Cinderella

Chapter Six: Masks

A/N: Hello, this is chapter six of Cinderella, my one and only story. I would like to say, not a whole lot of people are reviewing, and some people who have me on their Story Alert list have never reviewed! So, if you like the story, and want it to continue, review. Thank-you!

Disclaimer: No, unfortunately, I do not own HSM. I do, however, own the DVD with my sister, and at the end of the day, that's all that matters. Also, I do not own Sexyback, by Justin Timberlake. Don't sue! cringes

I woke up and looked at my alarm clock. 8:15?! Why didn't my alarm go off? I was going to be late for school! I bolted out of bed, and ran to the shower. I ripped off my pajamas, took about a 5 minute shower, and threw on some clothes. It was only when I was bolting down breakfast that I realized that it was Saturday.

"Arrg!" I grumbled, and sat down at my table. It was not the right day for me today! Oh, well, I had shopping for masks with Gabriella to look forward to. That would happen at 10:00. Gabriella would come pick me up in her mom's car (again) and we would drive to the mall.

I basically sat around, watched cartoons (hey, I happen to like Hannah Montana, OK?), and fixed my makeup. At 10:00 on the dot, Gabriella pulled up to my driveway, and honked the horn. One thing about Gabriella you can always count on is that she'll be there on the dot. I called out a good bye to my mom, and ran out the door. I pulled the car door shut after me.

"Thank you for saving me from that hell!" I said in greeting to Gabriella.

"How bad was it?" she asked.

"Well, first I kind of forgot that it was Saturday, and that I didn't have school, so I was up at 8:15, and totally freaking out, then I remembered that it wasn't a school day, and I was so bored until you came because there is nothing to do in my house!" I finished my spiel with a big breath, after that horribly long run-on sentence.

"Whoa, looks like somebody needs some desperate alone time, if you know what I mean." Gabriella said.

I lightly slapped her. "Hey, don't slap the driver!" she scolded, with a frown on her face. It ruined the effect slightly when she giggled.

"Whatever." I teased, and turned up the radio. Unfortunately, Sexyback was on.

"I'm bringing sexy back, yeah, you other boys don't know how to act, yeah!" Gabriella sang. I cringed. Gabriella was a good singer, but she was not a good R and B singer.

After several minutes of Gabriella singing off-tune R and B music, the song ended. Thank goodness.

"So," Gabriella started. "What exactly are we shopping for?"

"Did you forget already?" I looked at her inquiringly. "We are shopping for masks for the dance, remember?"

"Right! So, I'm going to get a white one, to match the detailing around the edges. How about you?"

I grinned. "Isn't it obvious? I'm going to get a red one!"

Gabriella frowned. "I don't know. That seems like a bit too much red. How about a gold one, to match the detailing on your dress?"

I was quiet for a moment. "Hey, that's not a bad idea! Do you know a store that sells masks? Because I sure don't."

Gabriella's eyes widened. "Oh, crap. We're going to have to look through the whole mall, aren't we?"

"Yep." I answered, with a nod of my head. "I have a feeling it might take a long while."

We pulled (more like screeched) into the parking lot of the mall. After parking and getting into the mall, we did something that we hadn't done in a while; check the maps of the mall.

"OK," I started. "There are five stores that look promising. First, we have Sears. There is everything there. Second, we had Party-o-Ramah. Third, we have Wal-Mart. Fourth, we have The Bay. And finally, we have Holidays Galore. They might have some masks left over from Halloween."

"Great." Gabriella said. "Where should we start? Oh," she said, without waiting for an answer, "How about Wal-Mart?"

I rolled my eyes. Trust Gabi to go to the cheapo store. "OK."

As we walked off to the opposite side of the mall, another one of my favourite songs came on the radio. Stacey's Mom. I laughed out loud as my friend Stacey's mom passed us by in the cosmetics section.

"Oh, my gosh," I said to Gabriella, my eyes streaming with tears. "Did you see Stacey's mom pass by?"

"What? Where?!" Gabriella said spinning around. She also burst into laughter as she saw her.

"Hoo, OK, calm down Taylor." I said, giving myself a mental pep talk. "Concentrate on finding masks. Concentrate."

Gabriella and I looked and looked, but we could not find any masks. About an hour later, we had ruled out Wal-Mart, Sears, The Bay, and Holidays Galore. The only one left was Party-o-Ramah. We started off to, yet again, the other side of the mall.

"Gabi," I groaned. "Why did we not go to all the stores on one side of the mall, and then the stores on the other side? My feet hurt!"

"Hey, hey," Gabriella said. "My feet are no better. In fact, I bet they're worse."

I didn't even bother to ask how you feet were sorer than mine, considering I had on heels and she had on flats. After about five more minutes of walking, we got to Party-o-Ramah. My jaw dropped as we saw the store windows. 'Masquerade Sale!' the window proclaimed. 'All masquerade items for sale!'

I nearly ran to the manager and gave him a massive hug. Talk about lucky!

"Taylor!" Gabriella squealed. "Oh, my gosh, I think we might just find a mask here!"

I rolled my eyes. Leave it to Gabriella to point out the obvious.

"Well," I tugged her arm. "Come on!"

As we walked into the store, I was hit with a wave of plastic-smelling air. We headed straight to the masquerade section. Of course, there were about 500 types of masks. Gabriella and I stuck to our original colour plans (Gold and white). After about 20 minutes of searching, I found the perfect mask. It was a relatively small mask, with a matte gold finish. Gabriella found a slightly larger, white mask, with some pure white (Fake) feathers on it. While waiting in line for the register, Gabi having beaten me to it, I thought about all the things that could go wrong in the plan. What if my parents came home early? What if Troy told Chad What if…? I cut my thoughts off. I could not think about those things now.

After what seemed like a million years, it was my turn at the register. Gabi was waiting for me outside, so I quickly paid for my purchase, and walked out of the store. What I saw made my eyes widen. Not only was Gabi waiting outside of the store for me, but so were Chad and Troy!

"Hey, guys." I greeted them weakly.

"Hey Taylor," Chad responded. "What did you buy?"

A/N: Bwahaha, a cliffy! If you want to read more, review, review and review! Come on, pretty please with a cherry on top? Sorry about the short chapter, it's called writer's block. Remember, review!

Tootles!

TheFabMax