Jonny and Hadji started to walk away from the gate, Jonny shaking his
head sadly. Jessie, the one true love of Jonny's life was walking away.
She'd left him standing behind as she walked away with another man. It was
simple, if Jessie truly loved Jonny, she would stop, turn around and look
at him. But she didn't, Jessie just walked on the plane without looking
back. Suddenly, they heard a voice call out.
"Jonny!"
"Jessie?" Jonny spun around and grinned. Jessie was running towards him, looking like angel. Jonny started to run towards her and when they met, he pulled her close.
"I couldn't leave you Jonny, I love you Jonny, with all my heart." She whispered.
"Jessie." He smiled, staring into her bright green eyes. He felt something start to jab at his side, but he ignored it. Jonny would withstand any pain just to hold his Jessie. The jabbing pain got harder as Jessie started to fade. Jonny's surroundings blurred as they changed from standing in an overcrowded airport to an uncomfortable chair in an overcrowded classroom.
"Jonny wake up, Professor Bonehead looks ready to call on you." His friend Shawn hissed in his ears.
"I could teach this class better than Bonehead himself." Jonny answered lazily. Shawn nodded. While in most of his classes, Jonny was one of the smartest guys in class, in computer science his knowledge far surpassed the Professor's. However Jonny spent the majority of class sleeping in the back row, dreaming of happier times and the lost love of his life, Jessica Bannon.
"Can you get me a beer?" Jonny called from a couch in his Fraternity house.
"Here ya go." Shawn sat down, handing Jonny an ice cold beer. Jonny popped it open and guzzled the beer within half a minute.
"So, should we throw a party tonight?" Ken, a senior in the Fraternity, sat down handing Jonny another beer.
"Whatever." Jonny muttered, taking a huge gulp of the beer.
"Sure, we need new blood." Shawn smiled.
"All of us, except loyal Jonny of course." Ken laughed.
"Shut up," Jonny said finishing his beer, "it's just none of them are my Jessie."
"What's so special about Jessie?" Ken asked. Jonny wordlessly stood up, walked to the kitchen, grabbed another beer, pulled his wallet out of his pocket, then sat back down.
"Lookie." Jonny passed Ken a picture from his wallet. The picture had been taken before prom and in it, Jonny and Jessie were posing like they were in a James Bond movie.
"Wow, she is hot." Ken gasped. Shawn laughed, he had seen the picture many times.
"Yeah." Jonny nodded, putting the picture away. He took a huge swig of his beer.
"Say Jonny," Ken looked up, "what school does this goddess of yours go to?"
"Yale," Jonny slurred, "she could have gone to Harvard but noooooooooo, she had to go to Yale, had to go to Europe, had to get on the damn plane."
"Jonny maybe I should take that away from you." Shawn reached for Jonny's beer.
"Why, afraid I'll drink them all?"
"Can't I be worried about you?"
"Nope." Jonny laughed, polishing off the drink.
"Jonny," Ken began again, "you know Halloween is next week."
"I'm not that wasted yet." Jonny laughed.
"Well there's this party on Halloween, a bunch of schools in the area are invited," Ken smiled, "including Yale."
"Jessie?" Jonny's eyes lit up.
"I can't say for sure, wasn't going to mention it, not really my scene," Ken shrugged, "elaborate costumes, mask's until midnight when you take them off and mostly slow dancing."
"That sounds like something Jessie would love." Jonny smiled.
"I'll get you the information, anything too see you stop moping."
"I don't mope." Jonny exclaimed, heading to the kitchen.
"Getting another beer Jonny?" Ken asked.
"Yeah, so?"
"Nothing." Ken and Shawn looked at each other and sighed. For as long as they had known Jonny, he'd drink constantly and think about Jessie even more. His grades had slipped, and his only friends were his fraternity brothers, most of whom considered him to be a quiet loner. Shawn was the only one who knew anything of substance about Jonny, things Jonny had confessed in many drunken babblings. Jonny Quest, the boy who Race used to say could jump in a lake and come out dry, was a C student who was drunk more often than he was sober. The golden boy had fallen from grace.
Jonny sat on a luxurious bus with about thirty other students from Harvard. Most of them hadn't put on their masks yet, though they were in full costume. He recognized one girl, a wide eyed freshman from his English class. She smiled nervously and sat next to him.
"I hope this seat's not taken." She smiled shyly.
"Nope."
"Good, you're the only person I recognize."
"Yeah, same here." Jonny looked the girl over, she wore a long sleeved black leotard with black tights, lace up black boots, perched on her head were a pair of fuzzy cat ears. Jonny smiled, he could easily see Jessie in a costume like that.
"You know anyone who's going to be there?"
"I have some friends from Yale," Jonny graced the girl with a small smile, "I hope they'll be there."
"My best friend goes to the University of Connecticut, she's supposed to be there."
"Cool." Jonny said noncommittally. The bus soon started to drive and Jonny focussed on looking out the window. He popped an aspirin in his mouth to tame the constant ache in his head. For the first time a month, Jonny had gone the entire day without a single drink, wanting to be his best for Jessie.
When the bus finally arrived, everyone, Jonny included put on their masks. With a toss of his cape, Jonny turned towards the door, hiding behind his white mask. Slowly, he crept in and surveyed the area. Then, his heart stopped.
Sitting in the middle of a group of girls, laughing, was a girl with the same remarkable red hair as Jessie. Jonny moved closer to look the girl over. She was dressed as a mermaid, with an elaborate mask that included sea shells and pearls. The look reminded Jonny of the time he, Hadji and Jessie had gone swimming after the winter dance. Jonny cautiously took another step towards the mysterious girl, praying to get a hint on her identity.
"Oh Jessie, you're so funny." One of the girls around her laughed. Jonny quickly gasped before slithering away. Now wasn't the time to approach her, he had all night. He looked over and noticed a bar. Before he could stop himself, Jonny walked over to it. There was one person in front of him, a girl with hair the color of autumn.
"Can I have a martini, extra dry." She asked in a breathy tone. Jonny watched as the bartender made the drink and handed it to the girl. She pulled out a few dollars and started to walk away. Jonny looked back at Jessie the mermaid before giving his order.
"Could I have a coke?"
"Mixed with what?"
"No, just a coke." Jonny muttered.
"Sure." The bartender rolled his eyes, handing Jonny a coke.
"You must be the only one here ordering something non alcoholic Cowboy." The girl with the autumn colored hair told him. For a moment Jonny was enthralled with the girl's hair, it was mostly strawberry blond, with streaks of every color, from platinum blond to red almost as bright as Jessie's.
"What can I say?" Jonny shrugged, taking a sip of his coke. It felt so weird to drink a soda when Jonny was so used to beer.
"You tell me."
"What's your name?" Jonny asked, intrigued despite himself.
"Athena." She smiled sweetly. Jonny looked her over, she was clad in a fairly low cut glittery and silky white toga that fell to the floor. On her right side, the skirt was lifted to her waist, giving the toga a high slit. A golden rope was cinched around her waist and she wore gold sandals that laced up her mid calf. Her colorful hair was curled with a golden crown of leaves sitting on the top. Her mask was golden and stopped just below her nose, revealing her golden lips. Gold glitter decorated her bare skin on her arms and below her neck.
"Athena huh? Why not Aphrodite?"
"No," she shook her head, "definitely not Aphrodite. So, what do I call you?"
"Phantom." Jonny said simply.
"As in of the opera?" Athena asked wryly.
"You noticed." Jonny gestured to his costume, an old fashion tuxedo with a black cap that had a red satin lining, a black wide brimmed fedora sat on his head, a white mask on his face similar to the one used in the Broadway musical Phantom of the Opera.
"Yes," Athena nodded, "I saw the musical this summer."
"Somehow it seemed fitting for tonight."
"I love Halloween," she smiled taking a sip of her martini, "it's a chance to be someone else for the night."
"Yeah, I know what you mean." Jonny agreed wistfully.
"Where else I meet a guy who goes by 'Phantom?'"
"A magic show." Jonny smiled.
"Perhaps," Athena agreed, "but where else would you see that?" She pointed out a police officer with an alien mask dancing with a fairy princess with a small mask over her eyes.
"You have a point." Jonny couldn't help laughing. Jonny laughing without a beer, something that hadn't happened since he'd started at Harvard.
"So, where do you go to school sugar?"
"Harvard," Jonny said after a moment, surprised at Athena's boldness, "how about you?"
"Yale." She said offhandedly. Jonny's eyes lit up, Yale. He glanced over at Jessie sitting with her friends and wondered why Athena wasn't with them.
"Did you come with any friends?" Jonny asked casually.
"No, I don't really know any of the other people here from my school," she gave a small laugh, "I suppose I'm a loner that way. How about you?"
"I know there's a girl in my English class here," Jonny managed a small laugh of his own, "aside from that, no one. I'm a bit of a loner myself."
"Let's toast then," Athena held up her martini, "to the loners."
"The loners." Jonny lightly touched his glass to her own.
"You're a nice guy Phantom, I never thought I'd meet someone here like me."
"Me neither, do you dance?"
"Well that depends, do you mean dance as in them," Athena pointed at a couple doing a basic slow dance, "or dance like them?" She pointed at a couple waltzing.
"Either one," Jonny smiled, "though I'm out of practice on the latter."
"I am too." Athena told him, putting down her glass.
"Shall we?"
"Let's." Athena smiled as they walked out on the dance floor. Jonny held out his arms and Athena stepped into position. Slowly Jonny started the moves for a waltz and Athena expertly followed his lead. Jonny realized that the last time he had done any sort of ballroom dancing was at his senior prom with Jessie. Over the summer his father had been invited to many parties, none of which Jonny attended. Jonny attempted to spin Athena and smiled when she responded perfectly. They were not the only couple involved in ballroom dancing, there were five other couples doing the same thing.
"So Phantom, why are you a loner?"
"Well Athena, it's just hard to make new friends." Jonny told her, Athena nodded.
"I know what you mean, I know exactly what you mean." The song ended and Jonny smiled at Athena. He came to the party looking for Jessie, he never expected to meet someone like himself.
"It's funny Athena, had things gone differently, we might have never met."
"Yeah," Athena gave him a wistful smile, "or if we met, we wouldn't have even know it."
"You're right." Jonny lead the steps for another dance. Gracefully, Athena followed. The dances continued, though most of the talking ceased. Jonny was afraid to say much else to Athena, for fear of liking her too much. He couldn't allow himself to fall for someone who wasn't Jessie.
Soon, Jonny led Athena off the dance floor and back near the bar where they had first met. He checked a clock, fifteen minutes until midnight, until all masks would be removed. Lightly, Jonny kissed Athena's glitter covered hand, smiling at her golden nails.
"Thank you Athena, you made this night worth while."
"It was my pleasure Phantom, and likewise."
"Goodnight." Jonny turned to walk away.
"Goodnight." Athena said as he walked away. Jonny was grateful that she didn't ask why he wasn't going to stay to remove his mask. Perhaps she figured he was disfigured like the real Phantom of the Opera, or perhaps she was. Either way, Jonny was grateful. Slowly, he crept back to Jessie and her friends. He'd seen Jessie on the dance floor a few times, always with a football player, who's idea of a mask was his helmet. Jonny thought that had to be the most unoriginal costume at the ball. He moved until he was behind a column, and Jessie was just in his line of vision. Jonny walked a little closer to her, he was now behind a plant. He stepped out of hiding to greet her, when something caught his attention, her hair. It was the same flaming red as always, except at the top of her forehead. There, it was unmistakably a chestnut brown. The girl was wearing a red wig, to disguise herself as the little mermaid. Jonny took a step closer as one of her friend's spoke.
"Hey Jennie, your hair is showing."
"Oh, thanks Susie." The mermaid smiled, pushing her wig back. Jonny meanwhile was in shock, that was not Jessie's voice, and the other girl called her Jennie. Jonny thought back to earlier, he could have easily made the mistake, it was so crowded and he was fairly far away. Then, Jonny snapped his fingers.
"How could I have been so stupid?" He wondered. Quickly and agilely he ran through the crowd, sliding under tables and jumping over chairs. Nobody seemed to notice, all were waiting for midnight to strike. Jonny stopped in front of Athena.
"You're back." She whispered.
"Ten, nine." The crowd started the countdown.
"Jessie?"
"Eight, seven."
"How did you know my name?"
"Six, five."
"Because." Jonny reached to his face to pull off his mask.
"Four, three." The crowd continued. Wordlessly, Jonny pulled off his Phantom of the Opera mask.
"Two, one!!!!" The crowd finished with an overly excited scream. The mask that Athena had been reaching for fell out of her hands, revealing Jessie's face, her eyes opened in shock.
"Jonny." She said breathlessly as everyone around them yelled.
"It's me Jess," he smiled, though he could feel tears forming in his eyes, "I missed you."
"I missed you too." She said softly, tears forming in her own. She and Jonny looked at each other briefly, before they pulled together for an everlasting hug.
"I suppose I don't need to ask how you've been." Jonny said meekly.
"I suppose the same goes for you. I never would have thought you would have trouble making friends."
"Neither would I, for both of us. Where's Eric?"
"We broke up." Jessie said crisply.
"What about your hair? It used to be the color of fire, but now it's more like the color of autumn."
"I had it chemically enhanced."
"You dyed your hair Jess?"
"I just had some highlights put in Jonny." She said, looking away.
"Jessie," he took her hand, "it's ok, it looks beautiful."
"Really?"
"Yeah," Jonny smiled, "really. And it brings out the blue in your eyes."
"Thanks."
"I missed you this summer, I'm sorry we were gone when you came back for your things."
"I can't believe it's been since June." Jessie whispered.
"Have you talked to any of the family?"
"I've called Hadji, and we've talked online a few times. I called dad once and sent a postcard. And I saw mom in Europe. How about you?"
"I haven't talked to any of them, except dad a little. Jessie, I know it's not the right time, but I still," he took a deep breath, "I'm still in love with you Jessie."
"I wish you hadn't said that Jonny, but a part of me is glad that you did."
"Jess." Jonny looked her in the eyes.
"I'm leaving Jonny, in five minutes."
"But we're so close, it's been so long."
"I know Jonny, but I need to go, things can't get out of hand."
"All right," Jonny kissed her hand, still covered with the golden glitter, "will I see you for Thanksgiving?"
"No, I'm meeting mom in New York, we're going to see a Broadway show, Miss Saigon I believe."
"Christmas?"
"I wouldn't miss it. Goodbye Jonny, I'll miss you." Jessie hugged him one last time before walking through the crowd until she was out of Jonny's sight.
"Goodbye Jess," he said to the empty space where she had been, "I love you."
"Jonny!"
"Jessie?" Jonny spun around and grinned. Jessie was running towards him, looking like angel. Jonny started to run towards her and when they met, he pulled her close.
"I couldn't leave you Jonny, I love you Jonny, with all my heart." She whispered.
"Jessie." He smiled, staring into her bright green eyes. He felt something start to jab at his side, but he ignored it. Jonny would withstand any pain just to hold his Jessie. The jabbing pain got harder as Jessie started to fade. Jonny's surroundings blurred as they changed from standing in an overcrowded airport to an uncomfortable chair in an overcrowded classroom.
"Jonny wake up, Professor Bonehead looks ready to call on you." His friend Shawn hissed in his ears.
"I could teach this class better than Bonehead himself." Jonny answered lazily. Shawn nodded. While in most of his classes, Jonny was one of the smartest guys in class, in computer science his knowledge far surpassed the Professor's. However Jonny spent the majority of class sleeping in the back row, dreaming of happier times and the lost love of his life, Jessica Bannon.
"Can you get me a beer?" Jonny called from a couch in his Fraternity house.
"Here ya go." Shawn sat down, handing Jonny an ice cold beer. Jonny popped it open and guzzled the beer within half a minute.
"So, should we throw a party tonight?" Ken, a senior in the Fraternity, sat down handing Jonny another beer.
"Whatever." Jonny muttered, taking a huge gulp of the beer.
"Sure, we need new blood." Shawn smiled.
"All of us, except loyal Jonny of course." Ken laughed.
"Shut up," Jonny said finishing his beer, "it's just none of them are my Jessie."
"What's so special about Jessie?" Ken asked. Jonny wordlessly stood up, walked to the kitchen, grabbed another beer, pulled his wallet out of his pocket, then sat back down.
"Lookie." Jonny passed Ken a picture from his wallet. The picture had been taken before prom and in it, Jonny and Jessie were posing like they were in a James Bond movie.
"Wow, she is hot." Ken gasped. Shawn laughed, he had seen the picture many times.
"Yeah." Jonny nodded, putting the picture away. He took a huge swig of his beer.
"Say Jonny," Ken looked up, "what school does this goddess of yours go to?"
"Yale," Jonny slurred, "she could have gone to Harvard but noooooooooo, she had to go to Yale, had to go to Europe, had to get on the damn plane."
"Jonny maybe I should take that away from you." Shawn reached for Jonny's beer.
"Why, afraid I'll drink them all?"
"Can't I be worried about you?"
"Nope." Jonny laughed, polishing off the drink.
"Jonny," Ken began again, "you know Halloween is next week."
"I'm not that wasted yet." Jonny laughed.
"Well there's this party on Halloween, a bunch of schools in the area are invited," Ken smiled, "including Yale."
"Jessie?" Jonny's eyes lit up.
"I can't say for sure, wasn't going to mention it, not really my scene," Ken shrugged, "elaborate costumes, mask's until midnight when you take them off and mostly slow dancing."
"That sounds like something Jessie would love." Jonny smiled.
"I'll get you the information, anything too see you stop moping."
"I don't mope." Jonny exclaimed, heading to the kitchen.
"Getting another beer Jonny?" Ken asked.
"Yeah, so?"
"Nothing." Ken and Shawn looked at each other and sighed. For as long as they had known Jonny, he'd drink constantly and think about Jessie even more. His grades had slipped, and his only friends were his fraternity brothers, most of whom considered him to be a quiet loner. Shawn was the only one who knew anything of substance about Jonny, things Jonny had confessed in many drunken babblings. Jonny Quest, the boy who Race used to say could jump in a lake and come out dry, was a C student who was drunk more often than he was sober. The golden boy had fallen from grace.
Jonny sat on a luxurious bus with about thirty other students from Harvard. Most of them hadn't put on their masks yet, though they were in full costume. He recognized one girl, a wide eyed freshman from his English class. She smiled nervously and sat next to him.
"I hope this seat's not taken." She smiled shyly.
"Nope."
"Good, you're the only person I recognize."
"Yeah, same here." Jonny looked the girl over, she wore a long sleeved black leotard with black tights, lace up black boots, perched on her head were a pair of fuzzy cat ears. Jonny smiled, he could easily see Jessie in a costume like that.
"You know anyone who's going to be there?"
"I have some friends from Yale," Jonny graced the girl with a small smile, "I hope they'll be there."
"My best friend goes to the University of Connecticut, she's supposed to be there."
"Cool." Jonny said noncommittally. The bus soon started to drive and Jonny focussed on looking out the window. He popped an aspirin in his mouth to tame the constant ache in his head. For the first time a month, Jonny had gone the entire day without a single drink, wanting to be his best for Jessie.
When the bus finally arrived, everyone, Jonny included put on their masks. With a toss of his cape, Jonny turned towards the door, hiding behind his white mask. Slowly, he crept in and surveyed the area. Then, his heart stopped.
Sitting in the middle of a group of girls, laughing, was a girl with the same remarkable red hair as Jessie. Jonny moved closer to look the girl over. She was dressed as a mermaid, with an elaborate mask that included sea shells and pearls. The look reminded Jonny of the time he, Hadji and Jessie had gone swimming after the winter dance. Jonny cautiously took another step towards the mysterious girl, praying to get a hint on her identity.
"Oh Jessie, you're so funny." One of the girls around her laughed. Jonny quickly gasped before slithering away. Now wasn't the time to approach her, he had all night. He looked over and noticed a bar. Before he could stop himself, Jonny walked over to it. There was one person in front of him, a girl with hair the color of autumn.
"Can I have a martini, extra dry." She asked in a breathy tone. Jonny watched as the bartender made the drink and handed it to the girl. She pulled out a few dollars and started to walk away. Jonny looked back at Jessie the mermaid before giving his order.
"Could I have a coke?"
"Mixed with what?"
"No, just a coke." Jonny muttered.
"Sure." The bartender rolled his eyes, handing Jonny a coke.
"You must be the only one here ordering something non alcoholic Cowboy." The girl with the autumn colored hair told him. For a moment Jonny was enthralled with the girl's hair, it was mostly strawberry blond, with streaks of every color, from platinum blond to red almost as bright as Jessie's.
"What can I say?" Jonny shrugged, taking a sip of his coke. It felt so weird to drink a soda when Jonny was so used to beer.
"You tell me."
"What's your name?" Jonny asked, intrigued despite himself.
"Athena." She smiled sweetly. Jonny looked her over, she was clad in a fairly low cut glittery and silky white toga that fell to the floor. On her right side, the skirt was lifted to her waist, giving the toga a high slit. A golden rope was cinched around her waist and she wore gold sandals that laced up her mid calf. Her colorful hair was curled with a golden crown of leaves sitting on the top. Her mask was golden and stopped just below her nose, revealing her golden lips. Gold glitter decorated her bare skin on her arms and below her neck.
"Athena huh? Why not Aphrodite?"
"No," she shook her head, "definitely not Aphrodite. So, what do I call you?"
"Phantom." Jonny said simply.
"As in of the opera?" Athena asked wryly.
"You noticed." Jonny gestured to his costume, an old fashion tuxedo with a black cap that had a red satin lining, a black wide brimmed fedora sat on his head, a white mask on his face similar to the one used in the Broadway musical Phantom of the Opera.
"Yes," Athena nodded, "I saw the musical this summer."
"Somehow it seemed fitting for tonight."
"I love Halloween," she smiled taking a sip of her martini, "it's a chance to be someone else for the night."
"Yeah, I know what you mean." Jonny agreed wistfully.
"Where else I meet a guy who goes by 'Phantom?'"
"A magic show." Jonny smiled.
"Perhaps," Athena agreed, "but where else would you see that?" She pointed out a police officer with an alien mask dancing with a fairy princess with a small mask over her eyes.
"You have a point." Jonny couldn't help laughing. Jonny laughing without a beer, something that hadn't happened since he'd started at Harvard.
"So, where do you go to school sugar?"
"Harvard," Jonny said after a moment, surprised at Athena's boldness, "how about you?"
"Yale." She said offhandedly. Jonny's eyes lit up, Yale. He glanced over at Jessie sitting with her friends and wondered why Athena wasn't with them.
"Did you come with any friends?" Jonny asked casually.
"No, I don't really know any of the other people here from my school," she gave a small laugh, "I suppose I'm a loner that way. How about you?"
"I know there's a girl in my English class here," Jonny managed a small laugh of his own, "aside from that, no one. I'm a bit of a loner myself."
"Let's toast then," Athena held up her martini, "to the loners."
"The loners." Jonny lightly touched his glass to her own.
"You're a nice guy Phantom, I never thought I'd meet someone here like me."
"Me neither, do you dance?"
"Well that depends, do you mean dance as in them," Athena pointed at a couple doing a basic slow dance, "or dance like them?" She pointed at a couple waltzing.
"Either one," Jonny smiled, "though I'm out of practice on the latter."
"I am too." Athena told him, putting down her glass.
"Shall we?"
"Let's." Athena smiled as they walked out on the dance floor. Jonny held out his arms and Athena stepped into position. Slowly Jonny started the moves for a waltz and Athena expertly followed his lead. Jonny realized that the last time he had done any sort of ballroom dancing was at his senior prom with Jessie. Over the summer his father had been invited to many parties, none of which Jonny attended. Jonny attempted to spin Athena and smiled when she responded perfectly. They were not the only couple involved in ballroom dancing, there were five other couples doing the same thing.
"So Phantom, why are you a loner?"
"Well Athena, it's just hard to make new friends." Jonny told her, Athena nodded.
"I know what you mean, I know exactly what you mean." The song ended and Jonny smiled at Athena. He came to the party looking for Jessie, he never expected to meet someone like himself.
"It's funny Athena, had things gone differently, we might have never met."
"Yeah," Athena gave him a wistful smile, "or if we met, we wouldn't have even know it."
"You're right." Jonny lead the steps for another dance. Gracefully, Athena followed. The dances continued, though most of the talking ceased. Jonny was afraid to say much else to Athena, for fear of liking her too much. He couldn't allow himself to fall for someone who wasn't Jessie.
Soon, Jonny led Athena off the dance floor and back near the bar where they had first met. He checked a clock, fifteen minutes until midnight, until all masks would be removed. Lightly, Jonny kissed Athena's glitter covered hand, smiling at her golden nails.
"Thank you Athena, you made this night worth while."
"It was my pleasure Phantom, and likewise."
"Goodnight." Jonny turned to walk away.
"Goodnight." Athena said as he walked away. Jonny was grateful that she didn't ask why he wasn't going to stay to remove his mask. Perhaps she figured he was disfigured like the real Phantom of the Opera, or perhaps she was. Either way, Jonny was grateful. Slowly, he crept back to Jessie and her friends. He'd seen Jessie on the dance floor a few times, always with a football player, who's idea of a mask was his helmet. Jonny thought that had to be the most unoriginal costume at the ball. He moved until he was behind a column, and Jessie was just in his line of vision. Jonny walked a little closer to her, he was now behind a plant. He stepped out of hiding to greet her, when something caught his attention, her hair. It was the same flaming red as always, except at the top of her forehead. There, it was unmistakably a chestnut brown. The girl was wearing a red wig, to disguise herself as the little mermaid. Jonny took a step closer as one of her friend's spoke.
"Hey Jennie, your hair is showing."
"Oh, thanks Susie." The mermaid smiled, pushing her wig back. Jonny meanwhile was in shock, that was not Jessie's voice, and the other girl called her Jennie. Jonny thought back to earlier, he could have easily made the mistake, it was so crowded and he was fairly far away. Then, Jonny snapped his fingers.
"How could I have been so stupid?" He wondered. Quickly and agilely he ran through the crowd, sliding under tables and jumping over chairs. Nobody seemed to notice, all were waiting for midnight to strike. Jonny stopped in front of Athena.
"You're back." She whispered.
"Ten, nine." The crowd started the countdown.
"Jessie?"
"Eight, seven."
"How did you know my name?"
"Six, five."
"Because." Jonny reached to his face to pull off his mask.
"Four, three." The crowd continued. Wordlessly, Jonny pulled off his Phantom of the Opera mask.
"Two, one!!!!" The crowd finished with an overly excited scream. The mask that Athena had been reaching for fell out of her hands, revealing Jessie's face, her eyes opened in shock.
"Jonny." She said breathlessly as everyone around them yelled.
"It's me Jess," he smiled, though he could feel tears forming in his eyes, "I missed you."
"I missed you too." She said softly, tears forming in her own. She and Jonny looked at each other briefly, before they pulled together for an everlasting hug.
"I suppose I don't need to ask how you've been." Jonny said meekly.
"I suppose the same goes for you. I never would have thought you would have trouble making friends."
"Neither would I, for both of us. Where's Eric?"
"We broke up." Jessie said crisply.
"What about your hair? It used to be the color of fire, but now it's more like the color of autumn."
"I had it chemically enhanced."
"You dyed your hair Jess?"
"I just had some highlights put in Jonny." She said, looking away.
"Jessie," he took her hand, "it's ok, it looks beautiful."
"Really?"
"Yeah," Jonny smiled, "really. And it brings out the blue in your eyes."
"Thanks."
"I missed you this summer, I'm sorry we were gone when you came back for your things."
"I can't believe it's been since June." Jessie whispered.
"Have you talked to any of the family?"
"I've called Hadji, and we've talked online a few times. I called dad once and sent a postcard. And I saw mom in Europe. How about you?"
"I haven't talked to any of them, except dad a little. Jessie, I know it's not the right time, but I still," he took a deep breath, "I'm still in love with you Jessie."
"I wish you hadn't said that Jonny, but a part of me is glad that you did."
"Jess." Jonny looked her in the eyes.
"I'm leaving Jonny, in five minutes."
"But we're so close, it's been so long."
"I know Jonny, but I need to go, things can't get out of hand."
"All right," Jonny kissed her hand, still covered with the golden glitter, "will I see you for Thanksgiving?"
"No, I'm meeting mom in New York, we're going to see a Broadway show, Miss Saigon I believe."
"Christmas?"
"I wouldn't miss it. Goodbye Jonny, I'll miss you." Jessie hugged him one last time before walking through the crowd until she was out of Jonny's sight.
"Goodbye Jess," he said to the empty space where she had been, "I love you."