smellsvanilla (smellsvanilla) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2018-11-29 14:54:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | #november 2017, brynn, brynn x victoria, victoria |
Who: Brynn and Vic
When: After early dismissal on Wednesday, November 11/22
Where: Around & then Loomis Antiques
Status: Complete
As pretty as all of the lights and stuff were hanging up around town, Brynn was still mourning summer, and even autumn. It hadn’t felt like they had a lot of it and really, the only upside to the cooler weather was that she could wear the cherry colored wool peacoat her dad brought home for her from his business trip overseas. She had a dark gray winter hat pulled down over her ears to keep them warm as she and Victoria walked down Main Street, popping in and out of shops. The real shopping would start on Friday when the Thanksgiving sales began, but patience had never really been Brynn and Vic’s strong suits and Brynn already had two bags in her hands from Veronica’s. “You and your dad are coming over for Thanksgiving, right?” Brynn asked, slowing to peer into the window of the book store, just to see if there was anything new. “Mom didn’t sound too sure when I asked her the other day.”
Victoria hated the slush and mud that came with heavy snow, but loved the cold weather that allowed her to wear a variety of coats, scarves, and gloves. Her new go-to for the season was a navy blue trench coat, today paired with mustard yellow gloves and a tartan scarf with a hint of the same yellow. If she was going to be out and about, she was going to be fashionable. Next to Brynn, in her cherry red, she knew they made quite a pair, turning heads wherever they went. “Oh, definitely. Dad can’t cook Thanksgiving dinner. If we don’t do it with you guys, we’ll end up going out and that’s just sad,” she said with a shake of her head. “Let me know if there’s anything I should bring. Like, a pie or something.” Something easy. She liked the idea of homemade, but couldn’t imagine spending more than an hour in the kitchen herself.
Brynn wrinkled her nose at the idea of eating Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant. Who was going to be serving actual turkey and potatoes? The Boathouse would probably have something fancy like poached salmon. Gross. "I'll ask mom," Brynn said, tearing herself away from the book store window to fall into step beside Victoria again. "She'll probably say not to bring anything, but I doubt she'd be pissed if you did. Are you going to see Todd's family at all?" She never really knew the status of her cousin's relationship with her boyfriend. They were together, sure, but Victoria's interest seemed to change on a daily basis. Brynn hadn't dated anyone since she and Scotty broke up during the summer, so she was more or less stuck living vicariously through her friends.
This was one of those times Victoria wished she had a decent mother, one who would take responsibility for things like setting up family dinners and making sure they followed all the appropriate protocols. Victoria knew it was polite to offer to bring something, so she did, but if she could get out of it, then that was even better. She’d rather just show up and hang out with Brynn. “I don’t know,” she said with a little frown. “Holidays… I feel like that would make things serious and we’re not… Not really. He’s not end game, you know? I kind of like people thinking that, but… I dunno, maybe I should. It’s not like there’s someone else.” It was a lot more truth than she was willing to put out there for most people, but she trusted Brynn. It helped that she didn’t really see her cousin as competition.
"It's just dinner," Brynn pointed out. Dinner on a holiday with family, but still. "I mean, even if you guys aren't serious, I don't think there's anything wrong with having fun while you can. He probably knows it's not end game too, right? I mean, really, how often are high school sweethearts ever end game? I think it happens, like... one in.... a hundred or something. Probably not even that much." She was just putting statistics out of her ass but it sounded plausible, at least.
“I think it happens more in small towns than other places,” Victoria said. “People that don’t leave settle for what’s in front of them. But I'm getting out next year and we’ve never talked like it was forever.” They weren’t good at talking about their relationship period. Neither seemed interested in bringing it up, which Victoria had always been fine with. She was as skittish about having the relationship conversation as any guy. “Nothing wrong with having fun, though. I’m sure I’ll see him over the holiday. What about you?” She asked, giving her cousin a nudge. “Any guys in your sights?”
That was probably true, but like Victoria had said, she was getting out of this town anyway. So was Brynn, if she was lucky. She couldn't even imagine who she would end up marrying in Point Pleasant. Her options made her nose wrinkle in distaste. Brynn so did not want to settle. Sometimes she fantasized about backpacking through Europe and finding a hot French guy who couldn't speak English. It was all romantic in her head, and probably silly, but she didn't care. So Brynn shook her head at her cousin's question and released a short laugh. "No. Not right now, anyway. Like, I had fun at Homecoming with Mark, but..." She shrugged. "It's kind of nice keeping my options open, you know?"
“I’d do the same if I thought that there were options to choose from,” Victoria said, peering into a shop window. It would be fun to be single if she thought she’d get to date around and have some fun, but the boys in her year were either solidly committed or really not worth her time. Other than Todd. Who was fun, but… Maybe Jules was right. Keeping this up through prom sounded exhausting. “I can’t wait till college,” she smiled. “It’ll be nice to have an entirely new population of boys to meet.”
Brynn couldn't really protest that. There wasn't a lot of options in Point Pleasant for someone like Victoria. If a guy was hot and worth having, she had probably already had him. Except for Scotty, as far as Brynn knew. Brynn had never asked because she didn't want to think about her cousin making out with her ex-boyfriend. "College is going to be amazing," Brynn agreed, a small smile playing at her lips. "Just getting out of this crappy town will be worth it. I mean, obviously new boys is a bonus though." They were coming up to Belladonna and Brynn motioned inside. "I need some new shampoo."
“The boys are definitely a bonus,” Victoria smiled. There was a whole world out there that she wanted to tackle, cities bigger than point pleasant with so much to do that she could never do it all. She definitely wanted a man on her arm, but she didn’t want to be ruled by one. The concept of an equal, loving relationship was still foreign to her, despite the claims that they existed. It wasn’t something she saw often in real life. “I love this shop,” she said as they stepped into Belladonna. “I swear their products work better than anything I can find anywhere else. Which shampoo do you use?”
"The citrus rain," Brynn said, making a beeline immediately for it. "It's my favorite. I don't even need conditioner when I use it." A silly thing to be excited over, probably, but she didn't care. She colored her hair, so it was nice to have something that kept it from getting dry and gross. "You know, every time I used it Scotty couldn't stop smelling my hair." She grinned and grabbed a bottle of it. "It was kind of weird after a while, but also kind of nice? I joked that they put like, aphrodisiacs in the shampoo here."
“Seriously?” Victoria asked, raising a brow as she followed her cousin over to the hair care section. She spent enough keeping her hair bright blonde that she’d go the extra mile to keep it looking healthy as well. Plus, she liked the idea that there were aphrodisiacs in the shampoo, that just her scent would turn boys on. “Now I’m going to watch and see if guys start to paw at you when you flip your hair,” she teased. “I may have to try it, see if I can’t catch me someone new for winter formal.”
Brynn laughed. “Using shampoo has a weapon to trap a date. I like it.” She handed Victoria one of the elegant white bottles. “I’ve never actually flipped my hair at a guy before, but I may have to try it. See, now I’m picturing a horde of guys chasing you through the school because they want to smell your hair.” Brynn stuck out her tongue and shuddered before giggling. “But if anything, at least you won’t have to deal with split ends!”
“That’s both horrible and fantastic,” Victoria grinned as she looked over the bottle. “I’ll beat them off with a stick.” She knew that, realistically, a group of guys chasing her would be terrifying, but there was still an appeal that probably said she was a little messed up in the head. Victoria didn’t exactly care. “I’ll have to try it and see what happens. If nothing else, I’ll have heather hair, right?” That was always a plus. “I want to get a fresh face mask, while we’re here. I love the oat and honey.”
Brynn nodded her agreement, amused at the mental image of Victoria being run down by a bunch of boys who wanted to smell her hair. Ridiculous, really, but funny. She followed Victoria to the skin care and started searching for a few things to buy herself. She wasn't super invested in a beauty ritual, but she tried to take care of her skin when she remembered to do it. It wasn't like she had a boy around to impress anyway. Not that she needed one. But still. "What do you want to do next?" Brynn asked, once she had grabbed a tube of the oat and honey facemask as well.
“I kind of wanted to step into that antique shop and see if they had anything my dad might like for Christmas,” Victoria suggested as she took the shampoo and face mask up to the counter to check out. “He’s such a pain in the ass to buy for. He has everything he wants, but maybe they’ll have something random that he thinks is interesting? I don’t know.” She could always get him a book and another tie, but how many ties did a man really need? It seemed worth looking, at least.
While Brynn hadn't been to the antique shop since it opened, she knew which one Victoria was talking about. It definitely didn't look like the kind of place her cousin would frequent, but it made sense to check it out for possible parental gifts. "Sure," Brynn said with a soft shrug. "Maybe I'll find something for mom and dad while I'm there. Get them something old and dusty but I bet they'll love it." Obviously she was joking, though it amused her to think about her mom opening up something old and gross from Brynn at Christmas. "Maybe they'll have those old school vintage porn magazines," she suggested with a laugh. "I bet he'd like that!"
"Ewww, I can't give my dad porn!" Victoria laughed, not caring at all that their conversation was being overheard by the store clerk. "I mean, maybe something from the fifties, where they don't actually show much, but everything later is just gross." Especially the seventies and eighties. It would be an amusing gift for Todd though, and she didn't mind thinking about him getting off to it. "I kind of like the pin-up stuff, just in general. Like, the look and their hair and everything."
"That's what I mean! Vintage." Brynn laughed. "I don't know if they show a bunch of stuff in vintage magazines? It's like... pin-up girl stuff, right?" She had no idea, given she had never looked at porn magazines before. But yeah, she couldn't imagine getting her own dad stuff like that. Gross. It was just a tease anyway. She had the items she wanted to buy, but waited for Vic to finish up before she walked to the register. "I like the... lingerie? that they wore back then. It was cute and sexy. Now everything is like, lace and see-through, so you can see everything right away. Where's the fun in that?"
“Yeah, I wish we had someplace local that sold things like that. That’d be a fun little surprise, wouldn’t it?” Victoria smiled back at Brynn as she finished paying for her products. She owned her fair share of lingerie and she thought that Todd appreciated it, but she’d have enjoyed something a bit more classy. The best she could do was Victoria’s Secret. “I’m sure there are places online that sell it, but it’d be so much more fun if we could try it on.” She could probably just buy a boatload and return what she didn’t like, but that was such a hassle.
Brynn didn't really have anyone to wear that stuff for, so it was a moot point at the moment, but she didn't mind talking about it. Veronica's came close, but the clothes and lingerie there was definitely not pin-up girl style. They made their purchases and added another bag to their load. Brynn wished she had parked closer so she could dump some stuff off in her car, but it was what it was. "Want to hit the antique shop and then grab a coffee on the way back?" Brynn asked, turning to Victoria as they headed back out of the store. "I'm feeling the need for caffeine." She doubted she would find anything remotely interesting in an antique store, so hopefully Victoria would quickly find something for her dad.
“Yeah, that’s sounds good. I think I’m about done today,” Victoria said, looking over afternoon haul with approval. She’d do more shopping on Friday for sure, but it wasn’t like she needed to hit up the sales. If it was too crowded, it just wasn’t worth it. Plus, there were better things online than what most of the shops had. “Did I tell you I got chewed out by Greg Wheeler?” She asked, rolling her eyes. She really hadn’t meant to piss Greg off, but it wasn't like she’d been mean to Ophelia. Just brutally honest.
Brynn raised a brow. Victoria getting chewed out by someone wasn't unusual, but Greg Wheeler was generally someone who was laid back and chill. It was hard to imagine him chewing out anyone. "What about?" If she had to wager a guess she would say Victoria probably said something about Greg dating Ophelia McCarthy. Brynn found it a super odd pairing, but that whole brother's best friend thing was a tale as old as time, wasn't it? Or best friend's sister? Whichever.
"I’m surprised you didn’t hear about it. Apparently, I upset his girlfriend," Victoria said, her expression turning sour as her anger at the encounter started to return. "Which, okay, I said some things I probably shouldn't have, but he came at me like I'd attacked her. He started spewing all this bullshit at the lunch table, in front of everyone, when all I did was talk to her.” And it royally pissed her off. Greg had made her look bad in front of the people whose opinion she cared about the most, making her look like a malicious bitch when she knew she wasn’t. It made her want to show him just what that looked like, to repay Ophelia with her own dose of humiliation.
"Ugh, what a dick," Brynn said, sympathizing, though she could only imagine what Victoria actually said to Ophelia. "I mean, he had to know people would talk, right? I would say he's trying to make Heather jealous, but..." With Ophelia McCarthy? Though Brynn couldn't help but think the girl was pretty. Just a little heavy. "What exactly did you say to Ophelia that made him think you were attacking her?" Sometimes her cousin had good intentions, but they just came out the wrong way.
“That’s the thing!” Victoria said, waving a hand dramatically. “I don’t even know what he’s talking about! I ran into her while getting a drink and was trying to be nice, just talking to her for once. Like, about her dating Greg, and how guys like him usually get bored as soon as you put out, which, I mean, I probably shouldn’t have said and I don’t even know why I did, but I wasn’t being mean, and it’s true, it’s not even a secret, but then she randomly tells me she hasn’t even slept with him yet and next thing I know she’s telling me to shut up out of nowhere.” If there was more to it, than Victoria didn’t remember. She hadn’t even recalled that much until Greg had mentioned bits of it at lunch, but what he’d said had included some things she was sure she hadn’t said.
Brynn wrinkled her nose a bit, understanding why Greg would be upset about that, but also... it was kind of true, wasn't it? Boys generally just wanted to get laid. They didn't always care about the stuff that should come with it. Feelings and all that. "She sounds insecure," Brynn said after a moment. "Like, something you said probably hit a chord? Maybe she knows that's how Greg is and she's worried. I mean, she's Sebastian's sister, so like, she grew up around Greg, right?" Brynn shrugged. "I'm sure you weren't trying to be mean. Greg shouldn't have been an asshole to you about it either."
“He was on and off with Heather for months, and, like, everyone knows he’d hook up with girls at parties. He’s not exactly a saint,” Victoria said as she pushed open the door to the antique store. “But yeah, you’d think she’d know. Sebastian and Greg are practically inseparable. I’m surprised he’s even cool with her dating him. I’m sure he knows better than anyone what Greg gets up to.” In Victoria’s opinion, Ophelia had good reason to be insecure. Greg could lose interest the second they had sex. It wouldn’t be a shocker to anyone. “The whole thing just pisses me off. He even accused me of starting drama when he was clearly the one making a scene.”
"Maybe he really likes her," Brynn suggested, though she didn't sound too sure. "And he's afraid she'll dump him? I don't know. But yeah, I mean, if he didn't want drama, why start drama in front of everyone, knowing it would get around? And then it looks like Ophelia needs him to yell at you for her. That's just silly." Really, Brynn didn't know the whole situation since she hadn't been there, but she didn't want Victoria to delve into a bad mood because of Greg Wheeler. "You know what? It doesn't even matter. It's not like anyone is going to pay any attention to them. I don't think it's worth even thinking about."
It was silly, but Victoria also felt like it made her look bad and she knew that people’s opinions mattered more than the truth. The line she walked in her crowd was fine and someone as well-liked as Greg could topple her off if she wasn’t careful. If she’d had someone pulling for her, like Todd, it might have been different, but she doubted he’d ever come to her defense the way Greg had for Ophelia. “You really don’t think so?” Victoria asked, her worry showing through. “I know she’s just this--this stupid little band geek, but Greg…” She sighed, trying to shake away the mood and turn her attention to something else, like the reason they were in the antique store. “Okay, I need that caffeine now. Let’s see if we can find anything in all this junk, then hit up the coffee shop.”
"Honestly, after graduation you'll probably never have to see either of them again, unless you come home and visit or go to the reunions, right?" Brynn was trying to placate her, ease her mood so they could have fun without Ophelia McCarthy or Greg Wheeler spoiling the day. She would probably just go home and text Heather and find out exactly what was said. Heather wouldn't put a spin on it, at least. Brynn shifted her shopping bags around in her hands and began to wander, just to see if there was anything cool that jumped out at her. There was a lot of random stuff, no cohesiveness to the store at all and it was kind of cool in a weirdly charming way. She thought she could feel someone watching her, but when she looked around, all she could see was Victoria. "This is like a classy garage sale," Brynn said, amused.
“That’s true,” Victoria nodded as she picked up a pair of binoculars and held them to her eyes. She turned the dials, but couldn’t seem to get them to focus, at least on nothing she could see in the store. Maybe they were broken, but who bought broken binoculars? “It’ll be so good to get out of here, to meet new people… ‘Course, I’ll always come back to see you,” she smiled over at Brynn. “You’ll have your run of the school with Jules and I gone.” It would be weird leaving her cousin behind, but she liked to think she’d follow right behind her, even if she had no idea what Brynn’s college plans were. She could always go somewhere else, or even out of state, but Victoria liked to imagine them together in college, hitting up the parties together. She picked up what appeared to be a cross between a compass and a calendar and spun the dial curiously. “It’s kinda cool, even if I don’t know what I’m looking at.”
Brynn thought about that sometimes, what school would be like with Victoria and Jules graduated. Right now she really preferred just following the other two girls around and still being able to do her own thing without a bazillion eyes watching. The thought of having to take Victoria's place was terrifying. What would she do if someone like Greg Wheeler called her out in the middle of school? It wasn't that Brynn couldn't stick up for herself, she just... didn't want to have to. Even so, it was kind of depressing to think about school without Victoria. She looked over at what Victoria was playing with and smiled. "Maybe it's just like, home décor." Turning down one of the aisles with a crooked shelf, Brynn was immediately drawn to a deer mask. It was gorgeous. White with silver swirls. The ears were a soft pink, the antlers white. It was way too pretty to be a Halloween mask. She set her shopping bags down and picked it up, smoothing her thumbs over the material. It was sturdy. Definitely not cheap. "Check this out," she said, lifting the mask to her face and turning toward Victoria.
“Maybe,” Victoria said as she spun the dial slowly, able to hear gears clicking inside as she scrolled through the dates. Before she could figure it out though, Brynn called her over and she set the object back down, leaving it to slowly unwind. “That’s cool,” she said with a little laugh. “It’s like you’re some kind of deer-moon goddess. It would be great if there was some kind of masquerade.” Though Victoria wasn’t sure she was ready to put on another costume any time soon, thoughts of Halloween still making her uncomfortable, a ball gown with a mask was something different. She’d never been to such an extravagant party, but always hoped there was something like that in her future. “Can I see?” She asked, holding out her hand.
No was Brynn's instinctive response and her fingers tightened around the mask as she lowered it from her face. There was the inexplicable thought that the mask belonged to her now, and she was going to buy it. She didn't want Victoria to touch it. But... she realized just how odd that sounded and if she kept the mask from her cousin, Victoria would probably get pissy, or think Brynn was crazy. So Brynn offered it to her with a small smile. "I like it," she said, just in case Vic got the urge to purchase it for herself. "Maybe that'll be a Christmas gift to myself today. It would look pretty cool on the wall by my bed."
Victoria smiled as her cousin handed her the mask, holding it with both hands as she looked it over. She’d expected it to be something flimsy, but it was stronger than basic paper-mache and well crafted, the details far more elaborate up close. An art piece maybe, like Brynn suggested, and if her cousin hadn’t found it first, she might’ve wanted it for herself. “It’s cool,” she said, handing it back to Brynn. “If you ever decide to wear it, we’ll have to get you a silver and white ball gown to match.” Maybe that was a little childish, but there was a small part of Victoria that
still wanted to play princess.
"If I have a reason to wear a ball gown," Brynn said with a giggle as she took the mask back. It occurred to her that something like this would probably be pretty expensive, and her dad would freak out if she charged a lot to the credit card he let her use. She turned the mask around and found a small white sticker on the inside of the mask with a hand scrawled price. It was cheap. Cheap enough that Brynn squinted and brought the mask up to her face to make sure she wasn't mistaking that three for an eight. But no, it was definitely something she could afford without fearing her dad's reaction when he opened the credit card bill. A thrill surged inside of her that she could actually buy it and she clung it to her chest as she looked back at Victoria. "Did you find anything?"
“I wish we had reasons to wear ball gowns,” Victoria laughed lightly. She continued to browse the store for a moment, but nothing really caught her attention, at least not this time. It was the kind of store you could spend hours in and still not see everything and Victoria was surprised to find it a bit charming, even if almost everything looked like expensive junk. “No, I’ll have to keep thinking on what he might like,” she said, looking over at her cousin. “You’re really getting that?” She asked. She could tell Brynn wanted it, but she half expected it to be out of their price range. There was only so much she could put on her card without her dad asking questions.
Brynn was thinking the closest they would get to ball gowns would be prom, and even then no one really wore gowns anymore. Just really hot dresses. Vic's question had her glancing down at the mask and she shrugged, wanting to seem nonchalant. "Yeah, I think so. It's pretty. I'll probably never have to wear it anywhere but I can hang it on my wall." She just couldn't imagine someone else owning it now that she had seen it. Brynn wanted to cling to it and take it straight home to put in her bedroom, though she and Vic had plans for coffee now. "Let me find someone working and check out and we can go to Joyland. I'll buy your coffee for you!" It sort of felt like a bribe, but a bribe for what, Brynn had no idea. Maybe not to make fun of her, or give her any grief for buying a mask of all things.
It seemed a little bit odd to Victoria, but sometimes her cousin liked things that were different, so she didn’t give it too much thought. If she wanted it, she should have it. And if she got free coffee out of it, even better! “Sounds good,” she smiled, happy to continue to look around until Brynn was ready to go. Most of the stuff felt like expensive junk, but it was all interesting in it’s own way. She’d never really understood the point of antique shopping before, preferring something new and modern, but some of this stuff was cool.
Brynn took the mask to the glass top counter, setting it down as she looked around for someone who might work there. It occurred to her that she hadn't seen or heard anyone since she and Vic entered the store. After a minute of waiting, she thought about shouting for someone, but a man walked through the door behind the counter and came directly toward her. He was older and tall with glasses and dark eyes. Really dark eyes. Brynn could barely see his pupils. "Beautiful choice," he told her, picking up the mask and placing it carefully in a brown paper bag. Brynn smiled politely and pulled out her credit card to hand him when he was ready for it. It was strange, because she could generally be pretty chatty with clerks and sales people, but her brain was a jumble of words and she couldn't seem to form anything coherent in his presence. Plus, she seemed to have broken out in gooseflesh all over her arms, and with a shiver, she let go of the credit card when he plucked it from her fingers. One swipe and the card was back in her hand, the man's cold fingers brushing against hers. Suddenly Brynn wanted to grab the bag and run, but she felt frozen to the spot as her receipt spit out from the register and the man handed it to her, along with the bag. A smile was on his face, but the warmth of it didn't quite reach his eyes.
"How lovely it will be to see the world through a different set of eyes," he told her, picking up the brown paper bag by the handles and offering it to her. Brynn sputtered some kind of response and thanked him before turning to find her cousin. "I'm ready," she breathed, already brushing by Victoria to leave the store. "Let's go."
While Brynn paid for the mask, Victoria found herself drawn back to the nautical calendar, her brows drawn together as she studied it. The first time she’d picked it up, she could have sworn it only went up through the year 2000. Now she could more easily find current dates, the earliest appearing to be the year she was born. It was a curious little thing, warm in her hand like she’d been holding it the whole time, heating up the metal. Each click of the dial made her heart beat harder, so much that she jumped when her cousin suddenly rushed past her, dropping the pendant on the floor. “Hey, wait up!” She laughed breathlessly, hurrying out behind Brynn, the pendant forgotten as she stepped outside and the cool air spilled over her.
As soon as Brynn was outside it felt like she could breathe again and she laughed a little, looking over at Vic. "Sorry," she said. "That guy gave me the creeps." She shifted the brown bag in her hand along with the other shopping bags, feeling eager to get home now and stare at the mask for a bit longer. But first, coffee. Shivering in her coat, Brynn wished she could wrap her scarf more tightly around her neck. "You weren't going to buy anything, were you?" She had rushed out of there, she knew, but she had been pretty sure Victoria had just been browsing.
Victoria looked back over her shoulder, trying to remember if she’d even seen the guy working behind the counter. She was sure there’d been someone, had heard his voice as he helped Brynn, but she’d been so entranced by the pendant that she’d not looked up till he was gone. “No,” she said with a shake of her head, wondering why she’d been so interested in it. “I was just looking at that thing again, trying to figure out what it does. But I’m ready for coffee now,” she smiled, huddling up in her jacket. It seemed to be colder outside than before and she could use something to warm her up.
"Okay, me too," Brynn said with some relief, relaxing now that they were getting farther away from the shop. They could have coffee and gossip some more and then Brynn could get home and check out her purchases in the privacy of her own room. Specifically the mask. Brynn was well aware of how odd it was to be fixated on something that really had no real use, but it was what it was. It wasn't like she was going to take it to school where people could think she was a weirdo. Either way, she was happy to be away from the shop now, with the mask in a bag in her hand. It was hers now and without giving it a lot of thought, Brynn smiled, a bit of a bounce in her step.