I watched warily from the corner of my eyes as Tommy sat down next to Celeste—trying not to wince as she giggled at a comment he made in her general direction. Chaz waved at him, and I saw Tommy nod tightly back as Chaz just shrugged.
"Issues maybe?" Chaz asked in a whisper next to my ear as I just shrugged. He had no idea! I looked down at my plate keenly as the rest of the family joined the eclectic group, and I winced as I realized that Sadie was definitely holding a different fork than I was. Okay, so I just needed to focus and get through this dinner. That's it. End of story.
"So, you sing?" Celeste's prominent father asked me suddenly from the head of the table. I just smiled warily and nodded. He 'uh huuuuhhhed' under his breath and I tried really hard not to roll my eyes. Celeste just yawned as if I bored her in general. Celeste's mother grinned before looking us over expectantly.
"Well, I want to welcome you all and explain to you a little about why you've been invited." She started slowly as I looked over at the woman with interest. I just figured we were here for Celeste's general amusement. It was nice to know there was actually a reason behind this whole debacle. I tuned back into the conversation as she continued.
"We're having a masquerade ball here over the next few days to celebrate Celeste's twenty-first birthday. She wanted to include all of you on the invitation list. More people will be arriving by tonight, and I want to thank you sincerely for accepting. It's going to be very interesting couple of days. It's tradition in this family to have this event on the eve of adulthood. All the guests will dress in costumes every night for three nights while wearing masks and changing our voices. During the day, we will resume our every day personages, and the third night will be the unmasking—the ultimate reveal to see who was behind each costume." Celeste's mother stated excitedly as I almost tipped over my fancy water glass in surprise.
We were going to be doing what? For how long? Oh, Jesus! I looked around the table warily—taking in Celeste's mischievous expression, Tommy's frown, Lettie's amused grin, Sadie's excited smile, and Chaz's interested gaze as I just groaned. What was this? The vacation from hell. I had managed to leave Toronto looking for relaxation only to find myself the subject of a biography, shooting Tommy in the ass, losing my virginity, having Tommy denounce practically thus said losing of virginity, meeting up with my now pregnant mother, and now we were going to be lounging around a castle like lazy slugs playing pretend. Hmmm..Could actually be interesting. Next question—who was I going as and better yet, who would Tommy be?