Rella was sitting on the floor, covering her check with one hand, her mask still on. Sharon was standing above her. It seemed to Roderick that Sharon had just slapped Rella.
"Hey, what's going on?" Roderick asked Sharon's new boyfriend, who stood behind the blonde.
"Sharon's pissed because the girl dances better," he muttered in Roderick's ear.
"You...!" Sharon swore at Rella, who paid no attention to her, but was grimacing.
Roderick went over to Rella and handed the rose from his chest pocket to her as a sign of recognition. She took it and smiled absentmindedly. He then offered his hand. She placed her own in his, and he helped her stand up. Her legs wobbled a little.
Witnessing this scene, he crowd that had gathered around Sharon and Rella exclaimed in awe. Sharon shot an icy glare at Roderick before stepping up to him.
"You've been seduced by this witch, hottie," she hissed, clearly not recognizing him. She ripped his mask off. When she saw who he was, she snarled in rage, as if accusing him of finding someone better than herself instead of feeling sad for their breakup.
Embarrassed, Roderick glanced at Rella. She was staring at him with an expression he couldn't read. At that moment, Sharon decided to tear off Rella's mask too.
For the first time, Roderick saw what was beneath the black mask. Rella was, in fact, extremely beautiful. Her features were defined and delicate. Whether it was a trick of makeup or not, he didn't know.
Immediately, Sharon regretted tearing Rella's mask off. She'd thought that an ugly face would be revealed, but instead, a face much prettier than hers appeared before her eyes. She wheeled around and told her boyfriend, "I'm going to call Cleo. I'll be right back."
Sharon reached into a sewn-in pocket of her dress and took out her cell phone. She had Cleo on speed dial. Just when she rang Cleo up and was beginning to back out of the crowd...
Rella's phone rang.
