Free Unmasked by Hope Bolinger Page A

that I would like to wear one. It sort of makes it hard to see, plus not many people would be able to tell who I was. Why do you ask?”
    “Well, Aleesha was wearing one, and I was wondering why.”
    “Wearing a what?”
    “A mask.”
    Bri tossed her hair back and smiled humorously.
    “Noelle, Aleesha wasn’t wearing a mask,” she said in a smooth, silky voice, oddly quiet for her.
    “Yeah she was, you didn’t see it?”
    Bri shook her head softly. “Maybe you’re simply tired. It has been a long day. I hear there’s a nurse’s office somewhere. She can see if you’re all right, although rest might do you some good.”
    Perhaps I’m as crazy as you, Noelle filled in the gaps sarcastically in her head.
    Suddenly something strong grasped Noelle’s hand and yanked her toward the other side of the hallway.
    “Bri,” Lacey’s voice called from right next to Noelle as she noticed Lacey’s firm grip encircling her arm, “just go ahead and begin hanging up streamers in that hallway down there, we’ll just be a minute.”
    Bri began galloping carelessly down the next hallway.
    “Noelle,” Lacey’s voice began firmly. “Look at my face, do you see anything there that shouldn’t be?”
    Noelle concentrated hard. She noticed a blemish here or there, but decided that it would be rather awkward to point them out.
    “No.”
    Lacey rapped on a door, and a girl stepped out. Noelle also noticed that the girl indeed dawned a lilac mask.
    “Wait a minute,” Noelle began suddenly, “I think I saw you earlier at the Activities Fair. You were the first one to go visit booths.”
    The girl in pigtails nodded, looked slightly bewildered as to why Lacey began staring at her intently as if she were about to transform into a butterfly.
    “Now, Noelle, does she have anything unusual on her face?”
    “I – uh – I mean, she’s wearing a mask.”
    “I’m what?!” the girl squeaked suddenly clawing at her face to find it.
    “Sorry, maybe I’m seeing things,” Noelle said, flustering a very deep red.
    “You’re not seeing things,” Lacey said firmly as she motioned for the very frightened girl to return to her room. 
    “You have a mendum, ” Lacey explained.
    Suddenly Noelle remembered what a boy named Terryn had said about mendums. He said that they were flaws, and one kid named Jim, couldn’t be able to talk because of his mendum.
    “Do you mean that there’s a part of me that’s a mistake?” Noelle burst suddenly.
    Lacey waved her hand up and down to calm her down, “People call them that, but really, mendums are just abilities that some campers have that others don’t. Sometimes they bring the camper disadvantages, but in your case, it causes you to see something that often others overlook.”
    Noelle gave her a puzzled expression.
    “You can see if a person is wearing a mask or not,” Lacey explained. “I have that ability too. That’s why I called someone who had one on to see if you recognized it.”
    “But what does seeing masks have to do with anything?”
    Lacey shrugged, “If I knew, I’d probably appreciate the mendum a little more.”
    Noelle frowned as the information began to sink in, “Was she wearing it earlier?”
    “Yes.”
    “Then why didn’t I see it?”
    “Sometimes people are born with mendums, and others get theirs overtime, but it’s really not important when you got it, but why you got it. The sooner you understand that, the sooner you’ll appreciate the gift.”
    Lacey clapped her hands together as she meandered toward Bri’s direction.
    “Now let’s bring some life back to these hallways.”
    #
    After the whole Lane Wing iced the hallways with streamers and various paper creations, they gathered in the Lane Lounge crowding around a screen, similar to what lectors call a television.
    “What is this for?” a girl piped up curiously.
    “We’re going to watch a story,” another replied. “A final copy mind you, took me a whole days pay in order to get it, but