The boy was silent. "I really want to know who you are." He stated.

Xenia was silent. Of course he would want to know who I am.

Should I tell him?

Should I reveal myself?

What if he doesn't like me when I take the mask off?

I don't think I can handle that.

But what if he likes me?

What if he thinks I'm "beautiful" without all of the makeup and mystery?

She took a deep breath.

Okay, here we go.

"I'm...My name is..."

Just spit it out already!

She heard heels clicking on the floor behind them. She sighed. She turned around in the boy's arms to look at who was approaching them.

Dark hair and evil eyes.

Rika.

Oh my God. Seriously? Now?

Rika appeared beside them, a grimacing smile on her face. Xenia immediately unwrapped her hands away from the boy's neck. Rika placed the hand which wasn't occupied with holding a cup, on the boy's shoulder, "What are you doing later, Will?" she asked.

Xenia's eyes widened. Will? Holy crap. Will Evans? The Will Evans? The star quarter-back of the football team at school? The "it" boy of the school - besides Josh?

I was just dancing with him.

I was just laughing with him.

I was just talking with him.

Will looked at Rika with disgust. His eyes glared at her. Rika just smiled and "accidentally" spilled her drink on Xenia's dress.

The only problem was that the drink was red.

Red.

The mother of all curses.

Red drink on white dress.

Mum's white dress.

Xenia's wide eyes traveled from Will to her dress. Tears watered up in her eyes and her vision went blurry.

I'm sorry Mum.

"I have to go." She stated and ran off towards the car at the end of the street.

She heard the boy's - Will's - insistent calls. "Wait!" he called, "Who are you?"

"Please, just don't follow me."

There's no way he will like me now. Not when Rika is around. Everybody knows that she has an obsession with him.

Will ran faster.

All he could see was the girl he was dancing with run away. Well, that certainly never happened before. Normally it's him running away. Most of the time from Rika.

"Wait!" He called, but knew it was hopeless. The girl would never stop running. Who is she?

He stopped running.

All what he could think about was those gorgeous green eyes searching his, as if they were trying to find something, anything that would prove to her that he was going to be there for her.

And I need to keep that promise.

He ran.

He ran faster and faster until he reached the girl sitting in a car, holding onto the steering wheel and crying. She looked down at her dress and cried harder. Will tapped on the window. The girl was startled and grabbed the mask which was on her lap and covered her face. Will couldn't see her face anyway, the tinting on the car made her face sort of blurry.

Xenia looked at the gorgeous dark haired and green eyed boy looking worriedly into the car. 'Open the window' he mouthed. Xenia was hesitant. I don't want him to see me like this. She looked at her reflection in the mirror on the visor above the steering wheel. Her eyes were red, eyeliner smudged; at least the mask covers up the waterfall of mascara which ran down her cheeks.

Still, I don't want him to see me like this.

"Please." She heard Will's voice through the window separating them.

She shook her head. "This would never work out." She mumbled.

"How do you know that?"

She didn't answer.

Because it only works out in books and fairytales and movies.

It never works out in real life.

Pat sat in the corner of the room, watching everybody laugh and converse and dance with one another. I wonder how Xenia is going?

She was about to get up and check discreetly, eavesdrop and the sorts when Josh strolled up to her. "You disappeared on me." He stated sitting down next to her.

"I did?"

"Yeah. Leaving me alone in the middle of the dancefloor."

Pat laughed. "Sorry. I'm sure there are other girls around to keep you company."

"None like you."

"True. I'm one of a kind."

Josh laughed loudly.

Too loudly.

Everybody stared at them.

"Has nobody heard a person laugh before?" She called out, breaking the stares everybody was giving to the two of them. "That's what I thought." she mumbled.

"Thanks." Josh stated.

"No problem."

"So... Are you going to tell me who you are?"

"Like I said, you're going to have to figure it out."

"Well your red hair sort of gives you away."

"Who says I haven't died it?"

"You died your hair?"

"Maybe."

"You're a tough cookie to crack."

"No, I'm just hard to figure out. There are many sides to me."

"Like what?"

"Well those are for you to figure out."

"Seriously? More mystery?"

"Sorry."

He laughed light-heartedly. And then a slow song came through the speakers.

Awkwardness. Theres no other word to describe the air between them.

"Do you... um... do you want a dance?"

"With who?" Pat joked, Josh smiled, "Of course I'd love to dance with the birthday boy."

Josh laughed and led her to the dancefloor.

Will stared into the window, waiting for the girls reply.

She's not going to reply. His brain stated.

"Please, let me come in. I... I want to be here for you, but you're not letting me."

"I don't want you to see me like this."

"Why?" Girls are always sensitive about their looks. His brain reminded. "You don't have to be concious of what you look like. You're beautiful no matter what. Even when you cry."

"Trust me, I'm not."

"Well, maybe you think that, but I don't. I know you. We've talked online for ages. And that I finally get to see you, I want to see you. The real you. Because you can delete what you say on the Internet, but you can't in real life and believe me when I say that I don't want to delete what I'm saying now. You're beautiful. And it wouldn't matter who you are or what you look like. You're beautiful on the inside and, honestly, there aren't many girls who are like that."

Touched at his words, Xenia opened the door and scooched over across the connecting seats in the front of the car, giving Will some room to sit down.

Will smiled and climbed in, placing her hand in between his. "Do you want to talk about it?" He asked, shutting the car door behind him.

Xenia hesitated, "My mother died when I was twelve. This was her dress. And I can't leave because..." I can't give any information away.

"Because?..."

"Nothing."

"Okay."

"Everthings going to be alright. Even if the dress is ruined, you still have the memories of her, in your brain-" he put his fingers to her temple, "-and heart." He hesitated to place his fingers on her chest - where her heart would be - so he subtituted to placing his hand on her shoulder. "Thankyou." She said resting her head on his chest. His warm chest.

***

Half an hour passed and they sat there, in the car, and talked. Pat came walking towards the car and stopped as she saw Pineapple Guy and Xenia in the car. She knocked on the window. Xenia winded it down. "I'm sorry to break you guys up but we need to get home."

"Oh, okay. Uh... see-ya." He said, looping an arm around Xenia's shoulders in an awkward goodbye hug and got out of the car.

But his cuff got caught on the strap of her mask and it came flying off.

.....

Xenia turned her face away quickly and Pat rushed into the car. They drove off hastily and left Will standing there, holding a golden mask gingerly in his hands. "Wait! You're.... mask."

He sighed.