Ever After

Plan A

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This chapter is in Mark's perspective.

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"So, that's it?" I questioned. "That's the plan?"

"What do you mean 'that's it?'" he roared. "It's God damn great."

I shrugged, not expecting him to see it through the dimness of the classroom. "I just expected something... more."

"'More,' he says," he says to himself, as if I weren't in the same room. "As if your plan was so much better."

"It was a good plan!" I paused. "At least, it was, before Felix and friends decided to crash the party."

"Yeah, if by 'crash the party' you mean 'embarrass us in front of the entire class.'"

I tried to avoid his teasing as the sound of our footsteps loomed down the hallway, echoing up and down no matter how far we were through it. I could see his chest rise and fall out of the corner of my eye, his hair still fighting with itself after having been removed from the mask so quickly - I wondered how much confidence one needed in order to not care about their physical appearance. Of course, I'm not calling myself a fashion critic or anything (for Lord knows how hideous socks, sandals, and khaki shorts wouldn't win me America's Top Model), but I'd eventually learned to give up on trying to improve my geeky reputation; Jack, however, was the silver lining in a cloud, the rainbow after a rain shower, the light at the end of a tunnel of darkness - he was something you couldn't take your eyes off of, meaning that he always looked good no matter how hard he tried.

The evening's mood had shifted quite a bit, the feeling of sneakiness and deception gone to who knows where. The entire school had been emptied out (even the janitor, who'd given up on finding his keys), permitting us access to every room in the school. We were touring around, savouring the one moment that permitted us to do whatever the hell we wanted in such a large, spacious building - it felt extremely illegal, and yet the adrenaline rush made it all worth it.

Thankfully, my father hadn't called to question where I was (yet). He usually didn't fret until about eleven o'clock, for he was used to my coming home late thanks to my job or after-school businesses - I prayed that he'd still give me the honour of waiting until then to pester me, for I surely didn't have a good enough excuse to explain to him that I'd been suspended and was planning on pranking the entire school at the winter formal whilst staying overnight with the love of my life. (How could you cover that up with a lie?) I was still running it over in my head, considering the numerous different outcomes resulting from whatever I chose to say - of course, knowing me, there was no point in planning ahead, for I'm already positive that I'll become flustered on the spot, incapable of figuring out what excuse to use when the time comes.

"Ah, I see," Jack mumbled after a moment of silence. "You're in awe of my spectacular plan. Y'know, it's normal - they all need a minute to let it sink in."

"What do you mean 'all?'" I said. "Do you usually take your boyfriends to a school sleepover before the winter formal in order to prank your worst enemy?" I gasped. "I get it now - that's why the winter formal was so important!"

"Ha, ha," Jack grumped, "very funny. But no, you're the first..." He stopped for a moment. "Wait, I just noticed that I never bothered to ask you - have you had a boyfriend before?"

I knew that the question would be difficult to answer the second he asked it. (After all, it only takes a total of 0.3 seconds for the brain to react to another's actions.) I stuttered, unsure of how to phrase something so embarrassing without sounding just as nerdy as I looked.