Masquerade

 

The next day was the beginning of finals week at Duchesne. Unlike at other schools, students at the exclusive institution actively looked forward to examinations since it meant a flexible schedule and marked the advent of the coming school holidays. Bliss consulted her chart as she hurried through the school's double-height, gold-brass and glass doors. That day she had English and AP American History. The next day, German and Biology. She had a Social Justice test on Wednesday, no exams on Thursday, and only a French recitation on Friday.



As she ran up the grand staircase to the third floor, she noticed that all around her, girls were dressed down in yoga pants, T-shirts, and worn Ugg boots, while the boys wore faded sweatshirts, holey jeans, and sneakers.



What was going on? She herself was wearing her usual attire: pressed stovepipe jeans tucked into knee-high buckled pirate boots, and a Stella McCartney sweater over a ruffled Derek Lam blouse. Why did everyone else look as if they had stumbled out of bed and had gotten dressed in the dark?



"Hey, Bliss!" Mimi yelled as she sped out of the second-floor library.



Bliss was surprised to find Mimi in an outfit she would never be caught dead in otherwise. Mimi had pulled back her long blond hair into a garish red-and-blue bandanna and was wearing hardly any makeup (in fact, Bliss noted a small pimple on Mimi's chin). An oversize Duchesne lacrosse T-shirt borrowed from her brother, Jack, hung on her skinny frame, and she completed the look with low-slung flannel pajamas and comfortable shearling slippers.



"Hey!" Bliss called.



"Can't talk--late for my Chem final," Mimi explained, hurrying downstairs, her slippers flip-flopping on the marble.



"Did you just get here?" Soos Kemble asked, following Mimi. She was wearing an oversize Oxford sweatshirt and saggy jersey leggings, her thin blond hair a frizz. This was the girl who arrived in school every day with her hair perfectly blow-dried, wearing designer outfits that cost in the five-figure range. "Yeah." Bliss shrugged. "Why?"



"Everyone else has been here since dawn." Soos yawned. "It's the only way to get the best cubicles in the lib during finals."



Interesting, Bliss thought. She would never quite understand the unspoken rules at Duchesne, but apparently looking like a "grind" or a "nerd" was the height of fashion during exams. You had to appear like you were slaving away and totally serious about tests. Even the Blue Bloods, with their hyperintelligence, still needed to cram.



Tomorrow, Bliss promised herself, she would arrive at school in her oldest pajamas. She hated sticking out like a sore thumb. It was just another way to broadcast the fact that, unlike her classmates, she hadn't been a student at Duchense since pre-pre- kindergarten. Would she always be an ignorant outsider? Bliss wondered if she should be annoyed that Mimi hadn't told her about the casual dress code, but then realized Mimi probably had better things to worry about than advising Bliss on what to wear to finals.



When Bliss arrived at the History room, almost everyone in class was sitting down quietly and waiting for their professor to hand out the tests. Bliss took a seat in the back of the room, looking around to see if Schuyler or Oliver were there. She wanted to tell them her news of Dylan's return. Surely they would believe her, even if Mimi did not.



No such luck.



Then she remembered the two of them had been given permission to take their exams early so they could travel to Venice for two weeks. Lucky bastards.



Bliss looked down at her blue composition notebook. The first question had concerned the Mayflower journey, Pilgrims, and the founding of the thirteen colonies. Since she had lived through it, all she'd had to do was close her eyes and she could see their desolate settlement. She was sure to pull top marks.



Bliss felt confident she had aced the exam as she stood up and handed in her paper. Jack Force was in her class, and he gave her a friendly smile as he turned in his paper after she did. He held the door open for her so they could walk out together.



"How are you?" he asked once they were in the hallway next to the grand staircase.



"Great," she said. "I feel like a cheat, I mean...you know."



He nodded. "I know what you mean. All we have to do is close our eyes, right?"



"It's like we have an open textbook or something," Bliss said.



"Well, it's not as if we have to use it," Jack mumbled.



"Excuse me?" Bliss asked.



"Nothing." Jack shrugged. He had a faraway look in his eyes, and Bliss wondered what was going on with him. She didn't know him very well, although she hung out with him often enough since Mimi always liked to have him around.



"Good luck this week," Jack said, slapping her on the back in a brotherly fashion.



"You too," Bliss called. She looked at her watch. She had several hours before her next exam. Maybe she could grab a quick bite from a corner deli and then try to score one of those cubicles in the library--if there were any left.



As she walked down the stairs, a girl fell into step with her. Bliss raised an eyebrow "Yes?"



It was Ava Breton, a fellow sophomore--a Red Blood-- and yet very popular. Almost all of Ava's friends were Blue Bloods, although she didn't know it. Bliss noticed there were telltale marks on her neck, which meant that Jaime Kip, her Blue Blood boyfriend, had made her a familiar. Interesting.



"Bliss, can I ask you something?" Ava asked, tucking a hair behind her ear. Ava was wearing a thin, long-sleeved American Apparel T-shirt over her boyfriend's basketball shorts, and gray thermal underwear.



"Sure."



"Do you know anything about this party that Mimi and Jack Force are throwing next week?"



Bliss shifted uncomfortably. "I..."



"It's okay. I mean, Jaime is being really weird about it. I know he's going to that ball at the St. Regis with his parents seriously, how lame is that? But I thought it was weird he didn't even invite me to the after-party."



"I'm sorry." Bliss said, feeling uncomfortable. She hated when people were left out of the fun. She remembered what her life had been like before Mimi had taken her under her wing. She didn't have it in her heart to exclude people. It was so shallow and snobby, and so Mimi. It certainly wasn't Bliss. Anyway, what was the harm? Maybe the Four Hundred Ball was exclusively for Blue Bloods, but the after-party was for teenagers. In Bliss's opinion, the more the merrier. If someone wanted to join, what was the harm, really?



"I just--it's just--I mean, I know everyone else will get an invite," Ava said, biting her lip. "And what if I don't..."



"It's downtown at the Angel Orensanz Center at mid- night," Bliss blurted out. "And it's a masquerade party. You'll need a mask, some sort of disguise, to get in."



A rapturous smile appeared on Ava's face. "Thank you, Bliss. Thank you SO MUCH."



Damn.



Now she'd gone and done it.



She'd invited a Red Blood to the party. Mimi was going to be seriously pissed.