Chapter 41

Celeste

I ran down the corridor, my heart pounding as though it wanted to break free from my chest. The echo of Matt’s voice filled the air, his cries growing louder as he realized that I was the one he was looking for.

“Hey! Wait, please, let me talk to you!”

I cursed under my breath. I couldn’t stop; I wouldn’t stop. The past was chasing me, threatening to engulf me in a storm of questions and emotions I wasn't ready to face. What could he possibly want from me?

The clatter of my shoes against the floor guided me to an empty lecture hall. I fumbled with the door, my shaking hands finding the handle just as I heard his footsteps drawing near.

Once inside, I hurried to the other side of the room, hoping to find another exit.

But there was none. The back end of the lecture hall was just one flat wall.

“Shit,” I whispered to myself, whirling around as my breath became ragged beneath my mask. “Not even a fire exit? This can’t be legal.”

The door swung open behind me, and I was trapped. Matt stood in the doorway, his chest heaving, his eyes wide with determination. In his hand, the glint of the necklace was unmistakable.

“Why are you running from me?” he demanded, his voice softening as he approached.

I backed away, my eyes never leaving his, my voice catching in my throat. “What do you want? Can’t you just take a hint and leave me alone?”

Matt’s face paled slightly at my words, but his eyes were filled with determination.

Instead, he continued to advance, the necklace held out like an offering.

“I found this,” he said, his voice filled with something I couldn’t quite place. “I want to return it to you. And I need to know why you blocked me. I can't get you out of my mind, Mystery Girl.”

My back hit the wall, and there was nowhere else to go. I looked into his eyes, searching for some clue, some understanding of what was happening. Was this real?

“Y-You shouldn’t be thinking about me,” I whispered, a desperate plea in my voice. “You should forget about me.”

He was so close now, his body almost touching mine. I could feel the warmth of his breath, the intensity of his gaze. There was something behind his eyes, something I couldn’t read. It was almost as if… they changed colors for a moment?

It was impossible, though. Just a trick of the light.

“I can’t,” he said, his voice a low murmur. “I can’t just forget about you. I need to keep seeing you.”

“It’ll never work,” I pleaded. “I’ll never take this mask off. You can never know the real me. If you did, you…”

“What?” Matt asked, cocking his head. “Would I hate you? Be sickened by you? Is that really what kind of a guy you think I am? I’m not as superficial as you think, Mystery Girl.”

I swallowed. “That’s not what I meant. But…” I paused, licking my lips. His body was far too close to mine, and for a moment, I was transported back to the night he touched me in the bathroom. “I swear you won’t like me if you found out who I really am. Trust me, it’s not gonna work. You’re better off cutting your losses and finding someone else.”

Matt frowned, his face creased with hurt. He was silent for a moment, studying my eyes through my mask.

“Your eyes are a different color now.”

“No. They’re not.”

“They are,” he said, his frown deepening. “You’re wearing colored contact lenses, aren’t you? Are you that afraid of your identity being discovered that you would go to such lengths to hide yourself?”

I sighed, shaking my head. “You don’t understand,” I said, pressing further back against the wall. “I’m hiding for a reason. There’s more to this than you realize.”

“I want to understand,” Matt replied. “I want to so badly, Mystery Girl. But you’re an enigma. If you would just tell me… Just take off your mask for a moment…”

Matt’s hand began to work its way toward my mask, his fingers itching to remove it. Instinctively, I slapped his hand away. He paused for a moment, frowning even more deeply now, before he let out a sigh and stared defeatedly down at the ground.

“Just go,” I said. “I would like my necklace back. But we can’t see each other anymore.”

Matt was silent again for a few moments. His face seemed to be scanning through an entire host of emotions, many of which I couldn’t quite place my finger on. But then, one emotion in particular stood out from the rest, one which I could read. A playful smirk danced across his lips, and his eyes raised to meet mine.

“You want your necklace back?” he asked, holding it up in his hand. The silver chain and the dainty pendant swung like a pendulum in the air, catching the light and creating glimmers off of the stone in the center.

“Yes,” I said, reaching for it. “It… It was my mother’s.”

Matt’s smirk widened. I reached for it, and just as my fingers brushed the chain, he yanked it away and held it higher so I couldn’t reach.

“Hey!” I shouted, raising myself on my tiptoes to reach it. My hand swung helplessly at it, my arm raised. “Give it back!”

Suddenly, Matt’s other hand met my wrist. His fingers closed around it, and his body pressed itself against me, sandwiching me between himself and the wall. I felt my breath leave my body, and my face instantly turned a bright shade of red as he pinned me there, his face filled with mischief.

“If you want it back, I have a proposition,” he murmured, his voice husky in my ear.

I drew in a shaking breath. I hated to admit it, but my panties were wet already. Matt’s large, muscular body held me firmly against the wall, making me feel small and helpless.

“W-What would that be?” I asked.

Matt let out a soft chuckle, still holding my mother’s necklace out of reach. “Go ahead and continue to be an enigma,” he said. “If you don’t want to reveal yourself to me, then fine. I won’t pressure you to take that mask off until you’re ready. But if you want your necklace back, then you have to go on a date with me.”

A date? The word hung in the air, a possibility, a promise.

I blinked slowly, looking up at him, the fear and uncertainty giving way to something else. Was he serious? Could I even consider this, given our circumstances?

It would open an entirely new can of worms; my secret double life had come to a stand-still, and I was safer now. The dust was settling. But a date… A date could kick that dust back up again.

“Well?” he asked, swinging the necklace back and forth slowly as something flashed in his eyes that I couldn’t quite understand. “How about it?”

I swallowed, feeling like a scared little rabbit beneath Matt’s hungry gaze.

“A… A date?” I stammered.