Author's Note: Finally, the moment that you have all been waiting for . . . or the moment that I have been waiting for, anyway . . . THE MASQUERADE BALL!
(16) Masquerade
"We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance." —Japanese Proverb
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Ralph stuffed his rented costume into his gym bag and zipped it shut. He had previously decided to change in one of the restrooms at the school, lest he attracts too much attention on the train with his mad attire.
"This is it," he thought, breathing deeply. "It's tonight. I'll finally see Jack again."
Torn between his feelings of joy and those of anxiety, Ralph pulled out the flyer again to make sure that he remembered everything.
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Time: Friday, 7 p.m. – Midnight
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"Right, 7 p.m. So if I can catch the next train to London. I'll be okay," he thought, glancing at the clock. "I still have time. The next train doesn't come for another hour." Grateful for the prep time that he had, Ralph read further.
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Prices: $8 per person or $14 per couple
Tickets will be available at the door
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'Right, money!' he said aloud. The teen went over to his dresser and opened the top drawer to retrieve some money for his ticket. His hands froze when he noticed a small gold ring nestled in the corner.
"Jack's baby ring," he realized, pulling out said object. "'For Ralph'."
Biting his lip, he muttered to himself, 'If things don't work out, I had best return this to him.'
Ralph pulled out a fine gold chain and laced it through the ring. Then he clasped the chain around his neck.
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But most importantly, have fun!
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"'Have fun' my ass!" Ralph thought cynically. "I am so fucking nervous!"
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And his nervousness was just the beginning of his troubles.
Upon arriving at the school just after 7 p.m., Ralph faced a slight dilemma. The ticketmasters would not let him in without a proper form of school identification, which—of course—he didn't have with him.
'Look,' Ralph said, losing his patience. 'I don't attend this school now, or whatever other schools were invited, but I used to! I swear!'
'Yeah, right,' one of them said sarcastically. 'And I'm Keira Knightley (1)!'
'I wish that you were,' his partner said. 'She's a helluva lot hotter than you are!'
'Shut up!'
Then they turned their attention back to Ralph.
'We're really sorry, man, but those are our orders.'
'Right,' Ralph said, ready to concede defeat. So, all of this had been for nothing. He turned to go and abruptly bumped into another student. 'Watch where you're going!' he snapped irritably.
'Ralph?'
He glanced up to see whom it was he had bumped into.
'Eddy! Holy shit!' he exclaimed, looking over the extravagantly dressed teen. Eddy was wearing a flashy, violet ensemble that complimented his red hair colour well; in his hand he held a mask that vaguely resembled . . . something unknown to man. (What the hell?) 'I mean, hi,' Ralph said, trying to regain his bearings. 'How've you been?'
'What are doing here?' the redhead asked.
'Well . . . er . . . I came for the masque,' Ralph said, unconsciously tightening his hold on his bag.
'How did you even know about it?' Eddy shook his head in confusion. 'Never mind,' he said. 'I'll help you find Jack.'
'What?'
'Well, he's the one you're here for, right?' Eddy clapped the other teen heartily on the back. 'What a kidder you are!'
Ralph let out a fake laugh.
'Come on,' the red-haired teen said, gently nudging Ralph. 'I'm sure that he's around here somewhere. What a guy! Leaving his date alone like that.'
'Uh . . . Actually, he doesn't know that I'm here,' Ralph blurted out.
Eddy froze.
'What?'
'Um . . . Yeah. I wanted to surprise him,' he said sheepishly. 'You know, "reveal myself" at the stroke of midnight.' He shrugged.
'I see.' Eddy glanced up at the two ticketmasters, whom were currently occupied with other students. 'Interesting . . . So, they didn't let you in, did they?'
'Obviously not.'
'And you didn't try to sneak in?'
'I never thought about that.'
'Good boy,' Eddy said, patting him on the head like a dog. 'And it's a good thing that you didn't, because there are some teachers in there acting as security.'
'What?'
'Yeah, they're checking to make sure that everyone who goes in has a ticket.'
'How did you know that?'
Now it was Eddy's turn to look sheepish.
'You already tried to sneak in!' Ralph accused.
'Yeah, and they caught me. The costume kind of sticks out, you know. Have you ever tried to camouflage yourself to a whitewashed wall while in a peacock costume?'
"Oh, so that's what he's supposed to be!" Ralph realized, shaking his head in reply to the former's question.
'Anyway,' Eddy continued, pulling out his wallet, 'I just went back to my car to get money for my ticket.'
'I see.'
'So, my problem is solved!' Eddy exclaimed. 'Now what about you?'
'What about me?'
'You're still trying to get inside.'
'Nuh-uh. Not still trying. I did try and I failed!' Ralph corrected him.
'Unless you go in with me.'
'Huh?'
'You heard me.' He pointed out one of the masquerade posters.
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Prices: $8 per person or $14 per couple
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'By and by, it'll save us both money, too,' Eddy said.
'Not a bad idea,' Ralph said and he, too, pulled out his wallet.
'Okay, cough it up. I'll go buy them.'
'Uh-huh.' Ralph handed over the $7 and Eddy went to the ticketmasters to buy their tickets.
'Oh, so he really did used to come here?' Ralph overhead one of them say incredulously.
'Yeah, he just wanted to surprise someone here, that's all,' Eddy explained, and Ralph hoped that he wouldn't go into too much detail in case Jack found out somehow . . . or if they somehow recognized him themselves. After all, "the bet" hadn't exactly been kept quiet.
'It's a good thing that you came by then, Eddy,' the other ticketmaster said. 'I felt bad for turning the guy away.'
'Yeah,' Eddy said again. 'That would be a mistake. He's a good guy.'
Ralph blushed.
'I think that this mask is giving me a rash,' he heard someone say behind him.
'Tough luck, John.'
'Yeah, that's what you get for choosing such a plain costume.'
'Don't listen to them, John, I think that it's a lovely costume,' said a feminine voice.
"Those voices . . . They sound so familiar," Ralph realized.
'Still, you probably should have focused more on what type of mask you got,' another said.
'Well, how was I to know that this would happen?' the first said. 'I only tried it on for about 10 seconds!'
'As opposed to Jack over here, who spent a fucking two hours in the damn store!'
'Shut it. I found a costume, didn't I?'
Ralph felt his heart beating rapidly in his chest. No, it couldn't be . . . not yet. Bracing himself, he hesitantly turned his head to get a glimpse of the people behind him—they were all unmasked.
"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit," he thought, sounding very much like a swearing machine gun.
Eddy, who noticed the apparent "danger" (or, at least, the uncomfortable look on Ralph's face), sashayed over.
'Come along, muffin,' he said. 'Let's get you changed.' And he put his arm around Ralph's shoulder (deliberately covering the other's face with his enormous sleeve) and led the other teen inside.
'Muffin?' Ralph echoed when they were out of hearing distance from Jack and his friends.
'I like muffins.' Eddy shrugged and slipped Ralph's ticket into his hand.
'Good luck, and be more careful,' he said with a wink. 'You don't want Jack to see you without your costume now, do you?' He glanced down pointedly at the gym bag in Ralph's hand.
Ralph smiled as Eddy walked away, pulling his mask into place as he went.
'Thanks, Eddy.'
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"I wonder who that guy was," Jack thought as he watched Eddy walk away with his supposed date. "He looked . . . familiar." Shrugging off the strange feeling that he had, he took $8 out from his wallet and held it out to the ticketmasters.
'It's on me,' someone said, pushing Jack's hand out of the way.
Surprised, the latter looked up . . . only to be confronted with a flashy, slightly creepy mask.
'Gah!' he exclaimed.
Since his mouth was showing, Jack was able to make out an apparent grin on the other's face.
'You don't recognize me, Jack?'
'Er . . . Cristóbal?' Jack asked uncertainly, hearing a slight accent in the voice.
The latter laughed.
'Maybe. I suppose that you'll just have to find out at midnight.' He held out $14 to the ticketmasters. 'One couple, please,' he said before turning to Jack. 'It'll be cheaper this way.' (Obviously, he had realized the same thing that Eddy had but moments before.)
'Thanks, but I can pay for myself,' Jack said defensively.
'Don't worry about it,' the other teen—Cristóbal?—said with a shrug. Then he leaned in closer to whisper in Jack's ear, 'You can repay me in other ways.'
Jack let out a nervous laugh.
'Yeah. Right.'
'I was serious,' the other teen said, obscuring brushing his hand along Jack's hip.
The latter shivered in response and he felt a shot of desire course through him as the hand drifted its way to his—
'Come on! Are you two coming or what?' Lee suddenly demanded. He and the others were already waiting by the door, having paid for their tickets during Jack's "conversation" with the other teen.
"Conversation? That was more like minor rape!" Jack's mind exclaimed.
"Not that you didn't enjoy it," countered his darker side.
"SHUT UP!"
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Ralph felt extremely self-conscious as he reviewed himself in the mirror in the men's room.
'This is so surreal,' he said to himself. He had stowed his bag away in one of the stalls, not really caring if someone stole it. All that was in there was his clothing, as he had decided to keep his wallet with him. Thus, there was really nothing in there worth stealing and/or couldn't be replaced.
Ralph sighed deeply as he reached for the door handle, bracing himself for what was to come.
'Well, here we go . . .'
It didn't take him too long to reach the gymnasium (once he finally found the courage to leave the restroom—it had taken more than several tries), for he recalled its location from when he had attended this school. Yes, the actually traveling part took almost no time at all. It was the entering that caused him problems.
"How ironic. I had trouble exiting the bathroom, and now I have trouble entering the gym . . . Well, I'll have to go in eventually," he reasoned with himself.
". . . But not yet."
Such was the conflict within his mind that it took him even longer to enter the gym than it did to exit the washroom. However, he eventually did (which was a good thing, or else this would be a very dull story) and was immediately taken back by the atmosphere.
On a raised platform (the same raise platform that Jack and his fellow students had participated in the karaoke contest, Ralph noted), there was a DJ playing around with his turn tables. Coloured lights flashed every which way, teasingly illuminating the various decorations that ornamented the walls. Along the far wall were a few tables with finger foods and drinks. As well, the bleachers were situated at the sides of the room for people to rest . . . It was the people who caught most of Ralph's attention.
Despite his hesitation to wear an overly flashy outfit, the teens before obviously were not thinking in the same manner. People shined brightly in every colour of the rainbow and then some. There were many who wore outfits with patterns of metallic gold and silver, others with geometric shapes stuck onto their legs, others yet with ribbons and lace and . . . hotdogs? That was certainly strange.
And then there were the masks. There were masks that covered either half or all of the person's features. A few were made of plastic or plaster. Some had scales or frills or pom poms. Many had feathers sticking out of the sides. All obscured the faces of the wearers, which—of course—was their purpose.
"Midnight," Ralph recalled. "Everyone will take off their masks at midnight. It's kind of like Cinderella (2), innit?" Still feeling extremely nervous, he loosened his collar a bit. "Now, I just have to find Jack." Having just realized something, the teen's eyes widened.
'SHIT! I DON'T KNOW WHAT HIS COSTUME LOOKS LIKE!' he exclaimed aloud.
A couple of girls hanging around nearby shot him curious looks, but he was otherwise ignored. Either that or no one else heard him over the music.
"How could I overlook something so stupid!" he asked himself harshly. "Sure, I saw him earlier, but that was just a glimpse! I couldn't get a good look at him when I was so fucking nervous that he'd recognize me! I don't want him to know that I'm here yet! I just need to . . . observe him first." Rolling his eyes at his own foolishness, Ralph looked hopefully around the gymnasium.
'Well, Jack is not really the "wall flower" type,' he muttered to himself, 'so I guess he'll be on the dance floor.'
So that was where Ralph went.
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It was true.
Jack wasn't the wallflower type. He was currently shaking his thang with a random girl whom he had grabbed upon entering the gymnasium. Lee had followed his example and started to dance with an unknown girl as well. Fred, being the more chivalrous one, politely asked Wendy (his date) if she would "care for a dance". Unfortunately, John and Terry were not so lucky as to obtain dance partners so quickly; they disappeared to the other side of the room, where a "refreshments" sign was hung in clear view.
'Is this great or what?' Jack called out to his two friends, who were dancing nearby.
'You said it, man!' Lee replied.
'Yeah, this is awesome!' Fred called out.
When the song ended, Jack took a moment to catch his breath. The music that had been playing was very lively and upbeat, and the teen had responded to it by (tastefully) jumping around and gyrating his body in rapid movements. Now, of course, he had to pay for that with his breathing patterns.
'Thanks for the dance,' his partner said, 'but I have to go now. My friends are calling me.' She smiled. 'Save another dance for me later, babe, okay?'
'You got it,' Jack responded, smiling as well.
And she left.
'Well, it looks like I have to find another dance partner,' he said to himself.
'Unless he finds you,' another said.
Jack whipped around.
'You again!' he exclaimed jokingly when he saw whom it was. 'It is you Cristóbal, right?'
'Maybe,' the other said.
"Well, whomever it is," Jack thought, "he is definitely the same person that I saw earlier. Same costume, same mask . . . Yes, this was definitely him."
'Whatever,' Jack muttered.
'So . . . may I have a dance?' Cristóbal asked, bowing gallantly.
Jack fought the urge to giggle.
'Sorry, Cristóbal.'
'Sorry?' Cristóbal echoed.
'Yes, I'm sorry because there has been a sudden change in plans. I have decided to flutter around for a while to greet everybody. After all, I'm a social butterfly and it wouldn't be fair if you had me all to yourself, right?'
The other teen was obviously still confused.
'But you just said that you had to find another dance partner,' he reminded Jack.
'Ah,' the latter said, 'but I didn't say when.'
With a coy smile, he left.
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(1) Mini-Disclaimer: Keira Knightley, an awesome actress!
(2) Mini-Disclaimer: Cinderella, fairytale; author unknown.
