I arrived at the dance sometime after 10:30. So many people were here, and it was hard to make my way through the crowd. I finally found David and Ryan their costumes, and was so happy mine got "lost".

"What up guys?" I asked them. Honestly, I was a little nervous. Fifteen minutes from now, I would be meeting the person I've been talking to for the past few weeks.

"What up?" Ryan responded.

"Sorry about your costume getting lost, Austin." David said.

"It's all good, my friends," I assured him.

"No, it's not all good bro. Now we don't get to be the Three Musketeers. You get to be Prince Charming, and we're the two wimps in wigs." David gestures towards Ryan in exasperation. I chuckled in response.

"There's Shelby," Ryan pointed out. I looked towards the end of the stairs and saw my ex-girlfriend who couldn't get the clue.

"She looks smokin'," David checked her out openly. I shrugged in response.

"Wow." Ryan said.

"What?" I asked. I thought he was talking about my response, but I saw he was looking towards the stairs. I looked over and saw her. Blonde curls half up and pulled back, a- what was that? A wedding dress? It didn't matter in the end, she looked… beautiful, and a white mask hiding her face. 'That's her. That has to be Princeton Girl.' I watched as she walked down the stairs, I mean they put a spotlight on her as she walked down. Half the school watched as she gracefully took step by step down. Her escort, some guy in a weird costume, walked her over.

"Look guys, I gotta go," I told both David and Ryan.

"No, Austin. You can't just leave us for that chick who just walked down the stairs. That's not fair." David almost fucking pouted.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked.

"Come on, like you aren't going to use your charm on her and score," Ryan rolled his eyes.

I smirked and shrugged again. "Oops."

Both boys shook their heads as I began to walk away towards the middle of the dance floor. It was hard, trying to push past everyone through. So many bodies grinding, dancing, lip locked. It was hard, but I persisted, and I finally reached her.

"I knew this was too good to be true," I heard her mutter. She sighed and tilted her head to the side.

"Princeton Girl?" I asked. She paused, and slowly turned around.

She saw my face, and her own passed with confusion. "Austin Aimes? You're… Nomad?" She didn't look pleased.

I looked down and gave a small chuckle, "Yeah, uh, I guess my costume doesn't do a very good job at hiding who I am."

She shook her head, "No, I… I know exactly who you are. I'm sorry, this was a really big mistake. I've got to go." She begins to walk away.

'Don't let her walk away, idiot!' I start running after her. "Wait. Wait! Wait." On the last wait, I managed to get in front of her, and gently put my hand on her arm. "It's not a mistake."

"Don't you know who I am?" She demanded. 'Fuck.'

"Of course, I do. You're Princeton Girl. You're the girl I've been waiting to meet. I know exactly who you are… What's your name?"

She shook her head once in unbelief.

"Your allegations, my lady." I turned and saw Anderson.

"Mr. Anderson," I greeted politely.

He began shaking his head angrily, "Austin Aimes, with the lady. A devastating blow… A worthy opponent…" His bow was awkward as he walked away.

"What about your girlfriend?" She asked expectantly.

"It's over," I stated simply. We started towards the punch bowl. "I guess you were expecting some guy who hangs out at Starbucks and writes poetry." I didn't blame her for the confusion she felt.

"Something like that," she nodded. "Come on, you're Austin Aimes. You're football captain, and student body president… and closet poet? You can't be both guys."

"I'm not," I admitted. More confusion passed in her face.

"Well then, who are you?"

I paused, trying to find the right words to explain. "On September 7th, I wrote you 'I live in world full of people pretending to be something they're not, but when I talk to you-"

"I'm the guy I want to be," she finished.

"Give me a chance to be that guy," I almost pleaded. "Do you mind joining me for a stroll outside?"

She seemed to think about it. "If you want to be voted Homecoming Prince, then you better stay inside and be seen, you know?"

I rolled my eyes, "I really don't care about becoming Homecoming Prince." 'That shit is for Shelby.' She sighed and thought it over. "Please?" I asked and offered her my hand. Luckily, she took it and I guided her out of the crowded ballroom where I could be myself.

"So, Princeton Girl, would you tell me who you are if I guessed it right?"

"Maybe," she smiled.

"Maybe? Well, how about we play '20 Questions'?" I offered.

"How about 10?" She compromised.

"Well, I'll take what I can get," I agreed.

I held out my hand for her to hold, but she silently declined the offer, and moved her hands to her dress instead. "Okay, first question. You do actually go to North Valley High School, right?" I have never seen her before. Maybe she went to a different school.

She almost laughed, "Of course!"

"Well, I'm just checking!" I defended myself. "You never know with the internet. Okay. Next question." I gave a small sigh. "Were you disappointed when you found out I was Nomad? Be honest."

"Surprisingly no…" she gave a small smile.

"Did you vote for me for student body president?"

"Surprisingly yes…" she admitted.

"Really? Hmm…" I thought, and looked at her. "Okay. I got it. All right, given the choice, would you rather have a rice cake or a Big Mac?"

"A Big Mac," she said with no hesitation. She gave a laugh. "What does that matter?"

"Well I like a girl with a hearty appetite," I admitted. "And besides, you just eliminated about 50% of the girls in our class." She laughed in response. We got to the end of the walk way and stopped. I turned to look at her. "You think I'd remember those eyes," I told her. "They're so beautiful."

She looked down in embarrassment. "Um… Next question."

"You do work, right?" I confirmed. She nodded. "Where?" She then shook her head.

"I'm not telling."

"Oh, come on!" I exclaimed.

"Nope. My lips are sealed." She made a zipping motion over her lips.

"Fine," I gave up. We reached the end of the walk way. There were chairs set up and an aisle to walk in between with a small gazebo at the end. "If I ask you to dance, does that count as a question?"

"There's no music," she responded.

"So?" I bowed and offered my hand. She chuckled in response as a small blush appeared on her cheeks. However, she agreed to my offer, and I guided her left hand up to my shoulder. I offered my other hand out, and reluctantly, she accepted. We heard strums of a guitar next to us, and I looked over and saw three people beginning to play a slow song. It was cheesy, but I appreciated their efforts. I'm not a professional dancer, but I learned since Shelby was always demanding for at least decent dance moves. I led her around the small gazebo slowly, twirled, and dipped. She really was gorgeous. I was dying to know who she was. I brought her back up slowly and pulled her back up. She was so beautiful. Hesitant, I moved my hands towards her face, and closer to her mask. She pulled away. I felt defeated, however, I was determined to find out who she was by the end of tonight. I offered my hand out again as an apology, and she took it. I twirled her again and pulled her towards me. We danced to the song, and for once, I was happy. I wasn't thinking about my dad's stubbornness to my football career, Shelby's bitchiness, or anything else. I was just me, and I felt euphoric. I have never felt so free. 'What is this feeling?' I asked myself, as I brought her back up for her second dip and another spin.

"All out of questions?"

I snapped out of my thoughts, sighed and hesitant to ask, I responded, "Do you believe in love at first sight?"

She paused and looked down. We were still swaying to the music when she answered, "I'll let you know."

"But I've seen you before," I wanted to confirm.

"Yes," she said truthfully. I had to know who she was.

I was dumbfounded at how I did not know her. I could tell she was telling the truth, but how? "Man, how could I have seen you before and not know who you are now?" I wanted her input. Our chats online the past month or so were necessary to me. I needed to talk to her; I could tell her the truth about my father. I trusted her.

"Maybe you were looking, but you weren't really seeing," she stated. I felt confusion, but before I was able to process what she said, she told me, "Hey, you've got one more question left."

"Okay," I pulled away from her and walked over to the side of the gazebo where the rose décor was wrapped around. I wanted her to answer truthfully, and of course, to impress her. I grabbed one of the roses and turned around. Her confusion was adorable. I walked over to her with the flower in my hand. She chuckled. I could tell my obvious attraction to her made her feel awkward and shy. She was still adorable.

"Do you, Princeton Girl, feel like you made the right choice meeting me here tonight?"

"I do," she smiled. "And do you, Austin Ames, ever want to see me again after tonight?"

Was she pulling my leg? She had to be, so I had to pull hers. "Hmm.. Well I'd have to think about that…" I heard her exhale and her head tilted to the right in confusion. I laughed, "Absolutely." We leaned in close, and my hands went under her mask. She didn't pull away this time, and I was so excited to finally reveal who she was. I grab the underside, and began to pull away the mystery.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

She instantly pulled away, "Oh, not know!" She groaned.

"What?" I was confused. She could still take off her mask, right?

"I've got to go," she said hurriedly. I could see panic set in her eyes.

"What, do you have a curfew or something?"

"Something like that." She was irritated. "I'm sorry. But thank you. This has been the most amazing night." She turned to her left and started to leave. 'Wait… What the fuck is happening?'

"Wait, where are you going?" I asked. I had no idea who she was still, and she was leaving already? She didn't listen and kept walking as fast as she could.

"I'm late!" She exclaimed.

"For what?" I demanded to know.

"Reality," she said and didn't turn back. She began a light jog with her dress in her hands and heels on her shoes. I watched her get farther away from me. 'What are you doing dumb idiot? Chase after her!' I started following her once I came back to my senses. I ran back to the dance floor and the crowd of people blocked my way from finding her. 'Come on, where the fuck is she?'

"What's up, dawg?" David asked.

"Dave, Dave, have you seen the girl I was with?" I asked hurriedly.

"No, I haven't seen her, but you missed it, dude…," I tuned out everything he said by the time he said no and was trying to see if she was in the crowd.

"… Prince Charming and Cinderella…"

"It's you bro! It's you," David said. People began clapping and pushing me up towards the front. I was still disoriented trying to find Princeton Girl in the crowd, and did not want to deal with high school bullshit when I was on a time crunch. I was dragged up to the front, and looked around, hoping Cinderella would come up and join me. I saw a spotlight above the crowd, and I looked up, saw it following exactly who I was looking for. She was running with someone in a black suit, and something fell off her. I pushed my way hurriedly through the crowd. I was beginning to be frustrated. I ran up the stairs saw a cell phone on the ground and picked it up. By the time I was outside, she was gone.

'I'll find her,' I tried to assure myself. Besides, I had her phone now.

A/N: It's been a long time. I had a lot of this chapter typed up since November but could not find motivation. I had a recent review on this story and I then re-read all the reviews, and I felt guilt. I know what it is like to yearn for more of a story. Apologies, and I hope I can update soon…