Under The Mask
The night of the Halloween Masquerade at Forks High school had finally arrived. And everyone was excited. All the teachers and janitors of the school had worked their hardest to turn the gym into the appropriate setting for the party; and a handful of students had helped for extra credit.
A few students had arrived early, and still more were coming. Most of the boys' costumes consisted of black capes and fangs, trying to out charm Dracula. Other boys risked losing their girlfriends by dressing as zombies. The girls were either witches or black cats. It was totally unoriginal – nothing spectacular. The one thing that made this party really worth while was the fact that everyone was under a mask, so no one really knew who was who unless they went together. And most people did. But not Haley. She stayed seated in the farthest corner of the gym, and watched as the room filled up numerously with girls and boys.
Haley wasn't what you would call popular at school, and she didn't really mind it either. She wasn't in on the latest gossip and she wasn't in any of the main social groups, but that was because she made it that way. Although Haley was smart, helpful and kind, she was always very introverted around people and didn't like to talk very much; and the students caught on quickly to that fact and left her alone. Whenever she was having conversation with a few of her classmates, she would talk about her strong beliefs of what they thought to be impossible or just a myth. So their opinion of her was basically that she was sort of a geek. But put aside her imagination and people actually liked her. She was just a normal girl with an open mind.
When the majority of students were finally all in the gym, they dimmed the lights and started the music. Everyone was dancing, laughing, talking, chilling, and having punch. But Haley chose to remain seated and just observe from where she was at.
About two hours later, and she had zoned out of the real world and into her dreams – dreams where she could make anything and everything possible. It took her a minute to realize the gorgeous guy that was standing in front of her wasn't part of her dreams but was, in fact, reality.
"Hello," he greeted her politely, "would you care to dance?" Slowly Haley looked up at his masked face and into his piercing, golden eyes. Although his face was hidden under the mask, she could still see his unbearable beauty radiating from it. His skin was almost deathly pale, and his hair was a beautiful bronze color; his lips were the perfect shape as they curved upward to smile at her. He wasn't dressed in any sort of costume that would make him a zombie, ghost or vampire. And yet without it he stilled seemed to fit into the category somehow. It was weird. He must not really be into the whole Halloween thing, Haley thought. But she decided to shrug it off.
"I'm afraid I'm not the best at it." She replied modestly.
"I don't mind." He reassured her with a smile, holding out his hand. And she took it. She was desperate to do something worthwhile at this party and she wasn't about to sit through the entire night and look like an idiot – although it's what she did most of the time anyway. But not tonight. Tonight was different; tonight was special. And she didn't know why, but she knew it somehow had to do with the boy she was dancing with. He was a mystery to her, and not because she didn't know who he was, but she didn't know why she was feeling this way with him when she probably didn't even know him. It was strange. She felt drawn to him and this frightened her a little but at the same time entranced her.
The light suddenly got brighter as she realized he had led her directly in the spotlight to dance. She immediately felt self-conscious but tried to look dignified in front of her peers. But she was distracted by his cool and gentle hand as it slid into hers, while his other wrapped gently against her waist. She felt more like they were gliding on air rather than dancing in the gym. As she looked up at the disco ball that they was standing underneath, it shown brightly down on her, revealing the glittered patterns on her long, black dress as they sparkled. The glitter circled the rim of her dress and was also at the edges of her medieval sleeves. Her long, blonde curls hung behind her, except for one piece that strayed away and was dangling on the side of her face. Her emerald green eyes stared into his, and she was forced to look away. How ridiculous is this? She thought to herself, I probably never even met the guy and yet he's making me feel so…so insignificant. How does he do that? As if to answer her thoughts, the boy smiled down at her, seemingly amused by something.
"Would you like to stop now?"
"No." she answered quickly, and she immediately began to blush.
"Come on," he encouraged her as he dropped his hand from her waist but still held onto her other hand, "there'll be more dances. Let's get you some punch, and then we can go outside for fresh air."
"Fine." She tried to sound reluctant about it, but the truth was that she couldn't be happier. She felt awkward in the gym with all those people that she really didn't know, and she would be grateful to get a few minutes of fresh air. And maybe he would open up to me if we were alone, she thought.
After he retrieved her a glass of punch, they left the gym and went out one of the side exits to sit outside on the picnic tables. After they situated themselves, Haley began to sip her punch silently. It was a while before anyone spoke.
"So, what are you dressed as?" he asked her casually. Haley took another sip before answering.
"Take a lucky guess." She challenged him.
"A witch?"
"Nope." He smiled before guessing again.
"A vampire." It wasn't a question.
"Yes." She smiled back at him and then looked back down at her glass of punch.
"I wasn't sure at first; you didn't have any fangs."
"I took them out. My mouth was starting to get sore." He startled her when he began to laugh. She chuckled softly and then let it fade so that she could hear his. It had to be the most beautiful sound she ever heard. It rippled through her ears like music. She found herself slightly blushing for thinking such things, and so she quickly tried to distract herself.
"So, what about you? What are you supposed to be?" she asked curiously. His smile faded, but he didn't look angry. He was silent for a while, and Haley wasn't sure if he was going to answer, but she kept patient.
"I guess you could say I can pull off the look without having to wear the costume." He finally answered.
"I don't think you look like a monster." Haley blurted. She didn't mean to be so quick to answer, but it was the truth; it's what she believed.
"How can you tell? I'm wearing a mask. I may be hideous looking…or even disfigured." Haley knew he was just trying to scare her off, but she also knew it couldn't be done. She wasn't afraid of him…not now.
"Disfigurement doesn't make you a monster."
"Then what does?" he challenged.
"Someone without love." She said hesitantly. She knew the more she spoke her beliefs the more people avoided her. Would he avoid her too? She prayed she wouldn't drive him away. She enjoyed his company. But she wasn't going to keep silent, not about this. She wanted him to have as good opinion of himself as she did. And she was going to make him see that. As introverted as she was, she always had to win the arguments.
"And how do you know that I'm not that someone?"
"I just know. You're not like that. You're a good person. You're a little mysterious but that doesn't make you bad."
"What? You can read minds now?" he said somewhat coldly. Haley didn't know what to say now. For the first time in her life she was stumped in an argument. And this frustrated her. But what also kept her silence was her shock at his bitterness. She had been with him for only a short time and yet she didn't think him capable of such anger that he was implementing now. It shocked her but not frightened her.
"I'm sorry." He murmured after a long moment had passed.
"It's fine." She told him honestly. He looked down toward the ground and carefully ran his hand into his hair.
"We should probably head back to the gym." He said as he stood up from the picnic tables. She copied him with less grace as she hopped off the picnic tables. She walked a few feet ahead of him and was almost at the door when she turned around.
"I want to thank you for this night." She told him seriously. Despite the fact that she lost the argument, she had a pleasant evening, and it all started with a dance.
"You're welcome." He replied.
"I just wish I knew who I was thanking." She said dismally.
"But that's the fun of it: not knowing."
"It's also fun to break the rules every once in a while."
"Not this time. Besides, what if I was someone you didn't like? Then you would have to go to school and face me every day, knowing you danced with the guy you hate."
"Please don't tell me you're Eric Yorkie." He burst out laughing and she couldn't stop herself from blushing.
"Guess not." She said embarrassed. Still laughing he opened the door for her.
"Come on, the party will be over soon. Dance with me again?" he said as he held out his hand. Haley smiled at him and took his hand. And together they walked back to the gym to dance once more before the night ended, and they would go back to their normal life routine, without ever noticing one another. But Haley went home that night, sure in her heart that somehow, she knew who she was dancing with all along. She knew who was under the mask.