Masked

Extended Summary

How do you shuck corn?

Do you do it...delicately? Do you peel back a single layer at a time, slowly, as not to let the husk break?

Or do you grab tight of those delicate hairs at the top and pull with all your might until the husk is clean off, the cob exposed the air?

When you pour water, do you do it slowly? Or do you torment the surface lying below with the threatening waters, soon to be flooded down onto the unsuspecting surface?

When you eat, so you take your time, and have patience? Or do you grab your utensils and dig in until left with a full belly to deal with?

When you break a person, do you talk to them, soothe them, comfort them. Do you take precautions; keep a steady pace with them? Or do you break-and-enter their lives and get the breaking part over with as soon as you can?

When you wear a mask, do you hide behind it?

Or make yourself extraordinary?

Ian Summers is the exact opposite of his last name - he's not fun, or bright, or outgoing. He's more like Winter - cold, distant, and depressed. He was diagnosed at the sick age of sixteen, and now he's eighteen and in senior year of high school. He made it through the whole school life with no friends, no girlfriends, and no bullies. He was invisible, transparent, and he was fine with that. Absolutely nonchalant with that.

Of course, if anyone would suit his last name better than him, it would be Gabriella Winters - the sunny, happy-go-lucky kind of girl that makes it through high school with friends from every social group, and even the teachers. Along with lunch ladies. She would be the happiest person you could ever meet, which is why it was so ironic for her and Ian to meet at the hospital, with last names best suited for the other, and personalities to confirm it.

Ian Summers, you'll be in for one hell of a ride.