Breathe In, Breathe Out.

“You can calm down now, Mitchel.” Emily’s voice rang through the hotel room. I had her on speakerphone, and I was sitting on the bed, making a pros and cons list.

“What happened?”

“She said she wasn’t dating him. She was genuinely surprised we asked.” Miley’s voice came through.

“She’s not?” I asked, surprised. “That’s weird…” I muttered, my eyebrows furrowing together in confusion. So Bridget wasn’t going out with Lucas…which meant I could ask her to the dance.

There was just one more thing I had to take care of.

“Hey guys, I’m gonna call you back.” I said, picking up the phone.

“You better! Bye!” They said in unison before hanging up. I took in a deep breath, gathering all of my courage. I pressed a few buttons on my phone, and held it up to my ear, waiting anxiously.

“Hello?”

“Spencer, we’ve got to talk.”

~*~

I was humming ‘A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes’ quietly as I got ready. My curling iron was hot, and my make-up was already applied. Simple stuff, mascara and eyeliner, blush, and a touch of red lip gloss.

I picked up the iron and wrapped a piece of wavy hair around it, making it fall into a spiral of perfection. I could hear Sam in the room bustling around, probably looking for her other shoe or something. My eyes flicked to my phone to check the time. 5:23. Perfect; the ball wouldn’t start for another two hours and seven minutes.

As I looked at my phone, I was reminded of the painfully awkward conversation that had gone on a few days ago. Mitchel had called me and asked me to the ball, which made me bring up his girlfriend, which made him bring up the fact that they had broken up (why they did, I didn’t know) and he asked again. I (painstakingly) had to tell him that I already had a date, but that I was really, really, really sorry. And I was. It crushed me to have to turn down the boy of my dreams for more than a year, but I couldn’t be rude to Lucas.

We had exchanged awkward goodbyes and promises to talk at the ball.

“Oh, shoot!” I shouted, realization hitting me like a Frisbee to the face.

“What?!” Sam shouted, her head popping into view from the doorway.

“I have no clue what Mitchel’s mask looks like.” I said, whirling around to face her. Her eyebrows raised.

“That’s not half as interesting as I thought it was going to be. Just look for the guy hanging out with Emily and Miley. Duh.” She said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

After contemplating it for about a second, I realized it was. I sighed in relief, turning back to
get ready.

Finally, I was done. I slipped my mask on. It was black, with lace around the edges and silver lining. It had a small string that helped it stay on my face, and little pearly beads on the bottom edge. It matched my dress in that my dress was dark red, with black and silver lining through it. My dress was floor-length, and looked like something out of a fairy tale. My shoes were black heels, simple little things with a small bow on the sides.
I walked out of the bathroom, unplugging anything that could cause a fire (aka, my curling iron). I smiled at my reflection in the mirror. With the mask on, and my hair curled, I was almost unrecognizable.

I looked over at Sam, and beamed. She looked gorgeous, and as usual, she didn’t have to try too hard. Her dress was slinky and modern, a deep royal blue color. Her mask was simple and silver, connected to a stick that she held causally in her left hand. She was rushing around the room still, frantic.

“I can’t find it! I don’t know where in the world it could have gone! I mean, it’s a shoe. It can’t just get up and wander off.” I watched her with an amused expression, and picked up a silver stiletto.

“Is this what you’re looking for?” I asked, raising one eyebrow. Sam’s face split into a relieved grin. She rushed over, taking it from my hand and hurriedly putting it on.

“You seem a little worked up. I thought you and Joe were going as just friends.” I teased, grinning widely. She glared up at me.

“Joe Jonas and I are just friends. Just friends!” She insisted. I giggled.

“Then why are you so nervous about your date?”

“It’s not a date!”

“Sure.” I said, whirling around and laughing. “Come on, Sam, we’ve got to go or we’ll be late to dinner.” She stood up, grabbing her small silver clutch and followed me outside, muttering inaudible things about it not being a date.

~*~

“Come on Mitchel! When are you going to get here?” Emily’s voice rang through the phone.

“I’m on my way! I’ll be there in less than 10 minutes.” I said, hanging up the phone. I ran my fingers through my hair quickly, grabbing my black mask. I straightened my red tie, grabbing my keys before walking out of the hotel room.

I jumped into my car, driving towards the restaurant that my group was going to. I didn’t have a date, but that was okay, because hanging out with friends was just as much fun as going with a girl.

At least, that’s what I was telling myself.

I pulled into the small Mexican restaurant, locking the doors of my car and walking inside.

“Name?” The waitress at the front of the restaurant greeted me with a smile.

“Mitchel Musso. My party is already here.” I said, motioning towards the large table at the back. She smiled and nodded, handing me a menu and letting me go back on my own. I sat down at the table, feeling much better now that I was surrounded by friends.

Emily was there with her date, Sterling Knight. Miley was sitting next to Nick, of course. Selena Gomez was there too, with David Henrie. Sitting next to her was Demi Lovato, who was by herself. I found this a little strange; normally Selena and Demi didn’t hang out with us. I didn’t think much about it though, they were sweet girls. I sat down next to Emily. “Hey, Mitch!” Emily said, grinning widely at me. I smiled back.

“Hey, Em.”

Miley waved to me, before going back to her conversation with Nick. Selena and Demi both grinned wide grins, waving simultaneously. David nodded.

“So, am I the last person to show up?” I asked, turning back to Emily. Emily nodded.

“Yeah. We’re gonna meet up with the rest of our group when we actually get there.” I nodded, and we moved on, getting our drinks and ordering our food.

As much as I asked, no one would tell me who else was in our group. I frowned more times than I could count.

Soon, we were all done, and it was time to go to the ball. We paid, and walked out. I began to feel a little nervous.

When we all pulled into the back parking lot of Disney, the nerves had completely taken over my entire body. I was a wreck.

“Mitchel, are you feeling okay?” Emily asked, a concerned frown over her face.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I said, waving her away. I would be fine. Just needed to get in, take a few pictures, and then I was free to go home.

We walked into the ballroom, located upstairs in Cinderella’s castle. It’s an unknown Disney secret, but trust me, it’s there. As we walked down the stairs, we all slipped on our masks. We walked down the stairs, everyone with their dates. I hung back from the rest of the group, walking a few paces behind them. Demi slowed down to walk with me.

“Are you alright?” She asked, looking up at me. I nodded, and then shook my head.

“Not really. Just nervous.” I said, shrugging. Demi smiled.

“You have absolutely nothing to be worried about. Promise.” She said, putting a reassuring hand on my arm. I smiled.

“Thanks.”

We finished walking down the staircase, and we reached the ballroom floor. Our group migrated to our table, and I noticed there were four empty chairs. I wondered who they were for.

Soon, we were all dancing. Demi and I were twirling around the dance floor, laughing about some joke she had just made. We were moving past the dance floor when she grinned widely.

“What?”

“The rest of our group is here!” She exclaimed, looking up at the staircase.

I turned around to see what she was looking at, and my jaw almost dropped.
Sam, the girl I recognized as Bridget’s friend was walking down the stairs with Joe Jonas.

My eyes quickly flitted over them to Bridget. She was stunning. Her dark hair fell in ringlets around her face, and even behind the mask I recognized her dark brown eyes. Her lips were upturned into a wide smile, and she was laughing at something Lucas had said. My stomach flip-flopped, and I froze, nerves coming back.

“Mitchel, are you okay?” Demi asked, looking up at me with concern. I blinked a few times
before looking back down at her, shaking my head.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” She grinned widely, laughing.

“Oh! I get it. I’ll be at the table if you need me, so try not to need me.” She said, slipping out of my arms and walking away, leaving me right in the path of Bridget and Lucas.

“Oh, hi, Mitchel.” Bridget’s voice whirled me around, and I smiled widely.

“Hey Bridget. Hi, Lucas.” I added, nodding at him.

“I’ll catch up with you in a sec.” Lucas said quietly to Bridget, slipping away from her and walking towards the table. It was just me and Bridget now, the music slowing.

“You look…gorgeous.” I said, motioning towards her dress. She smiled, blushing lightly.

“Thanks. You look really good too.” I smiled again, feeling like a fool.

“You, uh, wanna dance? I mean, that’s if your date doesn’t mind.” I said, adding the last part quickly. She smiled wider this time, shaking her head.

“No, I don’t think he’ll mind.” She moved forward, taking my hand in hers. I placed my hand on her waist and she placed hers on my shoulder and we began moving in time to the music. The silence between us wasn’t awkward at all, in fact, it felt nice. There was no need for us to fill it with chatter; we were content with the quiet.

All too soon, the song ended. I reluctantly let go of her, and we moved towards the table. I looked down to catch her looking up at me. I smiled at her, and in that moment, I knew I had done the right thing in telling Spencer it was over.