Page 2 of When Midnight Strikes
She responds by turning up her music and sticking her tongue out at me. I point to the road to tell her to pay attention to it and not me or the radio. We are one of the very few cars on the road right now, which makes it easy to find parking right in front of the party store. We stroll the aisles until we find the one with all the masquerade masks. She shoves a blue mask into me. “This one is totally you; you have to get it!”
I hold out the vibrant blue mask in front of me, examining the gold trim that wraps around it and the feathers coming out from the sides. There are gold designs engraved into the blue plastic. I walk to the closest mirror and slide the mask over my face, and she is right; it’s perfect. It covers my face in all the places I need it to, and it will go perfectly with my new gold vest I plan to wear over my black button down. I got the vest years ago for another party I didn’t end up going to. It’s been buried in my closet but now I get to bring it out of hiding.
I pull the mask off my face and turn toward Vivian, who is trying on a red mask while making a dissatisfied face as she stands in front of the mirror. She reaches for a pink mask on the wall, and by the way her face lights up when she puts it on, I know she has finally found a winner. She squeals with excitement as she glances at her reflection again. “Ahh, I think I found the perfect one for me—what do you think? Will it go with my dress?” She holds up her phone, showing me a picture of a black sequined cocktail dress.
I nod in agreement. “That mask is definitely you. Lucky for you, anything matches that tiny piece of cloth you are calling a dress. Pair it with those hot pink heels you have, and it will be perfect!”
She nods, all giddy again. “Yes, and I think Connor is going to love me in that dress.”
I sigh in annoyance. “You invited Connor? Have you not learned your lesson with that guy? He is such a jerk and is just using you.”
She slides the mask off and turns, facing me. “Well lucky for him, my intentions are in line with his. I’ll be using him Saturday night just as much.”
We head to the checkout with our masks in hand, and she turns to me again. “Wait, do we need anything else, you think?”
I shake my head. “Nah, I think the masks are good. Let’s not overdo it. Besides, we don’t want to be carrying around or wearing too much stuff that our drunk asses will just end up losing at the end of the night anyway.”
She hands her mask to the cashier after nodding in agreement and grabs mine from my hand. “It’s my treat since I’m making you go.”
I smile. “Oh thanks, I don’t mind paying, but you’re right. You’re dragging me out into the cold when I could be snuggled up in my bed watching some cheesy New Years movie on Hallmark.”
She takes the bag from the cashier before locking her arm with mine and tugging me back to the car. “In that case, you should be thanking me. Those movies are awful and so unrealistic.”
I want to tell her that’s the point but instead, I remain quiet and follow her back into the freezing cold as we hurry to get inside her car. Sometimes, you need to escape reality, and that is exactly why I watch those cheesy movies and write romance novels for a living. This party just may be my opportunity to do that for real. Saturday night, I won’t be Danny, the awkward guy who bears the weight of his past accident. No, Saturday, I will be someone else.
