We Wear The Mask (PASH)-Chap. 3
by Chrissyn
 

We Were The Mask--Part 3
 

The scene picks up immediately where it left off.
"So, who's your little friend, Chad?" Cilla sing-songed, directing a phony smile at Whitney. She placed a proprietary hand on Chad's shoulder.
He politely removed her hand from his person.
"Uh, I've interrupted something," Whitney said, feeling embarrassed, not only because she walked in on something between Chad and this girl. But that she had asked him to lunch. She turned to leave.
"Whitney, wait a minute," Chad said. "I want to talk to you."
She was unsettled by this, but she was trying to suppress her feelings. "What?"
Cilla suppressed a smile. She could tell she had unnerved the little bitch.
Chad turned to Cilla. "Look, I need to talk to Whitney."
"Oh, so that's your name," Cilla exclaimed, offering feigned pleasantness. "Well, hi, Whitney. I'm guessing your folks were a fan of Whitney Houston; hence, your moniker."
"You're very perceptive," Whitney said.
"Well, my name's Priscilla Wainwright. All my friends called me Cilla."
Showing her manners, Whitney said, "Nice to meet you, Cilla."
"Priscilla," Cilla said. "Only my pals call me Cilla...Haha. Just joking."
Looking at Cilla, and smiling lopsidedly, Chad said, "Why don't you..uh--" he shrugged, "wait outside while I talk to Whitney."
She faked a smile, and sashayed out of the garage. "See you later, handsome." She ran a talon along Chad's cheek.
He spoke to Whitney earnestly, "Look, let me explain. I uh--"
"Hey, you don't owe me an explanation for anything," Whitney interrupted.
"Yes, I do." Chad said emphatically.
"No, not really. I mean, you asked me out a couple of times, and I said no, so you're free to do whatever you want. And apparently, you want to run around with Cilla."
"That ain't what's going on," Chad said.
She was getting pissed. "Chad, do I look like an idiot," she snapped. "You and this girl obviously have something going on. I mean, she doesn't strike me as the type who'd be just friends with a guy. And flirting with you, the way she did."
He smiled. "You're jealous."
"Jealous!" Whitney shot back, pretending as if that wasn't the case.
"Yes, jealous," Chad reiterated. "J-e-a-l-o-u-s," he spelled.
"What is this? A spelling bee?" she huffed, sarcastically. "And you have the most colossal ego. I mean, you really think you're God's gift to the female species. I'm not jealous of that girl."
"You didn't finish what you were saying when you came in, but it sounded to me like you were asking me to lunch," he said.
She shrugged. Still flummoxed. "So. I wanted to have lunch with you. What's your point?"
"At first, you were acting like you couldn't stand me. Now, you're over here, invitin' me to lunch."
"What?" Whitney said. "Is this how you pump yourself up? You have Miss Cilla. Now you want me to tell you I'm interested in you."
"Well, maybe I want to hear that, because I'm interested in you."
She rolled her eyes. "Well, if that's true, what's with Cilla? I mean, obviously you take up with girls, and drop them like a hot English muffin...I'm not interested in being a notch, okay."
He chuckled. "Look, I ain't no player. I'ma be straight with you...Cilla, and I knew each other in California."
"Knew each other?"
"We dated...It was big time, but we went our separate ways."
"But she's here; so, evidently, you kept in touch."
"She tracked me down," Chad explained.
"To try and rekindle your relationship?" Whitney said. Shrugged.
He raspberried. "I don't know why she came here, but it's over between us. Last night, she showed up on my door..."
"My parent's door," Whitney said.
"Well, she just had a few bucks in her pocket book...No place to stay, so I let her borrow the couch."
"My parent's couch," Whitney said.
"And today, I wanted to take her to the Youth Center, so Luis can maybe hook her up with a place to stay."
"So you were playing Good Samaritan?" Whitney asked, like she was uncertain of the validity of Chad's words.
He nodded. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. Everybody was good to me when I came to town...Luis, your folks, Beth. I know what it's like to be in a new town, flat broke, with no friends. I believe you get what you give. So I want to give Cilla a helpin' hand. End of story."
He did seem sincere. She had to give this boy a chance. "Well, Chad for her to come all the way from Los Angeles, she must still have feelings for you."
"That's her problem," Chad said. "We're the past..." He looked at her yearningly. "I'd like for you to be the future...About that invitation to lunch? Does it still stand?"
"If you're interested."
"Damn straight I'm interested," Chad said.
"Well, I thought we could go to Friendly's, and eat and talk." Her head seesawed as she spoke. She felt abashed and uneasy.
"Sounds great," Chad said.
He explained he was going to take Cilla to meet Luis, and afterwards, he'd meet Whitney at the restaurant.
"If I had a set of wheels," he explained. "I'd come back here and pick you up, and we could do this thing right. But hey, these days, the city bus is my mode of transpor, so..."
She smiled. "It's okay. I don't mind meeting you." She smiled, showing all her teeth.
They agreed to meet at a quarter after two.
"And Chad."
"Yeah," he said.
"I want to apologize for those cracks about my parent's door, and my parent's couch. I was jealous, and I was being petty and childish. While you're staying here. This is your home...your space," she clarified.
"Don't even trip about it." He made a face, sloughing off her apology.
They excahnged warm siles.