Brrriiiiiiiiiiiiinnnng! Brrriiiiiiiiiiiiinnnng!

"Mmmfghh…" I mutter, my hand slapping my nightstand in the general direction of the screaming alarm clock.

Screaming.

Jared. The memory of the entire past night slams into me like a ton of bricks. I clumsily switch off the alarm, before collapsing into my mattress. I stare into the dark void that is my room at six o'clock in the morning.

My heart flutters in my chest. Ryoshi and I… We almost…

I sit up and hug my knees to my chest, my face warm. I glance at the clock again. This morning is different than all the others. Instead of the heaviness I'm used to feeling when I get up and drag myself to breakfast, my heart feels like a thousand bubbles. I picture the way it felt to dance with Ryoshi, and a tiny smile automatically lights up my face.

I can't wait to see him again. I can't wait to be able to...

Ugh. I'm never going to get any work done if I don't snap out of it. I wipe the smile off my face and roll out of bed, turning on the lamp. I slip the maid costume over my head, and hunt for my discarded stockings and gloves. I dreamily remember to put the wig on at the last second.

I start towards the door—but something's missing. My stupid, tight flats. I twist around and grab them, thrown in a heap in the corner of my room. Stumbling down the hall, I hop on one foot at a time as I put them on, rushing to get to breakfast. As cheery as I am today, I can't have Jared screwing up and getting me exposed, and the more time he's alone, the more likely that is.

I step into the kitchen… and it is completely normal. No one stares, the usual hustle and bustle of everyone greeting each other and grabbing some food is the same as it always is, and Carol-san and Jared are sitting side-by-side, an empty seat for me next to her like every other day. I cautiously make my way to Carol-san's side.

"Morning!" I say. Was that trying too hard? Maybe I sounded too happy? What if she—

"Hey, Sweetheart," Carol-san replies lightly. Like she always does. Phew.

"Hey Jared." I say, peering over Carol's head.

"Uh! Hi…" he says abruptly. I flick my eyebrows down for a microsecond. Be more normal!

"You're looking fine today." He winks flirtatiously, snapping instantly into Creeper mode. Which is his usual mode, so… good.

I play the part and roll my eyes. "Back off."

Carol-san seems oblivious to our interaction. I turn away from Jared and stand up, ready to get some food.

"Okay then…" I mutter. So far so good. I've defiantly done worse acting jobs. Honestly, I don't know why I can pretend to be this strong person everyday but I can't look Ringo in the eye and tell her that I'm not in love with Ryoshi without blushing and acting weird. You'd think I'd be better at lying by now. I guess I'm only good at lying to myself.

"Morning, Sweetheart."

"Hi John. What's on the menu for today?"

"Oh, just some grits and scrambled eggs."

"Sounds wonderful!"

"And you sound like a Disney Princess," he says playfully, chuckling. "Did you get a raise? There's this… glow around you."

"There's no glow," I laugh. "I'm just in a good mood I guess!" I take the tray he's given me, the steam from the food warming my hands pleasantly. John smiles.

"Okay Sweetheart. Have a good day!"

"You too!" I flash a smile at him, and waltz back to my seat. Carol-san glances at me.

"How'd you sleep?" Terribly. Ryoshi's memory kept me awake all night. Not that I really minded…

"Great. You?"

"Pretty good. That black out was freaky, huh? Why weren't you at the party?"

"You went? I thought the storm made you uneasy?"

"Meh, it does, but I thought being around other people would help. It actually made it much worse." She shoots a glare at Jared. "So why'd you skip out? You've missed every party we've had! It was fun too. We lit, like, a million candles and danced and John made us midnight pancakes!"

"Midnight pancakes? Is that even a thing?"

"It is here. So…?" Her violet eyes probe me. I guess all attempts to avoid this are going to crash and burn.

"I didn't want to go. Parties aren't my thing—" True. "—and I didn't want to be awake during the storm anyway. It made me nervous." I slide my gaze over to Jared. He's facing the counter, but I can see him watching me out of the corner of his eye. I shovel another bite of eggs in my mouth.

Meanwhile, Carol-san shrugs. "Well, it was pretty good. Except Jared is a terrible dancer."

"Um, I am not! You're the one who—" And then I start tuning them out. Jared is a terrible dancer. The man I was with wasn't… I smile to myself, and my mind wanders to the night again. A teasing voice pervades my dreamy reverie.

"Dude. Check out her face."

"What?" I snarl, turning to see Jared leaning into Carol. They are gawking at me like I'm the newest addition to the local freak show.

"She's so happy and gay. I wonder why?" Jared asks innocently, much to my annoyance—that little turd. He knows why. He's just jerking me around! Well two can play at this game. Jerk.

"Sorry Jared, but the only one here who's 'gay' here is you."

"Hey! That's… shut up! That's not even true!"

"I wish. Then you wouldn't be such a pervert!"

"Yeah I would… just not to you."

"True." I shrug in admittance.

"Excuse me?" A clarion voice calls from the kitchen entrance. As soon as I recognize it, my heart nose-dives into my gut. It's Morino-sama. She clears her throat, and her eyes lock on me. Target acquired.

"May I speak with Capulet-san for a moment?"