All That We Could Be

Chapter Forty Six

“Ms. Stevens!” Fallon was startled out of her thoughts. The professor was standing right in front of her. Uh oh…-Fallon thought. This couldn’t be good…how long had the professor been standing there, she wondered. Fallon looked around; the other students were watching her. Michael, who had been sitting next to her, looked away.

“Well Ms. Stevens, do you know the answer?” The professor asked. Fallon was confused. “Th-The answer?” She stuttered. The professor stood in front of her waiting. He crossed his arms. Fallon had no idea what he was going on about. Michael nudged her foot. She looked to where he was staring. She saw the question underlined. ‘What is a telechelic polymer?’ That’s what the professor was going on about.

“A telechelic polymer…isn’t that the one with two heads?” Fallon said, she remembered the diagram she had seen in the textbook. There was a little laughter bubbling around her. Fallon’s cheeks flamed. The professor sighed. “As happy as I am knowing that you can distinguish between the diagrams…next time Ms. Stevens…please try define it…using correct terms.” The professor said as he moved on.

“Now then, a telechelic polymer is a polymer carrying functionalised end groups.” The professor said as he moved back to the board again. “Hence the two ‘heads’…as Ms. Stevens put it.” He remarked. Fallon could have kicked herself. She knew better than to let her mind wander off during class…especially in such a small class. Fallon was sitting in her ‘Introduction to Polymer Chemistry’ class. Michael was sitting next to her, snickering quietly.

Fallon had been thinking of the masquerade ball once again. No matter what she did…it would keep popping into her thoughts.

After class ended, Fallon rounded on Michael. “You could have warned me he was coming!” She told him. Michael snickered. “I tried, but you were off into your own little world.” He told her. “Michael! You were supposed to make sure THAT didn’t happen!” She told him. “I elbowed you but you were so far off, you didn’t even wince.” Michael told her. “Great…well thanks for having the question. I thought I was done for.” Fallon said as she picked up her bag. “No problem. We’re still on for tomorrow, right?” Michael asked. They were going to start working on solid state reactions after researching some simple ones in the library. “Yea, of course.” She answered.

They walked out of the room together. Fallon waved good bye to him as they parted ways.

Fallon knew she would have to pay better attention. This wasn’t the first time she had been caught off guard.

A few days ago Cheryl had been talking to both her and Christopher. Fallon had stopped listening half way into the conversation. She had been trying to guess who the masked prince could be. It was when she heard her own name being called, that she snapped out of her daze. “Fallon!” Cheryl had said. “Hmm?” Fallon answered. “Are they coming?” Cheryl had asked. “Who?” Fallon had said in confusion. Both Christopher and Cheryl had given her annoyed looks. “Your family! Are they coming for the winter holidays?” Cheryl asked. “Oh! I don’t know actually. I’ll call them and ask.” She had told them, before quickly getting up to go to her room; where she could day dream in peace.

Recently, Christopher had also commented on her strange behaviour. “Earth to Fallon! Hello?” He had said, one day. Fallon had snapped out of her reverie. “What is it? Do you need something?” She had asked quickly reaching for a ratchet. She had come over to his house to help him change the brakes on his car. “No, but you seem to be a million miles away these days.” He told her. “Is it that obvious?” She asked him. “Would I be telling you if it wasn’t?” He said, rhetorically. “So what’s up? What’s on your mind?” He asked her. “Nothing. Just work and stuff.” She told him. He didn’t need to know what she was thinking about…or whom. “Really? Just stuff or is it that guy who danced with you on Halloween?” He asked her. His face was hidden from her. Fallon was shocked that he had noticed.

She didn’t want to explain…or make things awkward. There was no point in making him feel as though their time together was being usurped by a masked guy who wasn’t even present…but it kind of was…she thought.

When she didn’t reply, Christopher looked at her. Fallon was sitting on one of the tires. “Do you even know who that guy was?” He asked her enquiringly. “Nope. Are you done on that side?” Fallon said, changing the subject. She didn’t want to discuss this with anyone. Christopher blew out an explosive breath. “Yea, let’s put the tire back on and then do the other side.” He had told her.

Fallon drove home with her thoughts back on the dance. She had been stupid not to have unmasked him. He had leaned in…she could have reached for his mask…instead she had leaned in too. Fallon was beside herself…that wasn’t how she usually reacted; she would have been furious had she known who it was.

Fallon arrived home to find an envelope stuck in the door. By the looks of it Cheryl hadn’t come home to see it; her car wasn’t in the garage.

Fallon took the envelope and flipped it over to find her name written in elegant script. She opened the envelope as she stood on the porch. Inside it she found a date. Fallon saw that the paper had been torn. It’s a clue? To what?...-She thought.

Fallon unlocked the door and went inside. She suddenly realized something. She hadn’t seen any flowers today. Actually it had been a few days that there hadn’t been a bouquet at her door. Fallon turned the paper with the date on it over in her hand. She looked at the writing. She rushed into her room to find her birthday card. She compared the two of them…they seemed to match. She was intrigued by this. What was going to happen now? She wondered.

In a week Fallon got the answer to her question. Each day there had been an envelope. Each envelope contained a clue. By Friday, Fallon had all the pieces of this particular puzzle.

She looked it over to make sure she understood the information. It read:

‘Saturday, November 17th @ 6pm

Come alone to ‘The Loft’. Go to the third floor and enter room 327.

Make sure to bring your mask.’

Odd instructions…-Fallon thought. She would make sure to go. After all she needed to know who this person was. He had been sending her flowers and gifts for the last many months. It was time to identify him.

Saturday brought more curiosity. Fallon hated surprises for that reason alone, it wasn’t in her nature to be able to handle these games with grace. Fallon had told Cheryl that she would be out for the evening. She doesn’t need to know all of the facts…-Fallon had thought. Fallon found it hard to explain to Cheryl exactly why she was bothering to find out who it was…so Fallon skipped the information that would have made things awkward for her.

As time ticked closer to that of the meeting; Fallon got dressed. She had decided against wearing the ball gown she had worn that night. It would be weird to have to walk around in that. Instead she settled on a different deep purple dress, it was cut like one of those pixie dresses and at least it matched her mask, since it faded from purple to black. She wore her black wool coat. November had brought a chill with it. She settled on wearing her favourite black ballet style flats, since she would be in the car or in a building.

It wasn’t until Fallon walked into the building that she started having second thoughts. She had just put on her mask when the thought hit her. I’m such an idiot…I should have told Cheryl where I was!…-She thought. What if this guy is insane! He could want to kill me!...-Fallon was starting to panic. Wait a minute! Who would want to kill me?...-She realized subconsciously. People who are angry at the world!...Angry at me!...- was the retort that came into her mind. Then again, why would a guy spend so much money only to kill me…I am an idiot…for thinking such stupid things…-She thought trying to silence her mind.

She walked up the three flights of stairs. Elevators had always worried Fallon. When she was little, she had gotten on an elevator and her mother hadn’t been fast enough to come after her. Fallon had wound up on the wrong floor and gotten lost, until her mother heard her frantic cries and found her.

Fallon walked down the corridor to find the room. She knocked on the door three times. When no one answered; she checked the handle to see if it was locked. Sure enough it wasn’t. Fallon opened the door. “Hello? Is anyone here?” She said as she peered into the room.

‘The Loft’ was an apartment building; it was known for its many bachelor pads. Fallon stepped into the room. It had been set up beautifully. There was a table next to an enormous window. From the window Fallon could see a garden in the fading light. The table had been set for two, with a red table cloth and two candles lit. There were no dishes yet, but there were napkins. Fallon found her seat; it was the one where she found a bouquet of flowers that had a similar arrangement to those she had received on her birthday. On top of it was a placard with her name written on it in the same beautiful script. Fallon touched the card, gently flipping it over to see if anything was written, but she was disappointed.

Fallon couldn’t sit down. Nervous energy filled her. She stood by the window, and watched as the sunlight faded from the sky. Fallon thought of who could have called her here. She looked around the room once more trying to pick up some clue of who it could belong to, then she turned back to look out of the window. Her heart was pounding with anticipation, she thought she knew who she was going to face.

Music had started to play around her. She listened carefully. It was the original version of ‘Crush’.

“Are you disappointed?” Came a voice from behind her. Fallon smiled before turning around to face the masked prince. “Should I be?” She asked him. He walked with his cape billowing behind him. It took him a moment to stride across the room to where she was. At the same time the music was more audible.

“I guess the answer to that depends on whether or not you know who I am.” He told her. “I’m thinking I do.” She told him. She could see him smile. “Okay, I’ll give you three guesses.” He said to her. “I only need one.” She said. He walked closer to her. “Okay, then tell me. Who am I?” He asked her. She was confident she knew the identity of the prince who stood before her.

This time it was Fallon who moved closer, she was the one to make the first move.

“Do you ever think, when you're all alone, all that we could be, where this thing could go, am I crazy or falling in love, is it real or just another crush”

Fallon leaned in to him, and kissed him. She had her arms around him, and he held her. When they broke apart, Fallon smiled.

“Do you catch a breath, When I look at you, are you holding back, like the way I do, cause I'm tryin, tryin to walk away, but I know this crush ain’t goin away…”

“I know it’s you, Daniel.” She told him.