Okay, about the last chapter...I was really low on inspiration, I had a terrible cold, and I had a million things to do. It was really short and pretty bad, and that was due to my own carelessness and my lack of attention to the story. Hopefully, this is much better.
Jeez. Add another problem to my very, very long list of them. Thanks, Tucker.
I shrugged at his question, acting like I didn't care. But his huge grin told me that he didn't buy it, and I frowned at him.
Danny sat there staring at us for a moment, and I was getting pretty uncomfortable. "What?" I snapped, the word coming out a little meaner then I had meant. Danny looked hurt for a second, but his face was smooth as he stood up, leaning against the wall.
"Nothing," he replied, tapping the wall and humming. Tucker rolled his eyes, whipping out his PDA and furiously keying something in.
"But shouldn't you know who he is? I mean, you'll be dancing with him the whole night, right? Shouldn't you know who it is?" Danny continued, still humming and tapping, looking a little nervous. I shrugged again. Frankly, I don't know much at all when it comes to my life. Kind of sad, really.
"I think they're assigned to you or something," I said, my fingers tracing the patterns on his bedspread. "Plus, it's a masquerade, so we'll all be wearing masks. That reminds me…" My eyes widened. Looking at my watch frantically, I saw in horror that it was already one o'clock. "Crap," I muttered under my breath, and my eyes flitted out Danny's bedroom window. My mother had told me that I could pick out my own dress, but only if I met her at the mall before one fifteen.
Great. I had fifteen minutes to try to get to the mall, or my fate would be suffocating under twelve pounds of pink fabric. Just great. I probably could have asked Danny to fly me there or something, but…I'd been feeling a little uncomfortable around him lately. Oh, well.
Maybe it would be possible to get there without breaking several laws of physics and other important things, like, you know, gravity.
Maybe.
--
After bolting out of there like I'd seen a ghost (Ha!), without any explanation to Danny or Tucker, I'm pretty sure they called the police. Or the SWAT teams. Or maybe both. I already know some people who are the Most Wanted people in Switzerland. Who knows, maybe one of these days you'll be seeing my face on a wanted poster.
Anyway, I managed to get to the mall only seven minutes late, and I'm pretty sure I broke some major records getting there. Who knew a human could be in the air that long after tripping in the street when you're running at the speed of light?
Yeah, not a happy memory.
My mom was waiting for me in front, tapping her foot impatiently. She scowled when she saw me, a straggling pedestrian gasping for breath and knocking into random people. When I was finally in front of her, wheezing, she just walked inside, motioning for me to follow her.
This is where my nightmare begins, folks.
--
I won't bore you with all the details about our little shopping spree. I'm just going to skip to the important part, where it all really started to get weird.
After trying on about a thousand dresses, I'd finally found one that I actually kind of liked. It was a little similar to the one I'd worn to the school dance earlier in the year. It looked like it was modeled a little after the Victorian style dresses. The top was black, and the long, flowing skirt was purple. Simple, and not going to attract lots of attention, but pretty enough.
When I stepped nervously out of the dressing room, my mom was practically glowing. "You look wonderful, Samantha," she said quietly, her face split into a huge smile. I smiled myself; just because I'm a Goth, a non-comformist, and lots of other important things, it doesn't mean I don't like to look pretty once in a while. Deep, deep, down, I guess I actually did. "You like it, don't you?" I nodded, and my mother's smile grew bigger.
"I'll go see what it costs," she said, going to the cashier. I turned my head to the mirror, my smile fading. Who was I kidding? I am a Goth, and Goths don't wear pretty dresses and go to midnight balls. Paulina or one of her crew might not think this dress wasn't "fashionable", but I liked it. But…I felt a little strange. Picking up the half-mask I had chosen, which was supposed to be some kind of dark, exotic bird, I held it up to my face and sighed.
I don't think I belonged in that dress.
Putting the mask back in the bag, I came out of the dressing room and peered around the store. This was a Gothic store, so it was pretty dark, of course.
"You look nice." I whipped around, and almost knocked into Dash. I straightened up quickly, glaring at him.
"What are you doing here?" I snapped, crossing my arms.
Dash looked lost for a second, then replied sheepishly, "I was just, uh, looking around?" It was more a question than an answer. My eyes narrowed.
"In a Gothic store? Yeah, right," I said, scowling. "Why are you really here, Baxter?" He looked offended.
"I do have a name, you know," he replied. "And, for your information, I'm with my cousin. She's a Goth," Dash admitted, looking at his feet. I gaped at him.
"You make fun of me and other Goths, but you have a cousin who's one?" I practically shouted. Now it was my turn to stare at my combat boots, my cheats heating. Yeah, I always keep my calm. Jeez. I'm supposed to be the smart one in our little trio, right?
"Yeah, sorry about that," he replied, and I lifted my head and stared at him. Dash was apologizing?
This was so messed up.
I just nodded stiffly, and Dash looked sad. Sighing, he added, "I really think you look pretty, though." I stared down at my dress, then back at him. Just a minute ago I'd been thinking no one would ever say that to me-and here Dash was, saying it freely. Or was he just trying to be funny and trick the "Goth geek"?
"Is this some kind of joke?" I replied bluntly. Dash stared blankly at me for a moment, and I grinned inwardly. Score one for Sam. Yes! Stuffing his hands in his jacket pockets, he stepped back angrily.
"Can't you just take a stupid compliment?" Dash snapped, and I just frowned.
"Can't you use your brain for once?" I replied just as mean. "You're mean to me and my friends as long as we've known you, and then you give me a compliment and expect me to suddenly be your best friend?" I shook my head. "It doesn't work that way." I started to walk forward, to go find my mom-this conversation was going on way too long for my comfort. But Dash stepped in front of me, holding up a hand.
"I'm making an effort here, you know," he said. "I really am." I felt bad for him for a second. Only a second. I remembered how, on Friday, Dash and the rest of football team had been beating Danny and Tucker up. Of all those times when Dash had been helping Paulina make fun of me, the "Goth geek". Of all the millions of times we'd been in detention. Armed with my anger, I replied nastily, "Sure, Dash. I'll tell you when I start to care."
Then I brushed past him, making sure to knock his shoulder. I changed and bought the dress, and by the time I had a second to look up, Dash was gone.
Driving home, my mom asked, "Who was that boy you were talking to back in the store?" I frowned.
"Just a kid from school," I replied lightly, and she nodded, concentrating on the road. Looking out the window, I watched as houses and building passed by. I still had some thinking to do about that.
A lot of thinking.
The afternoon quickly passed by, a jumbled mess of hadtily trying to get ready and a few video chats with Tucker. Danny hadn't been on. Actually, I was kind of glad; I din't really feel like talking to him right now. Not that I was mad at him or anything, but things had been a little weird between us lately.
Standing in front of a large building which I guess was a ballroom inside. I was wearing the dress I had bought earlier today, along with my combat boots, and I was wearing my hair the same way it had been at the school dance. I clutched my mask, staring at it. What the heck was I doing here? I could be at the movies, goofing off with my friends, but instead I was here. At a ball.
How ironic.
Lifting up the mask so that my eyes were level with the eye slits, I took it all in. Here I was, Samantha Manson, going to a masquerade, with an unknown, mystery boy. Life definitely doesn't get weirder than that. Slipping the mask onto my face, I crept out of the shadows and walked up to the large double doors where teens were streaming in. I was still wearing my watch; nine o'clock. Right on time.
As I walked through those doors, I didn't have any shocking revelations, find the answers to some important question, or even figure out what the heck I was doing here. I just walked through the doors, no questions asked. Because, really, everything started on the inside.
So, maybe I've just been telling you useless information about my life before everything got really messed up, but I think it was all important. I needed to show you what is was like when things were all normal; not that I'm saying my life was ever normal. I mean, I'm a Goth with a techno geek and a half-ghost as best friends, and I fight ghosts pretty much every day. Yeah, totally normal.
But you know what I mean.
Like I said before, this is my story. I'm going to tell it how I want to, 'cause that's just the way I am. Sometimes you can't control your own story, because sometimes it has to write itself. That's what happened to me. Yep, this is my story-but it can be your story, too. As I walked through those doors, though, I wasn't thinking any of these things.
But if I had known what was going to happen that night, and the days after? Would I have run the other way, not ever thinking of what waited for me on the other side?
I'm not so sure…