Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyers owns Twilight. I do not. I do however, own my 'gang'.

A/N: Also thanks to my awesome Beta, Blueboarderchick.

Thank you to my reviewers.

Chapter 49

Liz and I spent the morning at Susan's studio. Liz was in her element, trailing behind Susan as she elaborated on her inspiration for each of her paintings. Art wasn't really my thing, but I was just pleased to see Liz smiling again after what she went through the night before. Ryan refused to talk about what was going on with his parents, saying that he didn't care about their problems. Despite Ryan's protests to the contrary, I knew that it had to hurt, knowing that he was a product of their unhappy, failing marriage.

I was surprised to discover that my invitation to the ball hadn't been rescinded. After all, I did mouth off to the hostess of the event, calling her a bad wife, mother and all around awful human being. It probably shouldn't have surprised me because from what I saw last night, Monica was the kind of woman who liked to keep up appearances. Even if she wanted to dis-invite me, I doubted that Walter and Royce would have supported her on that.

Later that night, Liz helped me get ready for the masquerade ball. She looked gorgeous in her dark green, off the shoulder gown that accentuated her small waist and brought out her eyes. On her face, Liz wore a simple white mask that highlighted the crystals and rhinestones that decorated her gown. Her brown hair was styled in a half up-do and for jewelry she stole/borrowed the emerald earrings and necklace that I'd gotten from Edward. I didn't mind, though. It was nice that the jewelry was getting some use.

When she first revealed my dress to me, I took one look at the crimson pile of fabric, and then promptly ran for the door. With a house so large, there would be countless places to hide. It was my hope that Taylor would take pity on me and let me hide in his room. But Liz, already anticipating my freak-out, was prepared, catching up with me before I even made it to the door. She tackled me to the floor, threatening to cut my hair while I slept if I chickened out on her. In the end, I had no other alternative than to relent in my escape attempts and allow Liz to clothe me.

My captor's eyes glinted as she stepped away, assessing me with a mischievous smile on her face. Standing stock still, I stared in awe at the woman in the mirror. My gown was an apple-toned strapless style with a pick-up skirt and corseted back. I lovingly ran my gloved hands over the satin fabric, admiring the bejeweled accented bodice. My hair had been arranged in a low-hanging, loose bun with curly tendrils that framed my face. I wore a red mask on my face. Thankfully, I managed to talk Liz down from the tiara that Alice sent.

Liz's reflection joined mine in the mirror. "We look like a couple of princesses," she sighed dreamily and I silently agreed with her. Even though I wasn't a big, puffy dress type of girl, I was beginning to feel like I was in a fairytale. "Come on. Let's go meet our princes."

As we were about to leave the room, I heard my cell phone vibrate, indicating that I'd received a text. I flipped it open to discover a message from Alice.

I knew you'd look perfect! Edward thinks so too.

Have fun at the ball and enjoy the after-party later. :P

I frowned with the phone in my hand. After-party? What after-party?

Liz impatiently interrupted my thoughts. "Izzy, come on."

"I'm coming. Just give me a second." After texting back a quick thanks, now stop looking to Alice, I gathered up my skirt before exiting the room with Liz.

Ryan and Taylor were waiting for us at the bottom of the staircase. They were each garbed in full dress tailcoats with matching, black trousers. Taylor wore a white, phantom of the opera mask that covered half of his face while Ryan had on a red and black mask with a ridiculous beak.

"You appear to be in need of a proper ravishing, my lady," Ryan complimented Liz in an exaggerated English accent as he pulled her off to the side.

He leaned on close to her ear and whispered something that made Liz giggle, "You rogue."

I turned away from the scene smiling and found Taylor looking at me with an unfathomable look on his face. A slight blush bloomed beneath my mask as I gazed at the handsome picture he made in his suit.

He didn't say anything; he didn't need to. The smoldering look in his eyes said it all as they roamed my figure, pausing briefly to linger over my prominent cleavage. The predatory gleam in his eyes was enough to send my heart into overdrive and I glanced away bashfully. Redirecting my stare, I found Ryan observing us quite intently with his silly grin on show. I rolled my eyes at this but then furrowed my eyebrows in confusion as I looked at Liz.

Her eyes were closed and face pinched in concentration. What is she doing? Ryan followed my inquisitive stare and broke Liz out of whatever she was doing with a slight nudge of his elbow. At my raised eyebrows, Liz smiled guilty as if she was caught doing something wrong. It was almost as if I'd caught her spying on us or something. Weird.

After posing for pictures (a request from Alice), we climbed into the limo and Jeffery drove us to the ball.

Subsequent to our arrival at the Crown Plaza, our coats were deposited in the cloakroom. Upon entering the Grand Ballroom, I noted that the party was already in full swing. Hundreds of masked, impeccably dressed figures glided across a large dance floor to ballroom dance music provided by a classical orchestra.

My eyes widened in wonderment at the size and elegant grandeur of the room. Crystal chandeliers hung from the thirty-foot, barrel ceiling that was painted in a cloud and sky mural. A series of bowed balconies overlooked the ballroom, which was lined by large marble columns. The Ivory Room was adjacent to the ballroom, serving as the dining room for guests who wanted to dine or simply rest their dancing feet. Monica had apparently gone all out for the prestigious affair.

The gang and I opted to stand on one of the balconies, drinking champagne and enjoying the view of the dancers from above. We spotted Susan and Walter in the crowd below, standing next to Royce and Monica. Liz stood next to me, pointing out the other people she recognized under their masks. I occasionally nodded, only devoting half of my attention toward listening to her. The remainder of my attention was assigned to Taylor's hand that was currently drawing lazy circles on my lower back.

When Liz turned away, absorbed in something Ryan was saying to her, Taylor rattled me as he leaned in close, cloaking my back with the warmth of his body.

"Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?" He murmured into my ear with a sexy purr in his voice that made my toes curl.

"You don't have to tell me, I know I look good," I sassed with a flirtatious smile, turning around to peer at him coyly beneath my mask.

Turning away from Taylor, I locked gazes with the blue eyes of a raven-haired woman across the room. Who is she? She wore a dark blue, taffeta ball gown with a matching handheld mask that covered half of her face. Without removing her eyes from me, she murmured something to a woman in a yellow and white gown before setting off in our direction, with a purposeful swing in her hips. A swing that was evidently meant to draw the stares and admiration of anything that peed standing up.

Even from all the way across the room, I could sense trouble as the woman approached, maneuvering her way through the people that separated us. Did it make me a terrible person for wishing that she'd trip on her expensive gown and fall flat on her face? Probably.

Liz followed my gaze and upon recognition grumbled, "Please tell me that bitch isn't on her way over here."

I aimed a curious look in Liz's direction at the incensed tone in her voice. Her lips were pressed together in annoyance and I was certain that her eyebrows were drawn together in a scowl beneath her mask.

Taylor had overheard Liz's grumblings and turned to look at the advancing woman. His expression hardly changed at all, except for the annoyed twitch of his mouth. Ah, so he didn't like her either, whoever she was.

Only when the woman arrived in front of us, did her eyes leave my face to look at Taylor. She removed her mask and to my dismay, she was gorgeous. She wasn't pretty in the girl next door way either. No, she was stunning in the could be a model way, with her silky black locks, pouty, full lips, button nose, elfin chin, a body any man would mortgage his house for… I could have gone on, but my self-esteem was taking enough hits with each observation made, so I forced myself to stop.

So, she was beautiful. No big deal.

She smiled at Taylor, revealing a perfect set of white teeth. Small potatoes.

It was the way in which she looked at Taylor that bothered me. The look was a familiar one that seemed to say I know what you look like with your clothes off. I didn't care for that look at all, not one bit.

"Taylor, it's been a long time," the woman purred in a sexy voice that grated on my nerves.

Next to me, I heard Liz murmur, not long enough and silently agreed with her.

"Yes, it has," was Taylor's only reply as he stared back at her blankly.

The woman's smile faltered a bit, almost as if she'd been expecting a different reaction from him than the one she'd received.

She spun to greet Ryan, who responded with an aloofness that was unlike him. I think it must have had something to do with the fact that Liz was giving him the evil eye, silently warning against him being too friendly. Liz answered her acknowledgment with a cold stare.

"Since no one will introduce me, I'll do it. I'm Brooke Carmichael," she announced with a bit of triumph as she held out her hand. With a plastered, fake smile, I shook her hand. "Taylor and I used to be an item, a couple of years back."

The leggy model was Taylor's ex girlfriend. She does know what he looks like naked!

A pang of jealousy surged through my body and I struggled to keep it from showing on my face. It appeared that my attempts were unsuccessful as Brooke's eyes momentarily glinted with satisfaction. Taylor didn't look all that excited happy to see her. Did they break up because they were going off to different schools? Did Taylor still have feelings for her? Already it was clear that she wanted him back.

"Well, don't just stand there, Taylor. We have a lot of catching up to do." Brooke then proceeded to wrap her arm around Taylor's, practically pulling at him. For once, I wished that Taylor was the kind of guy that shoved away grabby women.

I placed myself close to Liz and asked the questions that had been burning a hole in my mind. "That's his ex-girlfriend? Why did they break up?"

Liz rolled her eyes. "She dumped Taylor."

Seriously? "Why?"

"Look at her, Izzy. Brooke loves attention. She gets off on it. She broke up with Taylor, thinking he would chase after her. But when her plan backfired, she came crawling back. By then it was too late. Once my brother is done, he's done."

"Was he hurt when they broke up?"

"My brother would never admit it, but to be honest, he wasn't that invested in their relationship. And I use the term relationship loosely."

Everyone proceeded down the stairs and into the Ivory Room where some guests were already seated at their tables. Some were enjoying meals while others were enjoying conversation. It turned out that we would also be sharing our table with three other people: a couple and the woman that Brooke was talking to before she spotted us. I sat in the chair between Taylor and Liz, while Brooke settled into the chair next to Taylor. My eyes met Monica's across the room and I had the sneaking suspicion that she had something to do with our seating arrangements.

I was beginning to feel a little hungry, and decided to order something to help combat the tipsy effects all the champagne I'd drank for the night. Listening to Brooke's insipid prattle, I had the feeling that I might need more champagne to get through dinner. Despite Brooke's obvious beauty, she had the depth of a puddle and the intelligence of a carrot.

As we ate, Brooke, Shannon (her friend) and the couple carried on most of the conversation, while the rest of us made halfhearted attempts to answer questions asked by Brooke. When she wasn't flirting with Taylor, she was bragging about Stanford University and her bright future as an actress. You guessed it, Brooke was majoring in Drama.

To Brooke's credit, she wasn't outright in her attempts to flirt with Taylor. No, subtly was more Brooke's style. As she walked down memory lane, telling tales about going to Taylor's swim meets and their various dates, I spied the fluttering of eyelashes and the twirling of hair.

I began the night feeling like a princess, but as I observed Brooke's attempts to pick up my prince right in front of me, I summarized that every fairytale needed an evil old witch. Brooke was beginning to piss me off, in a bad way, and if I didn't get away from this table, I was sure that I would create a scene.

I abruptly rose from the table with the intention to go to the ladies room. Liz eyed me warily. "Are you okay, Izzy?"

"I'm fine. I'll be right back," I said with a slight roll of my eyes and Liz gave me quick nod. Slowly, I made my way to the bathroom and retouched my makeup. When I was finished with that, I left the bathroom, but didn't immediately return to my friends.

Instead, I hid behind one of the columns to covertly observe Taylor and Brooke's interaction. Even though Brooke appeared to be speaking to everyone, the majority of her talkfest was aimed at Taylor. For the most part, Taylor appeared to be listening to her, although he would get the occasional distracted look on his face and his eyes would search around the room.

Is he looking for me?

Brooke placed her hand on Taylor's arm, I assumed it was to regain his attention, and I suppressed the urge to storm across the dining area and break each and every one of her perfectly manicured fingers.

My shameful spying was interrupted when Susan spoke up from behind me, causing me to start in alarm. "What are you doing hiding out over here?" She wore a black gown with a gold thread design that matched the gold catlike mask on her face.

My face grew hot as I tried to deny the obvious. "I'm not hiding." When Susan's disbelieving expression failed to change, I shamefully confessed with a sigh, "I was spying."

Susan cocked one perfectly shaped brow. "On who?"

"See the girl in blue over there?" I pointed toward our table. "That's Taylor's ex-girlfriend."

Susan nodded in understanding. "Ah, I get it now. So why aren't you over there defending your property?"

I was all set to do the denial thing. You know, just friends and all that crap, but the look on Susan's face said she wouldn't have believed a word of it. "I… It's… I don't care. Really I don't. It's just that she looks like Megan freaking Fox and I look like… me." I hung my head, feeling more than a little humiliated. It was one thing to think it, but quite a different story to admit it out loud.

"So, what if she's beautiful? You're not exactly Quasimodo swinging from a bell tower." Susan scoffed and a small smile tugged at my lips. Susan definitely had a way with words.

"I know but…"

"Is Taylor encouraging her in any way, shape or form?"

Come to think of it, the only time Taylor bothered to speak to Brooke at all was when she asked him a question. In fact, judging by the frowns and narrowing of his eyes, I'd say that Brooke got on his nerves a lot.

Susan interpreted my silence as a negative response. "Well get back over there. And let me give you a word of advice, Izzy. Don't let her beauty intimidate you. If that was all Taylor was interested in, then they'd still be together today." Susan's steady gaze held me for a moment before she turned away, heading in Walter's direction.

I drew in a deep, fortifying breath before gathering my skirt and reentering the Ivory Room.

Taylor seemed to relax when he saw me making my way back to the table. Liz glared at me as I reclaimed my seat, wordlessly scolding me for leaving her to fend for herself. When I tuned in to the conversation, I realized why. Brooke was talking about getting a breast implants. Why would she even bring that up now or even entertain the thought? As far as I could see Brooke already had the perfect body.

I stared in dismay at Brooke's breasts, feeling the size of my own breasts shrink when compared to hers. And to think, earlier tonight, I was actually proud of my little fried eggs. Okay, I was willing to admit that I was being a tad overdramatic when I described my breasts as fried eggs, but in my defense, it was hard to be optimistic when Brooke's breasts had the power to cause an eclipse.

"I've already done a commercial. The producer said I was a natural," Brooke boasted.

Hm? Was it a commercial for Dulcolax stool softener?

Brooke smiled and with a toss of her hair preened, "It's so fulfilling when you get to live out your dream."

I fisted my hands in the fabric of my dress, silently hoping that she would shut up. Brooke turned her attention on me, blue eyes flashing. "What did you say your major was, Izzy?"

I didn't. "English."

"Oh, well… that's um… great." She smiled, teasing as if we were old friends. "I suppose we can't all have interesting majors."

Oh no, this bitch did not just call my major boring! I took a deep breath to dispel my anger, chanting silently, I will not make a scene. I will not make a scene.

When Brooke turned her attention to Shannon and Liz leaned in close to murmur, "Do you want me to get that bitch, Izzy?"

Her offer made me smile. "No, it's fine." I will not make a scene.

Brooke started back up with her breast implants conversation. "You know, I don't think I'll get them. I mean, why try to improve on perfection?"

I think you should get them. Then you'll have fake breasts to go right along with your fake personality.

A gasp startled me out of my thoughts. I looked up from the silk tablecloth to discover that everyone at our table staring at me in shocked amusement. However, Brooke was currently giving me the glare of death.

Oh my God! Did I say that out loud?

The stares coming from nearby tables confirmed that I did indeed voice my thoughts. I felt the heat crawl up my face and I wished for the ground to swallow me whole. I'd successfully managed to make a scene. And what was even worse, I'd probably embarrassed Taylor as well. My big mouth was quickly turning out to be the bane of my existence.

The humiliating silence was broken by the deep, rumbling laugh from the man sitting next to me. With widened eyes, I looked up to discover that not only was Taylor unembarrassed by my slip, he was having a hard time controlling his laughter. When Taylor was finally able to compose himself, he pushed himself away from the table and stood up.

"Would you like to dance?" Taylor asked with sparkling eyes and a small smile on his face.

He extended his hand and I replied by placing my hand in his, allowing him to help me from my seat. As he led me toward the dance floor, I threw a glance over my shoulder. Upon meeting Brooke's incensed stare, I permitted a smug smile to cross my face.

Ha! In your face, bitch!

We entered the Grand Ballroom just as the music changed to a waltz. At first, I was a little nervous, having never waltzed before, but Taylor was a patient teacher and soon enough, I picked up the basic dance steps. I wasn't a pro. This fact was proven after I stepped on his foot for the third time.

"I'm sorry." Ballroom dancing is so not my thing.

Taylor smiled. "It's fine. I hardly feel anything at all."

It wasn't my intention to ask about Brooke but I just couldn't help myself. "So that's your ex-girlfriend? You never talk about her."

"You never talk about Jacob." The hand on my back tightened slightly.

I looked away and tightly murmured, "Touché." I knew why I never talked about Jacob. Talking about him would lead to thinking about him and that was something I never allowed myself to do very often. I only allowed myself to think about Jacob on special occasions like his birthday, holidays and whenever I felt the need to grieve for what might've been. Was it was the same for Taylor? Was he also haunted by thoughts of the past?

"Look, I never talk about her because our relationship wasn't that big of a deal," Taylor admitted with a sigh.

"She's pretty," I remarked, striving to keep the jealousy out of my voice.

Taylor cocked an eyebrow in amusement and remarked, "You're jealous."

"I am not," I blurted quickly to dispel any doubts otherwise but I wasn't successful.

"Whatever you say." His lips quirked into a knowing smile and I smiled despite myself.

Suddenly, the music stopped and the percussionist began to play a drum roll announcing that the countdown to midnight was about to begin. As the waiters began to pass out glasses of champagne to the guests, Taylor grabbed my hand, escorting me off of the dance floor and into an empty, moonlit room located to the back of the ballroom. Luckily, no one saw us stealing away into the shadows.

No sooner than when the crowd began its cheer of, Happy New Year! did I find myself pressed up against a wall with Taylor's hard body holding me captive. As his lips descended on mine, his arms encircled my body, pulling me even closer. With a slant of my head, I parted my lips and Taylor drove his tongue into my mouth.

The loud cheering of the crowd in the next room was an unwanted reminder of how high our risk of discovery was. The room wasn't dark enough to completely hide us away from prying eyes. All someone had to do was wander away from the ballroom and the jig would be up. Then all of Boston's high society would know that Walter Reed's son and his date got caught in a compromising position. The thought should have been enough to stop us but it wasn't. If anything, the thought of getting caught excited me even more.

I threw my arms around his shoulders and kissed him back ravenously. Strong hands slinked down my back to grab my ass, grounding my pelvis against his. But this time, the thick fabric of my dress prevented me from feeling anything. Taylor reached down with one hand and lifted my leg, attempting to hook it around his hip. But he attempts were somewhat hampered by my dress. The damn thing was just too puffy.

Taylor let out a growl of frustration before he grabbed for the edges of my skirt, impatiently moving them out of the way so he could try to lift my leg again. At least that was what I thought he wanted to do.

My breath became trapped in my throat when his hand cupped me between my legs. When his hand began to move back and forth, I thought that I would die on the spot. Lips moved down my jaw toward my neck and I heard Taylor groan. Then just as quickly as it began, it ended.

"This is not the way I wanted this to happen." His hand stopped moving then he took it away.

"But-" I opened my mouth to protest but Taylor silenced me with his own.

He pulled away to murmur heatedly, "Later. After the ball." And I nodded in agreement.

As Taylor stepped away, my eyes widened when I took in his appearance. Somewhere in our frantic makeup session, I'd managed to undo his tie and unbutton his shirt. As Taylor tried to button his shirt, I worked on smoothing down my puffy dress.

I can't wait to go back to the house and get out of this large thing.

Immediately after that thought, I heard Liz's voice calling my name. Startled, I looked at Taylor to discover that he'd hardly made any progress at all in rearranging his clothes.

Liz's voice was getting closer to us and I turned to Taylor. "You have to hide."

"No." Taylor frowned.

"You have to. If Liz sees us like this she'll think we were…" Having sex, I finished silently.

"Please. This isn't the way I want her to find out about us."

"Fine, you want me to hide. I'll hide." The wicked curve of his lips worried me. That smile said that he would find some way to punish me for making him hide.

Taylor grasped my shoulders and spun me away from him, to face the room's entrance.

"What are you-?" My words were cut off when I felt a light breeze at my posterior, followed by a presence under my dress.

Taylor was hiding beneath my dress!

The realization hadn't sunk in before Liz came into view, entering the room. "Hey, Izzy." She looked around. "Where's Taylor?"

"I ah… sent him to get me a drink." I hesitated when I felt Taylor's warm breath on the back of my thighs. Was he doing that on purpose?

"Oh. What are you in here anyway?"

"Just wanted to get away from the noise and stuff." I tried to sound casual and ignore the warm, wet something that was touching me behind my knee. I think it was his tongue!

Liz's smile turned sneaky. "Oh please. I know why you're in here."

"You do?"

"Yeah. You came in here to scratch your ass again, didn't you?" The tongue froze in its circular motions.

My face colored beneath my mask and I denied, "Oh my God. I don't do that."

"Are you kidding me? We've all seen you do it. Izzy, I swear sometimes I think you have fleas." Oh God!

I just wanted to crawl away and die somewhere. Especially when I heard Taylor's soft snort of laughter behind me. Liz didn't hear it as she was much closer to the orchestra music than I was. The situation couldn't get any more embarrassing.

"Well, go ahead and do it. I know I interrupted you." Liz smiled teasingly.

"What?"

"Jeez, don't be shy, Izzy. There's no one here but us." She hesitated with a frown. "Unless you're in here for some other reason…"

"No, no. You caught me. I came to scratch." This elicited another snort from Taylor.

Under Liz's teasing stare, I shamefully lifted my hand and proceeded to scratch an itch I most surely did not have. God, I'd never been so humiliated in my life. Liz made it seem as if I just went around scratching my ass all the time. It only happened that one time while I was doing my drowsy, morning shuffle into the kitchen. Liz caught me and never let me forget it. The little demon.

When my humiliation was complete, I removed my hand then heard Ryan's voice as he approached the room. "Hey, Liz. Did you find them?"

"Taylor went to get something to drink and Izzy just came in here to… you know."

"What?" Liz chose to answer Ryan by making a clawing motion with her hand. My mouth fell open in mortification when Ryan nodded in understanding.

Unbelievable!

"Let's leave her to it then. I feel a dance coming on." With that he led Liz out of the room and they disappeared into the crowd on the dance floor.

As soon as they were out of sight, I snatched at the back of my dress, moving away to reveal a guffawing Taylor. He could barely stand up because he was laughing so hard. When his laughing fit had ended, he stood up, wiping the tears from his eyes.

"Wouldn't it have been easier if you'd just let Liz find us?" Taylor finished buttoning up his shirt and was now working on his tie.

"We will never speak of this again," I grumbled with a pout, still feeling sore from my humiliating encounter.

I glanced up just in time to catch Taylor stalking toward me. My heart raced as I backed away until the wall stopped my retreat. I wasn't able to suppress a shiver as Taylor leaned in close, rubbing his nose against my cheek like a predator scenting prey. "Want me to make it up to you?"

"How?" I asked breathlessly.

"I have something in mind… an after-party in my room." He trailed a finger down the length of my neck, stopping at the edge of my gown.

I dimly recalled Alice's text message about an after party, quickly realizing that this was what she was referring to. My body began to hum with excitement.

Although my tongue felt glued to the roof of my mouth, I managed to ask, "What about Liz and Ryan?"

"I'll take care of it." The smile he gave me was a dark, devilish one.

After we reentered the ballroom, Taylor immediately went in search of our friends to tell them that we were leaving. We used my ankle as an excuse, placing the blame on all of the standing and dancing I'd done for the night. It wasn't an outright lie as I'd chosen to leave off my ankle brace when I was getting ready. Liz and Ryan weren't ready to call it a night so they chose to stay. Walter gave Taylor the keys to his town car, saying that he would ride with Liz and Ryan in the limo on his return to the house.

The air in the car was tense and filled with expectation as Taylor drove us back to the house. Taylor parked the car at the entrance of the house and tugged my cape closed before walking around the car to help me out.

Snowflakes dusted us lightly as we made our way up the stairs. After removing our capes, Taylor carried me up the stairs bridal style and down the hall.

He stopped at my door and slowly slid me down the length of his firm body. Taylor leaned in, hands going around my waist to the back of my dress. My cheeks reddened when I felt a short tug as Taylor unzipped my dress. Automatically, my hands wrapped around my chest to prevent the dress from falling off completely.

Does he want me to get naked right here in the hallway?

We were both breathing hard as he slowly drew away from me. "I'll be right back." Almost as if he couldn't help himself, he leaned in and gave me a quick peck on the lips before saying, "In the meantime, lose the dress."

And with that, Taylor disappeared down the hallway while I stood there, dazed and nervous as hell.

A/N: You guys would've gotten this chapter last week but unfortunately for us, my beta isn't an internet addicted hermit crap. Too bad (lol)

Story Recap: Bella and her runaway mouth. That girl needs some tape.

Brooke probably wanted to smack Bella.

Bella was jealous of Brooke.

How did you enjoy the masquerade ball?

Liz makes Bella scratch herself... my mind is so messed up.

Bella and Taylor ring in the new year together... to be continued.

A/N: The links on my profile of Bella and Liz's gowns are up. Tomorrow's my birthday. yay!

Review and be teased people!