Syd's POV
The weekend passed quickly, I didn't answer any texts or phone calls, I just sat in my room brooding. I
came out only when I had to eat meals, go to church and talk to my mom. I woke up on Monday feeling
a lot better than I did Saturday, which was a good sign. I pulled on some jeans, a flowy chocolate brown
3 quarter sleeve shirt and rainbows. I pulled my hair into a french braid and swiped on some mascara. I
looked at my reflection and sighed. Just act casual today. I bet Sam's forgotten all about Friday. I
grabbed my things and headed out.
When I got to school I mustered a fake smile. I ran into Nick and he steadied me. "Woah, where are you
going so fast?" I shook my head and smiled. "Nowhere. I'm just hurrying to get my stuff in my locker."
Nick started to walk with me to my locker. "So why haven't I heard from you all weekend? Everyone I've
talked to said that they couldn't get ahold of you either. You okay?" I nodded. "Yeah, I was just on the
DL this weekend. I kept away from my phone to get a break. Did I miss anything important?" He thought
about it as I put my stuff in my locker. "Not much. Oh wait! Ethan and S are dating." He stopped and
looked at me. "Sorry, I know -" I cut him off. "It's totally fine. It was just a silly crush." He nodded slowly.
He put his hand up, like he remembered something. "Also, Sam really needs to talk to you." My breath
caught. "About what?" He shrugged. "Guess you'll have to wait and see." He waved and walked off.
Just as I was about to go find Sam, I got a text. My pulse quickened as I read it, it was from Sam. It said:
Hey! You really need to answer your phone! Are you dead? Okay, well I need to talk to you. Meet me in Mr. Walker's room!!!!!
I shoved my phone in my pocket and started to walk to Mr. Walker's. Does he know it was me? I took a
deep breath and walked into the classroom. Sam heard me and turned around, he had been staring at
his phone with his back to me. Immediantly, he sprang over to me. I stepped back, confused by his
extremely excited aura. He grinned at me. "I have interesting news." I tried to act calm, so I raised my
eyebrows. "Oh?" His grin got wider. "Okay, so normally, I'm not a kiss and tell kind of guy but I have to
tell you this." I pretended to be shocked. "You kissed someone?! Who?" He shuffled his feet. "Well,
that's the problem. I don't know." He saw my "confused" expression and hurriedly continued, "She was
wearing a mask. She looked so familiar but I just couldn't tell where I'd seen her before." I tried not to
smile. He was an idiot sometimes. Oh well, at least he didn't know it was me. I realized he was still
talking. "-was so right. I mean, I've kissed a lot of girls. You know that. But this one... it was special. I
guess that makes me sound pretty stupid huh? And she was gorgeous. I could just tell, even with her
mask on. She came in alone, I was trying to think of all the girls that came alone but none fit." I raised
my eyebrow. Wow, I knew he was dumb but not this dumb. The next part made more sense. "I thought
of you first, of course. But I thought you would probably be wearing something simple. Wait, I didn't
even ask about how your night was. I didn't even see you!" I shook my head. "It's okay, keep talking
about your special girl." He grinned. "This might take awhile."
Sam's POV
We had been talking for awhile. It was a good thing we both had study hall right now. A couple times, I
would catch her trying not to smile. I wondered if she knew who the girl was and wasn't saying
anything. I said this at one point but she just brushed it off. "So what were you wearing? I didn't see you.
I wanted to be the one to see you in a dress. You know, because I've never really seen you in one." She
looked down. "Oh, you know. It was just a dress. You wouldv'e liked it." She paused. "I guess." I sighed.
How great to get an exact answer. Just at that time, my phone dinged. I checked to see that it was a
school email. It said:
The Masquerade was a success! Thank you all for making this happen and to those who showed up! The night was full of mystery (there were cool pictures here), excitement (and here), and romance (and here).
I gasped. I pointed to a picture on the email next to the word romance. "That's her!" I exclaimed. Syd
leaned over and looked at the picture. It was of me and my mystery girl, we had just stopped slow
dancing. I had touched her mask, and it looked like I was caressing her cheek. Although the picture
wasn't entirely true, I took a screenshot. I looked up at Syd and she looked extremely uncomfortable.
"What's wrong?" She swallowed. "Um.. listen, Sam there's something I should probably tell you." I
waited for her to continue. Just as she opened her mouth, the bell rung. She jumped, startled. I looked
at her questioningly. She shook her head. "Maybe later." She walked out quickly, without even saying
goodbye. I looked down at the new picture in my phone. Maybe this girl could help me move on from
Syd... if I ever found her.
Syd's POV
I should've told him. But I couldn't. He was so happy about his girl. Even though I was her, I also wasn't.
He was looking for a beautiful, elegant, mysterious girl but I was that for one night... barely. If I told him,
he would be crushed. I couldn't be that for him. I was just his friend, practically one of the guys. He
couldn't see me like that. He deserves someone who can be girly enough and beautiful enough, inside
and out. I checked the email that Sam had shown me. There was another picture next to ours. It was of
S and Ethan dancing. Her head was on his shoulder and he was smiling slightly. I sighed, it was
probably better this way. They looked good together. I looked closer at the picture of Sam and I. I
couldn't help but smile as I looked at him. The look in his eyes was complete adoration, for a girl he
thought he had just met that night. For a girl that practically didn't exist. I turned off my phone and
someone grabbed my arm. I turned to see it was Charlie. He was staring at me intently. I smiled and he
gasped. "What? What did I do now?!" He shook his head. "It is you. Isn't it?" I stared at him confused.
"Uh.. sorry? Charlie, I don't-" He cut me off. "Don't deny it, I know it was you." He saw that I continued to
look confused. He pulled me over to the side of the hallway. "Syd, I know you're the one that Sam was
dancing with." My mouth dropped open in shock. He smiled. "Come on Syd. I'm smarter than the other
guys. I know that smile. I've seen it enough." I didn't even bother denying it. He knew he was right. "But
how did you know but Sam and Nick didn't? And everyone else." He scratched his head. "I'm not going
to lie, that was the smile I used to be in love with."