I Am Wrecking This Evening Already and Loving Every Minute of It

Mara checked herself one last time in the mirror of her hotel room, making sure her dress wasn’t crumpled and her make-up wasn’t smudged. She slid the headband on, trying not to ruin her hair in the process. She tucked in the loose tendril of hair behind her ear.

It was the night of the masquerade, the whole reason why a lot of people are in Las Vegas. Because of Panic! At The Disco’s success, they were having a celebration. There was going to be a huge party with other bands from the record label and other people too.

“Mara,” Pete said as he knocked on her door. She stood up and slid on her shoes before going to open her door. There stood Pete in his tuxedo while holding his mask in one hand. He stared at her first before smiling at her. “Ready?”

“Yeah, I just need to get my mask.” Mara told him before going back into the room to get her mask. She retrieved it and slipped it on. When she got back to Pete, his mask was already on and was ready to go.

She passed him quietly, excited for the party that was going to happen in the ballroom downstairs. He followed behind her and went into the elevator. The ride going down was silent as they were both checking themselves in the mirrors that were in the elevator.

The elevator finally opened into the lobby where everyone was waiting. They stepped out of the elevators, masks on and ready to party. Mara walked by Pete while looking around for Ryan. She didn’t fine him but immediately noticed Joe.

She left Pete’s side and ran to Joe before jumping on his back. He stumbled forward but quickly caught himself before falling. He glared at her as she smiled at him cheekily before giving him a sloppy kiss on his cheek.

She heard someone snicker, only then realizing Joe was talking to someone. Her gazed moved to the person in front of them and she immediately froze. Joe felt her body tense and instantly looked at her with a worried expression.

“You okay Mara?” He asked her snapping her out of her thought. She quickly nodded and smiled before getting off him and running back to Pete. She needed to get away from him as soon as possible. She didn’t want those memories to resurface, especially tonight.

“Woah, where are you going?” Pete asked as his hands held her waist to stop her from running since she almost ran into him.

“The moon,” she said with a smug face. Pete just released his grip and rolled his eyes as the people around him laughed. She noticed that quite a few people were actually there and scolded herself for not noticing this for the second time.

She looked at the crowd of unfamiliar faces, looking for someone she recognized. Pete rarely brought people to their home or talked about work around her. Panic! At The Disco was an exception and the rest of Fall Out Boy are family so they don’t count as work.

“This is Hayley Williams, Josh Farro, Gabe Saporta, Mike Carden, Andy Mortek, Adam Siska, and William Beckett,” He said pointing to them respectively. “and this is Mara” he said. She smiled and waved at them, shying away from the strangers.

“Oh, come on Mara, don’t be shy now.” Pete said as Mara tried to subtly hide behind him. He pushed her in front of him making everyone laugh again.

Mara just stood there, biting her bottom lip. She was never used to meeting new people in an unfamiliar setting. When she met Ryan, Brendon, Spencer, and Brent, she was in her home, a place where she knew all the escapes and hiding places. Here in a hotel though, she didn’t know any more than anyone else.

“Hi!”Hayley, the small red-head girl, said. Mara let out a small smile before turning her attention back to the floor. Before anyone else could say something, the doors to the ballroom opened.

Mara quickly left and entered the ballroom, stopping dead in her tracks as she looked at all the decorations. The stage was in the opposite end of the room with decorations that fit very well with Panic! At the Disco’s first album. The tables were all on the sides leaving an empty spot from where she stood and where the stage was. Each table had five layers of cloth on top of it, a white ruffled cloth that crumpled on the floor, a plain black cloth where the end was hidden in the ruffles of the cloth under it, a white slightly pleated cloth covered that, another plain black one went on top of that, before finishing it off with a crumpled white cloth that just covered the top of the table. In the center of table, there was a bouquet of sticks that held masks and was wrapped in black and white crepe paper and surrounded by candles. On the very sides of the room, there were long tables where the food would be. The walls were covered in paintings that were piled on top of one another. Chains of masks fell from the ceiling, using the support of silver ribbons.

She was just standing in her place, staring at all the decorations with a goofy smile on her face. Someone pulled on her wrist, making her turn around and look at the person who did it. There stood someone with a sleeping mask on.

Mara started laughing as she looked at the person who most probably couldn’t see her. She lifted the mask and was met by smiling chocolate brown eyes.

“Hey Bden,” She said as she smiled.

“Hey! You can’t take off my mask!” he said and then pulled down the mask over his eyes again.

“You can’t even see with your mask!” she said.

“Yeah, well at least now you have to help me.” He said smugly before smirking. Mara rolled her eyes but held his wrist and led them to an empty table anyway.

“Shouldn’t you be with your band?” she asked him as they sat by the table.

“I thought that too but according to your uncle we should mingle.” He informed her blindly.

“Wow, you really are mingling now.” She said sarcastically.

“Well–“ Brendon started but got cut off when someone joined their table.

“Hey Brendon!” the man almost yelled. Mara looked at him and remembered him as one of the guys Pete introduced to her. What was his name again? She thought. Brendon lifted his mask and looked at the person who interrupted him and joined the table.

“Hey Gabe!” Brendon replied almost as loud as he did. Gabe! There that’s his name, Gabe Saporta. Mara thought. She escaped into a little dream world until she started hearing her name in their conversation.

“Are you guys talking about me?” she said as she snapped out of her reverie.

“Not unless you are Mara Gold.” Brendon said.

“Well good thing I am not.” She replied, feeling like playing a game.

“Really? Then who are you?” He replied skeptically, unsure if she was joking or not.

“Brendon Urie,” She said with a small smirk.

“No way, that’s my name too!” he said, deciding to play along.

“No way!”

“Yes way!”

“Don’t tell me your middle name is Boyd too!”

“No, it’s chicken.” Brendon said, breaking their game. Mara pouted and crossed her arms, suddenly bored.

“Woah, how did you get her to talk?” Gabe asked Brendon.

“It’s easy.” Brendon said before sneakily poking her side. She flinched and fell off her chair, making both Brendon and Gabe laugh. She returned to her old position before glaring at them and pouting.

“That was not funny!” she said. They both shook their head quickly disagreeing with her.

“It was!” Gabe said before laughing again.

She pouted even more before getting the napkin from the table set beside her and throwing it at him. He quickly stopped laughing and mock glared at her.

“Did you just throw a napkin at me?” he asked.

“Maybe, maybe not.” She said smugly. He gasped and then threw it back at her. It landed flat on her face and she threw it back, thus starting the war.

As Gabe and Mara fought for…nothing in particular, the table started to fill up with people and soon there were no more seats. They all watched as the napkin was thrown back and forth across the table. Eventually, Mara threw it and it got caught in the centerpiece.

“Ha! I win!” Gabe said in victory. He stood up and raised his arms in victory before sitting back down and smiling smugly at Mara. She stuck her tongue out before looking around at all the people who had joined their table. There was now Patrick, Hayley, William, Josh, and someone she hadn’t met yet. She was just staring at the person before Patrick realized she most probably didn’t know who he was.

“Shaant this is Mara, Mara this is Shaant.” Patrick introduced him. “He’s the lead singer of the new band on Fueled by Ramen, Cute is What We Aim For.”

“Oh,” Mara said taking the new information in. “So let me get this straight. Shaant is the lead singer of Cute is What We Aim For, Hayley is the lead singer of Paramore, and William is the lead singer of The Academy Is….” She said using her music knowledge. Patrick nodded and so did everyone else. “I guess it’s just you and me Josh. We’re the people with inability to sing.”

“Actually I do back-up vocals.” Josh said sheepishly.

“Damn,” she said. “I am the only one? Maybe I should switch tables.”

“No!” Brendon yelled before sitting on her. Mara gasped at the sudden weight and tried pushing him off.

“Ugh, you’re so heavy Brendon!” She whined.

“No I am not!” he defended himself as he put more of his weight on her.

“Fine! You’re not!” she said as she rolled her eyes. “Get off me!”

“No! You’ll switch tables!” He said.

“I promise I won’t!” she said just praying he’ll get off.
“Swear?”

“I swear!”

He got off her and she could finally breathe properly. The whole table started laughing as she sent them glares. She looked around her and realized everybody had plates full of food. Dinner must have been served as she was being squashed.

“I am hungry!” she said to Brendon but then realized he was already out of his seat.

“C’mon,” Hayley said pulling on her wrist. Mara quickly got out of her seat and headed towards the buffet table. As they walked to the food, she looked around for Ryan but didn’t find him. She gave up as soon as they reached the table but was determined to find him at least before the night ended.

Mara and Hayley started talking and soon enough they had their food and were seated at the table. Conversations flowed throughout the table, changing from person to person. By the time she started desert, Mara had already talked to everyone in their table.

“Ladies and gentlemen, if I could please have your attention please,” Pete said from the stage. Everyone stopped their conversations and turned their attention to him. “Now as you all know, we are here to celebrate the success of the Decaydance band, Panic! At The Disco. I hope you have been enjoying yourself this evening. The boys are very excited to go on tour with The Academy Is… next week so I hope you will watch them!”

Mara’s breath caught in her throat as she heard Pete’s words. The boys are very excited to go on tour with The Academy Is… next week. Ryan had said the tour was still far away. He lied. He was going to be on the road for who knows how long. He was going to leave her.

She tried to control her breathing before anyone noticed. She was having a panic attack but didn’t want anyone to notice. She looked at the stage and noticed Pete wasn’t there anymore, instead P!ATD was setting up.

She watched them in hope that maybe the sight of them would calm her down but then her eyes landed on him. His bass hung from his shoulders as he waited for the rest of his band mates prepare. He caught her staring at him and smirked her away causing her shivers to run down her spine.

Just as Brendon stepped up to the microphone, she stood up and bolted through the emergency exit. She continued to run until the parking lot where she stopped and tried to catch her breath. She stood there, a hand over her chest as she felt her heart beat decrease its speed. She just stood there, in the middle of the parking lot, even when her heart beat went back to normal.

He slowly approached her standing figure as she stood in the parking lot. He was around ten feet away from her when he stopped and took a deep breath. He was unsure of how their conversation would go. He was mad at her because she just stood up and left even before they played. Although, he was pretty sure she would be mad at him because he lied to her but he was pretty sure she was more than mad. He then started walking again and was right behind her. He touched her shoulder causing her to turn around and look at him.

Mara’s first reaction to seeing him was happy because she hadn’t seen him all night but her smile soon turned into a scowl when she remembered he lied to her. She backed away from him and glared at him from a distance.

He sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets. He looked at her sheepishly just to see her glaring at him. He looked around them just to see cars. They were in a parking lot after all. He opened his mouth and closed it repeatedly, unable to form words.

“Mara,” he said softly. She turned her attention to him and tilted her head to the side. She was waiting for him to do something. “I am sorry.”

“Sorry about what, Ryan?” she asked, deciding to play dumb just to piss him off.

“You know what.” He said annoyed.

“You mean lying to me?”

“Yeah,”

“Yeah what?”

“Yes, I am sorry I lied to you.”

She stood still and crossed her arms. She didn’t want to be a stubborn bitch and not forgive him but she didn’t want to forgive him either. She stood there thinking but he thought otherwise. He thought she was glaring at him.

“Well, it isn’t exactly like you are an angel!” he yelled.

“What do you mean?” she asked, startled.

“You just walked out on us before we even played! It just shows how much you support me!”

“I was having a panic attack!”

“Why would you have a panic attack?”

“Maybe because I just found out my boyfriend was lying to me!”

“You’re just overreacting!”

“I am overreacting? You’re overreacting!”

“I am not!”

“Well you didn’t have to come out for me!”

“Yes I did!”

“I didn’t tell you to!”

“So? I came out here because I care about you.”

“Stop lying to me Ryan!”

“I am not lying to you Mara!”

“Yes you are! STOP IT! Stop acting as if you care Ryan!”

“But I do!”

“No you don’t!”

“Yeah Mara I am here arguing with you because I don’t care. Do you always have to be a stubborn little bitch?!”

Mara stayed quiet, shocked by his words. Ryan saw her expression and immediately wished he could take it all back. He took a few steps towards her until he was right in front of her. She didn’t even look at him. She looked right past him as if he wasn’t there. It was much worse than when she was glaring at him.

“I am sorry Mara.” He said as he gently held her chin in his hand. She looked at him and then jumped back as if she just noticed he was that close. She glared at him to cover up the hurt she was feeling but he saw it and it made him feel a hundred times worse.

“You really don’t care.” She said softly.

“I do Mara, I really care about you.” He said, taking a step closer to her.

“If you really did care then Brent would have never raped me.” She said. He stared at her wide eyes and opened mouth. She took this as her chance. She ran. She ran as far away as she could. She ran knowing she wouldn’t be coming back.