Heyy! I am so terribly sorry for not updating but I have been SO busy it is unbelievable! My birthday was on Saturday and that was partly the reason for the business. THANKYOU FOR THE REVIEWS YOU ARE SUCH GREAT PEOPLE I LOVE YOU GUYS!!
Oh and please do my poll! This is coming to the end soon and I don't know what to do next. I've already mentally drafted the last chapter! Also, please tell me whether you still want it to go past, present, past, present etc because it is getting harder to do past ones. I could just carry on with the present ones...it's up to you ;)
Oh and you won't find out what K/D told Josh that made him dislike Massie. It was just a bunch of lies and stuff basics...
This is dedicated to Holly for making me laughhh about Kaitlyn. When I laugh it makes it easier to update it's also dedicated to for giving such a nice review!
Enjoy! This is ONE LINE SHORT OF SEVEN WORD PAGES!! I ROCK!! GO ME!! I should so become a cheerleader...lol
Midnight
"Massie, over here!" Olivia yells so loudly I wouldn't be surprised if my second cousin three times removed-or was it third cousins twice removed?- in Greece heard. I grip my apple and diet soda more tightly and keep my head down, my high ponytail tickling my shoulders as I meander round the cafeteria tables to where Olivia is sitting on table 10.
Everyone stops what they're doing and it is so silent I swear you could hear the sound Carrie Randolph's mascara wand is making brushing against her eyelashes.
Then the sound strikes up again as suddenly as it stopped and I hear snippets of, "Duh-livia Ryan?" and, "I heard they are, like, BFFs now," and, "yeah apparently Kristen is really pissed," and, "good for Massie."
I sit down on a chair and lift my canvas Hollister tote so that it covers my flaming cheeks. Olivia's laughter is like tinkling bells. She makes it seem like she never gets embarrassed. She probably doesn't.
"Ok, so what's up?" I say, cracking open my Diet Coke when I'm sure no-one is looking.
"Well, you know how the really cool BOCD Winter masked ball is coming up..."
My jaw drops as I register he words, knowing exactly what is going to come next. "No, no and no again Liv, I will not go to the ball!"
"Oh c'mon Mass! It'll be fun!"
"No way Olivia! Everyone will laugh at me. A-After Mom died I didn't think I would ever be able to have fun again. You've changed that but in a way it's like I'm letting her down by going to the ball. If I did go. Which I totally won't."
"Aw, it's ok. She wants you to have fun Massie! Why don't you just accept that? She wants you to. Please?" Olivia widens her already large navy eyes and clasps her hands together as if she is praying.
Well...It wouldn't hurt just to stay for an hour or something...would it? "Urgh, Liv, fine, but we don't even have dates!"
Olivia squeals so loudly I think I've burst an eardrum, and dashes round the edge of the table so she can give me a huge hug, enveloping me in a cloud of Vera Wang Princess in the process.
"Who needs dates? Like I say...You've gotta be single to mingle!"
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"Olivia, this stuff is horrible!" I hiss out of the side of my mouth, careful not to let the prune-faced sales assistant hear.
"There's always something..." Olivia mutters, raking through the racks of wispy lemon frocks and frilly pink dresses.
We're searching for a dress for the-urgh-Winter Masked Ball, and so far haven't found anything that is even remotely nice. I wonder if I'll be able to wear my usual skinny jeans and Hollister...probably not.
"Well this has been a disappointment."
"Can we just try somewhere like Betsey Johnson or something? Chanel and Dior really aren't the right stores somehow for High School Winter Formals.
"Yeah you're right." Olivia sighs in defeat and slips her Ray Bans back on her ski-slope nose.
"Let's go then. We have, what, four more hours to find the perfect dress?"
"Better get started then!" Olivia laughs, dragging me out of the store in a heap of laughter. I don't know what she finds so funny to be honest but I don't care. I feel safe and...happy.
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It's the day of the dance.
"Mass hurry up, you've been in there for ages!" Olivia raps on the bathroom door.
"I'm warning you, you're going to laugh; I'm in a ball-gown for crying out loud, I never should have let you bully me in to this!"
"Mass, get your skinny ass out of there now. Too early is just over-keen, but too late is just, "I actually can't be bothered. We need to get there say...twenty to ten."
"Who say I actually am bothered?" I grumble, but unlock the bathroom door all the same.
"Massie...wow!" Olivia breathes.
I grin and do a silly twirl. "You actually like it?"
I'm wearing an aqua blue dress that falls down to the ground in a waterfall of delicate gauze. The material is studded with hundreds of tiny diamantes and my hair lies softly on my shoulders, straightened to perfection. Sure, the dress is stunning-I have to think that, the price had three zeros on the end for crying out loud-, but I didn't know if it would look good on me.
"Massie, you look amazingly hot. I should never have even bothered to get ready at all! I'll look like a-a frog compared to you!"
I laugh; Olivia always comes out with the most ridiculous things. "Liv you look incredible. Is that the Alice and Olivia dress?"
"Yeah, it was. The price was four digits but we know the owners so they gave it for a little cheaper."
She twirls and her white-blond Taylor Swift-like curls whirl out, along with her wine-colored dress. It glitters as the strips of amethysts on the satin catch the light, and the rich color of the dress contrasts well with her gleaming tan.
"Oh, I nearly forgot, here..." Olivia takes two flat white boxes out of her oversized Juicy Couture tote and hands one to me. I tug off the velvet ribbon on mine and lift off the lid, letting out a small gasp. Nestled in the white tissue paper is the most overwhelmingly dazzling mask. It is intended to cover your eyes and there are cat-like slits. It is a glimmering silver, studded with diamonds that intertwine with the calligraphic swirls. Olivia has a similar one but instead of being cat-shaped it's shaped like a butterfly.
"Well it is a masked ball after all!" she laughs and grabs her raw silk wrap from the bed.
"Thankyou so much Olivia...for the mask, for everything. It really means a lot to me."
Olivia gives a tiny eye roll but smiles all the same. She hugs me. "What are friends for Mass? Aww jeez don't cry! That mascara wasn't waterproof! I told you the Too Faced one was better! Now come on...!"
Huh. Trust Olivia to think about makeup straight away...
--------------------
BOCD looks incredible. The parking lot is lit up with hundreds of fairy lights and the main school is gleaming with lights.
Music is pounding out of the gym and Olivia and I shiver as we run on tiptoe-careful not to get our Choos wet-across the damp grass.
We enter the gym from the back and are told to go up the back stairs so we can go down the central staircase of the Gym to the 'dance-floor'.
We giggle-walk up the stairs and stop at the top by the door that leads to the stair case that leads to the gym...where everybody will be watching, I realise too late.
"Liv, everyone will be staring!" I hiss in the semi-darkness.
"Relax, I bet they won't even recognise you!"
"Oh crap, it's probably too late to pull out now."
"Yeah, that's just crap." Olivia rolls her eyes sarcastically. "Ok, let's do a quick hair check...yeah just put on a little more lip-gloss Massie."
"Don't forget, we're in this together."
"We're all in this together..." I start giggle-singing, despite the circumstances.
"Very funny Massie. Now c'mon let's go..." she takes a deep breath and twists the doorknob, pushing it outwards. It seems like time has stopped. The huge ocean of faces stare up at us as we click-clack to the top of the stairs, pausing to look down. The music seems to have switched to a lower beat and I try and breathe steadily. It's ok, they just think that you look great, they probably can't even recognize you.
Despite my total, oh Christ, why are they all looking? I swear the music has stopped! God, we should have just come in through the normal way-ness, I still managed to see how nice the Gym looked. The usual white walls looked softly blue in the tinted lights. Snowflakes hung from the ceiling, gently swaying, and the ceiling itself was illuminated by thousands of twinkling-fake obviously-stars.
On my-slightly shaky-way down the stairs, I recognize a few faces. Ok, fine, I recognize all the people who used to be my friends. Kristen is wearing a gold chiffon dress that is shot through with shimmering navy threads. She is gaping at me, as if she has seen me before but can't quite remember. Or maybe she's just jealous of the dress.
Dylan hasn't bothered to wear a mask; she has folded her arms across her green-blue satin dress, her hair curled in to a perfect updo. But she isn't the centre of attention tonight, and I get a weird feeling that they actually can't recognize me-they don't know who I am.
Olivia and I reach the last step, and just as I suspected it would, gossip broke out across the crowd like a Mexican wave.
"Who's the new girl?"
"Her dress is hot."
"I don't think I've seen her before..."
"She's with Olivia Ryan."
"Yeah but the only person hanging around with Liv nowadays is Massie Block."
"And Massie obviously wouldn't come..."
Dun-dun da. Dun-dun da. Dun-dun-dun-dun-du- da-da
Olivia's cell phone starts blaring out the beginning of 4 Minutes and she flips it open.
"Oh my God, Danny!" she squeals. She holds up a finger and covers the mouthpiece.
"You go ahead Mass, I'lle catch up in a minute, 'k?"
"Yeah sure that's fine," though obviously it isn't because I wouldn't be scared stiff at everyone talking and gossiping about me. What if they actually find out? They'll treat me...I don't actually know how they'll treat me but I'm still scared.
But surely there are good things to being unknown. I ponder over this as I tread over the fake snow to the drinks table that is lit up with hundreds of tiny lights. In fact, this whole place has been lit up; hundreds of thousands of tiny, sparkling lights twinkle everywhere.
I pour a glass of punch, not actually planning on having it. I nervously smooth down an invisible crease in my dress. Then as I lift the punch glass to my lips for a fake sip...
"Hey," a distantly familiar voice greets me. I jump, giving a little yelp as the punch sloshes violently. I set it down on the table with a shaking hand and slowly turn around, praying that it's not who I think it is...
"Um, Derrick," I blush furiously, letting my hair fall around my face. Hopefully, if luck and the skill of Olivia's hand at makeup were on my side, he won't recognize me.
His brow furrows, "how do you know my name? I mean, you're new right?"
"Um...right. I just heard that you're the incredibly hot goalie of the BOCD Soccer team." What am I saying?! I scream inside my head. I shut the voice up and just decide to 'go with the flow', as Olivia usually puts it.
Derrick chuckles and glances at the dancing couples.
"Hey um...what's your name again?"
"Ma-Marie, "I stutter.
"Well Marie, do you want to dance?"
I close my jaw quickly as it opens with shock. Trembling, I place my hand in his and let him lead me to the dance-floor. I place my arms around his neck as he holds my waist.
"So when did you join? I don't think I've seen you around here?"
"Well..." I won't be able to keep this up, I mean, Massie will be at school, not Marie.
"The thing is, well, I don't go to this school. I mean, I was going to but I'm...I'm not."
"Right..."
We carry on dancing in silence, the lights of the disco-ball reflecting off everything.
"But I was able to come to this dance because, my-my cousin comes here."
"What's her na-"
"Dude, who's the chick?" Cam Fisher loudly appears, Paris Hilton wannabes clinging to his arms like fluff on a suede jacket. Dylan is clawing them away angrily.
"Um, this is Marie. Marie, Cam." Derrick introduces us.
"Um, hey." Cam tries to swat another girl away and flashes me a smile.
Suddenly, Dylan whirls around to face me, and recognition slowly appears. She gasps and smacks a hand across her heavily glossed mouth.
Dammit! I am furious with myself for even accepting the offer to the dance with Derrick, but I am also terrified on what sly method Dylan is going to use to show me up. If she was. I mean, she seems like she is looking behind me...
"Strawberry! I can't believe you came!" Dylan yells hysterically to the pink-haired 'rebel' from my Geography class. Huh. She was shocked at Strawberry. Not me then. I let out the gust of air I had been holding in and turn to Derrick, grinning as one of my favourite songs comes on.
"Wann dance?" I ask, holding my hand out to him.
"Uh...sure." He seems a little bewildered but takes my offer up anyway.
We move to the beat of the music, as if we were made for it and I just can't take my eyes off those gorgeous, milk-chocolate brown ones of his...
"I feel like I know you....I just can't place my finger on it." His voice is barely a whisper.
"Every step, every blink, every laugh...it's like you were someone I used to know." He gives a short laugh. "But that girl would never come to something like this."
I frown, "why not?"
"Well, her Mom died and she went a little crazy if you know what I mean. Everyone said she was on drugs and she was a bit of a drunk so I guess that was what you would expect."
My arms stiffen around him and my body loses the warmth it had before. "Why did you believe in what everyone else said then? Why didn't you just think of it for yourself?"
"God, you're just like her in the sense that you never let me explain! That's what everyone else thought. No, I didn't think that. She was...she was my girlfriend and I loved Massie Block. I just wish she could have loved herself a bit more. I wish she didn't damage herself, didn't rely on poison to sort her out. I think she's changing now though..."
The warmth floods back in to my body and I give a half-smile in the semi-darkness.
"So you're saying that if she actually had changed then you would...I dunno, like her again?"
"Well I guess. I mean, I just want her to be the same girl she used to be."
It's me Derrick! I want to scream but no sound comes out of my mouth. Suddenly the lights on the little stage at the front of the Gym light up.
"Good Evening everyone! We are going to announce the winner for the Winter Cupid award!" Alicia Rivera, being the BOCD student spokesperson is standing on the stage, holding a mike and winking at the boys wolf-whistling her. That must be a bit hard since the whole male population is. Except Derrick. That makes me feel a little smug and I subtly tighten my grip around him.
"Now this award is also based on how much you dressed up, and I'm sorry but if you didn't wear a mask, then you wouldn't have been counted for it. That's for the girls. I mean, the guys didn't have to."
Alicia's golden mask is lying on a chair. I mean, it must have been difficult to make out with that on. The silver flecks in it go with the silver snowflake patterns on her tight, revealing white dress that pops against her tan. She could at least leave a little for the imagination.
"The Cupid award goes to...Derrick Harrington and the girl in the aqua dress! I'm sorry I can't recognize you, but come on up here!"
Everyone cheers and my mouth goes dry.
Suddenly, Cam shouts up to her, "hey that's Ma-"
"Massie Block."
My blood freezes and Derrick's hand turns to stone on my arm.
Dylan's voice is clear and cold, chilling me and sending shivers up my spine.
"That girl is not the Marie she has told you she is, she is Massie. Block. As in, the drunk Massie Block, as in the half-orphan Massie Block, as in the psychotic Massie Block. I'm sure you all know her. And here she is tonight everyone! Trying to cheat on my boyfriend, Derrick Harrington!"
Everyone bursts in to laughter as they take in her words and start pointing at me and shouting. Tears silently stream down my face and I feel positively sick as I look at all their faces. Derrick drops my arm like it's the hot end of a poker.
"Lies. You're just a sick liar." He spits out.
Now I'm properly crying, spluttering out words, "Derrick, please, let me explain!" I sob, but he walks away, disgusted.
"Massie, Massie!" Olivia calls to me from somewhere in the crowd, but I can't see her or barely hear her over the roaring of the crowd.
I tear off the stupid mask and shove through the stupid crowd, towards the back door of the Gym.
I claw at my face, rubbing off the stupid eyeliner and mascara and lipgloss. I'm an idiot. I should never have come.
I run down the dark streets, my face a mess, my cheeks streaked with tears that keep streaming.
The night is black.
The wind howls around me as I stumble and run, not knowing where I'm going.
And somewhere, a clock strikes midgnight...
I know I know, I just HAD to include a masked ball, and a bit of 'A Cinderella Story'.
Ok a lot. But that is my fave scene!
This chapter sucked. Please tell me it didn't? Lol you can write whatever you want in your reviews.
Please review? Juicyxxxi