Haruhi sighed as she stared around the party. The twins had kidnapped her earlier that morning and played dress-up with her all day long.
Haruhi's lips twitched as she struggled not to frown outright imagining the twin's nagging. Haruhi stand up straight… here let me tape that hem down… no you can't wear that one it understates your hairstyle. Nag na-nag nag nag na-nagnag.
The one shoulder dress she ended up wearing faded from white at the top, through a shimmer grey and finally to black ending just above her knees. The party was a masquerade, an elaborate mask, black and silver with feathers completed her look. But let's stop talking outfits, she didn't like wearing dresses anyway. And those heels were ridiculous.
She tottered over to the food table, grabbing a glass of bright pink punch. Absentmindedly she sniffed it, trying to figure out what flavor it was. Her head jerked back, alcohol? She set the cup back down carefully. That would explain a lot actually. She glanced around, nobody was watching her. The party suddenly seemed a lot more casual and since the twins had ditched her within minutes of walking through the door….She looked around, one more time, just in case.
She slipped off the ridiculous high heels, wiggling her toes on the cool tile, and kicked them under the table. Her face was not betraying anything as usual. Nobody would care if she was barefoot, right? She heard a squeak. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly in confusion as she bent over, lifting up the tablecloth. Her shoes had hit two very drunk looking seniors were making out under the punch table. Ah, this party was much much more casual than she thought.
She stretched her shoulders, no longer worrying about her posture, and walked over to a pillar, leaning against it and simply watching the people, all wearing masks. She cracked a half smile at the metaphor. Stupid rich parties, yes, masks were everywhere.
She finally found the twins, they were across the room, apparently gathering together all of the girls with red hair in the room to join a harem of some kind. She rolled her eyes, hardly surprising. She kept looking around, lifting the mask to her forehead so she could see better. Ah, there was Tamaki, up by the stage. His elaborate gestures would have never given it away if not for the group of girls squealing that tended to draw just a bit more attention. She smiled softly, 'heh, understatement of the century.'
Suddenly a shadow blocked half of her vision; she tensed, blinked, and slowly looked up. Someone was leaning over her; his elbow was above her head as he looked down. He was dressed all in black with a pinstripe vest and an intricate black mask. She felt herself blushing a little, he certainly was attractive, and his cologne smelled really good. That made the look he was giving her seem a little bit more…acceptable.
She tilted her head to the side, pushing her usual deadpan look off her face and flashed her host smile, her intricate mask falling back over her eyes. "Hello, is there something I can help you with?"
He breathed a chuckle, she caught a faint whiff of alcohol, "Can you do me a favor? I seem to have misplaced my phone number. May I borrow yours?"
She face-palmed internally; well, it wasn't the lamest pickup line she'd ever heard. His voice sounded vaguely familiar, it sounded a little rougher than it should though for some reason. Huh, maybe he was in one of her classes or something.
He reached down and lifted her mask back up to her forehead. She noticed his eyes widen fractionally behind his mask but decided it was probably the alcohol.
He chuckled a little louder and winked, he definitely sounded drunk. "Well, sweet-thing? What do you say?"
She shrugged and pulled out her phone, accidentally dropping the host smile, "Sure, why not? At least the twins won't be able to call tonight a failure." She handed her phone over to him as he entered his number with a wide smirk. She spoke to herself looking around again, "I bet I could probably leave now and they wouldn't even care."
He leaned closer to her face and placed her phone back in her hand.
"Does that mean you're coming home with me?" He raised his eyebrow and leaned closer, both elbows sliding down the pillar, closer to her ears.
She ignored his comment and glanced up at him. Blinking twice she reached up and lifted his mask. Without a word she clicked the picture and turned back to her phone.
He blinked, shocked at the sudden move. "Why did you do that?"
She looked up from pushing buttons on her new gadget, courtesy of the twins. "Oh, I guess I should have asked. I guess I'm a little OCD. Everyone in my phone has a contact picture. You don't mind do you?"
He smirked and lifted up her chin, "You just surprised me."
He kissed her lips softly, her eyes drifting closed. Pulling back he smiled, more genuine this time, "Just as long as you don't stay up all night looking at my picture."
Her eyes flew open, the moment over. Donning her host smile once again she pushed his hands down from her face, "Uh, I'm sorry to ruin the moment but you're standing on my toes."
He flinched back quickly, looking down in shock, "…Why in the world are you barefoot?"
She fidgeted uncomfortably, looking off to the side, "Have you ever tried wearing heels?" She poked his chest, continuing quickly. "No. You haven't. Trust me; they are the most uncomfortable things in the world." She turned and muttered. "They're not even worth finding, I'll go home barefoot."
He stepped back, the black mask on his face, askew. His face was shocked. Had she been someone else she may have even chuckled at that, it seemed so funny for some reason.
"Thanks for giving me an excuse to leave early…" She glanced at her phone and finally smirked, "…Mr. Dark Romeo." She waved and walked toward the door. "Have a good night! …Don't drive home, okay?"
He watched her leave, still frozen in place. "I think, perhaps, Clark Kent was on to something with the glasses thing."