The Masquerade Valentine's dance comes sooner than I would have expected. It's been three weeks since I've asked Brendan. I went dress shopping about two weeks ago with my mom. I found a beautiful teal knee length dress and silver heels.

Brendan has taken it upon himself to take us out to dinner on him even though this is a girl's ask dance. My protests had no effect on him.

So, it is decided that he will pick me up from here at seven o'clock.

At the moment, it is 6:43 and my mom is rushing to finish curling my long blonde hair and pinning it up. While she does that, I hurry and put on some makeup and perfume. Last minute ladies, we are.

I almost forget, but I throw a white mask into my purse.

When finally everything is finished, my mom decides she needs a ton of pictures of this exciting moment or whatever. I endure it with a fully forced smile.

Finally, the knock on the door comes.

I straighten up immediately, wide eyes staring at the door. My mom pats my shoulder as if telling me to go open it. I take calming breaths until I reach the knob and then finally I open it.

It isn't Brendan.

It's Caleb.

Caleb? I thought he never wanted to talk to me again. I thought he would never forgive me for joining the Cheddar Rolls. What's he doing on my front porch?

And why is he in a suit and tie?

This is going to be really awkward if he thinks he's going to the dance with me or something...

"Hi, Caleb..." I say slowly. "Uh, what are you doing here?"

He smiles at me. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I haven't been a good friend lately. And I want you to forgive me for that."

I stare at him for a few moments, surprised. Then I nod. "Yes. Yes, of course. Are you... Are you going to the dance?"

"Yeah," he says, then he looks away and scratches behind his head casually. "Uh, this girl in my English class asked me. Her name's Peyton."

"Oh, that's great, Caleb!" I exclaim.

"Yeah," he says. He looks away towards the road.

I see Brendan's car come into view. As soon as he parks his car, I smile in the direction.

Suddenly Caleb wraps his arms around me. I'm startled at first, staying still. Then I laugh and wrap my arms back around him too.

"Thank you," he says. "For forgiving me."

I awkwardly stand there with him for a few moments longer than necessary. I pull away before he does. He looks away, as if embarrassed. Then he nods to Brendan. Winks at me. And walks over to his car.

Brendan looks at me questioningly as he walks up to the porch. I smile at him.

"What was that all about?" He asks, eyebrow raised. He looks bothered.

"He wanted to make up with each other. Go back to being friends," I shrug.

"Friends?" He looks unsure. "He seemed a little friendly for a friend."

"No, that's just us," I say casually. Caleb and I used to have this kind of unbreakable relationship. It might be unusual to others, but we were closer than usual friends. I'm glad to have that back. "I promise it's not like that."

"I wouldn't blame you of that," he says. "I trust you."

Brendan looks amazing in his black suit and light blue tie to match my dress. He holds out an arm to me, which I take hold of, and we walk together to his car.

Before he lets me in, he stops me, turns me towards him. "You look beautiful." Then he lightly kisses me.

The drive isn't long. Brendan tells me about how that morning he woke up to find Drew sitting in his movie room watching TV. Apparently he had just been sitting in there all night because his mom had gotten mad at him for his grades and told him to get out.

I tell him about how when Drew and I were dating, once he called me at around one in the morning to pick me up. I had jumped out my window and he drove me to Walmart and we bought candy together.

We come to a conclusion that Drew has a thing with leaving the house during the night.

Brendan and I pull up to Carraba's about ten minutes later. I absolutely love Italian food. He must notice my excitement because he chuckles to himself when he opens my door to let me out.

"So, I'm guessing this was a good choice?" He asks, as we walk hand in hand to the door.

"This is literally my favorite place in the world," I reply, grinning at him. "You chose well."

"I like to think I have good taste," he shrugs.

When we actually get inside, find a table, and order our food, it's about 7:40. The dance starts at 8:30, but we have mutually agreed that we do not need to be there exactly on time. Fashionably late suits us perfectly.

The waitress, Wendy, brings us our food around ten minutes after we order. Not only does it look good and smell good, it tastes fantastic.

"Whoa, slow down there. You're going to choke and die at that pace," Brendan says, trying to contain a laugh.

I look up, eyes wide, mouth full of pasta. He shakes his head, smiling.

"Ladylike."

"Hey, don't judge me. It's not like you're a princess when you eat," I roll my eyes.

"I'm just trying to save your life here."

"I appreciate it," I reply, with a monotone voice.

*•*•*

After a fabulous dinner and a plate of the best cheesecake you ever did have, we head out to the car and prepare to dance the night away. It's already dark outside, only 8:20. I watch out the window as we drive.

"Have you ever been there?" Brendan asks, pointing out some little Pet Store.

"No, why?" I ask, tilting my head at him.

"No reason," he shrugs. "I used to go there all the time. They had some cute cats."

"Brendan Marks, a cat lover?" I ask, mouth hanging open in shock.

"I wouldn't go so far as to say lover..." He smiles a little.

"What a softie..." I grin back at him.

"I am most certainly not a softie," he says, facing me once we get to a red light.

"I have a cat, you know. A real nice one. You'd love her, I bet," I tell him.

"I never should have said a single word," Brendan says.

"Do you like rabbits, too?"

"Enough with the animals," Brendan says with a sigh. Then he hesitates "But yes, I like rabbits."

"And chick flicks?"

"Do I look like the kind of guy who would like chick flicks, Lili?" he says with a chuckle.

"You never know. I just found out that you like cats and rabbits. It's possible," I say. "Even with a manly man like you."

"A manly man?"

"Yes," I nod.

"Please never call me that again," he says, taking a left turn down a new road.

"Why? You are-"

"Ohhh crap," he says.

The car starts slowing down and Brendan pulls over. Then it turns off completely.

"Crap, crap, crap," he repeats. He twists his key in the ignition but the engine doesn't start again.

"Out of gas?" I ask, even though it's actually very obvious.

"No, I just wanted to stop and push the car for a bit," he says blankly.

I start laughing. "Wow, smooth. Out of gas on the way to a high school dance."

"Hey, I'm sorry," he says, looking over at me.

"Don't be," I say with a smile. "Let's walk. It's not far from here, is it?"

"About three blocks," he shrugs.

"Let's do this."

I pull open my door and step out into the cool nighttime air. Brendan does the same, locking the car doors. I look around, trying to figure out where we are. I've never been good with directions.

"That way," I point out to the left.

Brendan laughs and takes my wrist and turns it around so it faces towards the opposite direction.

"That way," he says.

"Right. I was just testing you," I say, crossing my arms.

"Of course," he smiles.

I start walking towards the right direction. Brendan follows, ending up walking right beside me.

High heels aren't exactly the best for walking. My ankles grow week within the first two minutes. Also, I should have brought a jacket. My entire being is shivering but I don't want to complain. I just wrap my arms around myself and press forward.

Something warm drops onto my shoulders. I look over, eyes wide. Brendan puts his suit jacket over my shoulders.

"No, I'm okay, this is-"

"Lili, just take it," he says. "You're freezing to death."

"That's a little overdramatic, but okay," I shrug.

"I already feel like a crappy date, and I don't want to have to take you back to your mom and explain why you're a human ice sculpture," he sighs.

"My mom loves you. She'd probably tell you that you'd made a wonderful creation and then put me in the yard," I say. "Just to make sure you don't feel bad."

"I'm glad your parents think so highly of me," he says.

"I am too," I say. I look over at him with a grin.

"Look, there it is," Brendan says, pointing to the school.

"What time is it?" I ask him.

"Almost 9:20," he says.

"Alright, we've still got about an hour and a half of partying to go."

Once we reach the front doors, he pulls them open for me. A gust of warm air blows out at me. I hand him back his jacket with a thank you.

I almost run straight into Shelby.

"Hello," she says overly sweetly.

I just stare at her. Brendan reaches over and grabs onto my hand.

"I was beginning to think you weren't going to show," she says with an evil glint in her eyes.

As Brendan drags me away from her, I remember. Shelby threatened me a while back. She told me to watch my back. She doesn't want Brendan I together. I shouldn't be intimidated by her, but I can't help myself from it.

Right before entering, Brendan and I put on our masks. He wiggles his eyebrows at me. I shake my head with a laugh. Then he grabs my hand and we enter the gym.

Almost immediately the people closest to the door turn and stare as we walk in. Girls turn away in complete jealousy. I try to ignore it. Brendan smiles at me as if nothing has changed at all.

We walk towards the center of the dance floor. There, I spot Drew and Mandy. She wears a purple dress that falls all the way to the floor and her curled hair makes mine look like a rats nest. But I don't really mind anymore.

She smiles and waves at me. Drew turns around and spots us. He calls us over.

"An hour and a half late, huh?" Drew says with a smirk.

"My car ran out of gas," Brendan explains with a sigh.

"And you made your date walk?" He asks, eyeing me.

I shrug. "I wanted to."

"Of course you did. I keep forgetting, you're Ms. Optimistic," Drew says.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask, putting a hand on my hip.

"It's a good thing," he replies.

Brendan grabs my hand in his. I look up at him. "Would you care to dance?"

It's only now that I notice the song has changed. It's a slow one. My heart starts beating too fast. I hate slow dancing. The last time I tried to, it was a middle school dance that I went to with Caleb. I was stepping on his feet the entire time.

I nod anyways. We move away from Drew and Mandy a bit. He places his hands in my waist and I wrap mine around his neck. I've always thought high school dancing is extremely awkward. Just moving back and forth to the music. But I guess it depends on who you're with.

"You know, you were right," he says after a moment.

"About what?"

"I don't come to dances very often," Brendan says with a small smile.

"Yeah, me either," I admit, smiling back.

"But I'm glad I came with you," he says.

"Of course you are," I say. "I'm a delight."

"You sure are," he says with a small laugh. Then he pulls me closer and kisses me. I almost trip in my high heels, but he steadies me, hand behind my back.

Someone bumps into us from the side, and I would have crashed to the ground if it weren't for Brendan's arm holding onto me.

I look over and find Drew smirking at us, holding onto Mandy still. "No PDA," he laughs.

I brush off my skirt casually, and Brendan lets me go. He looks concerned and pulls his phone out of his pocket.

"I'm so sorry, Lili," he says. "It's my dad. I probably have to take this."

I nod and tell him I understand. Because I do. His dad rarely calls let alone talks to him. This must be either an emergency or important. I awkwardly walk to the edge of the dance floor when he leaves.

I spot Danny with a pretty red headed girl eating some brownies and desserts at the food table. He notices me and waves. I smile back.

"What are you doing, you loner?" He asks with a laugh.

"Brendan ditched me and went home to tend to his garden," I shrug.

"Wouldn't surprise me," he says.

"Me either," I say. "Just earlier I found out he's a cat loving softie."

"He likes cats?" Danny asks, eyebrows raised.

"I guess," I smile.

"Sorry," he says, looking back to his date. "I'm gonna have to ditch you too. I'll talk to you later, alright?"

"Sure," I say. "Have fun!"

"But not too much, right?" He winks then he and his date walk away towards the dancing.

Whilst standing by myself, I decide it's alright to eat some of this food. I pull some cookies off a plate. They're surprisingly soft and fantastic. The punch, on the other hand, tastes bland. I'd rather have water.

Suddenly a pair of hands covers my eyes. I laugh, shaking my head.

"Okay, Brendan, that's so funny. You know how much I love being blinded," I say. "If you're trying to be all romantically secretive, it isn't working."

I'm turned around, eyes still covered. So I guess I'll answer that question myself. He is trying to be all romantic and secretive.

I feel him lean forward and I do as well, grabbing the collar of his shirt and pulling him towards me. Eyes still closed, I feel his lips press against mine.

Immediately, I know it isn't Brendan. I pull away, his hands still around my waist. My eyes widen when I realize what's in front of me. Caleb.

What just happened?

I slowly release my grip on his collar and take a step back. I look around and it's as if the world is going in slow motion. My head is spinning.

And then I see him.

Brendan is standing not five feet away, completely still. I can see the hurt evident on every feature of his face.

And I want to speak, to say something, to assure him this isn't right. That he came back at the wrong time.

And I want to tell Caleb how wrong that was. That we had just made up. How could he do this?

Brendan walks slowly towards me, mouth open as if he's going to say something. Then he closes it. His jaw tightens. His focus on my eyes never changes.

"Why... How..." He struggles on his words. "I trusted you."

Trusted.

He trusted me.

"Please," I say, tears filling my eyes. "Listen to me. Let me..."

"No," he shakes his head. "I don't want to hear it. I thought something earlier when he was at your house, but I let it go because I thought you would never do that. Never betray me. I guess I misunderstood you."

The tears have started to pour over now. I take a step forward. "No, you don't understand-"

"You're right," he says, shaking his head. "I don't understand."

I put my face in my hands. This entire night has turned into a nightmare. I want to punch myself and wake up.

"I can't believe this," I hear him say. "I never thought..."

"If you just let me explain what happened-"

"I don't want to hear a word you say to me. I can't take it anymore. I can't..." Then he runs his hand through his hair. And leaves the room.

I try to go after him, but someone grabs my wrist. Knowing it's Caleb, I feel fury fly through my body like adrenaline. He did this.

I pull my arm out of his grip, turn around, and slap him so hard that my palm stings at the touch.

Then I walk away, almost every person in the gym watching in awe.