“I knew it was Jim’s house.”
“You…you did?”
“Yes.”
“Well, then why’d you do it?”
“Because—”

BANG BANG BANG!
“…the fuck?” I said out loud, pausing Edward Scissorhands, one of my favorite movies to go and answer the door.

“DAISY!” Alyssa screamed when I yanked open my apartment door.

“What?” I asked, shocked that she was already yelling at me, one day into our friendship.

“I cannot believe you did that!”

“Did what?” I asked, growing more and more alarmed.

“Put Eric’s number in my phone instead of yours!” she screamed.

“Oh, that? That was nothing!” I said.

“ ‘Nothing?’ Nothing? It was horrible! I got lost in the city, and when I tried to call you, Eric picked up. Do you know how weird that was for me?”

“I—”

“That was a rhetorical question. It was very weird. He picked me up, and he barely took his eyes off of me.”

“…isn’t…that, a, uh, good thing?” I asked, hesitantly, afraid that she’d blow fire at me.

“No! I could practically feel his breath on my neck the entire ride here! Plus, he has such a shitty car. I couldn’t even move an inch away from him!”

“Look, I know Halvo seems like a creepy kid if you just met him, but trust me, he’s a good guy.” Alyssa still looked unconvinced, but she let it slide. “Alright, if it makes you feel any better, Halloween is in five days. I’m going to throw a masquerade party. It’s going to be epic. No one will know who anyone is, and maybe, you’ll end up talking to Eric and actually like who he is.”

“I’m not—” she started, but I cut her off.

“C’mon, Lyss,” I pouted. “It’ll be fun! Trust me. I know that last one wasn’t fun, but that’s only because you didn’t know anyone. This one will be fun, because nobody will know who anyone else is!” I smiled cheerfully.

Alyssa finally smiled back, accepting this as a valid argument. “Okay.”

“Yay!” I screamed, pulling her into a hug. “We’ll go shopping sometime soon, okay?”

“’Kay,” she smiled.

“Help me call everyone and invite them to it. I want a lot of people to show up.” I said, and she nodded, pulling out her phone.
—
The next morning, I woke up extra early. I had some party planning to do. Halloween was now in less than four days, and I had a lot of planning to do. I called the Marriott Hotel to see if we could borrow their dance hall for the masquerade ball. Surprisingly, they agreed. Apparently there was a recent wedding cancellation, and they had a spot open, for the night before Halloween. Seriously? Who get’s married the night before Halloween?

I pulled on my distressed skinny jeans, my “The Maine Is Love” t-shirt, and my converse, and headed over to Alyssa’s, putting my credit card into my pocket.

“’Lyss!” I pounded on her door. “Get your ass up! We’ve got some shopping to do!”

I heard something thump on the floor, and suspected that I had just woken her up.

I was correct.

“What do you want from my life?” she asked groggily, still in her pajamas.

“What are you still doing in your pajamas? It’s 9:30!” I said, walking into her apartment.

“That’s why I’m still in my pajamas; it’s 9:30,” she replied. “You better have a damn good reason for waking me up, Daisy.”

“Oh, I do,” I nodded excitedly. “We have a change of plans. The Marriott Hotel only has their dance hall open the night before Halloween, but this is perfect. The party will start at 8, and end at 12. At midnight, on Halloween, we’ll have everyone take off their masks, and reveal themselves. But seeing how it’s so short notice, we need to go shopping, now.”

“Oh, man. Do I get coffee?” Alyssa asked. “It sounds like a long day.”

“Mhm. My treat. We’ll head to Starbuck’s before we hit the mall,” I replied.
—
A half an hour later, with both of us holding our drugs of choice, Starbuck’s Doubleshot Espresso & Cream for me, and a Venti Vanilla Bean Frappachino for Alyssa, and we were ready to go.

We hit Cache first; I always liked the dresses they had. A bit pricey, but worth it. Nothing there appealed to either of us, so we headed over to JC Penny’s. After about an hour and half’s worth of searching, Alyssa finally found her dress.

“Daisy! Look at this gorrrrgeous dress!” she exclaimed, holding up a beautiful pink dress. The front of it was decorated with black lace that stopped at the waist. The back tied into a corset, with the bottom bunched up into a pretty pink and black bow. It was completely gorgeous—for her.

We had yet to find a dress for me. But it was already 11:30, so we decided to head to the food court for an early lunch.

We were standing in line, waiting to order our lunches at Chick-Fil-A, when I heard a familiar voice call out my name.

“Daisy!” I turned around to see John waving a hand at me. Eric, Kennedy, Jared, Pat, Lauren Garrett, Nick, Justin, Andrew, and Austin were all with him.

“Hey, did you guys decide to go shopping today, too?” I asked him, but before John could reply, I heard another familiar voice call out my name.

“Daisy!” Again? I thought, as I turned around to meet Gabi, Rachael, and Tess.

“Damn. All da crew’s here,” I said, laughing as the guys went to go put together a few tables so we could all fit, while us girl’s ordered all of the food.

John walked up to us, and began to pull out his money to pay for it all, when Halvo whispered something in his ear. He nodded, and smiled, looking back at Alyssa, and for a second there, I felt a jealous twinge. I shook my head out of it’s daze though, as John paid for everyone’s but Halvo’s and Alyssa’s. Confused, I followed John and asked him what was up with that.

“Look,” is all he said, jerking his head in the direction of the two of them. I looked back to see Halvo smiling at Alyssa, holding her food on his tray. She looked uncomfortable, and gave me a “WTF?” look. I smiled reassuringly, and gave her a thumbs up, while she flipped me the bird. I laughed and sat down next to John.

“Hey, do me a favor, and take up all the seats, but the two beside Daisy,” John told everyone and I smiled at Eric’s attempts to get his girl.

Alyssa sat down next to me, a bit angrily, and began digging into her food. John passed out everyone’s food and we eagerly ate, mostly talking about the ball.

I smiled, loving how excited everyone was for this party.

“Hey,” John nudged my shoulder. “you’ve got a bit of ketchup on your face,” he laughed, and I stuck my tongue out at him, trying to get it off my face. “Gone?” I asked him with my eyebrows raised.

“Almost,” he said, reaching over with a napkin to wipe away the remnants of my sandwich. I smiled as he brushed a few strands of hair out of my face. Our little moment was ruined when Alyssa suddenly tugged on my arm.

“I’m done, let’s go.” she said, pulling me away from the table.

I laughed, and tugged my arm away from her grip. “Hold on.”  I ran back to the table to invite the rest of the girls to go shopping with us.

“Ooh, cool. You two can help me find a dress!” Tess said, smiling.

“Okay,” I smiled back. I leaned down to whisper in John’s ear. “Thank you for lunch,” I said, kissing him lightly on the cheek, and enjoying how his eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. I giggled softly and turned to Halvo. “Sorry about ‘Lyss. I’ll help you, though. I’ll find you a kickass mask, ‘kay?” I asked him.

He nodded sadly.

“Awh,” I said, giving the poor guy a big hug. I pulled away when I heard Alyssa tapping her feet on the floor, rolling my eyes at her immaturity. “See you guys later?” I asked the two of them, and John nodded. I waved goodbye and walked back over to the girls.
I slapped Alyssa in the arm.

“Ow!” she exclaimed. “What was that for?”

“You could be a little nicer to the guy!” I said, remembering Eric’s sad face. “You didn’t even say thank you!”

“Oh, fine,” she huffed, and pulled out her cell phone. She typed something and put it back in her pocket. “Happy?”

“Depends. What did you do?” I asked curiously.

“I texted ‘thanks 4 lunch’ to him,” she said.
“Then, yes. I am happy.” I smiled, while she rolled her eyes. “Baby steps, ‘Lyss.”

We walked over to Macy’s and headed for the dress section. Fifteen minutes into the second floor, and I had found a dress for Gabi. It was strapless with a teal/green water color look to it.

“Oh, I love it, Daisy!” she gushed, hugging me, and then running off to pay for it. I smiled and set myself to find a dress.

“Rachael, come here,” Alyssa said, pulling out a strapless gray-ish dress with an embroidered lace tulle wrapped around it. Rachael gasped and ran over, running her hands over the dress’s material, and smiled.

“You guys are so kick ass at finding dresses.” Rachael laughed.

“We know,” I said, jokingly.

Twenty minutes later, Lauren pulled out a dark red halter dress with a plunging neckline. “What do you guys think?” she asked, putting the dress up against her body and posing.

We all looked at each other with disapproving looks at the trashy dress she chose, but no one said anything for a couple of seconds.

“Isn’t that…uhm, a little revealing?” Gabi asked her.

“I don’t think so. I think it’s sexy,” she said, twirling the dress around.

“Oh, well, if you like it…” I trailed off.

“I’m gonna get it.” Lauren seemed oblivious to our obvious disdainful looks of disapproval. We laughed and shook our heads at her.

“Hey, ‘Lyss. Did Eric ever text back?” I asked her, looking over a couple of racks of clothing to see her blush.

“Uhm, yeah. He said “No problem, babe” with one of those winking smileys?” she replied, and I laughed, right before a dress caught my eye.

“Oh, Tess!” I exclaimed, looking at a little black dress with a pink sash across the waist.

“What, did you find me a dress?” she asked, excitedly.

“I think so.” I nodded. “What do you think?” I pulled it out to show it to her. The dress ended a little above her knees, but the lace tulle went a little past them, showing just enough skin to look sexy, but modest.

“Rach is right, you are great at finding dresses.” Tess smiled.

“For other people,” I frowned. After another 30 minutes of searching, I was about to give up, when I caught a glimpse of a beautiful blue dress.

“Guys, I think I found it.” I said, walking slowly over to the dress. It was a light baby blue with white coloring faded into it. Floor skimming length with a plunging neckline, meeting an empire waist. It was classy and yet, sexy, too. There were jewel accents on the shoulder, bringing out the blue. “This is it. This is the one.”

“Oh, Daisy, it’s gorgeous!” Alyssa exclaimed.

“It kinda makes me want it.” Rachael said wistfully. I laughed.

“Hey, you’ve got your own, girlfran.” We all giggled and I went to go pay for my dress when a beeping from my phone caught my attention.

Find your dress yet? —J.

I smiled at those four simple words and immediately texted back:

Yes, it’s gorrrrrgeous. Find your outfit yet? —D.

His reply was sent in less than 30 seconds.

Mhm. Gonna give me a clue to what color you’ll be wearing?

Nope. What fun would that be? ;)

Well, then. -HUFF HUFF-

Pulling a Halvo, are we?

LOL. Whatever, don’t change the subject. Speaking of, he wants me to ask you about the mask, did you find him one, yet?

“Oh crap!” I said out loud.

“What happened?” Alyssa asked.

“We’ve still got to go get masks.” I said, quickly texting John back a “No, on it now. TTYL.”

“We’ve already got ours.” Rachael said, and I gave them a confused look. “Gabi and I headed off in our own directions to find our masks after you guys found our dresses. Lauren got hers too.”

“Oh, well, I’ve got to go pick up something else, too, so Alyssa, why don’t you and Tess go find your masks and I’ll meet you all back in the food court, and we’ll go out to dinner together?”

“Sure.” Alyssa nodded and hooked arms with Tess, walking out of Macy’s while I went to the hidden costume store in the corner of the mall I loved to shop at.

I browsed the glass casing, looking for Eric’s mask first. I saw a silver mask with swirls of glitter painted on and asked for the kind frail old woman behind the counter to pull it out for me.

I felt the back of the mask to see if it would be comfortable for Eric to wear for four hours, and once I was satisfied with how it felt, I asked the woman to hold it for me while I looked around for my own mask.

I browsed the shelves full of different masks, but didn’t find anything that matched my dress.

“Need some help, dear?” The old woman asked me.

“Actually, I do. Do you have any mask that matches this dress?” I asked her, holding up my dress.

“Oh,” she gasped. “I have the perfect one. Wait right here, dearie.”

I smiled and nodded, looking around at the beautiful costumes. The woman returned, holding a box open.

“This one. It will bring you luck,” she smiled, showing me the mask. My eyes widened. It was beautiful. It looked like something that would come out of a fairytale book. The color of the mask matched my dress perfectly. Glitter swirls were scattered across the mask, making it look as if I were wearing a patch of stars. A silver accent came out of the right side and a tinier model of it came out of the left.

“It’s…stunning.” I said.

“That, it is,” she smiled kindly at me. “It’s one of a kind. I made it myself.”

“Wow, this is amazing. How much is it?” I asked her.

“Oh, no. You can have it, dearie. It’ll fit you perfectly.”

“Oh, I can’t—”

“Sure, you can,” she smiled and patted my hands kindly.

“And the other mask?” I asked her.

“Free, too,” she nodded.

“This is too much. Especially since it was handmade.”

“Don’t worry about it. Off you go,” she said.

I smiled gratefully back at her. “Thank you.” It was as if she was my fairy godmother, like the one in Cinderella. Only better. I put both of the masks in my shopping bag and headed towards the food court.

“Hey, beautiful,” a voice whispered in my ear, and I looked up to find John looking back at me.

“Hey,” I smiled. “Boy, you sure know how to charm a girl.”

He smiled cheekily, and I looked around to find the other guys. Only, they weren’t there. “Where are the other guys?”

“Food court. Everyone’s there. We’re just waiting for you.”

“Oh, really? I hadn’t thought that I took that long,” I mused.

“Doesn’t matter. Let’s get going to dinner. I’m starved.” He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and I smiled.

“Please, you’re always hungry.” I said.

“True, true,” he laughed and nudged my ribs.

“Oh, wait, here. Let me give you this now so Alyssa won’t see.” I took out Halvo’s mask and handed it to him. “It’s Eric’s mask. Make sure Alyssa doesn’t know it’s his.”

“No problemo,” he said, sticking the back in with his purchases.

We walked in silence for a bit, until curiosity boiled up in me.

“So, do I get a hint?” I asked, looking up at him through my eyelashes.

“What do you mean?”

“What are you wearing? So I’ll know it’s you?” I asked.

“Nope. Nuh unh. You didn’t give me a hint, so I won’t give you one.” I hmphed. “Besides, isn’t the point of all of a masquerade to not know who everyone is? What fun will it be if you know who I am!”

“Agh. Good point.” I said, defeated.

“I know.” That cheeky bastard. “But don’t worry, I’ll find you. Either way, I’ll find you,” he whispered in my ear, and I felt a shiver go down my spine as we approached the others.

“She’s finally here!” Kennedy said, throwing his hands up in the air.

“Oh, stop being a drama queen.” I said, hitting him in the shoulder.

“Well, who’s ready to get your grub on?” Justin asked everyone.

“Where are we going to eat?” I asked.

“Chuck E Cheese.” Alyssa said.

“…the fuck?” I laughed. “You’re serious?”

Pat nodded. “As serious as a heart attack.”

Lauren slapped him on the back of the head. “Loser.”

We all laughed and headed off to our cars. “See you in a few,” John kissed my cheek and let go of my shoulders.

“Bye,” I waved.

“Ooh,” Alyssa said in a singsong voice. “Daisy’s got a crush.”

I scoffed. “Do not!”

“Do toooo!” she laughed as I poked her ribcage. “Daisy’s in love with Joooohn. Hey! Hey, John—” she screamed but a clamped a hand over her mouth before she could shout anything at him. He laughed at the two of us, and got into his car.

We both followed the suit and got into my car. I put in a mix CD I made a couple of weeks back and turned it up.

“Another party with the same kids, another night with the same drinks…”

“Oh, hey, remember when I got lost yesterday, and you left me for dead?” she asked.

“Haha, yeah?”

“I saw this poster. It had John and the guys on it. What the fuck is up with that?”

“Oh, right! I forgot to tell you. John’s in a band.”

“No shit, Sherlock. The Maine? What kinda shit name is that?” she asked and I laughed loudly.

“It’s from a song by one of the bands they really admire. ‘Coast of Maine’ by Ivory. You know them?”

“Yeah, I love that song. That’s totally weird. Who does what in the band?”

“John sings, Kenny plays guitar, Jared, the ginger, plays lead guitar, Garrett, the kinda auburn haired kid, he plays bass. And Pat, Pat plays drums.”

“Whoa. Dream big.” she said. “What do they sound like?”

“This is actually them.” I said, pointing at the stereo, and turning it up.

“She won’t kiss and tell! But this isn’t hell. She’s got a name, it all seems like a game how she moves so well…”

“This is John’s voice? Hot damn. Foo’ can sing.” she said.

I laughed and pulled into the Chuck E Cheese parking lot. “These retards. Who chose to come eat here, anyways?”

“Eric.” she said.

I laughed. “Of course.”

We both got out of the car, and walked over to the other’s. I walked up to John and he immediately put an arm around my waist.

“Missed you, kitten.”

I smiled and blushed, looking away from Alyssa, Gabi, Rachael, and Tess, who were all making fishy faces at me.

We walked into the Chuck E Cheese, and the worker’s there all looked surprised at the fact that there were people here that were older than 9.

“Table for sixteen?” I said to the redheaded guy in the purple Chuck E Cheese shirt.

“Right this way, ma’am.” He looked like he was sixteen, and sounded like he was still going through puberty.

He lead us to the very back, where the tables reserved for birthday parties were. We all got cups with about 25 tokens in them, and Justin, Austin, Pat, Garrett, and Jared all immediately ran off towards the games, while John, Kenny, Nick, Eric, Andrew, and us girls took our time.

“I think I’m going to wait on the pizza. You guys go play, I’m starving.” I said to all of them. Halvo set off in the direction of the games where you roll the balls into targets with a determined expression on his face. Alyssa set off in the complete opposite direction, over to the place where the game where you shoot the target with a water gun to get the boat up was set up.

I laughed at the two of them. The girls all scattered into different directions, and John sat down next to me.

“You’re not going to go play games?” I asked him.

“Nah. I’d rather sit here with you,” he smiled at me, and I smiled back.

While we waited for the food, I watched Eric. Every single game he played, he won a crapload of tickets. It was like the dude was a Chuck E Cheese god or something. Foo’ knew all the secrets.

Once he ran out of tokens, he walked over to the ticket counter, putting in all of his tickets. He came back with a smug smile on his face.

“How much?” I asked him.

“267.” He replied.

“Whoa. All from 25 tokens?” John asked with an incredulous look on his face.

“Haha, yeah. We used to come here all the time when we were kids, remember?” he asked John.

“Yeah, but I was never that good at the games,” John laughed.

“What are you going to get with all of your tickets?” I asked him.

“Well,” he said, scratching the back of his head. “I kinda wanted to win then big fluffy panda for Alyssa, but that costs 400 tickets. I’ve only got 267.”

“Here, take mine. I don’t like the games that much, anyways.” I said, offering him my cup.

“Thanks,” he smiled.

“Anything to help you win that girl’s heart.” I winked at him.

He laughed and set off to go play more games, while Justin, Austin, Jared, & Garrett wreaked havoc. They had climbed into the kid’s play place and began to terrorize tiny children.

I laughed at the four of them. The pizza finally came out, and I called everyone back to their seats to eat.

We ate and talked some more about the ball. None of the guys would tell us what they’d be wearing though. I mean, they’re guys! What could they possibly wear that would surprise us?
Chapter by; Nickie.