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I prayed that Parker was just looking for something from the refreshment table, which Nate and I were still standing by, but of course this last minute offering to the deities was futile; he had on his trademark smarmy smile which made my skin crawl all the more since half his face was obscured by his mask.

                ‘Hello Parker,’ Nate said coolly when Parker stopped right in front of him; I was still trying to hide myself behind my foster brother’s body.

                ‘Nate,’ Parker said politely, even though they hate each other. He tried to step around him, but Nate moved too, shielding me, and I caught the serene smile on his face. Parker looked at him dubiously. ‘If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to speak with Justin for a moment...’

                ‘Actually, you’re out of luck,’ Nate said with false sympathy. ‘Justin’s not here right now. Could I take a message?’

                Parker sent Nate an unamused look but sighed. ‘You can’t play his bodyguard all night,’ he conceded, and walked purposefully away.

                ‘Thanks,’ I muttered once he was out of earshot, and Nate grinned at me.

                ‘If I’d known Prom was going to be this fun I might have looked forward to it more,’ he joked.

                ‘Ha, ha,’ I said sarcastically, and took a slug of my punch though it hadn’t even been spiked yet.

                Nate and I hung out with a few of his friends for an hour, nabbing a sweet table in the corner where I could easily hide from Parker but still keep an eye on the hottie who’d walked in just before him. It didn’t look like the guy had a date, or even any friends, which I thought was weird considering how attractive he was, even wearing a mask. He made small talk with a few people but didn’t spend more than a few minutes with anyone; after a while it became clear that he was looking for someone in particular. I wondered who the lucky girl was.

                Just when everyone seemed to be in the mood to finally start dancing, a shadow fell across the table causing us all to glance up. It was Julia; she’d removed her glasses and loosened her hair and looked even prettier than before.

                ‘Hey,’ she said shyly, twinkling her fingers at the group.

                There was a moment of awkwardness – this clearly wasn’t her usual social circle – then one of the girls at our table smiled and said, ‘Julia, hey! Awesome job on tonight, the place looks amazing.’

                ‘Thanks,’ Julia beamed. ‘I hope everyone’s having a good time.’

                ‘More than,’ another girl said kindly.

                Nate stood up, and I think I was the only one who could tell he was trying not to be embarrassed, seeing as all his friends were around. Everyone else started to get up too; it looked like whatever “this” was, it had been building up for a while because his friends were all clearly trying to give them some space.

                ‘So, you all finished for the night?’ he asked, shooting her that charming smile he can do so well.

                ‘Pretty much, until it ends at least.’

                ‘Awesome. How about that dance then?’

                Julia’s smile widened. ‘I’d love to,’ she said shyly.

                Nate glanced down at me, where I was still sitting at the table, blatantly watching them. ‘You gonna be okay?’

                ‘Sure,’ I shrugged. ‘I’ve been handling Parker for this long, another few hours won’t kill me.’

                Of course, as soon as Nate and all his friends made their way to the dance floor, Parker descended on the table like some sort of sex-driven bird of prey.

                ‘That wasn’t very nice, what you did earlier,’ he admonished me, letting one arm drape around the back of my chair.

                ‘As opposed to stalking and sexually harassing people, which is the height of social decorum,’ I muttered sarcastically, looking away from him towards the dance floor.

                Parker ignored me, lifting his hand to play with my hair. I shook him off agitatedly as a movement in the corner of my eye caused me to turn. Standing over us, looking as sexy as when I’d first seen him, was the mystery guy. He looked at me and my heart rate accelerated slightly; then his gaze switched to Parker.

                ‘This guy bothering you?’ he asked in what is one of the most over-used pick-up lines ever. But I didn’t even care, because yes, Parker was bothering me.

                ‘Yes,’ I said, even though I know from movies that I’m supposed to giggle a little and said no.

                ‘Why don’t you find someone else to bother?’ the guy suggested to Parker, crossing his arms so Parker knew he wasn’t gonna take any shit. This was the most exciting thing to happen to me ever.

                ‘Look,’ Parker said in that slimy voice he uses. I knew he was gonna try and talk his way out of it, but I hoped it wouldn’t work. ‘I don’t know who you are, but my name is Parker Count. My father owns over half of this town.’ This, unfortunately, was true. ‘You clearly don’t know what you’re dealing with here, because we,’ he gestured to me and then himself, ‘have been together for a while now and-’

                I know that in situations like this, the “victim” is supposed to keep quiet and let the macho males figure things out by themselves, but this was such a blatant untruth that I couldn’t help myself. ‘That’s a lie!’ I exclaimed, shocked. ‘I don’t even like you!’

                I started to get up and move away from the table and the whole sorry situation, but quick as a flash Parker had grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me bodily against him. ‘It’s only a matter of time,’ he muttered silkily in my ear as I tried to struggle away from him.

                Mystery Boy was watching and obviously trying to figure out what to do, not wanting to start a fight in the middle of Prom, but luckily he must have decided it was worth it because he grabbed Parker by the shoulders and pulled him away from me.

                ‘Just walk away,’ he warned Parker before my stalker could say or do anything. There was a beat of animosity but I guess Parker must have wisely decided that Mystery Boy could take him in a fight because he angrily shook himself and turned, striding away.

                ‘Thank you,’ I mumbled once he was gone. Why did it feel like tonight was just going to repetition and repetition of me thanking people for saving me from Parker?

Rowan

The music was loud so I couldn’t be sure, but her voice sounded different. Uneasily, I asked myself in the back of my mind if I could deal with it if she really was thinking of becoming a man – like, permanently – but just after she thanked me for getting rid of that slime-ball Count she rubbed her nose in this adorable way and sat back down, gesturing half-heartedly that I should too.

                I wasn’t sure if I was ready to be with – for all intents a purposes – a guy, but for now I could just sit and enjoy being with her and deal with what was obviously a massive amount of baggage later.

                ‘Look, I’m really sorry,’ she said in that affected, slightly deeper voice, ‘but I have no idea who you are. I don’t really know that many seniors...’

                ‘That’s okay,’ I said, about to tell that I understood about her parents dying and that she was new, but I caught myself just in time. She didn’t need to know I’d been Facebook stalking her; not yet at least. ‘I’m not actually supposed to be here, not really,’ I settled for confiding instead. ‘We met once, in town. I’m Rowan Montgomery.’

                Even under that mask, she looked shocked.

                ‘Okay, I take it back, I do know who you are,’ she said hoarsely. Her face had gone pale and as I studied her I realised all over again how pretty she was. The shape of her face, her almond coloured eyes, even her new, short haircut gave her a pixie-ish look that was adorable and provocative at the same time.

                ‘Don’t tell anyone,’ I said quietly, smiling. ‘I’m not here to cause trouble, I promise.’

                ‘Right,’ she said, nodding. ‘Right.’ Pause. ‘You know my cousin is Tyson Andrews, right?’

                I cringed. ‘Really?’

                ‘Yeah. And he’s here. He’s getting Prom King, I think. So you know. Keep a low profile. Or he’ll kill you.’

                I gave her a lopsided smile. ‘You don’t think I could take him?’

                Even though she was still pale with surprise, Rosaline managed a genuine smile. ‘Well now that you mention it...’ she conceded. ‘It might even teach him a lesson.’

                ‘You don’t like him?’

                She shrugged. ‘He’s my cousin, I love him. We get on well enough. But he’s an ass.’

                ‘Not gonna argue with you on that.’

                She grinned. ‘I shouldn’t really be talking like this, should I?’ Her face became faux-stern. ‘I am completely loyal to Capulet High,’ she informed me. ‘Monta-losers can suck it.’

                I shook my head, pretending to be saddened. ‘So new to the school and already been indoctrinated,’ I lamented.

                She shrugged. ‘Well I mean, I may only be a Sophomore but-’

                ‘You’re a Sophomore?’ I interrupted, surprised. ‘I thought you were way older than that?’

                She grinned, obviously pleased. ‘Really? Usually people think I’m even younger. Thanks!’

Justin

Was it just my imagination, or was Rowan Montgomery flirting with me?

                I mean, the only other person who’s ever flirted with me is Parker so I couldn’t be sure, but it felt like he was.

                And I mean, I get it, if he’s gonna go scouting for guys while still in the closet it would be best not to start in his own high school, but he’d chosen pretty much the only place in town worse. If Tyson or pretty much anybody else found out about this they’d kick his ass.

                Not that I was particularly concerned with any of that at that point. My heart was beating faster than usual and I felt the beginning stirrings of butterflies in my tummy; I knew it was wrong to crush on the enemy but I’ve also thought Rowan was kind of amazing. He was beautiful, talented, unattainable. No matter how dedicated we were to Capulet (and I fell pretty middle-of-the-road in that respect) anybody who was interested in guys was interested in Rowan.

                We had talking for about half an hour when I finished my drink and he offered to get me another. I squinted at him.

                ‘Probably not the best idea to draw any more attention to yourself,’ I pointed out, grabbing both our plastic cups and standing up. ‘I’ll go.’

                He looked like he was about to argue but I moved away before he could stop me, slipping through the crowd towards the refreshment table.

                ‘That looked cosy,’ a voice said in my ear, causing me to shiver, as soon as I put the cups down.

                ‘Go away Parker,’ I muttered, reaching for the ladle.

                Instead, he put his hands on my hips and forced me to turn around and face him. ‘Who is that boy?’ he demanded, his voice syrupy but his eyes cold.

                I scoffed. ‘Like I’d tell you. There’s no revenge to be gotten here Parker, why don’t you just go away? I’ve made it more than clear that I’m not interested. It’s time to give up.’

                This was the most assertive I’d ever been with Parker and took a brief moment to feel proud of it before Parker grabbed the back of my head and pulled me towards him, mashing his mouth against mine.

                I beat my fists against his chest and wrenched myself away from him, spitting and wiping the back of my hand across my lips. ‘Ugh! Parker!’ I shouted, getting some unwanted attention from the people around us. ‘Just leave me alone!’

                I glanced around, hoping Nate would be within calling distance, but instead I saw Rowan just getting up and making his way towards us. Mortified that he’d seen what had just happened, I pulled away from Parker and legged it towards the cloakroom.

Rowan

I kept an eye on Rosaline as she approached the refreshment table, and was unsurprised to see that Parker Count kid approach her again. He seemed like the type who wouldn’t give up so easily.

                I knew he was bothering her but she seemed to be holding her own so I let her to it; that is, until I saw him force himself on her, which was when I got up and started pushing through the crowd before I could stop myself.

                I saw her look up and her eyes met mine, before she jumped away from Parker and disappeared into the crowd. He didn’t even hesitate before following her and, angrily, I followed him.

                We ended up in the cloakroom, but he didn’t even seem to notice that I was following him.

                ‘Justin?’ he called, and I wondered who Justin was. Was it some weird nickname he had for her? Nothing was impossible with that guy, I decided. Rather than simply grab him and hit him, like I wanted to – like I would have done with any guy I caught forcing himself on a girl – I decided to keep quiet and try to find Rosaline first. If she was upset about what had happened, me getting into a fight with the guy wasn’t going to help; she might just want to go home and I could take her, if she wanted.

                It didn’t take long. Parker was still calling for “Justin” when I spotted a pair of shiny black dress shoes peeping out from under one of the railings and, smiling, I slipped behind it myself.

                She jumped when she noticed me. ‘Jesus,’ she gasped, putting a hand over her mouth to muffle the sound. ‘Shh,’ she warned me.

                ‘Are you alright?’ I asked, whispering.

                Fine,’ she sighed. ‘It’s not like that was the first time.’

Justin

Rowan looked angry. ‘He’s done that to you before?’

                I shrugged. ‘He thinks he’s in love with me or something. I can deal.’

                Rowan smiled. ‘You seem to inspire that reaction in guys, huh Rosaline?’

                I frowned. ‘What?’

                ‘Well Parker’s in love with you, you’ve got me wrapped around your finger already-’

                ‘Wait,’ I said, shaking my head and feeling disappointment churn in my stomach. ‘You think I’m-’

                ‘No, let me finish,’ he said, looking like he’d been trying to say this all night. ‘I know we don’t really know each other, and before tonight it was just a crush, but talking to you and getting to know you a little, I don’t know, it’s made me feel even more strongly about you. I know there’s the whole Capulet/Montague rivalry thing but I don’t care about that. I really like you, and... Well, I know the last time this happened to you it didn’t end so well but I’m gonna try it anyway,’ he said, and smiled before putting a hand gently on the side of my neck and leaning down to kiss me.

                I was so surprised at first that I couldn’t say anything or pull away. And after those first few seconds, I didn’t say anything or pull away because I didn’t want to. Because I couldn’t. Because it was such an amazing kiss. His lips were soft and dry and the kiss was gentle; he moved his lips over mine slowly and before I could help myself I found I was kissing him back.

                He pulled away too soon, smiling, his eyes sparkling. I knew I just looked like an idiot, open-mouthed and staring, but he didn’t seem to notice. Instead he pulled off his mask, revealing in full his sculpted beauty, before reaching to do the same to mine.

                I mean, I should have seen it coming. But I was still in shock and I didn’t, so I couldn’t stop him before it was too late. He gently tugged off my mask and then froze, looking down at me while I stared worriedly back up at him.

                ‘Huh,’ he said weakly. ‘So that’s what you were trying to tell me.’

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