"Stop that!" Emma slapped my hand again.

   "This is really stuffy," I complained.

   This prince suit wasn't what I had originally picked. It was... more regal which is why I'd rejected it before. The ornaments adorning the chest area and the little gem brooch was eye-catching enough. Emma just had to add this rope thingy and one-arm cape. It's honestly too gaudy.

   I sighed. 

   Really, even the words I've begun to use are clear influences from knowing Vera.

   Vera's dark hair passed by. 

   I recognized her right away. The below-shoulder cut of her sleeve and the bust line of the dress exposed her pale skin. She glowed in the dim-lit room in translucent blue and golden adornments.

   Damn, I'm seeing her the way she wrote others.

   "I originally made this to match Vera's," Emma said proudly. "But you had to pick the other one. Thank goodness you forgot it though."

   I could hear her giggling behind my back.

   "Well, I'll leave you to do your work."

   I nodded in response letting Vera leave my view.

   Today, we looked like we stood on equal grounds. The gap in our status was invisible and nonexistent, hidden by our costumes and our masks.

   "Excuse me," a red-hooded girl slipped past me, her robe catching the cufflink of my sleeve.

   "Wait!" I yanked her back.

   She stumbled into my arms before pushing me back.

   "Sorry, but I didn't want to rip your costume."

   "Oh... hmm," she drew my arm closer to her face. "Just a little of this... There! Sorry about that."

   She looked up, staring through my mask.

   "Aust?"

   Did I know this girl?

   Her curly brown hair showed a little, but her eyes were shadowed by her mask.

   "Do I know you?"

   "I guess masks really do hide our identities." Her hand was outstretched and waited for mine. "Georgie."

   "Nice to meet you?"

   She laughed again and briefly lifted her mask. "I guess, I forgot to introduce myself last time."

   Oh.

   She was that girl.

   "Sorry, you had to care for my siblings this morning." My head bobbled.

   "You mean, thank you. It was my pleasure."

   A part of me wanted to ask her how she felt mingling with the rich or dating someone who's rumored to be really rich, but that isn't something that just comes out. The topic was not for small talk.

   "Excuse me if this sounds like I'm prying into your personal stuff, but I couldn't help wondering." She looked around her and turned back to me. "Want to step out for a bit?"

   I'm not sure what compelled me to follow, but I did.

   "The air outside feels pretty nice. It was a bit stuffy in there." 

   I could hear the grin on her face.

   "It is," I agreed.

   "When Sebastian first brought me to his family for some annual holiday party at their family home, I got really scared. It was like stepping into a whole new world. No... it wasn't like. It was exactly that, stepping into a foreign land. When I met him, I didn't think about our class difference. But slowly, I started realizing, even though I had certain privileges others covet, he had ten times more." She was leaning at the edge of the sidewalk. "I couldn't help but see myself in you."

   My eyes darted her to the street then back again. I watched her sway.

   “I’m not dating Vera.”

   “But you stepped into her world anyway. It must be… what’s the word, overwhelming.”

   I nodded.

   "I used to tell myself that he belonged there," she pointed at the store and stepped into the road, "And I belonged here."

   She looked at the store longingly.

   Her voice grew louder. "Always watching from the outside."

   I had to agree. I have always felt that wherever I went, at school, at work, and even on my way home. The changes in the neighborhoods drastically would change, blurring by on my side-view mirrors.

   "Sometimes, we try to reach for it but are too afraid to take hold because we know loss, maybe more than others. And we know how those losses tear us apart. But you know what..." She stepped back onto the sidewalk, "Seb knows a lot about losing things and people too. And when I ignore the zeroes that keep us separated, it’s clearer how similar we are beneath all the frills and fancy parties."

   I followed Georgie's gaze to the storefront. Even then, I could see Vera amongst the crowd through the window.

   Beneath all the frills and fancy parties... maybe she never even considered how different we were. She always approached me first and always talked to me the same way she did everyone. She never hesitated to bring me into her world.

   "Uri Story... cute." Georgie smiled and then laughed. "Well, I didn't end up asking you anything."

   The front door dinged open and a wolf stepped out.

   "Georgie, there you are."

   "Just taking a breather."

   "Too crowded?"

   "A bit."

   "We can leave as soon as Emma makes a toast."

   "But we'll have to go to the gallery right after and do this all over again."

   "Yeah. Sorry," he kissed her on the top of her head. "That's what happens when you date a Daniels."

   "Should we just break up then?" She laughed, visibly joking, but he pouted anyway. "I'm kidding. I'll need some me-time before we head there though."

   "Okay. Putting on your brave face?"

   "As always."

   They waved at me before heading back in.

   She made it sound so easy, but even I could tell how much she meant to him.

   "Aust?" Vera opened a window and called out to me.

   I decided then, this is where our story begins.