Polly checked her house first. She didn't have much to go by, since she wasn't the one who found the compact. She trusted Minny when he told her he'd found it, but his vagueness hadn't helped her find out the truth. The first place she thought to look was her new home.

It was empty. Jenny was at school, and her aunt and uncle were at work. Still, she felt like she needed to know if it belonged to this family. She thought rationally for a moment; if it was found on the walk to school, then it would have been Jenny who dropped it. The elementary school and the high school were close to each other, and therefore forced all students to walk the same path.

The only thing about Jenny that wouldn't make sense is the compact itself. Jenny was too young for makeup, or to own makeup. She couldn't see her soccer playing cousin carrying around a makeup compact, though it didn't have makeup in it.

So then, Polly imagined that perhaps it had once belonged to her aunt, and Jenny had swiped it after it was empty and in the trash.

Polly searched her cousin's room. It was messy with clothes and toys, though there was not one picture of Polly in the room. Even after searching through everything, Polly found nothing that was related to her.

She switched tactics and moved downstairs to the family room. Her aunt and uncle kept pictures in a cabinet, all in books. She flipped through book after book, but didn't find much. There were some pictures of Polly, but none were school pictures. All were pictures of her when her aunt and uncle must have visited, though she never remembered any of the instances.

She must have been too young to remember.

Frustrated, Polly wanted to kick something. She had no idea why someone would own a compact with her picture in it. And the worst school picture, of all things. It was hideous and unforgiving.

Polly felt fear well up in her gut. If the compact didn't belong to her aunt and uncle, or her cousin, then Polly had no idea who it belonged to.

The only people who would own that picture was her parents. And they were miles away, in a different state. And she doubted that they'd come back for her after all this time. Doctor Higgins was her next guess, and the thought of him had Polly leaning against the wall, her stomach twisting uncomfortably.

She had no clues. Just a flimsy makeup compact with her picture on the inside.

She slid to her bottom, still against the wall, and banged her head hard against the wall. Again, and again, until her head hurt.

She looked at the compact again, and flipped it over in her hands. She didn't wear makeup, so therefor she knew nothing about it. The compact was black and had a strange symbol on the front. One she recognized, but didn't really know.

She took out her phone and plugged in makeup compacts in the search bar of the web browser. She waited for a moment, then sifted through the different pictures until she found one similar to the one she was holding.

That was surprisingly easy to find, she thought, but didn't know what she was going to do with the knowledge of which brand the compact was. Until she tapped on the link and found out how much the compact was worth.

She had to blink a few times to make sure she was seeing the right price. The small, black compact was $58.00. Far more expensive than she imagined a little black compact would go for. She was shocked.

Polly moved to the bathroom and dug through her aunt's makeup bag. She saw two compacts, and both were tan and cheap. Not like the one she held in her hand, which meant only one thing.

The compact wasn't her aunt's. As much as she wanted to believe it was, there was no way her aunt had the money to buy compacts that costed almost sixty dollars. That led Polly to think one thing: whoever purchased the compact was rich.

That left out her parents, then, who certainly were not rich. Though, Polly still didn't want to give up the thought of it being theirs. Perhaps her mother would splurge on makeup - Polly had no idea. And no makeup bag to go off of.

A nagging thought resided in the back of Polly's mind as well. Doctor Higgins had plenty of money.

Though, Doctor Higgins didn't wear makeup, so perhaps someone else was looking for her. Someone who wore makeup and had access to her old school pictures.

Polly had no idea who that could be.

She was frustrated, and didn't understand how she thought she could find the answer so easily. She had one clue. One. And that wasn't enough to solve a case. She was incredibly ignorant at this moment, and she hated it. It made her feel like she was trapped.

She went to her room and dug through her drawers for her sketchbook. Her hands itched to draw, like they always did when she was upset, but when she dug up her sketchbook, she was shocked to find the pages full.

She needed a new one. A new one meant money, and a trip to the office supply store. Closing her eyes, Polly racked her brain for an idea of how to get to the store. She had enough money for the book, but not a way there.

Her hand fisted again, like she was going to punch something. She was frustrated with the compact. She was frustrated with the lack of a vehicle. She was frustrated with Minny and his new look. She was frustrated that Kenzie would never be hers.

She was frustrated that her parents didn't love her. She was frustrated that she liked girls. She was frustrated that Doctor Higgins had held her captive for years and had wasted no time torturing her.

Polly was extremely frustrated and needed a pen in her hand and a sketchbook on her desk.

Almost like a miracle, the sound of knock came from downstairs, and Polly, looking for a distraction, headed down the stairs. She hadn't a clue about who could be behind the door, but a look through the peephole had she smiling and opening the door.

She was shocked to see Kenzie there, her grin wide and cheerful.

"Why aren't you in school?" Was the first thing Polly thought to ask.

Kenzie didn't miss a beat. "Because you weren't there. You think I was about to suffer through Hell without you?"

Kenzie, of course, didn't know Polly wasn't at school until after she'd decided to take a personal day. She knew Polly wasn't there because of Minny.

She hated the boy, but couldn't help but bless his soul for being completely hung up over Polly.

Swooping in during lunch had Kenzie searching for Polly, only when she couldn't find her, Minny was a good source of information.

Polly laughed, and it felt good on her lips. She felt like she needed to laugh, because the day had been a blur of crazy and insane.

Polly was sure she needed help. She was also sure she wasn't going to search for any.

"I need to go to the store. Would you like to accompany me?" Polly's curved smile was real and genuine. She felt relieved, and even a little tired from crying and overall being a ball of frustration.

Kenzie's smile was also genuine, but somewhere insider herself, Kenzie knew she wasn't being real. She was hidden behind layers of confidence, charm, and everything Kenzie knew Polly needed.

Kenzie was fantastic at reading people and molding herself to fit.

She didn't want to have to mold herself to Polly. Kenzie wanted to be real with her, but years of pretending made it hard for Kenzie to remember how to just be herself without a mask on.

She wanted to be real with Polly, but she wasn't sure Polly would like her.

When Kenzie said yes, Polly grabbed her wallet. Then, she breezed past the purple haired girl, and fell in-step with her to the car. Polly had no idea Kenzie was wearing a mask. Despite all the people who had fooled her, Polly trusted easily. And she didn't, for one moment, think Kenzie was lying to her.

Kenzie didn't want to. Kenzie did want to be real, but she wasn't sure how. Wasn't sure if it was possible at this point.

Polly made herself comfortable in the passenger seat of Kenzie's mother's car. It was the kind with leather seats and seat warmers, and it delighted Polly to run her fingers over the smooth black leather, excited.

She twirled her hair into a bun on the top of her head, fumbling with the elastic on her wrist. Then, she peered up at Kenzie, delighted to find she was already looking at her, a smile on her face.

"Your car is wonderful," Polly said, but what she wanted to say was, you are wonderful. They were forbidden words, and Polly immediately felt like it was all too soon. She fell for Kenzie way too soon, without out much preamble, but she didn't care much about the time span it took for her to realize she liked Kenzie.

And Kenzie felt the same way about Polly. About the blonde sitting in the passenger seat with her hair up in a messy bun and her legs tucked underneath her body. She looked like a dream with bright eyes and a goofy smile.

A dream Kenzie didn't deserve.

She threw the car in reverse and drove out of the driveway. It was smooth and graceful, just like Kenzie was, and just a hint of dangerous.

Polly liked being in her car. She thought that it smelled just like Kenzie did, and it wasn't a surprising fact.

"How do you do it?" The words slipped past Polly's lips before she let them.

"Do what?" Kenzie shot Polly a look as she drove, trying to stop the smile on her face from getting any wider. It was ridiculous that the presence of Polly in this car could make Kenzie's chest feel the way it did: tight and pleasurable.

"Do everything so flawlessly. I mean, take your makeup for example. Always so flawless. And your fashion sense. And your driving skills. And just everything you do is always so perfect."

Kenzie laughed, though didn't disagree. She worked hard for that reputation, that everything came to her easily and that everything she did was flawless. It wasn't easy, but it was a reputation she'd been building since she was young.

"Practice. You don't get perfect winged eyeliner without practice and pain."

Polly laughed as well, noting how useless she was with makeup. "You strike me as the kind of person who practices in the closet before showing the world."

Kenzie knew Polly wasn't wrong. She didn't do anything publicly unless she knew it was going to be perfect. She wouldn't dare embarrass herself that way.

Polly didn't need to know about the masks. About the collecting. About any of it.

"Some things are better left a mystery." Kenzie said, then winked at Polly. And she'd meant it, because she couldn't imagine what Polly would think of her if she knew the truth about her. She couldn't bare it.

And so she decided she would never say a thing. Polly would never have to know.  

* * *

A lot of you don't know this about me is that at school, i'm an RA (resident assistant). This means I put on 3 events a month, I'm always on duty, I do a lot of paperwork, and everyone thinks i'm like the cops. Its a time consuming job. So, PLEASE don't message me about updating. I will get to updating when I get to updating. I am a college student, taking 5 classes. I have two jobs. I work a 16 hour week internship. Please don't rush me or make me feel bad about not updating.

Let me repeat: I am a college student, taking 5 classes. I have two jobs. I work a 16 hour week internship.

 Between my five classes, homework, 2 jobs, and a hefty internship, I don't have a lot of time to write. Or be on this website. So, please hang on.

Okay. I love you all. 

XOXO

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