Dark Intentions - Charlotte Byrd Page 0,33

you liked about it.” She furrows her brows.

"I did, but ..."

"Man, this Dante guy really got in your head, didn't he?” She pulls the brush away from my face and peers into my eyes.

"No." I shake my head, but feel myself blushing.

"Yes, he did. I mean, look at how you're acting."

"I just don't think that place is for me."

I tell her to turn around so that I can put on the dress, and when I look at myself in the mirror with the way that she has styled my hair and done my makeup, I'm shocked.

I look so different and yet the same, but it's almost like different features have been highlighted.

My cheekbones are suddenly pronounced, my lips are thicker, my eyes are bigger, but yet at the same time I look thinner and more toned.

"How did you do this?" I gasp.

"Contouring goes a long way.” Allison smiles, proud of her work. "So are we going to Redemption or what?”

"I don't have a mask.” I shake my head.

"You're in luck. I have two."

“Of course, you do.” I let out a deep sigh of exasperation. “Fine. But I'm just going to hang out in the lounge area. I don’t want any pressure."

We take a ride share car over to the club and drop our coats off upfront. Cassandra's there and flashes a smile of approval.

"You ladies look beautiful tonight," she says in the smooth voice of a late night radio disc jockey. "And those masks, exquisite."

"I got them in Venice,” Allison announces.

"You did?" Cassandra gushes, dressed in a floor-length, shimmery silver gown. Moving fluidly back and forth, she reminds me of a snowflake falling from the sky.

I'm again tempted to ask her about Dante, but I bite my tongue.

Allison grabs our drinks and we find a comfortable spot in the corner of the lounge area near the big purple velvet chairs. From here, we can survey the whole room, including the bar area, the entrance, and the dance floor and see if anyone interesting comes around.

Being back here makes us also a bit difficult to approach since we aren’t sitting anywhere prominent like the bar.

That's fine by me, but Allison looks frustrated.

"No one's going to talk to us here."

"Listen, I'm here. I said I would come. What more do you want?”

Allison twirls her bangles around her wrist and taps her foot on the floor.

"I wasn't going to tell you this, but I was going to try something new tonight,” she says, tucking a thick curl of hair behind her ear.

"What are you talking about?” I narrow my eyes.

"I am going to kiss a girl."

"Wow." I pull my mask away from my face and lean closer to her. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I've never kissed one before, so I thought that I would here. You see all these couples and their friends. It looks… nice."

"You want to be the guest star in someone else's relationship?" I ask with a tinge of sarcasm.

She shrugs her shoulders, tilting her head from one side to another. "Yeah, maybe. What's wrong with that?"

"No, nothing. I mean, I guess everyone here likes that."

"Look, you could be a little bit less judgmental."

"No, I'm not. Sorry. I'm just in a bad mood. I'm not judging you at all. Obviously, I want you to have fun and do whatever you want."

"I know what's going on here.” Allison narrows her eyes. "You're jealous."

"I'm jealous?" This takes me by surprise. I sit back in my chair and take a sip of my martini. "What would I be jealous of?"

"Maybe you want my first time kissing a girl to be with you. I mean, we have been friends since college. We've seen many of our roommates make out with each other at parties."

"Yeah, to impress some guys in fraternities. That's pathetic,” I say, making a face.

“Of course, it’s pathetic, but still. They got to experience something interesting. Haven't you ever thought about it?"

"Um, frankly, no, not really. I mean, girls are hot, sexy, curvy, but I'm not sexually attracted to them. Or to you."

"Fine," Allison says exasperated. "I'm going to go find me a date."

She lifts her hands, wrapping her thin, manicured fingers around the sides of the couch, pulling herself up to her feet.

"Boy or girl?" I yell off to her.

She flips her hair back and stares me down, and then we both crack up laughing.

Allison and I have known each other for a long time.

We met in Hanover, New Hampshire, and we were inseparable for four years.

We like to stream the