[D]the show must go on;;{closed}

[sammii knowell]

EZRA, DANI, KJARA, JAY

x
outfit ,, mask
Where has the feeling gone? Will I remember this song? The show must go on...

[/i] this was insane. Sammii was rushing around his dorm, trying to find his things for the dance. He wasn't even supposed to be going anymore. Two days ago, his brother had called to tell him he had to fly home, something about his sister-in-law being sick. And then just an hour ago he called again saying that everything was fine and Sammii should stay here at Winterthorne. Of course he didn't object. Seeing his brother's sister wasn't something he wanted to do. Now he was going to be way late to the dance. He had about an hour to get ready. Finally he found everything he needed and jumped into the shower. It was a quick one, Sammii was hopping back out in about half an hour. Great. He was going to be super late. And he still needed to reach Ezra, and Dani. He pulled his arms through his black shirt, buttoning it up one by one as quickly as he could. Sammii pulled his pants up over his boxers, tucking the bottom hem of the shirt in. Then he grabbed up his hairbrush and ran it through a few times. Standing in the mirror, he brushed it and fixed it up. His snakebites were in like usual, and he put on a thin line of black eyeliner. Sammii sat back on his bed, pulling up a pair of black socks, followed by some nice black shoes.

Eventually he stood up again and ran his figners through his hair as he thought about what he needed to do next. He was really rushing still. Oh right. Mask...damn it where'd I put it?! Sammii thought as he looked around. Oh...there it was, right on his desk. He picked it up and put it on. About to leave the room, doorknob in hand, even, he realized what else he was missing. The jacket for his suit. Damn. He went back in and found it, slipping his arms through the white jacket. Okay, now he should be good to go. Sammii finally walked out the door, shutting it behind him. His footsteps echoed quickly through the hallways. The school was empty, practically. Everyone was at the dance already, even most of the teachers were probably already there, surpervising or something. Sammii pulled his cell phone from his pocket and flipped it open. Searchign through the phone book, he found who he was looking for. Ezra. He hoped they were there together already. Originally, he'd been planning on going with his best friend Dani. But then she'd made him go with Ezra. And then the call, and Dani and Ezra decided they should go together.

Rriing, rriiing. Sammii held the phone to his ear as he waited for Ezra to pick up his cell phone. It went to his voice mail. Sammii hung up. After trying about three more times, with no different results, he gave up. Damn it, why don't you pick up stupid demon, he thought angrily. Maybe he could call Dani...yeah, call her. He opened his phone up again and dialed Dani's number as he was just exiting the castle. Now he just had to make his way to the Secret. Pick up Dani, he thought desperately. He quickly made his way out, practically jogging.[/color][/blockquote][/ul][/size]

[Dani James]

HAIR|DRESS|MASK

Dani tapped her hands again the cloth covered table and sighed. This had to be the lamest thing ever. Not only was she alone, but the person who was supposed to be her date had forgotten her or something. After waiting outside for thirty minutes, she couldn’t take anymore. Adrian was there and being a jerk to her, and Ezra was no where in sight just like all her other friends and she was feeling more forgotten every second that passed. How humiliating. When she got a hold of Ezra she was going to…uh…well, she probably wouldn’t do anything but glare and just stalk off. Not many things pissed her off easily but being forgotten was one definitely one of them. It made her feel low and unimportant. She leaned forward, her elbow on the table, her chin in her hands. Everyone looked so happy and here she was, dateless, alone and pissed off. Lovely.

She flick the napkin in front of her. She was so bored now and annoyed and she was thinking about going home. If she didn’t see anyone she knew soon, she was going to, because this just wasn’t worth it. Or maybe she would just stay. She remember Adrian was out there and if he saw her leave he would probably use that against her and never stop messing with her. God, why did he think it was so funny to piss her off. That had to be his favorite past time or something. Just the thought of him made her want to growl.

[[Sorrie if that sucked >_<]]

[ezra hart]

{ mask } x { suit }

Jesus christ, the raven-haired demon thought to himself, running a few fingers through the spikes at the front of his head. After having escaped the Blair-mare and her date from hell (and having tactfully avoided speaking to them for the rest of the night—or so he hoped), he felt a little bad for leaving Bliss there. Sure, she was friends with the Keynes girl, but Bliss was also his friend; he felt a little bad for breaking off conversation so abruptly and leaving her. Not that she probably wouldn’t have a crowd of people starving for her attention in a few minutes anyway, but still. Ah, he’d get over it as soon as he found Sammii (mm~, Sammii in a tuxedo was something to think about)...and, of course, Dani, Kjara, Jay, and all those other wonderful people that he was supposed to find at the dance. Speaking of said people, he hadn’t seen any of them yet. Which was odd, because he knew that he was suppose to meet Dani outside of the Secret before so they could go in together...

Oh, shit.

He found himself running through the dance floor, pushing aside people in an attempt to find the spot where he was supposed to meet Dani. Fuck, that had been a while ago. She probably wasn’t even there anymore. By this time he was just outside of the dancing crowd, weaving his way through tables, hoping to god that his date wouldn’t hate him. This was so screwed up. First of all, he had stolen Dani’s first date—Sammii—but when he couldn’t come, he decided to go with her. And then there was that whole “stealing Sammii” thing, and now he had left her in the cold. Safe to say he was a jerk. Having been so panicked at the thought of Dani freezing to death outside, he didn’t seen the chair that had been pulled out. He stumbled, blinking, and looked over to see who he had tripped over. “Sorry, I—DANI!” Ezra grinned before giving a short wave and pulling out a chair of his own, plopping down in it. “I’m sorry...so, so sorry.” He put on his best “don’t-kick-my-ass-I’m-sincerely-sorry” face and waited.

[sammii knowell]

[/i] Sammii thought as her phone went to voice mail too. Why did no one pick up their phone?! It was really annoying him right now. His phone flipped shut and slid back into his white pants' pocket. His legs walked quickly through the dark streets. Lamps lit up the sidewalk at even distances as he moved. A sigh of relief left Sammii's mouth as the lights of the Secret came closer and closer in his bright blue vision. Now he'd have to find Ezra and Dani in the no doubt crowded club. That sounded like a fun task. Goodness, he hoped both of them were there together. The last thing he needed was to no doubt be stuck in the middle of an arguement about either of them forgetting about the other. He already felt guilty enough about going with Ezra instead of Dani. Even if Dani denied being upset about "giving him up", Sammii knew her well enough to tell she had been. The loud, pumping music of the speakers hit his ears right away as he opened up the door and stepped in.

Sammii paused in the doorway. It was really crowded. Everywhere he looked, the students of Winterthorne were, in their masks. Though some of them he could recognise either way. They all looked so pretty or handsome. All dressed up. He couldn't wait to see Ezra. Or Dani; she was beautiful no matter how much she wanted to deny it. But finding them wasn't going to be any sort of easy task. Another sigh left this lips¯thought not of relief this time, but exasperation. Oh well, might as well get started, he thought.

Pushing his way through body after body of his peers, he came the area where all the tables and chairs were. It was much less crowded here, thank god. It would be easier to find his Dani and Ezra if they were at this par--and there they were! Sammii walked up to the table, weaving without too much trouble through the other people and tables there. Finally he was there, standing behind Ezra and smirking, a finger to his lips to tell Dani not to give him away. Sammii leaned down and wrapped his arms loosely around the demon's neck, kissing his cheek. "Hey there gorgeous," he said quietly to the other--and boy did he look gorgeous tonight, drop-dead, honestly. Afterwards, he stood up and went to Dani, wrapping his arms around her and giving her a squeeze. "You look lovely, my dear," he replied in a light tone. His azure eyes shone brightly as he grabbed his own chair and sat in between the spaces Dani and Ezra took up.

"So...does no one pick up their phones anymore?" he questioned; looking to Ezra, then Dani. "You--" he looked at the demon boy, "I tried calling like, four times. And you--" now he was looking over to the human girl, "I only tried calling once since I was close already," he finished with a cross of his arms over his chest. A friendly smirk played across his soft features as he too a quick sweep of the club, his gaze landing on Dani and Ezra in the end.[/color][/blockquote][/ul][/size]

[Dani James]

Okay, this was getting old. Seriously, she was leaving now because she wasn’t going to sit at this stupid table all night all alone, looking like a moron and feeling worse. Dani pushed her chair out and grabbed her purse, ready to go back to her dorm and turn on a DVD or something. Anything to get out of here, anything at all. And if Adrien said one word to her on her way, she was going to open her mouth and blast of his eardrums with her sonic scream and leave permanently deaf because she was no longer in the mood for shit. She was out. She had only begun to stand when a blur of black and gold went flying into her and she blinked, trying to regain her focus. Surprise, surprise, look who it was. She raised an eyebrow at Ezra and stared. Not the person she felt like seeing at the moment. She closed her eyes for a second and took a breath. She wasn’t angry anymore. She was more hurt than anything. Was she not important enough to remember anymore? It didn‘t matter, she wasn‘t in the mood to make anyone feel bad. “It’s fine,” She sighed. Okay, it wasn’t, but she wasn’t going to be a bitch and say that, she was just going to let it go like always. Because as much as she liked being opinionated and loud, she didn’t like seeming like a jerk to her friends. So she put on a happy face and dealt with it. She almost look normal again until a familiar face appeared behind Ezra and her eyes went wide.

Sammii! Wait, Sammii? What was he doing here? She was unable to hide her obvious smile at him. Then of course, she couldn’t help it. Her jealousy flared when Sammii’s lips touched Ezra’s cheek. "Hey there gorgeous" She kept a straight face, with the exception of her eyes, and forced an ‘aww’ kind of smile upon her lips. It was pathetic. She should have been over this by now. She knew it was never gonna happen and she knew how much they liked each other. But there was just no escaping the feeling! Like I said, pathetic. "You look lovely, my dear." Dani forced her smile to go wider. “Thank you, love.” She hugged him back, thankful he couldn’t see her face at that moment. Dani didn’t cry very easily, but in all honesty if she hadn’t been so focused on keep a happy face on she probably would have. And she refused to cry. She just wouldn’t. She would not be weak.

She leaned back in her chair. She had a feeling most of tonight was going to be spent concentrating on looking like she was having and pretending that she didn’t care that Ezra and Sammii were head over heels for each other. Dani raised her eyebrow to Sammii and smiled sheepishly. “Sorrie, Sammii. I was outside wait--er…talking to someone,” it probably wasn’t a good idea to tell Sammii Ezra had forgotten her. She would play nice and let Ezra off the hook. “And Adrien fucking Killingston decided to be a jerk like always and wouldn’t leave alone. Then I guess it was too loud and I couldn’t hear it ring in here.”

[ezra hart]

{ mask } x { suit }

Watching as Dani closed her eyes, his smile faltered a little bit. Yeah, he could tell she was pissed. Really pissed. From the looks of it, she had been left alone for a while now. Considering he didn’t have a watch, and that his phone was somewhere downtown—probably that homeless man stole it, he didn’t know how long exactly “a while now” was, but it was obviously enough to upset her. So, she hadn’t found Sammii, either. Where was that boy? It was unlikely that he would be so late, so he was probably somewhere out on the dance floor. But he’d just been all through it…either he was really good at hiding, or—OH! That’s right! Sammii was out with his brother or something. His heart fell a little as he remembered the plans the other had; he had been so looking forward to seeing the boy. Then again, how could he forget? The whole reason he was taking Dani was because Sammii couldn’t go—plus the fact that they were now friends. Well, friends-ish. As close as they could get without the reminder that Dani would have taken Sammii to the dance had Ezra not come in-between them. That wasn’t something he particularly liked to think about. They were close as it was, saying “I love you” every chance they got, and it bothered him…but maybe he was just too jealous. There was no way he’d lose Sammii…right?

What’s she smiling at? he thought to himself, confused as the red-head seemingly beamed at him. If anything, she should have been cursing him to an early grave, threatening to give him dried up flowers and dance on his forgotten deathbed. But she wasn’t. She was smiling. Lifting an eyebrow, he opened his mouth to say something when he felt arms wrap around him. What—? SAMMII? As soon as the voice hit his ears, his eyes blazed to life. What was he doing here? Didn’t he have that brother-whatever thing in a distant-land (actually, it could’ve been down the road…he didn’t pay attention very well)? Actually, none of that mattered. As long as the werewolf was at the Masquerade, Ezra was at the masquerade. Smiling at the kiss, he replied, “You don’t look too bad yourself.” Jesus, the werewolf looked amazing. Beauty graced Sammii naturally every day; this was…some kind of illusion, like a trick in a movie. Yep, it was too good to be true. Hey—maybe if he wished for a million dollars, it would come up behind him and kiss him. It had worked with Sammii, right?

Watching as the other approached Dani, exchanging the usual word “love” like it didn’t bother the demon at all, he moved his legs so that Sammii could drag a chair in-between them. He almost laughed; he wasn’t sure as to whether the werewolf had done that for safety measures (who knew when things could go wrong?), to be the center of attention (which he already was), or just to have an equal view of the both of them. Anyone knew it was the last, but it still made him smile to think about the other reasons. Listening to Sammii’s rant, he held back a smirk. As sad as it was, it gave him a small amount of satisfaction to know that he had been called first (and the most times). Then again, he hadn’t picked up because SOMEONE stole his phone. No, seriously. Someone—he wasn’t sure who. He was about to explain why he hadn’t answered when Dani interrupted and gave her excuse first.

So that’s what happened. Adrien Killingston, the most annoying demon he knew aside from William (and Stefan), had been messing with Dani again. Killingston was usually a nice guy, but he had a problem with gifted humans. A big problem, and he let everyone in school know it. Ezra was mean—another thing everyone in the school knew—and definitely an ass, but Adrien went beyond the ordinary standard. Sometimes you just wanted to crush his face into the nearest brick wall and gouge his eyes out with a pencil. And here Ezra sat, a pang of sadness hitting him. He felt horrible; he had left Dani outside to deal with Killingston plus she had covered for him. Yeah, she was going to do some serious dancing with Sammii, as much as he didn’t like it. Not to mention all the ass-kissing he was going to have to do over the next few days…if the red-head was in a bitchy mood, which he hoped to god she wasn’t.

“Yeahhh,” he cut in quickly, to avoid any more questions about Dani. “Sorry I didn’t pick up. My phone was stolen by a homeless man, I think,” his face scrunched up in thought, “or maybe a seven year-old. I’m not sure. Whoever was outside Alessandra’s window….and her bedroom is high up. You would’ve thought my phone would break.” Ezra shook his head, tapping his fingers on the table. He’d have to get that tomorrow—a new phone. Or find his old one, but that seemed pretty impossible at this point. A mental image popped up: a homeless man entering the Winterthorne Masquerade and getting at the alcohol. Not such a good thought—besides, there was no way he could find the dance…right? RIGHT?

[sammii knowell]

[/b]" No, he didn't really have the highest self-confidence in the world, even if he tried to. That's probably why seeing people happy around him pleased him so much. While he was hugging Dani he smiled again as she thanked him. "You're welcome," he said. Something seemed wrong with her. But he couldn't place it. She seemed upset or angry. Oh goodness...he hoped Ezra hadn't forgotten her, or something bad had happened. "Are you alright love?" he asked quietly, trying to keep it just between her and him if he could help it.

His blue eyes rested on Ezra for a moment as he sat in his chair between the two. A small smile came to his face again. The demon was so...gorgeous. He really was. Sammii chewed lightly on his lip as he thought. He was so head-over-heels for Ezra already. And he wasn't sure sometimes if Ezra loved him back as much. The thoughts really bothered the poor werewolf. He didn't know what he's do if Ezra ever left; if the demon left him for someone else. Goodness, if that happened, he'd be a wreck, he really would. Sammii heard Dani start to speak though, answering his rant about neither of them picking up their cell phones. A slightly worried look came across his face as he looked at the human girl. He was just going to...to murder Adrien Killingston one of these days for picking on his best friend. Well, if he could get up the nerve to actually hurt another being that was. But he couldn't stand Adrien. Not only did he treat Dani horribly, but everyone knew he was the same way to all the other gifted humans in the school. And that wasn't fair; they weren't any different from the rest of the students. "I'm sorry hun. Well...its okay that you didn't pick up," he said, apology glowed in his azure eyes as he spoke. He didn't really feel pitious for Dani, but more for ranting to her about it when she was dealing with that bastard Adrien.

When he heard Ezra speaking, he looked back to the demon. Again, he was swept away by the other boy's looks. He needed to stop that, falling head-over-heels like that, before he let himself get hurt. Though Sammii doubted he'd hurt him--or that was just hope. Sometimes Ezra didn't seem to care much, flirting with other people...it hurt a bit, but he wouldn't let Ezra know he got that upset by it. "I--your phone got thrown...out a window..." Sammii began. He blinked his big blue eyes once or twice. How had that managed to happen? He'd heard of people losing their phones in some pretty crazy ways, but thrown out a window...that was a new one. Sammii brushed his fingers through the raven-black bangs that hid his eyes slightly, moving them out of the way. "Um, its...okay, then..." he muttered, unsure what else he could say to that. What would you say if someone told you they couldn't call you back because their phone had gotten thrown out a window and either a homeless guy or a seven-year-old probably had it? Wording it like that made a small laugh leave his mouth before he could stop himself.

Sammii watched Dani for a moment after he was done speaking to Ezra. It was still bothering him that she seemed upset about something. He could just tell something was wrong; he knew her really well. Maybe he should go dance with her for a little. But then what if Ezra got jeal--eh...he doubted Ezra ever got jealous over him. Besides, what was there to get jealous over? He was only to go dance with his best friend. Sammii leaned towards Dani. "Hey, love, wanna dance for a bit?" he asked, a smile on his face. All he wanted was to cheer her up.[/color][/blockquote][/ul][/size]

[Dani James]

She had a right to be upset, didn’t she? Being forgotten wasn’t much for making a person feel good about themselves. She’s been out there for what, forty minutes? Longer? She didn’t hadn’t bothered to look at her cell phone, she had been too busy trying to ignore Adrien. Things like this were the kind that Dani always bottled up and pushed aside. She hated being weak. She hated people seeing her like that. That was why she played up the whole ‘outgoing-loud-crazy-’ demeanor. No one expected a person that happy and random to get bothered by stupid things like being forgotten or insulted. But it did. Not that she would ever admit it, but it did. But this was Ezra, the stupid love of Sammii’s life, whether he wanted to admit it or not, so she was going to try extra hard to pretend like it didn’t even phase her. She didn’t want Ezra thinking she was a drama queen and she didn’t want Sammii mad at her for taking things too personal or hating the guy he liked. She didn’t want anyone to hate her at all, because these were the only people in the world that treated her well and if she lost them, she lost her world. She already felt she had lost Sammii in one way. She didn’t need him to find her annoying too.

She was jealous, hell yeah. How could she not be? As close as she and Sammii were and yet she knew they would never be closer. He looked absolutely gorgeous in his white tuxedo. It almost wasn’t real. Her heart fell just a little. Positively gorgeous and off limits. She really felt something for him and she was never going to say a word. Ever. Not when Sammii smiled that way at Ezra. Not when every time their eyes met and Sammii’s lit up so brilliantly. She couldn’t imagine taking that away from Sammii. Or Ezra. As much as he had hurt her (though she would never admit it) they’re were still friends. Kinda. Seeing Sammii and Ezra made her stomach knot tightly. She smiled again. That was a secret she would never share. “I’m great,” Dani nodded. She hid her lie with a smile. Curse Sammii, he knew her too well. She was going to have to try harder. She didn’t want him feeling bad for when he deserved to great time and not have worry about her feelings. “Honest,” she held his gaze, “I’m good.” A really big part of her wanted to tell him the truth but then of course, that would ruin everything. Some things were more important. Sometimes you had to let things go and deal.

She brought her attention to the napkin she had been flicking earlier. Now she was tearing it. It was only thing she could do to keep her attention away from Sammii and Ezra’s gazing at each other like that. It was so cute. And so freaking annoying. Annoying because it was cute and she knew it and so did everyone else. Damn it. She bit the inside of her lip and continued to rip the helpless napkin to shreds. Once it was gone she reached for another and began to work on it. This was incredibly frustrating. If she’d had a pen on her, she would have been tagging everything in sight, and drawing all over the table. She needed something, anything to get her mind off the scene in front of her. Were they just doing that to torture her? It felt like it but she knew that wasn’t the case.

“Yeah,” She mumbled. She didn’t even know what Sammii had said. She was just nodding and trying to acting like she was perfectly okay. Oh, yeah. The phone thing. Sammii had tried to call her and her phone was in her purse on Vibrate and she hadn’t thought about it much since she’d left her room. She might have heard it earlier but Killingston started like always and she’d been to busy fighting the urge to tear him apart. Sometimes that boy just didn’t know when to quit. “Thanks.” Really, this girl was lost in the conversation. She was mumbling things, she didn’t even know what was being said. She drifted back off into space--the only place she felt like things didn’t suck--and sat quietly.

It took her a few seconds to realize that Sammii was even speaking to her. She looked up in surprise and stared at Sammii before his words processed. "Hey, love, wanna dance for a bit?" She glanced at Ezra before shrugging. “Uh, sure, why not?” She hoped Ezra didn’t get jealous. He had won already so there was no need to worry about Sammii and her. She plastered a smile onto her face and stood up to follow Sammi. Oh, the mask. She grabbed that off the table too. It would help her and make it harder for Sammii to read her. He was getting to good at that.

[Jordan Bailey]

Mask||Dress

Jordan ran around the dormitory, extremely nervous and going absolutely bonkers. Like she wasn't already bonkers anyways. The problem? She couldn't find her mask. The thing was flashy, but it was also small....somewhat. She had her dress on, as well as her shoes. Her dye had been put in yesterday, and she had already straightened it and put in her extensions. Her hair was red and orange, as well as the normal black. It looked absolutely amazing, really. Then again, she always thought her hair was absolutely amazing, but it was probably the best that she had ever had it. Her shoes were red flats. Yes, flats. Unless you were expecting her to be falling everytime she took a step, they were most definitely needed. She couldn't walk in heels if her life depended on it.

Her dress was gorgeous, too say the least. It was something that most people wouldn't wear, perhaps because it was too flashy or some other reason. But for Jay, it was perfect. It was one a one-sleeve deal, with a thick strap that covered her left shoulder. Her right was bare. It clung to her curves, what ones she had, for she was extremely skinny, and just barely passed not being flat-chested. But she looked great in the dress. The colors? There were many. There were various shades of yellow-gold, red, and orange splayed across in a patchwork design. Along her tummy was a red band, with a yellow diamond shape on the right side within a larger red diamond. The dress fell to her feet, but didn't drag on the floor. It was hemmed perfectly to her height. It was a pretty stiff dress, so it didn't twirl too much, but it was perfect.

But her mask, her precious mask was missing. The mask was pretty much the whole point of the dance tonight. Heck, technically, it wasn't even a dance. It was a masquerade, hence needing a mask. But that was the problem, the fact that it was missing. Sure, she probably could get in without one, but it was so much fun wearing one. She hadn't really worn one before, but she had tried on various masks in the shop, before finding that perfect one, and she had found they were so much fun to wear. And she would be the one wearing a mask to class one day just because she wanted to. But hey, as far as she knew, there wasn't a rule against that. And it would be so much fun.

Jordan felt like pulling out her hair at that moment. She couldn't find her mask, and she needed the thing. She threw a jacket over towards Kjara's bed, threw random things, some of which weren't hers, everywhere, but she simply couldn't find it. Finally, as the room became a huge mess, she remembered where it was. Fuck. It was in Dani's room. She had accidentally left it there when she had been doing Dani's makeup. Crap. Of course, Jay's makeup was done, with flames and swirls dancing on her cheeks, in gold, red, and orange. Well, she couldn't help it if she was a makeup genius when it came to dressing up. Well, maybe she could, but oh well.

Grabbing a red and orange bag, she most definitely needed a bag wherever she went, she grabbed her keys, stuffed them in her bag, and closed the door to her dorm, locking it. Oh, she prayed that her roomies wouldn't kill her for the mess. Oh, they probably would, no doubt. But maybe they wouldn't.....with some luck. She skipped down to Dani's dorm and knocked on the door. She shouted for Dani, but someone else opened the door. She thanked them, explained the problem, and grabbed her mask off the sink in that dorm. She thanked them again before skipping out of the dorm again, heading for the Secret, her mark in hand.

The mask was a piece of art, too. It matched the dress perfectly, with golds and reds. The mask set upon her cheekbones, and extended up to her forehead. The mask was fringed at the bottom with gold, and yellow ribbon was attached to the sides, to tie to her head. Fake jewels of crystal and ruby set upon the forehead, surrounded by gold and red fringe, set upon the mask like an Indian headpiece in the way it seemed to hang down. Upon the left side was gold fringe with a ruby-like fake jewel-piece, clasping feathers between it and the mask. The feather extended up towards the heavens, with another one curving over her head. The bottom feathers, soft like down, were pure red, while the others were splashed black and red. The mask was gorgeous, and Jordan was happy to own it as she tied it to her head as she flew down the corridors.

She finally made it outside of the castle, shivering in the cold. She should've brought a jacket, but she hadn't. Oh well. She wasn't about to run, or fly, back and get it. She was already pretty late for meeting up with her friends, so she decided to continue to use her wings to fly her to the Secret. Her ebony wings flapped against the cold night air of Germany, the glossy wings reflecting the light of the moon. She held tight to her bag, and attempted not to let the cold air around her get to her, because it was colder in the air than upon the ground, and it could kill her, if she went too high for too long.

She finally landed a street away from the club that would be hosting the masquerade. Even out here, people were milling about. None were waiting to get inside, but they were just hanging out, or even waiting for their dates. Jordan had a date, but she had told him that she would meet him inside. She didn't think he'd be able to find her, but she most definitely could find him. She was all over the place, and she'd be able to find him quickly. But first, she was going to hang out with Dani, Smammi, Kjara, and Ezra. Well, she was probably going to glance around for Zack first, but it wasn't likely she'd find him. Well, she'd probably enlist Sammi's help to search for him anyways. She was a bit too short to find him, most likely.

She entered the secret, and wasn't surprised to find it bursting with people dancing and just having fun. She nearly got squished right after she stepped inside. Damn being short. She simply sighed and squeezed her way through the throng, looking around for familiar faces. Well, the faces of the people she wanted to find. There were plenty of familiar faces, because she talked to like...everybody. But finding the ones she wanted was a harder task. She finally found herself by where the tables were, set off to the side of the dancefloor, but with plenty of people still milling about. Geez, sometimes she wished she had some sort of tracking powers, so she'd always be able to find her friends...

Ah-hah! Just as she was about to squeeze among the people by the tables, a familiar head caught her attention. She weaved in and out of the people, before ending up right behind Sammii. Sammii was possibly her best friend. Well, one of them. He was adorable and just awesome. She was one of his best friends, and he hers. She also had a bit of a crush on him, but nothing like...super major or anything. Hopefully not, because that would totally suck. She peeked around Sammii, who had his back to her, and saw Dani and Ezra. She grinned, and placed a slender finger over her lips, just in case they saw her. Then, she retreated to be behind him once again. Then, she suddenly slipped her arms around him and squeezed really hard in a hug. "Smammii!" She shouted in glee, a grin on her lips. Ah, she had finally found...well, some of her friends she had meant to meet up with.

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[ezra hart]

{ mask } x { suit }

‘Thanks. But you look way better.’ ...Right. Did Sammii own a mirror? “Me? You have no idea, Sammii,” he muttered under his breath. He had to be the most amazingly gorgeous person he’d ever seen, honest to god, and the boy acted like he didn’t know it half the time. Or...he did know it, didn’t he? He knew the werewolf didn’t have the highest self-confidence in the world, but he at least had to know that every single student in Winterthorne [well, that swung that way] had their eyes on him when he walked through the hall. He had to know that every time he walked into a room, gazes fell to him—that every time they had a dream, Sammii’s big, blue eyes haunted them in it. He didn’t seem to know how many people were falling madly in love with him every second of the day. Though he wasn’t too fond of the whole “falling in love thing”. It scared him, but at the same time he loved it; he was absolutely in awe of the fact that he had fallen in love with every aspect of the boy, every breath-taking feature, and the boy he was so stuck on...loved him back. For the first time in his life, he was truly afraid. Watching his mother be beaten to a near-death state? Nope. Almost being drowned by his father? Not so much. Losing his only sister to the dark world? It didn’t compare to the thought of Sammii dropping his heart for another’s. His gaze fell to the table, murky blue showing a hint of sadness. Look what you’ve done to me...

There was that “love” word again. It felt like he was being hit by lightning every time—or maybe that wolves started tearing at his heart ravenously. Either way, it wasn’t the most pleasant feeling in the world. Why did he have to throw that word around like it was nothing? Okay, he was being an ass again. He knew that Sammii loved Dani, just not in that way...hopefully. Ezra knew he was paranoid, but he didn’t care; one look at Sammii and there was all the reason you needed to worry. How his smile grew and his eyes lit up when he made someone happy, or how he loved to hear people laugh. Before he met Sammii, he didn’t understand how someone could just...enjoy making people happy. No one ever made him happy. Why was everyone so stuck on him being kind and generous when no one had ever thought twice about him? And then the werewolf came along—and, of course, everything changed (much like everything else Sammii did, it was in a good way). He didn’t even know why he messed up their relationship so much if it was the best thing that ever happened to him; flirting with others, fighting, pretending like he didn’t care when in fact all he did was think about Sammii (kind of sad, right?). He just...pushed people away.

Shocked back into reality by the other’s comment on his phone, Ezra lifted his gaze and smiled, nodding. “Yeah. Sounds pretty ridiculous, right?” Utterly ridiculous in that “that couldn’t possibly happen” way. He hoped that Sammii would believe him—as if there was any reason to, what with all the lies he told on a regular basis—and not think he was just a jerk for not picking up his phone. Hah, but four times?! It still made him smile. Maybe he should just not answer his phone to see how many times Sammii would call to talk to him...but that was a stupid idea. First of all, he would kick Ezra’s ass for not picking up. Then there was the fact that it could be an emergency he was calling about, or something of utmost importance. Plus, he’d have a hell of a lot of voicemail, and who wanted to go through all of that shit? It was enough trying to figure out how the phone worked in itself, but leaving a damn voicemail message and trying to figure out how to control the stupid system—no, he did not want to fucking record another greeting, he wanted to hear what his missed calls were about, and no, he was not going to press seven for the twenty-fucking-ninth time—that was hell.

His eyes flicked over to inspect the quiet red-head that sat two seats down from him. Dani, while all of this was going on, seemed...distant. Her gaze was everywhere in the room except for the two who sat with her, and she didn’t seem at all interested in whatever she was looking at. She wasn’t much into the conversation—not that he had actually engaged her in it, but whatever—and only replied monosyllabically. It was like a robot version of Dani had taken over while she went straight to her thoughts. It was kind of like an auto setting on those futuristic cars you always saw in movies, except those had better personalities. Was she still mad about being left alone? Well, obviously. But...she seemed like she had been trying to cover that up, and if she was still that pissed, he was sure she would’ve said something or done anything to get back at him by now. So what was wrong?

Want to...dance? As his eyes had been on the table again, trying to keep away from gawking at Sammii and staring curiously at Dani, he had thought that the question was directed at him. He looked up, lips curled into a smile until he realized that Sammii was facing the other. He was asking Dani to dance. Smile faltering, he blinked a few times. Oh. He saw a quick, somewhat questioning gaze being thrown at him. She’s asking for permission, his inner-self told him, kindly reminding him afterwards that it was impolite to stare. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he looked up and forced a smile upon his face. “I’ll...see you later, I guess.” He leaned back in his chair, trying not to drown in utter jealousy. “Go have fun on the dance floor.” Again, the cheesy, forced smile flickered upon his face.

Looking over at the bar, he squirmed a little. It was odd being at The Secret and not working. He was so used to people coming up and shouting orders at him all night that he almost expected someone to walk off the dance floor and demand a tall glass of something-or-other. The Masquerade was a perfect excuse to get back at all the bartenders who had called him a lazy-ass (which he was, technically, while working his shifts): order all he wanted as quickly and as randomly as he could. But, he could also take the high road and forgive all of them for all they’d said, holding friendly conversation while the only person he loved and his best friend danced their troubles away. Fuck that. He stood up to head over to the bar when he heard a new voice enter the group, calling out Sammii’s name (er, nickname). He turned his head, a grin spreading across his features as he stopped walking and gave a lazy wave. “Hey, Jaybird.”

[sammii knowell]

[/b]" he said, smiling and laughing quietly. He couldn't help but look as a smile lit the other's face. Sammii wondered if Ezra knew how adorable he looked when he smiled--like, really smiled. He wished he could see it more often, but Ezra always seemed so serious...so grim--if those were good words to use. He looked to Dani again, or otherwise he wouldn't be able to look away from the demon. And then Ezra would probably think he was some sort of idiot or had a problem or...or something.

Oh, good, Sammii thought as Dani agreed to dance with him. Hopefully it would make her happy. Or happier, at least. He didn't want Dani being so upset. She seemed to be staring off into space or something. Looking around everywhere but at him, and Ezra. Why? He didn't think he'd done anything, had he? Sammii hoped she wasn't jealous. Though he wasn't sure what she could be jealous of. It wasn't like Ezra would take her place in his heart. No one could ever replace her as his best friend. "Great!" he replied happily. Sammii paused before getting up, noticing Dani look past him and towards Ezra. Oh shit, Ezra. The thought came to him that Ezra could be jealous because he'd decided to dance with Dani before him. Oh goodness, why was everyone getting jealous over him? What made him so special? Sammii looked over to Ezra smiling sheepishly at the other boy. Please don't mind... he told himself.

Just as he was about to stand up, arms wrapped tightly around him, making him jump. Sammii heard a familiar voice shout his name...well, nickname, and knew who it was instantly. Seeing Jay was the only one who could really get away with calling him "Smammii". He smiled largely as he turned around and hugged the girl back. "Oh goodness, you scared me, Jaylove," he replied, though his voice was good-natured. His arms unraveled from the girl and he stepped back. "Me and Dani were just about to go dance. Keep Ezra company!" he said, trying to be instructing, but come on, like Sammii could ever be demanding. "Also, you look great!" he complimented as he looed over her outfit, hair, and make-up. Sammii looked over at Dani and grabbed at her hand, "C'mon!" he said, pulling her off towards the dance floor. "We'll be back in a little while," Sammii added, looking back towards Ezra and locking eyes with him. Ezra was up next for dancing. He was going to make sure of that.[/color][/blockquote][/ul][/size]

[Dani James]

So there was a good chance that Dani was as pathetic as she felt. This was something she needed to deal with already. Sitting here, doing nothing, having to watch Ezra and Sammii be this was going to make her sick. Weren’t things supposed to get a little better for her? This was some bullshit. Today was really a shitty day. All day from when she woke up to now, where she was stuck playing pretend, things had been going wrong. You would think that after all the crap she’d gone through to get here something good come would come out of it. Hell, she hadn’t even wanted to come! Everyone else had just freakin made her show up against her will. If she hadn’t gotten dressed and came on her own, she probably would have been dragged by someone. And now that she was here, she nothing to show for it. She had started remotely happy, you know? Then one by one things started ticking like little bombs and messing up. They wouldn’t have so bad if that stupid, jackass Adrien hadn’t made them worse. Somehow he always found a way to ruin her happiness. One day Sammii and Ezra were going to have to hold her back because she was going to gouge out his eyes with a spoon then decapitate him or something equally painful and disturbing. She wasn’t a violent person, really. But God, sometimes people crossed the line and she did what she had to. She could kick your ass if she really wanted to and all she needed were her fists. And gender didn’t matter when you were getting beat down.

Funny how she always ended up being a good friend, or fun to be around or ‘one of the guys’ but she was never good enough. Was she defective or something? Was she too ugly? Not smart enough? Too silly? Cause if she had to, she could go blond and boring and never say a word. There was nothing fun about always being a ‘great friend.’ Yeah, she knew, she was a good listener. That’s what they always said. But that was always it. She didn’t want to be the side person anymore. She didn’t want to be anyone’s third wheel. And she didn’t want to be anyone’s goddamn fuck buddy. Was asking to be loved too much? She wasn’t desperate, but Jesus, she needed to know that somewhere out there, there was someone meant for her that saw her more than just something fun to hit and quit.

In all honesty, she was a bit afraid to dance with her friend. And no, she could care less about Ezra. Okay, maybe she did care, but that wasn’t it. Sammii was just too good at reading her and she was afraid that if they danced he was going to figure out everything or know something was up. The words were already threatening to tumble out from her lips and she didn’t want him to trigger that. Sammii was making it really hard for her to keep a straight face and look happy. Damn him being all concerned. She shot Ezra an apologetic look and let Sammii lead her to the dance floor. Just as she was leaving she caught sight of Jordan. She stopped and threw a hug around her. “Hey, Jayyy!” Then followed Sammii to the crowd of jumbled, masked students of Winterthorne, swaying to the beat of a slow song. She shot him a forced smile before linking her arms around his neck. It was hard to be this close to him and know she was so much farther away. Her eyes wandered away from his face and past his figure to nowhere in particular. It was going to be a long night.

[Jordan Bailey]

Jordan was generally the type to make a scene. Not because she was some drama queen faker girl that needed all the attention, but just because that was the way she was. She was overall crazy, hyper, and totally random. She didn't know why, but she was. Maybe it was some problem with her parents' parenting, or something. Who knew. But that was the way she was, and had generally always been. Except for when she was a little kid, and still developing her personality, she had been.....odd. And, really, Jordan liked being odd. She knew she wasn't a fake, she knew that she didn't just want attention. And if people had a problem with that, oh well. She was the way she was for a reason, and she liked being herself. She didn't lie to herself, didn't attempt to hide feelings. Well, sometimes she attempted to hide sadness, when she was really sad. She disliked sadness and those types of emotions. She generally expressed those feelings, but sometimes, not often, she'd hide them, no matter how hard it was to hide them, in any case.

But her friends. Jay loved all the friends she had, even friends that were just average ones. Ones she didn't know that well. She made friends from the oddest situations, from sitting in a bar to falling on top of someone. Seriously, she'd fallen on people before, and started talking, and became friends. Then again, Jordan had that sort of...aura around her that made people want to be friends with her. She was just so carefree and nice that most people really wanted to be her friend. She couldn't explain why, but it just happened. But Jordan loved all her friends equally. Okay, that was a bit of a lie, but she paid attention to them all when she could. She loved having friends, and was glad for them all. Hey, who wouldn't be?

Jordan was especially glad for Sammii, Ezra, and Dani. They were her bestest friends on the face of the earth. Well, she had a couple of other best friends, but they weren't here at the moment. Anyways, these friends were some of her bestest buddies, and she was so happy she had them. She had nicknamed for pretty much all of her friends. Well, all of her bestest friends had a Jay nickname. Dani was Dani-kins, Ezra was Ezzyy, and Sammii was Smammii, obviously. She knew they weren't extremely fond of their nicknames, but she didn't care. She called them that, and that was it. It didn't matter what else they might want her to call them.

A grin crossed her lips as Sammii told her that she had scared him. That was generally the point, really. She loved to scare people, too. Which was a big reason she was generally a trouble maker. And they were all her partners in crime, most definitely. "Good!" She told Sammii with a grin after he engulfed her small body with a hug. She loved getting, and giving, hugs to everybody. Which could be a reason some people were a bit distant with her. Unlike others, she didn't mind physical contact with friends. She'd just randomly come up and hug someone, or sling her arm around their shoulder, or some such thing.

Then came Dani. She once again got a hug, but at least she wasn't smothered this time. Sammii was tall, most definitely taller than herself. Dani wasn't that much shorter, but she wasn't as smooshed with a Dani hug as with a Smammii hug. There was always a big difference. "Hey Dani!" She replied to the girl. Then she looked back at Sammii as he told her the plans. "Mkay, then! I shall entertain Ezzyy however best I can! And have fun." She didn't mind the fact that two of her best friends were going out to dance. She didn't care, not really. She loved her friends, and generally put their happiness before her own. "Thanks Smammii!" She called as the tall boy moved away. Her grin stayed plastered upon her lips as she sat down at a chair at the table, facing Ezra. "Heya Ezzy!" She said loudly, in her bubbly voice. "How're youuu?" She inquired grinning, reaching behind her head to make sure the ribbon that kept her mask in place was good and tight.

[/blockquote]

[ezra hart]

Okay, so calm down. It wasn’t that big of a deal, right? He had lost the first dance to Dani. At least he had lost it to the best friend, not just another person who wanted to have their hands all over Sammii—and trust him, there were a lot of people who would do anything to have their arms wrapped around his neck, swaying to the beat of the music with him in a crowded room. Better yet, at least the person he had lost to had somewhat asked for permission. Things weren’t so bad, now, were they? It could be worse, much worse. Not only could all of the afore-mentioned things occur, but there were other things that freaked him out: never having met Sammii in the first place, watching him fall madly in love with someone that was horrible for him—because he was such an ass, even Sammii falling in love with someone else that was perfect for him was out of the question, no matter how happy it made the werewolf—or worst, the death of the other because of...him.

That was something he had been thinking a lot about lately. Ever since he had murdered the Browland kid and met up with Jackson and Daileh on the rooftops—not to mention the countless other demons—where he found out who had killed off the other two in the most recent deaths, the thought struck him that demons weren’t exactly the “I got your back, man!” type. They were more like the “I got your back, man!—with this knife!” kind; he knew that the only actual demon who would stand by his side was Jackson, which was a good thing, but Daileh and the rest of them? They could turn on him at any moment, and the only thing that Ezra could possibly care enough about to give into their demands was...Sammii. Shivers jolted up and down his spine as he thought of what they’d do to him. He remembered this dream he had once where someone—Dai, or so he thought—had figured he was just a waste of time and a big hint to who was committing the murders around Winterthorne. So they’d taken Sammii. A lot of shit happened in that dream, most of which he couldn’t remember, but he knew that it’d ended where it all began: the rooftops. However, by the time he had reached them to save the werewolf...well, there was no point in trying to collect the remains for the coffin.

When Sammii yelled “Great!”, as exuberant as ever, he looked over at the two others. A frown twitched at his lips. Dani looked...upset. He had just given her Sammii for (insert however long it takes to get Ezra so jealous that he’d break up the dancing), and she was following him with a troubled look, seemingly deep in thought about something that really, really worried her. It wasn’t him, was it?—or was that just his flattery speaking again? That was out of the question, anyway; he couldn’t see Dani being that worried over what he thought. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately, depending on how you looked at it), the redheaded human had never been as much into being his friend as hanging around with him because Sammii was there. It probably didn’t matter if the world was about to collapse in a shower of brilliant-green fireworks—if the werewolf said there was no reason to worry, there was no reason to worry, right? So whatever was bothering Dani so much had nothing to do with the consequence of dancing with Sammii. Oh, lord. On that note, he didn’t even want to think of all the screwed up dancing positions that had entered his mind moments ago...

‘Keep Ezra company!’

Say what? Ezra looked up, eyes floating over to Jay again. She looked absolutely amazing in the outfit that she had put together, as always. Jay always did know how to make an entrance, didn’t she? Though the girl was on the smaller side, she had a personality and attitude that reached out and hit everybody in the face before they knew it was coming. Not only was she a riot to listen to, but it was true that she looked great in virtually anything you stuck on her (and her hair was perfect, but that was getting into the heavy detail). A bit of relief flooded over him. At least he didn’t have to spend his time waiting, being paranoid, and talking to himself alone. Now he had a panic-buddy. Sliding back into his seat as everyone exclaimed at the new arrival, he looked over at Sammii again. ‘We'll be back in a little while.’ Ezra gave a short nod, though no small smile grew on his face. Whether or not it was because he was drowning in Sammii’s eyes or because he wasn’t too happy about the situation, he himself didn’t know.

Suddenly, there was a flash of red/gold/orange in front of him. Blinking, he took a moment to take in what had happened. Ignoring the fact that he was trying not to watch Dani out of the corner of his eye, he grinned and focused on the bubbly girl before him. “He-hey, Jaybird,” he replied, though in a tone that was not nearly as excited and upbeat as Jay’s. Just the normal, lazy voice. “I’m—” Not happy. Jealous as hell. A jerk. Unworthy of Sammii. “—great, how about you?”

[sammii knowell]

[/b]" Sammii said as she told him that she would keep Ezra company. He was starting to feel bad about going to dance with Dani first instead of the demon. Wasn't Ezra supposed to be his date? So shouldn't he be dancing with Ezra..? But wait...who was his date now anyway? First it was Dani, then Ezra...then the two of them were going together. So technically, he was dateless, wasn't he? Screw that; Ezra was his date no matter what. Still holding Dani's hand in his loosely, he walked away from the other two towards the dance floor. With some effort, Sammii weaved his way through the large crush of bodies onto the dance floor. He found himself following Dani now as the made their way, trying to find a spot where they'd have enough room to dance. Finally they came to just that spot.

Feeling arms slide around his neck, he looked at Dani, a smile lit his face. Sammii wrapped his arms around her middle. A slow song was on. He half wished he could be dancing with Ezra to this. Though there'd probably be plenty of other slow songs when he went off to dance with the other boy. For now he was perfectly content with dancing with his best friend. He absolutely loved having Dani around. Sammii loved how close they were, and it seemed like nothing would ever be able to come between that. Well, until now. He swore there was some sort of tension between Ezra and Dani, and Sammii had the feeling it was all over him. He wished he could understand why the two people he cared about most were getting so jealous over him; why they cared so much about having his attention. It wasn't like Sammii was anything special--he wasn't different from any other werewolf at Winterthorne. Sammii leaned towards Dani a bit more. "Dani," he began, "Please tell me what's up. I know something is. And I doubt its only that Killingston boy." He sighed quietly. "Are you angry with me? About Ezra? Or about going with him instead of you?" There, he'd asked the questions he'd dreaded the most. Now all he had to do was wait for the answer.

Big blue pools continued to gaze at Dani. He wished he knew how to cheer her up. It actually hurt him to see her so distant and upset. And it was probably all because of him. How could he have done this to his best friend? If he was alone, he'd probably be crying right now. But not in front of everyone; not in front of Dani. "Tell me, please," his voice reflected his sadness, depsite the attempts to hide it--it was also sligtly pleading. He'd all but forgotten about the loud music playing, to concerned about the issues with Dani. Though his body still swayed slightly as he danced, the movements automatic. Almost like he was on auto-pilot.[/color][/blockquote][/ul][/size]