Electric Moonlight Shuffle

12. Fairy Tales

Three hours later, I wake up at the beach.

I come off the bus. It smells like sand and salt. Seagull calls pierce the air.

The mansion overlooks the water. The whole thing was apparently built by a Rockefeller, so you know it's super extra. Like take Jamie's house and multiply it by three extra. It's stupid.

There's four pools, five floors, two elevators, eight balconies, a garden, and (apparently) three to seven ghosts. The original woodwork, stained glass and chandeliers are all still there, plus a library with sliding ladders that seems straight out of Beauty and the Beast. It's got some serious Gothic vibes going on. About fourteen party buses, limos and Range Rovers are parked outside.

We all head toward the house. I try to avoid everyone, but Jamie comes up next to me.

"Are you all right?"

"I'm completely fine," I say.

"I don't know what that was," says Jamie, "But I think she's just jealous because you were talking to Flynn before. We're all totally on your side."

"It's cool," I say.

We go inside the mansion.

Jason is waiting for me, in the foyer. He wraps me in a hug, kisses my lips. "I'm melting," he says.

"Shut up," I say.

"Make me."

I roll my eyes. "I've got to get ready. We've got our big Masquerade Ball in half an hour!"

"Can't wait," he says.

***

I look at myself in the mirror of my amazing bedroom. My hair and makeup just got whipped up in ten minutes flat, thanks to my wonderful three-person team. The Versace dress I'm wearing, red and sparkly, like a flame, looks hot.

A golden, gemstone-encrusted masquerade mask sits on my bed. Apparently the rubies are real, so I have to be careful.

I tie it around my head.

Look again in the mirror.

Now the look is more than just hot. It's genuinely magical. Like, I could be a princess magical.

Jamie was right, I think. If you let the magic in, magical things happen.

I go out of my room, head downstairs.

Showtime.

***

"There's our Juliet!" says Tanner, from the middle of the round ballroom. Tanner stands under a chandelier bigger than my body. Everything glows golden.

As usual, everyone else—the cast, crew, and like eight billion extras—is already there. (At least I make an entrance.) The dancers, in their Victorian dresses, look gorgeous. A couple "woots!" greet me as I click across the room to join my friends, by the food table.

Jamie is nestled up next to Sage, whispering something in her ear. Flynn is playfully putting a dab of whipped cream on Molly's nose while she eats a strawberry. Samantha is practicing her dance steps with a smirking Joe.

And I go over to my Romeo, AKA, Jason Moon.

"You look beautiful," Jason says. "Really."

"You're not so bad yourself," I say.

Jason wraps his arms around me, kisses my hair. "Yeah, yeah, yeah."

This is what everyone's been talking about. This magic of love.

"All right!" calls Tanner. "Everyone places!"

We arrange ourselves.

Everyone forms a circle around me and Jason.

Me and Jason lock eyes. His eyes, through the holes in his mask, see only me.

My throat tightens, my heart pounds.

And then we're on.

"ACTION!" shouts Tanner.

The song starts slow.

Jason and I each raise one hand, walk toward each other, meet in the middle.

Everyone watches us, stands perfectly still. No one even breathes.

I come alive, electric, under their gazes, and caught in Jason's eyes.

He takes me in his arms.

Slow dance. A classic waltz. Jason spins me, dips me, supports me.

I spin into him.

Around us everyone else starts dancing.

And then the music changes.

We RAVE.

Everyone goes CRAZY—dancing, flailing, jumping, laughing, having fun.

Everyone bumps into each other. I dance into Molly and Sage and they laugh along with me. I don't even know who I'm dancing with half the time because of the masks, and I love it. Like the day at the waterfall, we're all little kids again.

Seven takes later, I'm exhausted, breathless, sweaty. My makeup is melting off my face and my hair's gone flat. One of the rubies fell off my mask (shh, don't tell Tanner!) My feet are going to fall off my body.

"That's a wrap!" says Tanner. "There's a feast set up in the dining room, if you'll follow me. You all did amazing."

We all file into the dining room.

Jason holds my hand.

Despite my exhaustion, I'm a little disappointed. Each new take meant that I got to relive that glorious breathless electricity one more time. Now, after a week of rehearsal, it's like a spell's been broken.

"What's wrong?" says Jason, taking my hand.

"We never get to do that again," I say. "It's over."

"Thank God," says Jason. "I felt like I was trapped in some gross fairy tale. We can finally get back to reality."

"I guess," I say. But my heart aches. A part of me wants to live in that gross amazing fairy tale forever.

"You're not getting soft on me, kid, are you?" says Jason. "Fairy tales are more fake than love. They're not even chemicals in the brain, they're just words on the tongue. Floating signifiers. But people eat that fake shit up, just like that love shit."

I laugh. "You're so right," I say, but I'm frowning.

"See this is why we're good together," says Jason, squeezing my hand. "Because you're real. Just like me. You don't think we're some fairy tale—you see what's going on."

"Yeah, exactly," I say. My throat is tight.

As I follow Jason into the dining room, I realize five terrifying things:

I do think we're a fairy tale.

I'm not the version of me that Jason fell in love with anymore, and it's only a matter of time before he figures that out.

I am in love with a boy who is exactly the cold loveless human I used to be.

Being in love with me sucks.

Karma is a motherfucking bitch.