I’m
not going to attend the bloody Masquerade ball. No way.
“Did
you see those shoes? They’re so perfect and…okay, I’ll buy them.”
Lexi
nodded, “They look good on you, Cole.”
“Yeah,”
Cassie said, “And this dress just hates
me. Well, I hate you, too.” She said as she chucked the purple strapless dress
back to a basket.
We’re
inside a shop called ‘Perfect Fit’ and it’s kind of early to go dress-hunting
for the ball that’s weeks away, but Cassie and the others don’t want to be with
the tsunami crowd to buy. And honestly, neither do I. We heard the sound of a
door opening from the dressing room and Theresa stepped out.
“Ta-da!”
she said, “Well, should I get it?”
Is
that even a question? She looks amazing! The contrast between her white skin
and the black of the dress she picked is really, really good. And it brings out
her brown eyes and wavy hair, as well.
“My
friend,” Cassie stepped forward, “I won’t ever forgive you if you don’t get
that dress right now.” Theresa laughed aloud, “Thank you, Case.” Then she went
back to the dressing room. Lexi turned to me; she already picked a dress out
for herself, complete with matching shoes and jewelry. She said, “How about
you, Ave?”
“I
don’t think I’m going.”
“What?”
she said disbelievingly. “Did I hear that right?”
“Yes,
you did.”
Nicole
and Cassie immediately joined us, sitting directly in front of me. Cassie looked
stern, “Aver Jacob Allton.”
“Uhm,
Case? If you don’t mind – ”
“All
the seniors and juniors are coming.”
“Not
all, I think.”
Nicole
said, “Don’t you think you should come? It would be fun, I’m sure.”
“No,
it’s okay. Really.” I added, because
the three of them still looked unconvinced. Cassie didn’t give up – I knew she
wouldn’t – and asked me, “Give me three good reasons why you’re not attending
and they better convince me.” I felt my shoulders slump at her words. “Nothing
would convince you, Case.”
“I
know. I just want to hear why you don’t want to come.”
I
sighed and fixed the three of them with a look, “Okay, for one thing, I’m not a
party girl – ”
“Neither
am I,” Nicole shrugged, “But I figured why not?”
“She
does have a point,” Lexi added, “And as much as I want to sit on the couch for
twenty-four hours, I thought a teeny little ball wouldn’t hurt.”
I
pursed my lips and said, “Well, you two – actually all of you – you all have
dates to go with and I figured if I showed up alone, they would probably ask me
to serve punch or something.”
I
saw their faces dawn in realization. Nicole would be going with the obvious,
Edward. Cassie is with Chase Evans – they’re not technically together but they
hang out. Lexi’s going with Ben. Ben really likes her, but I really think that
she’s just giving him a chance out of pity. And Theresa’s going with someone.
Though she wouldn’t tell us who, even with all the tickling involved in the
interrogation.
And
then there’s me.
“Ave…”
Nicole said, biting her lip, “We could always ask someone, you know.”
“Don’t.
It’s okay. I’ll be with my parents on that night.”
“Come
on, Ave. Let’s just give it a shot.” Lexi urged.
“Really.
I don’t need a bloody ball. Or prom. Or whatever the hell it is.”
Cassie
didn’t throw off her jokes and her lopsided smile is now gone. She looked at me
straight in the eye and said, “We could always go as a group. I’ll tell Chase I
can’t go with him.”
My
heart melted at what she said. Having Cassie at your side gives you priceless
things.
“I’ll
ditch Ben, too. I don’t like him, anyway.” Lexi added, for good measure.
Nicole
shrugged her shoulders, “Ed wouldn’t mind me going with all of you. He’ll
understand.”
These
are the reason why I come to school five times in a week without fail. Nothing
can ever replace my friends.
“I’ll
think about it. Thanks, guys.” I gave them a warm smile.
“Sure,
anytime.” Lexi said, giving a smile in return. Nicole stood up, “I’ll help
Theresa with her dress. She’s been there forever…” her voice trailed off as she
walked away.
I
faced Cassie, “You can’t ditch Ben for me. He might get the wrong idea.”
“If
he does, then he doesn’t know me at all. You’re more important, anyway.” She
winked at me. “And how was Bio today?”
Bio.
Images
from earlier in the day passed before my eyes and annoyance stabbed at me.
“I
wish he rots in hell.”
“Your
Bio teacher?” her brow creased, “I thought it was a ‘she’?”
“Not
her. It’s Warner.”
“Oh,
not again. What does he need from you? He’s already the most popular guy in the
world, thank you very much – ”
“I
know! It’s infuriating! He’s like an equation I can’t solve and pesters me all
the bloody time. Infuriating.”
“There’s
no equation you can’t solve, Ave.” she said, smiling warmly.
“You
guys. Better watch out your tongue.” Lexi said suddenly, craning her neck to
look at the glass of the entrance, “Speak of the devil, and the devil shall
come.”
You have got to be kidding me.
We
heard the clinking of bells from the entrance and the door opened.
“Oh,
great.” Cassie muttered.
Warner
strode into the room and went automatically for the jewelries section as if he
already planned his agenda for going here.
“Should
I hide?” I asked both of my friends.
“Don’t.”
they said in unison. Cassie continued, “Let’s see what he came here for.”
“Oh,
I don’t know, Case. Maybe to buy
something?” Lexi said sarcastically but Cassie wasn’t thrown off and kept her
gaze locked on the subject, “You’ll never know. Maybe he’s a gangster and we
can turn him in and he’ll finally stop annoying people.” I covered my mouth
with my hand to keep from laughing out loud. Warner? Gangster? It rhymes, now that I notice, but still. The idea seemed
really funny.
“I
don’t think that’s it, Case.”
“Yeah,”
Lexi joined in. “Maybe it’s just me, but he’s buying that necklace. That costs
an arm and a leg.”
“He
has insane allowance.” I informed them.
“But
he’s buying for a girl,” Cassie said,
puzzled. “Why the hell is he buying something like that for a girl?”
“I
thought he had me commitment,” Lexi mused, looking at him. Then she turned o me
for explanation.
“He
doesn’t, trust me. He thinks that any human being that has two X chromosomes
and a skirt will think that he’s extremely hot.”
“He
is kind of hot. I mean, he has a good
sense of fashion. I actually think he can wear rags and pull it off. But then
there’s this tiny little part about his ego.” Lexi said. There’s nothing small
about that guy’s egotistic nature. As he waited for the cashier to give him his
change, we heard him say, “You can keep the change.”
Wait.
Have I gone blind or is I just me that I saw him give –
“Why
the hell would he let them keep the change when he gave – ” Cassie cut off
Lexi, saying, “I know. That’s really creepy.” The person in question walked
back to where he came from and vanished from sight. If it hadn’t been for the
racks of dresses and gowns, he would’ve seen me. Thank you, fabrics.
“Do
you think it’s for Athena?” I wondered out loud.
“Nuh-uh.”
said Lexi. Cassie also said in support, “I don’t think so. If he would get
something for her, it should be more…I really don’t have the right word.”
“Vulgar?”
Lexi tried.
“Beauty
queen-like?” I said, “Not that she looks like one. I mean, she does look like it…in a way.”
“In
a wrong way.” said Cassie as we burst out laughing. We heard Nicole’s voice
then, “…absolutely fantastic! And I have a gold wristband at home; you can
borrow it, if you like.” They stepped in front of us and paused.
“Did
we miss something?” Theresa managed to ask.
“We
definitely did.” Nicole said excitedly.
“You
won’t believe what happened.” Cassie immediately rushed up to the both of them,
“Guess who was here about a second ago?”
As
Cassie told them about our strange encounter, I had no idea that a simple thing
as a school dance has the potency to change my whole life. Maybe even destroy
it.
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