Today was a special schedule at school because of the masquerade ball so everyone was out of the building by noon. Sophia ran to her house, saying that she’ll be over so we could get ready together. Evan forgot about the masquerade ball so he dragged Brad, Chad and Austin with him to the mall to buy an outfit for tonight. Kale and I were on our way home.
“Are you excited for tonight?” Kale asked, trying to make conversation.
“Yeah I guess.”
“Don’t lie Kat. You are excited.” He nudged me playfully.
“I shoved him playfully in return. “Fine, I am excited. The whole masquerade thing seems really cool.”
When we arrived at our house, Logan stumbled out the front door in his coffee shop uniform shirt, khaki pants and black shoes. His black bag was slung over his shoulder and his usual brown tousled hair was dripping wet and flat.
“I’m late for my shift.” He informed us in a hurry. “I’ll be home around 11:00 tonight. Kale do not cook while your sister and I are out tonight.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Kale mumbled. “You better go or else Shawn will fire you.”
Logan quickly slipped into his car and turned on the ignition. Within a few seconds, he was backed out of the drive way and speeding down the direction of the coffee shop. The last few words of Logan played in my head before I fully grasped when he was actually saying.
Was Kale not going to the masquerade ball? I turned around to see Kale making his way into the house. I quickly catch up to him, closing the door behind me. Kale went straight to the kitchen, rummaging through the pantry and fridge for food.
“Kale, you’re not coming tonight?” I asked.
“Yup.” He answered, shoving a powered mini doughnut into his mouth.
“But why?”
“It doesn’t matter.” He snapped his. I flinched at his sharp tone. Kale never used that tone unless he was stressed or something was bothering him.
“You can tell me you know?” I said softly. I placed my hand on his shoulder but he shrugged it off and took a step away from me.
“It’s none of your business Kat.”
With that said, he walked passed me and exited the kitchen. I heard his footsteps as he jogged upstairs and the sound of his bedroom door closing. I wanted him to talk to me; to tell me whatever’s bothering him or stressing him out. We were twins. We promised we would always be there for each other and to tell each other everything. I debated whether or not to go to his room and pry it out of him. But I chose not to. I’ll just wait until he was ready to talk.
Until Sophia arrived, I decided to start my French essay but of course that didn’t happen. Instead I was messing around with my keyboard and guitar and the recording equipment to find that right melody I’ve been searching for. At first it was difficult to start but once I played a few chords on the keyboard and freestyle on the guitar, my creative juices began flowing. I was inspired until I heard the doorbell. I closed my notebook and placed my guitar on my bed before heading downstairs.
“Hey Kat.” Sophia beamed when I opened the front door.
She had her hot pink duffle bag over her shoulder while carrying a black garment, probably with her outfit inside. I escorted her up to my room and helped her prepare all her hair and makeup supplies before she could begin working her beauty magic on me.
“Don’t you dare touch me with those things.” I warned, pointing at the pair of tweezers that were two centimeters from my eyebrows.
“Fine. But I’m still doing your make up.” Sophia said, taking out a jumbo sized makeup pallet with so many different colors inside.
“Can’t you just do my hair? My face is going to be covered by the damn mask anyways.” I complained.
“But at some point you’re going to take off the mask.” Sophia pointed out. “Just let me put a little. Something simple but beautiful.”
“Okay,” I muttered as I sat on the chair. “Let’s get started.”
………….
“Girl, you look amazing!” Sophia shrieked. “Austin is definitely going to want to do you tonight.”
I gasped and slapped her. “You lil nasty, don’t say that.”
“I’m just stating the truth.” She shrugged. “But really Kat, you look amazing.”
She pushed me into the direction of my full body mirror. I stared at amazement at my reflection. For once, I actually satisfied with what was in front of me. My hair was wavy with half of it pinned up. It was a simple yet elegant style. Like Sophia said, she made my makeup simple but beautiful. She rubbed a bit of foundation onto my face, dabbed my eye lids with a metallic gold eye shadow and a light shade of pink for my lips. After thirty minutes of deciding I decided to go with my black strapless dress. The bodice clung onto my petite torso and the laced skirt flowed out nicely and hung just above my knees. As for my mask, it was a beautiful gold decorated with a bunch of floral patterns and glitter.
“I did a great job didn’t I?” Sophia said, staring at my reflection in approval.
“Yes you did.” I giggled.
After Sophia changed into her stunning red sequence dress and placed her red mask over her face, we put away her hair and makeup materials back into her duffle bag. Right when we zipped up the bag, the doorbell rang which meant out dates are here. I grabbed my black flats, the ones with the straps that wrap around my ankles, from my closet and Sophia and I ran for the door.
“Damn my girl looks hot.” Brad smirked as he stared at Sophia.
“So does my man.” Sophia winked, as she approached him and planted a kiss on his cheek. “Shall we get going?”
“Of course.” Brad wrapped an arm around her. “Kat, Austin said he’ll be here in ten minutes. Apparently, Angela is late to babysit Arianna so he’s waiting until she arrives.”
I nodded. “Alright, I guess I’ll see you guys there.”
“Bye Kat.” They said in unison before they exited my house.
Unfortunately, 10 minutes turned into an hour. By the time Austin arrived to pick me up, it was already 6:30 and I was half asleep on the couch watching Supernatural when the doorbell rang.
“I’m so sorry.” He apologized instantly once I opened the door. “There was an accident on the route Angela was taking to get to my house so she had to take a detour and I couldn’t just leave Arianna because my dad won’t be home until nine tonight.”
“It okay.” I chuckled. “I understand.”
He snaked his arm around my waist and pulled me closer to him. “You look absolutely beautiful.”
A felt my cheek heat up. “Thank you. I think you look extreme handsome.”
He wore a black tuxedo with a gold tie and a simple gold masquerade mask. His hair was groomed neatly, slightly gelled to the side. He really did look extremely handsome tonight. I could never get over how attractive Austin was.
“Let’s go.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me to the direction of his car, which was parked in the driveway. He opened the door to the passenger said and gestured me to enter.
“For you my princess.” He said in a British accent.
“You’re so cheesy and your British accent sucks.” I giggled. He playfully glared at me before shutting the door and making his way to the driver’s side. He placed the key into the ignition and began backing out of the driveway. I turned up the radio which was playing Mirrors by Justin Timberlake.
Listening to this song reminded me of the time Austin and I started practicing for our duet. He requested me to play Mirrors, claiming it was stuck in his head all morning. I remember just playing it on the keyboard but in the end we ended up singing the chorus together. That was the day we almost kissed for the first time. When I think about it I can still see the way his eyes were glued to my lips and the smell of his minty breath.
“Why are you smiling?” Austin asked, interrupting my thoughts.
“Because the sunset looks pretty.” I lied smoothly.
He shook his head and chuckled. “Okay, whatever you say. I’ll force it out of you later.”
I raised an eyebrow. “How so?”
“I have my ways.” He winked as he parked his car into the parking lot of the school. The sound of music playing in the distant met my ears. Austin took my hand into his and we started walking around the school to the football field where this event was being held. The closer we got the louder the music grew.
When we arrived at the football field, I stared in awe at the sight. The perimeter of the entire football field was strung with many colourful lanterns that lit up the whole place. The bleachers were lit up with white LED lights. On one side of the field was where the DJ’s equipment and speakers were set up, blasting the mainstream, upbeat music. The white clothed tables and chairs were on the other side, in front of the tables filled with food. In between the tables and DJ’s station, a bunch of students were dancing to the music. I assumed that was the dance floor for tonight. The whole scene looked extremely extravagant especially for a ball held in a school football field.
“Look, Brad and Sophia are sitting at that table with Evan and Aliah.” Evan yelled, so I could hear him over the music.
“Hey, both of you look great tonight.” Aliah complimented when we arrived at their table.
“Thanks. You do too.” I smiled.
Austin and I sat in the two vacant chairs but didn’t join in their debate about whether a panda should be a house pet or not. We both thought it was a really stupid topic to be talking about right now so we had our own little conversation as we ate our food, which was just fries and cold pizza. The majority of our conversation consisted of ‘huh?’ ‘what?’ and confused expressions because we couldn’t hear each other over the music.
“Okay, it’s time to slow it down a bit.” The DJ announced after Stutter was finished playing. “This song goes out to all the lovely couples and soon to be couples out there.”
As soon as the slow melody began playing from the speakers, the people who came here in a group took a seat at one of the empty tables, making way for the couples who weren’t dancing earlier, to get onto the dance floor. Brad grabbed Sophia’s hand and dragged her down to the dance floor. Evan scooped Aliah in his arms and carried her bridal style. Austin and I laughed as Aliah struggled to get out of Evan’s grip, protesting to let her down.
“Come on, Kat.” Austin smiled. He grabbed my hand and escorted me to the centre of the dance floor. I grew nervous as we walked to the centre of the dance floor. I didn’t know how to slow dance. What if I embarrass the both of us?
“Austin…” he glanced back at me. “I don’t know how to slow dance.”
“It’s okay, just follow my lead.”
He positioned my hand so they rested on his shoulder. He placed his hand on my back, just below my shoulder blade. His touch made the butterflies in my stomach take flight. Our other hand was locked together, our elbows up. My chest was against his. He gave me a small smile before he began leading me in this dance. Like he instructed, I followed his every lead. I moved the way he moved. I turned when he turned. I dipped when he told me to. He even twirled me a few times too.
As we continued to slow dance on the field, I forgot about the other couples who were also dancing here. I was reminded that a bunch of people were dancing with us and watching us when a white bright light shined on Austin and me. I squinted, trying to find the source of the light. Austin did the same too. But we continued swaying to the music.
“Awh looks like we found tonight masquerade prince and princess.” The DJ announced.
The whole crowd erupted into applause and screams. Austin and I stared at each other in confusion. I didn’t even know there was such thing as masquerade prince and princess. It seemed to be a little extra. It’s not like this is prom or anything.
“Did you know about this?” I asked Austin as I awkwardly smiled at everyone surrounding us.
He shook his head. “No. If I did I probably wouldn’t have asked you to this dance. No offense.”
Two girls from the student council came towards us, one of them holding a crown and the other holding a tiara. They were serious about this masquerade princess and prince. Every pair of eyes were staring at Austin and I. Some were staring in shock, others were glaring but the majority were happy for us.
“Should we make a run for it?” I tugged his arm.
“No. I want to put that tiara on you.” He beamed. “Officially make you my princess to this ball.”
I blinked, speechless from his words. “But didn’t I make it official by saying yes to coming with you?”
“Now I’m making it official by putting that tiara on your head.”
The two girls from student council were now standing in front of us. The redhead council, I think her name was Sierra, stood on the tips on her toes and placed the crown on Austin’s head. The other member of student council gave the tiara to Austin. With slightly shaky hands, he carefully took the tiara from the box and placed it on my head.
“Now I’m officially your princess.” I chuckled.
“Even without your tiara you are still my princess.” he planted a small but meaningful kiss on my lips.
Once again, everyone who was here at the masquerade ball erupted in cheers and applause. But all that faded out because I couldn’t help but stare at my prince in awe. I can never get over how sweet he can be. He always knew how to leave me speechless.
Despite how cheesy and cliché it sounds, it is true.
I am his princess.
And he is my prince.
A/N: s/o to wattpad user NotYourBabexxx for helping me upload this chapter. I HATE U WATTPAD FOR THIS CONFUSING NEW LAYOUT/UPDATE.
anyways, WOW A NEW CHAPTER OH MY MARSHMALLOWS.
I am extremely sorry for the long wait and poorly written chapter. I haven't written since the last time I updated and school for the past two weeks have been so busy and stressful. I literaly wrote this for the majoirty of yesterday and a bit of today. I am so happy it's Christmas break.
Honestly speaking, how are you liking The Duet? I've come so far from when I started writing this. This story came unexpectedly back in July when I was avoiding my co-op assignments. I never expected this story to get so many reads and recieve so many votes. Thank you so much
By the way, we reached my goal of 550 reads before 2015. Maybe now we can go for 600 votes before 2015? yeah? let's do it! (:
As always, don't forget to comment your thoughts/opinions/advice/critiques down below and to vote, vote, vote!!
- Melissa
p.s; Happy Holidays <3