Hiding Behind Your Masquerade

Another day in school, another day to look forward to but I don’t think anything big is going to happen I mean it’s just school. I wasn’t a prep, I wasn’t a jock, I wasn’t a nerd or a geek, I wasn’t one of those drama people and I wasn’t really in to the whole which-group-are-you-in thing. I was just Brooke Rose and I was just living my life with friends to go by.

Don’t get me wrong though. Just because I say I’m not in any of those cliques, coteries, groups or whatever you want to call them, doesn’t meant that I’m not in a circle myself. I was in a lot of circles actually and well let’s just say that the circle of friends that I have now doesn’t need a name. We’re just us you know, nothing more nothing less. Just ordinary students who do extraordinary things and I’m fine with that. Labels are not my thing besides I don’t see why we have to name ourselves. I mean we already have a name so why don’t we call each other that?

Anyway, going back, I was just sitting in class waiting for time to pass by quickly and forty minutes later, I found myself sitting in the cafeteria with my friends.

“So I’ve been thinking, since it’s my birthday on Saturday, I was planning to have a masquerade ball. It’s gonna be summer and I want a big blow out anyway.” Dawn, one of my closest friends said. I was starting to get excited for summer I mean finally the ticket off school.

“Oh cool, that’d be awesome!” I exclaimed and then all five of us started to plan about the event that was fast approaching.

We practically started and finished the whole period just talking about what might happen and who to invite and right now it all seemed so cool. Time flew by fast and we got to invite more or less all the people in all our classes. Zack and his friends were invited to and from the looks of it, I think I’d have a blast and it would be a big bash since well Dawn was what you could call a rich kid. When she throws a party, everyone’s invited unless she hates you and well we all know how that goes…

Days passed by quickly and before I knew it, it was already the day of the ball and it was Dawn’s birthday as well. I got up at about 9 in the morning. Before I did anything else, I texted Dawn happy birthday but I didn’t really expect a reply from her because she’s probably still in her beauty sleep. So while I waited for her to get up so that I’d know what time we’ll meet up to pick up our dresses, I took a bath and ate breakfast. Today seemed like a long day. But when Dawn thanked me and called me to meet her at her house for all the preparation, it didn’t seem so long anymore.

When I got there at about 12, Dawn, Leisha, Amanda, Veronica and I ate lunch and started to talk about the dresses Dawn got for us. Her mother was a fashion designer so it wasn’t really a big deal for Dawn. I used to tell her that I could manage on my own but she’d always say “Don’t worry besides if you don’t take this, my mom would get hurt.” Her mom was always really sensitive and I wasn’t one to hurt people’s feelings so I just accepted the offer whenever it came up.

“So you guys ready to see what my mom made for tonight?” Dawn asked as soon as everyone was through eating.

“Hell yea!” we all said and we got up and went in to Dawn’s room.

On her bed there were four boxes and they all had our names on them. We quickly looked inside and saw how beautiful they all were. We thanked Dawn so much and we asked her to thank her mom for us and with that, we just started to hang for like 6 hours. I swear if I talked to my friends, we’d never stop.

Once the clock hit 6 in the evening, we all ate dinner and then prepared for what was to come. We all changed in to our outfits one by one complimenting each person as they came out of the dressing room. They all looked so pretty but in my opinion the birthday girl looked best.

“It’s your turn Brooke,” Dawn said pushing me with my box in hand to the bathroom. I changed quickly and changed in to this. I looked at myself in the mirror Dawn had in her dressing room and hardly recognized myself.
I went out the room with my mask on and they all dropped their jaws. I wasn’t exaggerating. They literally dropped their jaws.

“Wow,” Veronica said and I giggled. They all started to talk about how the dress matched me perfectly and then started with hair and make up. I didn’t get why we needed make up I mean maybe lip gloss was okay but well the others? I don’t really know.

“It’s for when you reveal your mask to whoever you hook up with later on tonight.” Leisha said making corkscrew curls in my blonde hair using a curling iron.

I rolled my eyes at the statement and said “Well fine maybe that makes sense,” and they all laughed. It took about an hour to get everything done and once we were through, we put on our heels and walked out the door giving way to the birthday girl as her father-the one who owns the fancy hotel where everything will be held- wanted to take a picture of her.

“You all look very delightful,” he complimented and we all thanked him. Dawn’s mother was by his side when they told Dawn when she should be back and all that parental stuff.

“Okay, bye!” she said waving at her parents as each one of us slid in the limousine she owned.

In the car, they started popping champagne and well it kinda surprised me because nothing like this ever happened to me. I’ve never been to this sort of party since I bailed on most invitations but well I guess this was worth a try. Glasses were being passed and the champagne was pouring and there was no telling when it would stop. I drank about a glass or two and almost stumbled when I hopped out of the car with everyone else. When we went in, the place was packed and there were masks everywhere.

“This will be fun!” Dawn screeched. Clearly she was drunk and so were the rest as we dashed down the stairs and in to the room.

Amanda and I paired up and started guessing who was who. We were standing near the bar and laughing our asses off since most of the other girls were wearing fairy wings and it was really weird. We were both just laughing until a guy walked right in front of me and blocked my view.

“Imma leave you two alone,” Amanda whispered in my ear and walked away. I smiled at what she said and focused my attention to the guy standing right in front of me. He had a smirk on his face and a cup on his hand. I wasn’t sure if he was sober or not and I didn’t really know who he was but I think I was starting to realize who exactly he was. He had blonde spiky hair and he was tall and I know only one guy with all these physical characteristics. Zack Merrick.

“Hey there,” he greeted me as soon as Amanda left.

“Zack? Is that you?” I asked but I wasn’t sure that it was really him. Hopefully I wasn’t embarrassing myself.

“How’d you know,” he whispered.

“Zack it’s me, Brooke,” I said revealing my identity in a whisper.

“Well this will be easy.” He said sipping the contents of his cup.

“Another bet?” I asked him hurt. Even though he’s been only a friend to me, best friend actually, I kinda liked him and wanted to be something more than that but I wouldn’t want to jeopardize our friendship and besides, I don’t think he’d like the idea of dating someone like me.

“Yea, sorry you have to get dragged in to this.” He said taking my hand and walking over to his friends who were anxiously staring at her hands.

“C’mon dude, give us a chance!” one of the guys said.

“Dude, shut up!” he said putting up an act.

“Whatever man,” the guy said putting something in his hand. It was money. Real typical.

“Thanks,” Zack said and he pulled me to the balcony where we stayed for more or less the rest of the night. I’ve been covering up for him for so long and well I guess it’s starting to hurt a lot more than I thought it would.

“Okay now, it’s time for the second part of the dare,” he said as soon as we were out of hearing distance. “I have to kiss and ditch,” he said casually. I didn’t think he’d be so arrogant and I never thought he’d treat me like this I mean doesn’t he think about what I feel? Doesn’t he care at all? Maybe he just got used to using me for all his bets and me? Well I was starting to get tired putting up with all his shit and all.

I sighed and nodded I mean if I think about it, I’m saving someone from pure embarrassment. And I just hope they stop trying to build their game up and stop hurting innocent girls.

“Let’s get on with it then,” I said wrapping my arms around his neck. This felt weird but at least I’m fulfilling one of my dreams but this isn’t how I wanted it to happen. This kiss was meaningless and worthless. It was all for a bet. I was his bet. I moved all those thoughts away from my head and started to move away. I parted from him and for a while there, he just stared at me. I smiled at him as he thanked me and walked away.

I stayed there for a while trying to forget that it was all a bet but I just couldn’t and it hurt right in the gut. Right where I would eventually fall apart. I looked at the wondrous view and sighed to myself. After about 10 minutes, I went back in and saw the Zack’s group laughing as I walked in. But Zack wasn’t amused at all. His eyes were filled with sympathy as he showed me a small smile. I smiled back and looked for Amanda. We both got my spirit back up and we drank a bit too much and I got to convince myself that it was all a dream.

The night ended in a blur but I remember ending it in my bedroom alone with my dress on as I slept and dreamt of his kiss and his touch and made it linger there while the dreams lasted.