"We are proud to continue this tradition with you all, and hope our 22nd Annual Masquerade Ball will be a memorable evening." The host said loudly through a microphone.

I am dragged to this event every year by my parents. It's just a bunch of kooks and buisnessmen from all over the place that put their money into trashy partying rather than charity.

While dressing up, wearing a mask, and dancing the night away with random hot kooks is fun, it's a waste of time since I need to give Hart his cash by the end of the month.

Right after this, I had to go win the bag. I've been training in the gym and using John B's punching bag at the Chateau.

However, Hart's sensitive little ass couldn't handle the truth and I wound up having to have 2 weeks off from fighting.

I sigh as I fix my mask to keep it from ruining my makeup. I don't usually wear makeup, so it was weird to wear it. Not that it's bad, it's just not me.

Looking for a clock, I tap my feet impatiently. Two more hours and I'll be outta here.

"Kiara, don't slouch. And please fix your mask." My mom snaps at me scoldingly. 

Bitch. I see you trying to act all innocent in front of everyone.

I fake a smile "Yes, sorry mom." I say earning a nod from her.

Okay, she can be a bitch like all the time but, I love her nonetheless.

Already bored, I walk towards the concession stands and pick up a plate of brownies.

A whistle sounded behind me. Turning around I immediately recognize Kelce even with his mask on.

I mentally sigh. I had the bastard by the shirt the other day. The audacity.

Since he did not recognize me, I decided to play along. "Care to dance, sweetheart?" Kelce inquires as he holds out his arm.

I cringe, kid has no game. Shame, because he dressed so nicely. I'll give him credit for the confidence but damn he's a douchebag.

"After my brownies," I reply. Priorities first. Kelce smirks, "Of course, I'll be right over there waiting for you." Kelce winks.

I wish my brownies were pot so that I would forget this dance in the morning.

After sneakily taking a sip of wine, I finally make my way towards Kelce, preparing for whatever may unfold.

As we start dancing, I put my hands on his shoulders, wanting to take him to another room and knock him out. I start swaying to the music.

"What is your name?" Kelce asks. I'm on the spot and mumble "Kenzie".

We start to synchronize as Kelce says, "Nice to meet you. I don't remember seeing you around here. Are you new here?"

"Something like that." I say waiting for the song to end.

To kill time, I think about punching Kelce.

"Welcome to the Outer Banks. Let me know if you'd like a tour guide." Kelce says winking.

Definitely not.

"There's a little party at Byron's tonight. You should go."

I have a bag to win tonight.

"I'll think about it." I say in a sweet voice.

The dance continues for a bit longer. Kelce is actually a pretty good dancer, but I won't boost his ego.

After the song changes, I am finally able to break away from Kelce. But before I can reach my brownies, I am spun around. I'm face to face with Pope. "POPE?!" I say, covering my mouth as I realize he wasn't supposed to be here.

Pope says rolling his eyes, "You know how kooks are, thinking they're showing businessmen that they're not complete twats by not catering to locals." I chuckle.

"Heyward's got balls back here after midsummer", I say impressed. We love Papa Heyward.

"I didn't have to come, but Savannah is here." Pope says, looking over at her from the corner. "Ohh have you moved on already?" I joke, putting a hand on my heart.

'Yeah, couldn't break the pogue on pogue macking rule. Although that rule no longer exists since John B broke it. But I'll keep it for him." Pope remarks. 'You're a good man, Pope.' I reply teasingly.

"Okay, well, I want to ask her to dance, but I think it will be better if we change partners." Pope says.

"No problem, I'll help you with that. Time it right, though." I say scanning the ball room to get closer to her and her partner.

The song finishes, and we move to the dance floor. "Ok, my mark, let's go Mr. and Mrs. Smith on Savannah, got it?" I say. Pope furrows his brow. "No, not like that. The dance scene.. forget it. We need a marathon later." I say.

Pope looks up at me as the song plays. "How is JJ doing?" I ask quietly so no one will hear me. "My dad is ready to boot him, but I think he secretly likes him, but you know Heyward." Pope says, smiling.

His dad was definitely a character.

The song is coming to an end and I look at Pope, "Okay, once the beat is over you turn around and she's in your arms, loverboy." I say.

"Easy as that?" Pope asks.

"Easy as that."

After the song ends, I let go of Pope and watched him smoothly turn around and lock hands with Savannah, earning a giggle from her.

I smile, feeling accomplished, and turn around.

Just as I was about to make eye contact with the brownies, I was suddenly swept up into  step of another dancer.

The Kook in the white mask has olive skin, and an elegant jawline.

Damn.

Mask eye openings were adorned with a gold pattern around his dark blue eyes.

I lock gazes with him as he gently grasps my other hand and puts one hand on my hip.

"I see you met Kelce." the Kook says in a husky voice.

"I'm afraid so." I reply. Feeling nervous under his touch.

My smirk earned a chuckle from The Kook. "Yes, he's more down to earth after you meet him."

"You're his friend? You must have been paid to stay." I say.

Once again, he laughs. I try to hide my blush from enjoying the sound of it.

I am dipped as his hand delicately caresses my skin as I am wearing a backless dress.

My hand goes to his neck for support as we lock gazes.

"More or less." He replies

"What's a pretty girl like you doing here in the outer banks, anyway?" He asks curiously.

"Got tired of the city." I respond.

"Damn, I wish I could say the same about this place." He says as he gently sways me.

"To be fair, growing up on a beach is pretty cool." I say as I place my hands back on his neck.

Especially once you start to get comfortable." He says smirking and indicating how I had my hands around his neck while others didn't.

As I slowly removed my hands, I blushed, but he quickly guided my hands back to his neck.

As his rough hands touched mine, I was strangely attracted to the way he handled it.

"I wanted to stay. After high school. That feeling that you could lose something after you leave." He says, looking down.

The way he carried himself was intriguing. Handsome too, with a rough look, but hot.

"As if you could never get it back no matter how hard you tried." I say.

'Exactly.' He says as we lock eyes again and he twirls me out and I twirl back into him.

I spin back into him as we're close, a whiff of deja vu entering my nose but quickly leaving as soon as the song changes, leaving me to find the next partner.

The last song is playing, and I am dancing with Pope again. "So, how did your dance go?" I ask eagerly.

"I think we broke the dance rules, but I got to find a nice diner." Pope smiles.

"I feel honored, Pope got a girl." I say smirking.

"It's not easy to move on, but you've got my back." Pope says as he winks playfully.

"How was your dance? I see he hasn't forgotten about it." Pope says nodding towards someone behind me.

I look across the room and see him sipping on some wine as we lock gazes once again.

I quickly glance back at Pope. "Go talk to him. I'll be over by the drinks with Sav." Pope says.

I make my way to the concessions stands, thankful that my brownies aren't being taken. I sense a presence beside me. I look up to see him also filling up his plate with food.

"We're heading to Byron's for some food. You can join us unless you like the fancy ass food here." He says looking at me as he drops a horderv into his mouth.

"Really wish I could, but I'll add it to the list of places to eat." I mumble as I glance at the clock realizing that I had to head to the ring very soon.

"When you drop by, let me know."

I smile in response as a server accidentally bumps into me. He stabilizes me with his hand on my hip.

As I flinch, I realize the wound from Hart still hasn't healed completely.

"You good?"

"Oh yeah. Just a little surprised."

~~~

A distant cheer motivates me as I prepare to knock out my opponent from the other room.

I am in my locker room preparing for my fight shadow boxing in front of the mirror.

Boys and girls, do not try this at home. I do this in order to earn hard cash because my dad can never seem to get his dues paid.

My whole life I've also been boxing, and not many people realize because when they do see me, it's for physical exercise.

As my boxing gloves are pounded together, I warm up my hands and begin stretching my muscles on the floor.

After hearing the announcer welcome everyone, I walk over to the sink and lean my hands on either side of the basin as I glance in the mirror.

I had to put on yet another mask. I stare at my reflection and wonder if I'll have to live like this forever.

My mask concealed my identity. Sometimes it is nice knowing that if everyone turned their back on you, you still had yourself.

And from there, you can climb your way out of pretty much any rabbit hole.

The sport of boxing has helped me not only to stay in shape, but also to never give up. To get back up when life got tough.

In a way, it's been a coping mechanism from the outside world.

I reach for the first aid kid to apply soothing cold cream to my bruised knuckles.

To represent myself on the ring, I put on the silky show robe every boxer wears.

On the back of my robe, "Black Panther" was embroidered in gold. I know it sounds very cliche, but I was given the name because I was known as the fastest fighter on the card. 

How can a girl fight? I negotiated with the owner. I tie my hair up in a way that gives me the appearance of a shorter, toned guy.

Barry told me about this place because he had a friend who was friends with the manager here. Barry saw me struggling and offered to help even though he was struggling as well to earn money.

I honestly think Barry is the best. While he sells drugs and had a bad upbringing, he remains a good friend.

Barry knows all about Hart and I since he's the Cut's transporter and seller but you see Kooks buying from him regularly as well.

It would have been nice if some of his Kook customers would have offered him a job, as Barry is also an auto mechanic.

I close my eyes as I walk towards the chants. It was nice knowing people were there to watch and support you, but if they knew who was behind the mask they wouldn't bother.

The moment I said yes, I was aware of its dangers, but the more dangerous the job is, the bigger the paycheck.

As I enter the light, I make sure that my hair is in place and twist my neck in preparation. "And now, the main event everyone has been looking forward to, Black Panther!," the announcer says loudly as I walk toward the spotlight. As I hear the crowd roar, my heart pounds.

After sliding under the ropes, I put my hands up in the air and roared with the crowd as I went to all four corners of the ring. The crowd tonight was a true motivator, exciting me to perform.

Lighting dims, making it dark for me to see. Suddenly, flashing lights appear and music blares in my ears. "And now, our toughest heavy weight champion from 2016, Lightning Rod!" I cringe at the name, which causes me to become even more pumped as the fighter enters.

He was big. I'll give him that. But did he move fast enough? He enters the ring and I hear more boos than cheers. I smirk revealing my confidence to the enemy.

When the bell rang, I was at home. As my world became quiet and my ears became numb to the sounds around me, we started to pace around each other.

"This'll be an easy win." He says as he looks me up and down. "You're built like a girl." He taunts me as he takes a step forward.

During the fight, I never engage the fighter. I take a step forward, as he takes one back.

"You're not as fast as I expected you to be, little girl." He says. He approaches me and begins punching, but I dodge him. The crowd cheers.

I take two steps forward and try to uppercut him, but he blocks it with his gloves.

The opportunity presents itself for him and he punches my gut, earning a groan from me. I quickly mask the pain as I land a punch on his right eye. He's good. I'll have to figure out what his weakness is.

In the midst of the fight, we begin throwing punches at each other, with him dodging more than I do. I do not show any signs of fatigue because I plan to fool him into thinking I am tired.

As I stumble back in response, he uppercuts my chin. I was caught off guard by the crowd's screams of "ooh". I don't like losing, so I take two steps forward, pump a fake punch, and uppercut him from the side.

He's taken back by my sudden movement and pushes off the ring and comes at me with a punch to the gut and a punch to the chest. I stumble back and catch my breath for a second as he's punched me the same place that Hart punched me.

After hunching over and regaining my stance, I am about to get into position when he rams me into the ring sending multiple punches to my stomach.

I'm being punched in places I didn't know would hurt. All I can see is his face. The dark eyes under the mask. His mouth lifted into a grin as if he had the upper hand. My head snaps back into reality, and I begin punching him in return.

My opponent blocked my punches and punched me harder. I had to come up with a way to surprise him, so I stepped back and did a spin move, which he blocked with a plumbing punch against my jaw, causing me to fall to my knees.

Suddenly the crowd is quiet as I am kneeling down catching my breath. My mouth is dripping with blood, and my sides are aching. I look up to see he had turned around, thinking he would be finished with me. My eyes darken, and I stand up. To my surprise, he turns around.

"I'll finish it for you sweetheart. No need to even stand." He says as he speeds toward me.

He charges at me, and I see slow motion in my mind. This is my trademark, my speedy reaction. My father flashes before my eyes, reminding me that this was for him. I side step, and uppercut him, which causes him to fall to the ground within a second.

The crowd goes silent. I catch myself on the ropes, out of breath. The sound of the countdown drowns in my ears as I let the moment of victory consume me. The second the countdown hits 1, the crowd erupts.

With the sound of the crowd getting louder, I hop onto the ropes and pump my chest in the air as I stand up and take in the cheers. I hop back down and pump my chest again in celebration.

After scanning the crowd once more, I see Kelce and Topper. My mind is blown thinking about how this kind of environment wouldn't really suit them.

I smirk, Kelce would have a reality check if he only knew who was behind the mask.

My gaze is drawn to the man standing next to him. I come to a halt; the last thing I wanted to see was him here.

We lock gazes for a few moments, his blue eyes enthralling in the dim light.

~~~

As I squeeze a gauze on my bleeding cut, I take a deep breath and count to three. The stinging pain in my chest causes me to stiffen up. I take a deep breath and exhale slowly, regaining my breath.

Because I was the final person here, I decided to close the ring and return home after treating to my wounds.

I lean back into the couch, preparing to clean up my next wound. I bite down on my bottom lip, bracing myself for the impending pain.

I bite down on a nearby rag while grabbing the booze from the bar above us and pouring it over my wound. I groan in agony, desperate for it to cease. I didn't put enough on, so I take a few deep breathes and wait for the pain to hit me. I scream into the cloth as I bite down.

I recline on the couch and look up at the ceiling once more. I sigh after taking a gulp of booze.

"Tequila's stronger."

I'm surprised to hear a voice because I thought I was the only one at the ring. When I turn around, I see Rafe leaning against the doorway.

"And that is exactly what this is." I respond, as he stares at me intently.

I can't read his emotions because he stands there emotionless.

"That's gonna hurt like a bitch in the morning, I don't suggest drowning in your feelings with booze."

Looking at him, I raise my brow "That's funny coming from you. In your system, happy hour is 24/7." I say mocking him.

I knew he drank a lot, that he drank away the pain of his mother and father's abandonment. Not that I wouldn't do the same, but when I need to get away, I use my head. More or less.

"You should leave; I have to close up in an hour." I say, attempting to push him away.

I return to my wounds and apply beta-dine to the newly formed bruises. The silence felt good; Rafe was gone, and I was finally alone.

I close my eyes and relax on the couch, allowing the comfort to engulf me. I was exhausted, and I only had 70% of the money for Hart.

I was about to fall asleep when I felt a gentle touch on my hip. Because I knew it was him, I didn't open my eyes.

I let him clean my wound while my eyes were still shut. I was too tired to waste my energy on him.

"It's amusing seeing Kooks in places they don't belong" I say, eyes still closed.

"Might as well change your whole identity, and your mask." Rafe says standing up and leaving.

I sit in silence again, opening my eyes.

I see my masquerade mask in front of me on the table.

Shit. I called Rafe hot.

A/N: 777777777777777 woooooooooooo hope you liked this one :))