirror. The paper had her name etched into red writing, and she peeled it open carefully.
    Dearest Noelle,
    Meet me at the Allay Café, located to the left of campus gates at 8:45 a.m. Remember child; I will always be with you.  Call on me and I will always come. Have a blessed night, and I will see you in the morning.
    There was no signature, but Noelle didn’t need one. She padded over to a bunk nearby the mirror thoroughly convinced that she knew what love was – and it certainly wasn’t what Blade described it as.
    She collapsed on to the bottom bunk, as it let out a soft groan.
    She clutched the letter to her chest partially relieved, but mostly infuriated. If the Author was there, why didn’t he stop her from dancing with Blade? Why didn’t he intervene while the others played Fame or Flop degrading his creation?
    “When I go see the Author tomorrow, I’m going to make sure he puts Blade in the Unwanteds,” she muttered bitterly.
    “So you’re the Saint,” piped up a voice from nearby.
    Noelle bolted up in bed as her eyes probed the room for the source of the voice. They landed on a very young looking girl in a flowery purple tank and yoga pants.
    “You heard about me?” Noelle asked curiously, somewhat panicked that the girl likely did not hear anything good about her reputation.
    The girl twirled her cherry red, curly hair mechanically, while shoving a pair of reading glasses up her nose automatically with her index finger.
    “Overheard a conversation about her,” the girl’s golden eyes squinted. “But I didn’t believe it; I had to see it for myself. So you really believe that the Author exists?”
    The girl took Noelle’s bewildered expression as a confirmation.
    “Wow. Really? That’s so adorable! It’s like believing in Santa Claus all over again. They were right, you are super innocent!”
    Noelle felt her cheeks burn with a slight taste of irritation that some girl far younger than her would cluck so condescendingly like a mother hen to a foolish chick.
    “What are you talking about?” she demanded. “Of course, the Author is real!”
    The girl let out an obnoxious giggle as if Noelle had told her the funniest joke she had heard yet.
    “Well, maybe he’s real for you , but not for me.”
    Noelle felt a rise of fury stirring in her chest as she began to doubt whether she had actually met the Author at all. Did she have an imaginary friend? Was it a dream of some sort?
    Don’t be ridiculous. You remember meeting him, and he left you that note –
    Of course! The note! That was her proof that the Author was real!
    She snatched the note off of her bunk and brandished it for the other girl to see.
    “He wrote me this! His own words are right here! He’s going to meet me in a café tomorrow.”
    The girl’s thin lips pursed into a crooked smile.
    “Some other camper probably put that there as a prank. Don’t you get it? It’s just make believe,” then she added quickly. “Maybe you would do well in that Fantasy since you believe in fairytales so much.”
    “Get off it, Erin,” snapped a voice from the door as a