"Are you serious?"

Pat paced the room until she stopped in front of Xenia who was sitting down on the bed, a shy and embarrassed look on her face. "I'm sorry, Pat. She was just so scary. You should've seen her eyes. It was like they were guns and she was shooting the bullets into my brain so I couldn't think straight."

Pat giggled a little, having a vision of what Liesel may have looked like. "Okay." she said, "But that means you have to do her hair and makeup."

"No. I don't." Xenia said, a smile ever present on her face.

Pat looked at her, a confused and muddled look on her white as porcelain face.

"Just because I nodded my head, doesn't mean I can't say 'no' now." Xenia explained, "She can't force me to do anything. No one can."

"She's going to kill you." Pat said and small smile stretching her lips.

"She'll have to get ready on time first."

Pat gave her a questioning look, "Are you saying that we're getting ready early?"

"Yeah." Xenia smiled, "Or we could just ignore her and act like she's not there."

"But then she'll get mad at us, and then she'll want vengeance. And honestly, Xen, Liesel serves her vengeance on a silver platter, cold and raw."

"I know. But who cares? I've had enough of her crap, and I'm not doing anything for her ever again. I'm sick of being the cousin who doesn't get acknowledged even though she works her butt off to make everybody happy. Well, guess what, Pat? I'm not happy. I deserve to be happy, don't I? After all of the work I've done for them?"

"Yeah," Pat agreed, "You do. And that is why we are going to the party and you can finally meet that mysterious guys of yours."

Xenia smiled and nervousness pounced on her like a lion catching it's meal for the day. "I'm still not too sure about it all."

"Why?"

"I don't know. I just don't talk to boys. At all. Well, not face to face." she paused and Patricia waited, knowing that Xenia was going to say more, "I just want it to stay the same, you know?" she asked, "I just want to hide behind the computer screen and read the stupid poems and jokes the guy cracks without having to see him in real life."

"You know, you are never gonna get anywhere if you keep on hiding. That's not like you. You never hide, and you're always upfront. Just be yourself, Xen. The way you are when you're messaging him. He'll like you if you do that."

Pat's eyes were gleaming with happiness and commitment.

She has committed herself in being my best friend, my cousin, the person I can rely on for basically everything and anything. She only wants what's best for me.

Maybe she's right.

Maybe I shouldn't hide behind the screen any longer. Maybe I should be upfront about my feelings and my fears and all of these emotions running through my head.

But I don't want to scare him off.

I'll just have to take it slow.

Nervousness ran through Xenia's body once again. What if he's hot? she wondered,What if he's so hot that I end up fainting? and then she paused. Now I'm just being paranoid.

"He most probably won't be anybody popular." Xenia said, "All of the popular kids are self absorbed and only think about themselves and would never open up to anyone, even if they don't show their face."

You never know... Pat thought smiling.

UNKNOWN-GUY: I'm so excited to see your beautiful face tonight.

Xenia's eyes go wide and she loses her breath.

XENIA: How do you know my face is beautiful? For all you know I could be ugly.

UNKNOWN-GUY: Are you?

XENIA: Uh. Could be.

UNKNOWN-GUY: Hahah. I'm assuming that you are beautiful.

XENIA: Why put yourself through this? I might disappoint you!

UNKNOWN-GUY: Seriously, any girl with a personality like yours wouldn't have any flaws or 'ugliness' on the outside, because I wouldn't see it.

XENIA: I don't know how to respond to that.

UNKNOWN-GUY: You dont have to. But tell me, what colour dress are you wearing?

XENIA: Why?

UNKNOWN-GUY: So I don't make a complete fool of myself saying 'pineapples' to any girl that comes through the door.

XENIA: Ahaha. You're just gonna have to find out!

UNKNOWN-GUY: Why you gotta be so rude?

XENIA: Don't you know that I'm human too?

UNKNOWN-GUY: Ahaha. Ed Sheeran fan?

XENIA: Ahaha. Yeah.

UNKNOWN-GUY: Hey! That's a thing we have in common. See? It's meant to be!

XENIA: We'll see...

UNKNOWN-GUY: Whats that supposed to mean?

Xenia didn't answer due to the fact that the alarm on her phone went off. I need to get ready.

Pat heard the alarm and sprinted to their bedroom. She jumped up and down in excitement. Her smile was bright and beaming like a ray of sunshine. "I see your excited." Xenia stated.

"Are you kidding me? I'm ecstatic!" Pat beamed.

Xenia laughed and they got to work, putting their dresses on, doing their hair and applying their makeup.

Xenia sighed, looking in the mirror.

She was never one to be vain, but the dress looked so pretty! Pat walked over and grabbed Xenia hand, squeezing tightly. "Are you ready?" she asked.

Xenia answered truthfully, "Nope."

Pat laughed, "What are you laughing at?" An obnoxiously high voice screeched.

Liesel was at the door of their bedroom and Xenia smiled mischievously in the mirror at Pat.

"Did you hear something Pat?" she questioned.

"Yeah, I did." Pat looked around, her eyes faking confusion, "But I don' t see anyone."

"Excuse me?!" Liesel asked, her voice reaching another octave.

"See, there is the noise again!" Pat exclaimed, "But where is it coming from?"

"You guys can't be serious."

"I think it's a ghost." Xenia whispered, loud enough for Liesel to hear.

"Oh!" Liesel was getting angry.

The girls tried not to smirk. "I think it's angry." Pat whispered.

Xenia nodded, "Let's get out of here, before we get haunted or something."

Pat and Xenia rushed out of the door, pushing Liesel out of the way, as if she was a ghost and that they could walk through her.

Excitement was radiating off of both Xenia and Pat as they drove towards Josh's house.

As they got to the door, Xenia hesitated, her hand not moving on the doorknob. "What's wrong?" Pat asked.

"I'm just nervous."

Pat giggled lightly, "Don't worry, me too." She paused, "Just remember the plan."

Xenia nodded. She took a deep breath and blew it out through gritted teeth. "Let's do this."

Xenia opened the door, and a force pushed her hair back. The party smelt of food and odor; good odor, though it was slightly intoxicating. There shouldn't be twenty different smelling perfumes in one place.

Seeing Xenia just stand in the doorway, Pat pushed pass gently, "If you aren't going in first, I am. First in, first serve right?"

Xenia laughed. She soon found out that it had two meanings. A dark haired and bright green eyed boy walked up to Pat, mumbling the word, "Pineapples".

Pat laughed and quickly glanced at Xenia, "Yeah, no thankyou. I'm allergic."

Xenia snorted softly at Pats response. She is so not allergic to pineapples. The boys face fell and Xenia sympathized him.

Pat walked off into the middle of the dancefloor, towards Josh, leaving Xenia to talk to Pineapple Guy. "I hear it's somebody's birthday." She yells over the loud music.

"Really?" Josh asked, "I never knew."

Pat laughed lightly. "Happy birthday. Thanks for the invite too."

"You're welcome. Though I'd like to know who is thanking me."

Pat looked up and smirked mischievously. Thank the Lord for this mask! "Well, you're just gonna have to find out." Pat said and walked towards the table of food. Away from Josh, leaving him dumbfounded in the middle of the dance floor.
He smirked.

Xenia stood there, watching Pat walk off. Bright green eyes looked up at Xenia hopefully. There was a sense of desperation in his voice when he spoke. And defeat. "Pineapples?"

Oh God.

Xenia hesitated. "We needed a better code word." She stated.

"It's you?" The boy's face was excited, it was beaming. You could tell that he was happy.

Xenia nodded, looking at the ground. Why am I being shy? I'm meant to be upfront.

The boy brushed Xenia's hair behind her ear, his fingers soft and smooth. Xenia looked up at the boy surprised. Her eyes were wide, her mouth made a small 'o' shape. "You're beautiful." His voice was husky and made Xenia's heart beat faster and faster by the second.
She was lost for words. Do I say 'thank you'?

Normally she would say 'thank you' to that compliment - not that she would get many of them - but her brain was so muddled up that she couldn't think. "Let me guess," the boy started, a small smile on his face, "you don't hear compliments like that often."
Xenia smiled and shook her head. "Well you should." The boy said, "Because you are beautiful."

"I - I don't know what to say to that."

"You don't have to say anything. Just accept it."

Xenia's eyes widened - if that was even possible. This boy was handsome, dark hair and bright eyes and he was saying that to her. This guy must be blind... or the mask is covering my whole face.

The intensity in his eyes made Xenia's heart stop. Oh my God .

"Do you want to go for a walk?" he asked.

"Uh, sure."

The boy put his arm out, ready for Xenia to take hold of. She smiled and held onto his bicep, which she must add, was only muscle.

The way the boy dressed tonight reminded Xenia of her father, Thomas. He died in a car crash when she was twelve. Her mother died as well.

That's why Xenia is going to be careful with this dress. It is the only thing that she has of her mothers.

Xenia never really had time to think about her loses, but she truly missed them.

Claire, her mother; who had blonde hair and blue eyes; never failed Xenia's needs. Her mother was such a sweet caring person that Xenia felt that she could vent to her about anything. But, since Monique was a snotty, unkind, and only thinks of herself kind of person, Xenia could never trust her with any of her problems.

Xenia immediately thought about her little brother. He was only two when he died. He had brown hair and green eyes. Just like Xenia. He was wearing a baby blue shirt, and overalls on the day of the crash.

He was the most adorable child that Xenia had ever seen. Alex, her little brother, half survived the crash, and was taken to the hospital. Xenia got the news back at her friend's house, where she was staying.

When Xenia got to the hospital, the nurses gave her the news that Alex died, just two minutes before she came. She immediately balled into tears, that she just missed her brother alive; that she couldn't get there in time to say goodbye.

The funeral was the hardest thing she has ever been through. She cried and cried and cried until no more tears came. Now this sounds cheesy. But it's true. She got tired of crying. She was still grieving on the inside, and no matter how much she wanted to cry; how much she wanted to expel the sadness out of her, the tears wouldn't come. And she would just lay there, motionless, hugging her pillow tightly, her eyes swollen and throat blocked, her face emotionless.

"Are you okay?" The boy asked, waking Xenia out of her reverie.

"Pardon?" Xenia shook her head, to clear the memory.

"Are you okay? You were silent for a little while."

"Oh, I'm fine. You just look a tiny bit like my dad." Xenia explained.

All what came out of the boy's mouth was the word - if you could call it that - "Oh."

Silence. Ruthlessly cold silence. It was almost unbearable.

"I have a feeling, there's more of a story behind me reminding you of your father." The boy stated, looking at Xenia. "You don't have to tell me, but I'm here for you. Okay?"

"But you barely know me."

"I know you love Frangipanies, you clean a lot, you like to do homework rather than socialize, and you are very funny, and frankly the most beautiful girl I have seen tonight."

Xenia laughed, "Well, thank you."

"You're welcome."

They walked down a pathway, which runs through the garden and out to the front of the property. The moonlight shone gorgeously down in them as did the starry skies. Xenia's gold heels sunk into the lush green grass.

The boy unwrapped her arm away from his bicep and took hold of her hand in his. Xenia looked at their hands, firmly gripping each other. She smiled and looked up at the boy, her eyes sparkling. A slow song came out the speakers. They were out the front of the house.
"Do you want to dance?" The boy asked,

"I'd love to." She replied.

The boy used Xenia's hand to pull them closer, their torsos touching. He placed his hands on her waist, while she looped her's around his neck. "You know," The boy started, "I still don't know who you are."

"Maybe that's a good thing."

"How?"

Xenia didn't want to put her answer into words, so she just shrugged.

He leaned forward, his cheek brushing hers, "Why don't you want me to know who you are?"

Xenia looked down at the ground. The boy smiled, "You seemed so strong minded and upfront when we were online. Why not now?"

Xenia took a deep breath, "Because it- because..." she sighed, "I don't know. I couldn't see you, I wouldn't see your reactions to everything I said when I was behind the screen. I wouldn't have to hide my true-self, what I went through."

The boy's fingers caressed her cheek, "You don't have to hide from me. I wouldn't care on what you look like, or if you've had a horrible past. I'm here for you."

Xenia's eyes were still on the boy's chest, not wanting to make eye-contact. "So, if I ask you, who you are, would you tell me straight away?" she asked.

He hesitated.

Xenia smiled, "What's your reason?"

The boy smiled, "You might freak out if you knew who I was."

"Freak out. In a good way or bad way?"

"It depends."

"On what?"

"Whether you care if I'm popular or not."

"Honestly, I wouldn't care if you were popular or a nerd."

"What were you expecting me to be like?"

Xenia smiled, "I don't want to tell you that."

"Why not?"

"You'd think I'm mean."

"How?"

Xenia just smiled. The music was fading out and a familiar tune was coming on. Xenia laughed. "Oh, the irony!" she smiled.

The boy smiled at her, "Your laugh is beautiful."

Xenia blushed.

And then the boy started singing along with the song. "Can I have your daughter for the rest of my life? say yes, say yes. Cause I need to know. You say I'll never get your blessing till the day I die. Tough luck my friend but the answer is no!"

"Why you gotta be so rude?" The boy sang.

"Don't you know I'm human too?" Xenia sang back.

"Why you gotta be so rude?"

"I'm gonna marry her anyway!"

They laughed. She felt the boy's fingertips by her mask. Peering eyes stared into hers. She turned her face away, not wanting him to take off her mask. The mask was the only thing that stopped him from seeing the real her, not the 'beautiful' girl with make-up on to conceal her flaws.

Xenia inhaled a deep breath of cold air. "Sorry." she said, "I just... don't want you to know who I am. Not yet."

The boy nodded.

So much for being upfront!