stop and stare // open

[melanie rose davis]

OUTFIT

[/size]Melanie had always loved getting all dressed up for big parties, ever since she was a little girl. With her dad’s work it gave her plenty of opportunities but still at those she always had to be on her best behavior. Tonight she got the opportunity to be whoever she wanted. It’s amazing how different a person can be behind a mask. The mystery behind it. Sometimes hiding is the only time you can truly be yourself. Melanie knew this very well. She’d been hiding behind a mask ever since moving here however long ago. Although it wasn’t a physical mask itself she wasn’t the seemingly perfect girl she tried to portray. No she is still the nerdy girl who’d rather stay at home Friday nights then go out drinking and partying with her friends. It’s amazing the things we will do to keep out true selves hidden.

Melanie still felt a bit of excitement for this party though. She had found the perfect dress, the perfect mask, the perfect everything for her. She was ready to have fun and let what ever happen, happen. Mel didn’t even care that she didn’t have a date or anything. She had a few people ask her but she didn’t want to come with a date she wanted to be free to do whatever she wanted and not be stuck with some one person for the night. Not tonight. ’Tonight I’m going to have fun.’ She though as she entered the doors of the party, putting on her most winning smile, taking one final last deep breath.
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[henry miles abrams]

outfit ,

henry had never been to an elite party, this was his first chance to gain witness to one. the ticking time bomb which was his life was quickly ticking closer to zero. he hadn't asked anyone to the ball, he figured that hadley wouldn't want to attend with him. it was way too mainstream for her and he rather go alone anyways. henry put on the fanciest thing he could find and somehow grabbed a mask from a local costume shop, luckily it was in the clearance bin or else he might have not been able to afford it. henry took the bus to the big party and told his parents he was going to see hadley, he didn't want them to make a big deal out of him going to a party.

henry got off the bus and walked out into the street, the cold night air waking him up. he watched as several people walked down the red carpet, most of the elites he recognized from the gossip column online. he had never been posted about luckily and he didn't intend on making it on there. maybe his death would be on there, no one would care anyways. henry started walking steadily towards the normal doors on the right and suddenly he bumped into a beautiful girl. he gathered himself and looked to the floor, "s-s-sorry." he barely muttered out. he looked up and saw it was melanie a girl he had third period with. "o-oh hi melanie." henry said lightly, she probably wouldn't recognize him at all. he had known her since freshman year but he didn't expect her to actually know his name. maybe she'd recognize his large mop of hair if it was styled normally but tonight he had it slicked back a tad. he hoped that melanie wasn't going to be mean towards him, if she was he would probably just walk away and continue on with his night. no matter what henry decided tonight would be fun, this would be his first and last elite party in his lifetime.. better enjoy it.

[melanie rose davis]

OUTFIT

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As if by reflex “WHAT THE FU-“ Started to escape her lips before she managed to stop herself. The smile vanished as she turned to see who it was that had bumped into her. ‘s-s-sorry.’ She heard as she looked around to see who it had been. Taking a deep breath before she knew without a doubt she was going to flip out on this kid. Just as she was about to open her mouth again her spoke again. ‘o-oh hi melanie.’ He said lightly. This caught her a little off guard. She supposed it wasn’t unnatural for people to know who she was, after all she was in the popular crowd but she couldn’t help but feel like she had actually seen this kid before. She just couldn’t pin point where.

She decided to just go with it and see where it took her. The kid had an almost quirky vibe to him, not in a bad way though, a familiar way that reminded her of how she use to be. Mel looked him up and down trying to figure out why for some reason she had felt like she had seen him before. She traveled down and stopped at his shoes. She couldn’t help but let out a small laugh, not in a way to make fun of him although it may have seemed like it, but rather cuz she’d give anything to be wearing Converse right now. She looked back up at him, still no name coming to mind. “Ohh…hey umm…..” Still no name coming to mind. “How’s it going?” She asked trying to seem as natural as possible, although she felt like she was fooling no one and really just looked like a dumbass. [/blockquote][/blockquote][/size]

[henry miles abrams]

outfit ,

henry heard the mutter of a curse word that nearly came out. he didn't mean to bump into the girl, he had simply been pushed and knocked into her. he was looking at the floor the entire time but he heard her take a big breath in.. which could only mean she was getting ready to yell at him. henry deserved it, it was his fault after all. he would just scurry away and avoid anyone for the rest of the night hoping that he could get far enough away from any human contact. he was a wall flower, he observed people and that's the amusement he usually found in his life. as he looked up he saw melanie and called out her name softly, he would be shocked to find out she actually knew his name.. let alone recognize him from somewhere. he had been in at least one of her classes each year of highschool. hopefully he'd make it to graduation so maybe they could laugh about this time with her.

he watched as she scanned him up and down, pausing and laughing briefly at his foot wear. he didn't mean to be so casual, he couldn't afford dress shoes. his blazer was his father's from when he went to graduation. his jeans were black and from far away maybe they'd look like dress pants? henry was far out of place here but it didn't matter to him at this point, he was already at the party. as she tried to put a name to a face he figured she probably recognized him. "henry from third period history class." he completed her sentence and gave a small feeble wave of shyness. "it's going alright.. i'm sorry i bumped into you again. hey where are all your friends..?" henry asked looking around for them somewhere, melanie was always in a bubble of people. she was a popular and henry.. well henry wasn't.

[melanie rose davis]

OUTFIT

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Melanie knew she was bad at pulling off remembering people’s names. Normally she didn’t take the time to learn them. After all as all her friends always remind her, ‘they know your name and that’s all that matters’. Still Melanie tried to get to know everyone, only not one her clique was around. She knew plenty of them were trying to find any little thing to pull her down. “henry from third period history class”. He said finishing what she had been hoping to say, if only she could have remembered who it had been. Mel instantly recognized him once he said who he was. She had been in a few of the same classes as him in the past few years. She could recall her freshmen year she sat in the seat behind him and always asking for a pencil. Although outside of that she doesn’t ever recall talking to him much. It kinda made her sad, looking back at it now in this moment, that she had never talked to him before, like really talked to him. He seemed a lot like the kind of people she use to hang out with back in Texas.

"it's going alright.. i'm sorry i bumped into you again.” Melanie shrugged of his apology. He was a sweet kid, different then a lot of the kids that she had gotten to know since moving to LA. He actually seemed genuine for a change. “No, no believe me its okay. I’m sorry I almost went into complete bitch mode on you, bad habit I suppose.” She said with a slight laugh and half smile. Ohh how true that was. ‘hey where are all your friends..?’ He asked her. Melanie looked around, double checking to see if any of them were around. She still didn’t see any of them. Half of them were probably drunk out of their mind by now anyway or they were umm busy with their dates, or both. “Hmm… I don’t know honestly. They are all probably inside now or something. I opted to come alone, try something new for a change.” She said with a slight laugh. In all honesty she really didn’t care where her friends were it was rare for her to be out and not have a swarm of people around her, she kind of liked it.
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[henry miles abrams]

outfit ,

henry realized that melanie didn't need to know his name. he was a nobody and that's the way he wanted it to remain. maybe when he passed on, melanie would remember this moment and think fondly of him. he didn't want to leave this world with any regrets, talking to an elite was pretty cool in his books. he had a few classes with her over the years so he was pretty shocked she even gave a slight face to show she recognized him barely. he hadn't expected her to nail his name right on the spot. the highschool was huge and he barely knew anyone's name outside of his classes. henry was a wallflower, he didn't like talking too much --he observed. he would listen during attendance and see which people would raise their hands. he would then try to remember that person and their names. sometime's, he'd make a game out of it. he'd challenge himself to see if he could actually pinpoint which kid belong with that particular name.

she shrugged at his apology, he smiled weakly and looked to the ground. he rubbed his shoe into the pavement, making small circles. "oh, i'm glad you didn't. i would've ran straight home after that." henry laughed softly before flipping his hair and arranging it with his left hand. he did this almost every couple minutes to assure it was perfect. when he mentioned her friends she glanced around for them. henry did the same just hoping he would spy hadley but unfortunately they both came up short. this ball was way too mainstream for hadley. "yeah, i'm flying solo too tonight. i'm surprised you're alone though, any guy would be lucky enough to escort you to the ball." henry said blushing a bit before looking down to hide it. he didn't like melanie but whenever he did something remotely near a compliment towards a pretty girl he blushed. "want to go inside?" henry asked looking back up, "i totally understand if you want me to stay twenty feet from you for the rest of the night.. i know i'm not the most 'popular' kid." henry sighed. everyone knew henry was poor.. but they didn't know it was because he was sick that made his family bankrupt. the medical bills were through the roof, he was starting to think it was time to cut the cord and just stop going for those expensive treatments.

[melanie rose davis]

OUTFIT

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‘oh, i'm glad you didn't. i would've ran straight home after that.’ Henry said to her. ‘awwww!’ she thought to herself. This kid was too precious. Melanie let out a little laugh. Too adorable. Melanie, as much as she wish it were different, had actually had made people literally run away from her and in some cases even made them cry. She had never intently wanted to make any of that happen but well everyone has a bit of devil in them. Melanie had always felt really bad after something like that would happen but she would go along and laugh with her friends about it. Only feeding to the fire. Every time is did happen though she always thought about how just a few years ago that had been her, the kid getting bullied. “Well, ill be sure to not try and scare you away for anything like that. Promise.” She said with a smile. She knew something small like this didn’t make up for all the bad she had and probably will continue to do while at school here in LA but she hoped maybe it’d count for something.

‘yeah, i'm flying solo too tonight. i'm surprised you're alone though, any guy would be lucky enough to escort you to the ball.’ Melanie blushed a little along with the kid. For real though, who was this kid? Melanie couldn’t believe what a sweetie he is. “Aw, Henry you’re really too sweet. “ She said with a slight laugh and what had to been the most genuine smile she had worn since arriving to this town. “What about you though? A sweet, charming guy like you? I think any girl would be lucky to be escorted by such a gentleman. There has to be some lucky girl out there.“ Mel said with an encouraging smile.

"want to go inside? i totally understand if you want me to stay twenty feet from you for the rest of the night.. i know i'm not the most 'popular' kid." Boy did that sound familiar to Melanie. It’s still hard for her to accept that she was in the “popular” group now. “You know us ‘popular’ kids sometimes need a break from each other. “ She said giving him a friendly smile. It was true, well at least for her anyway. “Besides it’s a masquerade, no one here really care who you REALLY are.” She said giving him a quick wink before opening the door to go in.

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[henry miles abrams]

outfit ,

henry had been scared enough showing up alone to a ball and with no date. running into melanie he had hoped she would have mercy and not yell at him. which she didn't and she was actually a delightful person. henry never judged anyone and when he had heard about melanie being cruel to other people he didn't believe it. no one with such a cute face could be so evil, everyone had a good side to them. no one was completely evil, even if they were mean, they weren't born that way.. someone had to make them cruel and mean. henry was raised to always see the best in people even if others didn't see the good in himself. he always treated people with respect and kindness, if people still didn't like him, he was okay with it. "thanks melanie." henry smiled softly and hoped to have a new friend by the end of the night. melanie had no idea how much these few moments meant to henry. she probably thought these small kind gestures were nothing... but to a kid like henry, it meant the world to be treated as an equal.

henry laughed with melanie as she thanked him for the compliment. it really was true though, melanie was really pretty. she should have some jock guy right next to her taking her inside to dance the night away. "well it's true!" he said, most people didn't think of henry as sweet... most just thought of him being quiet, being called sweet by someone other than his mother felt nice. when melanie asked if he had a date, he burst out laughing. it was really flattering of her to say something like that. henry blushed, still laughing a little bit. "oh it's awfully nice of you to say that melanie.. but i'm not the type of guy to ever have the courage to ask a girl out." henry admitted, looking to the floor and clicking the heels of his converse sneakers together.

melanie gave him a friendly smile when he asked if she wanted to go inside with him. she was right though it was a masquerade ball. "well, miss melanie i'd love to escort you to the ball if you allow me." henry put one hand behind his back and the other on his stomach then he bowed. he stood up straight and smiled warmly, he held out his arm, "shall we?" he said starting to walk towards the doors. when they approached the doors he opened them for melanie and let her go in first. when he first entered all he saw was girls in gowns and a soft tune played in the background.. couples swirled on the dance floor and a ton of elites were talking to the press. "wow, this is crazy..." henry was in pure shock, he had never seen such a beautiful party... melanie was probably used to this though so his reaction must've been pretty funny.