The sophisticated chatter of all the guests buzzed around me as I stood near a refreshment table, silently observing the party while I sipped on the lemonade in my hand. There were so many people here in my aunt's hotel laughing and having fun with their friends and family but here I was completely and utterly bored.

Any other person would be gazing at all the intricate decorations like the massive ice sculptures, the beautiful twinkling lights in the ceiling, or even conversing with the other guests, but I honestly wasn't interested in anything around me but the food.

There wasn't anything new to be interested in. I had already seen it all before. If you had an engagement party, charity ball, or any other significant event, more often then not my mom planned it, if it was a large one, you most likely had it at one of my aunt's hotels, and undoubtedly, I had attended, because my mother forced me to come to all her events. She rigorously believed I didn't come out of my room enough. Which is totally not true.

Sometimes I go to the kitchen to get food.

"Bryn! Bryn, oh there you are, I've been looking for you everywhere," my aunt said as she walked up to me. Being over fifteen years younger than my father, my Aunt Harper just recently turned twenty-eight, and could be considered more of an older sister or best friend to me instead of an authority figure. She was someone I could always count on.

Tonight she wore a beautiful black dress that complemented her to-die-for figure and had gold glitter covering the top. Her long golden brown hair, the same shade as mine, was tied in an intricate up do piled on top of her head, with a few stray pieces framing her face, along with some gold jewelry pieces and pumps to match her beautiful shimmering gold masquerade mask.

For whatever reason, my mothers clients  insisted on a cocktail dress masquerade themed birthday party for their daughter, so everyone in the room wore a mask. Aunt Harper, my mother, myself, and even the servers included. I couldn't remember the name of the birthday girl, but whoever it was I'm sure she was extremely happy. I caught a glimpse of her with another dark haired girl along with their two dates, a lanky dirty blonde and a muscular brunette. They were all beautiful, from what I could tell, and we're all laughing and enjoying themselves, except for the blonde boy, who looked almost constipated.

"I've been here the whole time, Aunt Harper. You should have looked here first," I say with a cheeky grin. She was by far my favorite relative, and I always enjoyed being around her and her bubbly attitude.

"I know. I can't believe I didn't think of looking where the food was first, it's where you always are. Now come on, you're mother is having a melt down and I need you to help me calm her down," Aunt Harper told me before she grabbed my arm and began dragging me. I quickly put my glass back down on an empty table and walked with her as she lead me up to the front of the room. When we got to where my mother was, she was conversing with one of our chefs and a couple of our servers.

Contrary to what her young sister-in law wore, she had a cream one shoulder dress with a black belt and black heels, black and gold jewelry pieces and a stylish black mask. Her dyed blonde hair was up in a tight ballerina bun, instead of a loose braided up do like Aunt Harper's, but both were equally beautiful.

Parties like this were where my family thrived.  We all loved the whole aura surrounding events: the planning, the declarations, and of course, being the life of the party.  Once upon a time, I was like this two, but lately I had become bored with the same old thing.

"Yes, Andre, I know. Don't let it happens again. Now go get the cake and bring out more drinks! We have a strict schedule to keep!" My mother quickly snapped me out of my inner thinking as she exclaimed frustratedly to the servers. This party was being held by one of the wealthier families in town, and they happened to be good friends with my mother. To top it all off they had a thing for dramatic and over the top parties, so, naturally, my mother has been stressing about it being absolutely perfect for the past few weeks, even more than usual, and tonight was no exception.

"Yes mam," the men said with their heads bowed, before scurrying towards the kitchen. My mother could scare and intimidate anyone. She would make the Terminator cower in fear.

"Julie, come on. Leave the men alone. They'll get the job done right, they always do. The only thing you're accomplishing is making the poor guys pee themselves in fear," Aunt Harper said laughing.

"Oh, be quiet Harper, they deserved it. They brought out green apple tarts! Green! When I specifically told them red! They-," I cut my mother off. If I didn't stop her now, she would never stop.

"Mom, chill. Have a glass of champagne or something. We need to go. The servers are wheeling out the cake, and it's calling my name."

A few minutes later the three of us sat back in our chairs and groaned.

"I don't even want to look at another piece of cake," I said dramatically, covering my eyes.

"I'm never eating anything again, ever," Aunt Harper complained. I swear Aunt Harper might be more of a child than I am.  She was so immature sometime that its hard to believe she owns her own line of hotels.

"Oh be quiet you children. You said that last week after we left the Smith's party, and look at you now," she said teasingly.

"But this time we mean it!" We cry simultaneously before falling into fits of giggles.

We laughed and talked for a few more minutes as Mom and Aunt Harper sipped their champagne and I drank my new lemonade. After the cake cutting, there wasn't anything my mother had to stress about until the firework - yes there will be fireworks - show, and then clean up, so she had finally begun to relax a little bit and enjoy herself.

"I've got to go the the little girls room so I'll see you guys in a few," I told them and stood up, adjusting my intricate mask, before making my way to the restroom.

A few minutes later, I was done with my business and entered into the ballroom again. When I got back to the table where I had left my mother and Aunt Harper, they were nowhere to be found. Shrugging it off, I decided I would just go look for them, but when I turned around I ran into someone, causing them to drop their drink.

"O-Oh, my gosh I'm s-so sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going an-and now I've gotten my lemonade on your shoes," the boy stuttered out in distress. "I-I'll make it up to you, I p-promise!" He said then turned to look for something. "Oh, s-server! Server! Thank you, can you please get m-me some napkins? I believe I've made a t-terrible mess," he started to ramble. The boy sounded about my age and from what I could tell from his body and the little bit of his face I could see behind his white mask which resembled angel wings, he looked it too. Honestly, he was adorable. You couldn't find many guys my age willing to apologize for something silly like this.

"Oh that won't be necessary!" I told the server quickly with a smile before turning back to the boy. "You barely splashed them, don't worry about it. Plus, they were cheap anyway. I got them on sale at TJ-Max," I stage-whispered to him with a laugh. They actually were not cheap shoes. In all actuality they were really very expensive, but my family had so much money I could buy ten more pairs just like it and they wouldn't bat an eyelash. Of course, I would hate to waste their money on something like that, but like I said, the shoes were barely even touched so it won't be necessary.

I guess you could say I'm not going to cry over a little bit of spilt lemonade.

The more I looked at the fumbling boy the more I liked him. He had nice shoulders, good hair, and his suit fitted him nicely.  Along with his cute, nervous attitude, he seemed absolutely perfect, in a weird, wonderful, dorky kind of way I guess.

"I p-promise I'll make it up to you, I'm j-just so, so sorry! Is there anything I can d-do? I'll do anything," he promised.

"Anything?" I asked, a grin finding its way onto my face. This party just got interesting.

"Anything," he answered earnestly, without stuttering and nodded his head.

"Dance with me then."

a u t h o r ' s n o t e :

not edited

~ holland