Masqueraded Identities

Chapter Thirty

Tay added one more sparkly hair clip into my hair. She had decided to make it look like a cascading waterfall, with little rhinestone clips all over my hair. The clip part of the clips were concealed by my hair, so it just looked like rhinestones were naturally embedded in my head. I had to give her credit, it looked amazing and like a professional actually did it.

My dress was a deep purple, with sparkles and glitter all over it. It was a plain dress cut, but the sparkles made it light up. It clung to my curves nicely, and concealed my tummy fairly well. I was personally impressed with myself that night.

My stomach was in knots, and I couldn't wait to see Ryan. I hope he thought I looked nice.

All I could think about was us dancing, and possibly kissing, and maybe walking away from tonight with the guy that I actually, truly liked... Regardless of whether he was my masked stranger or not.

Of course, there was obviously that daydream part of me that hoped my masked stranger was Ryan. And there was that crazy part of Tay that was convinced it was. But I was trying my best to NOT think of Ryan as my masked stranger, just so my hopes and dreams wouldn't be shattered. I was still trying to ignore the idea that he even had feelings for me, even if he did ask to save me a dance, and even if we did share that kiss that one night. After all, maybe he was desperate or trying to make someone else jealous or... I don't even know. But I wasn't ready to trust him entirely just yet. I knew the practical jokes he was capable of.

Tay and I got our accessories together, took a few pictures and found random girls to take pictures of us, and we were off to the first part of the dance- dinner.

I stepped into the cafeteria, blinded by sparkling dresses and overly white smiles. Maybe I should have felt intimidated, like it was obvious I wasn't rich and couldn't afford to look like that. But the excitement over dancing the night away with Ryan Hutchins kept me going. Clearly, I had some small portion of his attention if he wanted to spend time with me that night.

I had just sat down when a pair of hands covered my eyes.

“Guess who?” said the voice of Ryan Hutchins. Or at least, I thought. The voice sounded very familiar, and although it sounded like Ryan's, it also sounded like someone else's.

“Ryan?” I guessed.

The hands were removed and I turned to see the dazzling smile of Ryan Hutchins.

“Good guess!” he said, his eyes wide as he looked at me.

“What?” I asked.

He shook his head. “Just... wow. You look lovely.”

I blushed and smiled. “Well, thank you.”

He smiled. He looked at me mysteriously, but it was a wonderful feeling. He couldn't keep his eyes away, and I would have loved to know what he was thinking about me at that moment.

“Well, I have to go over to my table, but I'll see you at the dance. Still saving one for me?” he asked.

I nodded. “Of course.”

He smiled and walked off.

Tay was looking at me with a grin.

“So, you'd never like a jerk like Ryan Hutchins, eh?”

I stuck my tongue out at her, realizing I was no longer able to deny the truth of the matter.

“No one asked you!” I exclaimed.

Tay just laughed.

The dance was thirty minutes away from being over, and I still had yet to find Ryan. Five slow songs had been played, and although I did dance with a random guy or two, I had yet to dance with Ryan, the only person I truly cared about that night.

Tay came up to me, sweaty from dancing. I had actually been dancing quite a bit, but I was in dire need of some water, so I had gone over to the drink stand. Although I was incredibly disappointed I hadn't found Ryan yet, it didn't stop me from having a nice time.

“Still no luck?” she asked, grabbing a cup of water.

“Nope,” I responded.

“How do you feel?”

“Like I want to burst into tears.”

“There has to be a reason. As mean as you have accused Ryan Hutchins of being, even this is unlike him.”

I shrugged. “Maybe. I think I'm going back to the room. I don't feel too hot. I need some sleep.”

“You sure?” Tay asked, looking worried.

“I'm sure. I partied as hard as I could manage right now. I'm okay, really.”

She nodded. “I'll see you in half an hour then.”

I nodded and walked out the gym and into the chilly night air. It was the type of night where all you needed to stay warm was some skinnies and a cute sweater. The air felt good on my sweaty skin, and was very refreshing. I didn't feel like going back to my dorm just yet.

I found a random building to sit against, and just sat there thinking about everything. My heart felt broken, and my hope of Ryan seeing something in me was completely gone.

The tears began to well. I'm not sure whether it was from the stress of final exams, the situation with Mark, or the situation with Ryan. Considering how gross I felt, probably all three.

I let the tears come out. I guess it wasn't really that surprising, but it was still sucky.

I heard footsteps and quieted my sobs. A pair of feet came into my line of vision and I looked up. Ryan. Ugh.

“What?” I snapped.

He winced. “Okay, you hate me.”

I rolled my eyes. “Really, what is it?” I asked a bit more gently. I looked up at his face, and realized his right eye was black.

He stood there, obviously trying to figure out what to do, when suddenly his face lit up. “Wait right here!”

And off he ran. I shook my head in disbelief. I actually put faith into this creep. But, I was intrigued as to how he was going to make this up to me, so I stayed where I was.

Fifteen minutes later, and still no sign of him. I groaned in frustration. I gave up. I was going to my room. I was getting cold and I wanted a shower. I was just about to get up when someone slid next to me. I looked over and saw some guy wearing a mask. Oh big woop.

WAIT.

A MASK?

I did a double take and saw my masked stranger, with his simple black mask, curly brown hair, and his chiseled jawline. He was in a tuxedo, just like the night I first saw him. He looked elegant and beautiful, and like he had just come out of a fairytale book. My jaw dropped.

“What?” I asked breathlessly.

My stranger nodded and pointed to his mask.

“Are you sure?” I whispered.

He nodded.

I put my hands on his mask, and closed my eyes. I didn't want to find out who it was until after it was off. I tried to gently remove it, and once the whole mask was in my hands, I opened my eyes.

My jaw dropped once more, and I gasped.

Sitting before me was Ryan freaking Hutchins.