She stood there watching, as the coffin was laid down slowly and steadily. Stifling cries, his mother’s heart-wrenching sobs and his father’s uninterrupted silence made the air more morbid, if it were possible. People threw roses and some threw dirt on the coffin while she cried, tears falling silently down her sunken cheeks. He was gone and she did nothing to stop him from abandoning her forever. She was alone again in this world, with nothing to care about anymore. She ignored the inquisitive stares she gained from the people gathered in this funeral. She couldn’t blame them; her old ratty knee length black skirt was out of place amidst the sea of designer dresses. She was a stranger to them, an alien shedding tears over a dead boy who had no acquaintance with her whatsoever. But she had to be here; after all, it was her son’s funeral.

As men shovelled dirt up on the casket, her mind dug up some rusted memories.

She was young, fresh out of school and he was a foreigner in this land, married to a woman he never truly loved. What happened between them was a blur; she couldn’t even remember half of it. All she remembered that after two years of their secret relationship she was pregnant with his child. She had not wanted a baby at that time, she was far too young for such a responsibility but she loved the child nevertheless. He was a clever man and had proposed a cunningly crafted idea. His wife was among the less fortunate ones who couldn’t conceive a child, and therefore one day when he proposed the idea of adopting a child, his wife was only elated.

She had given up the baby to them, knowing that he would be taken care of. She also realised the futility of being a mistress and so with whatever money she had left, she took off to Ireland. She came back to America,15 years later, to visit a dear friend who had given birth to a girl. She was going to that small town she so loved, but stopped by her old hometown. It might have been fate, but it was that very day she found out that her son had died of Pneumonia.

Her sobbing was interrupted by a small cough; belonging to a man, she was all too familiar with.

“You said you’ll take care of him,” she accused, her voice cracking. “I tried my best to,” he sighed. “My only child, he died and I wasn’t even here...I don’t even know how he looked like,” she spluttered. “You didn’t want to be a part of his life,” his eyes narrowed; but as he did so, he took a picture out of his wallet. She stared at their son’s face, healthy and handsome. Even if the photograph looked old, she still could figure out that he resembled her but his eyes were akin to his father's startling blue eyes. Eyes that will never know her, eyes that are now dead and blank—a hollow abyss. “You are right, I didn’t,” she whispered.



She returned the photograph, and walked away again, as she had done so many years ago. The tyres of her car burnt as she drove to see her friend, in a small town called Edmar.

18 years later

Rebecca Ahern woke up to the swish of curtains, and as sunshine snuck into her room, a groan slipped her throat. She knew what day it was, and she hated every second of her realisation.

“Happy birthday, child,” Rebecca could sense the smile in her mother’s voice. She grudgingly opened her eyes and mumbled a thank you. Her mother frowned at her tone and said disapprovingly, “You musn’t be grumpy on your big day.” Rebecca shrugged and hoisting herself on the pillows, she stared at her mother. Her mother's light-brown hair, so unlike her own, was in a messy knot, her brown eyes happy and a bit teary. Her perfect mother, so proud that her "baby" was on the edge of surviving high school, and had lived to turn eighteen.

She sighed.

She had been grumpy all her life, let alone on her birthday. Reluctantly she walked out of her bed, letting the day sink in. The sky looked cloudless, clear and shiny. She smiled a little, and she looked at her back yard. The ocean looked calm, waves gently breaking on the shore. She opened the windows, allowing the salty air to enter her room. She loved the smell of the ocean, she loved the familiarity she could associate with it. Her room was painted in a muted plum colour, the furnishing was white. She had a fairly big, okay it was huge, closest, a window seat, a coffee table, a small sofa almost resembling a love seat and a book-shelf stacked with books and knick-knacks.

Every year, her birthday was associated with one unfortunate accident or the other; it was catastrophe to say the least. Last year, their small town had been hit by a storm and her guests who were busy enjoying her garden party had been soaked to their skin. At the end of it, her guests had drenched their living room and she was left with her mother and her two best-friends to clean up the mess. She was just unlucky, there was nothing else to it.

The thought of her two best-friends made her frown even more. She knew they had been conspiring for weeks to throw her a surprise birthday party. If she hated anything more than her birthday then it would be surprises...or lizards for that matter.

She took her time to get ready; she had an hour left till she would be heading to school. October 30th, the last day before the Fall break. She glanced at the mirror and a pair of wary green eyes stared back at her. She ran her hand through her blonde tresses and adjusted her black blouse over her red, high-waisted skirt. She had to look perfect, she had to be the trendsetter, and she had to maintain her reputation. The “it-girl” of Edmar High, the most popular-snobbish-spoiled-bratty girl of Edmar High, Rebecca was known for her foul temper and arrogance. She whispered slowly, letting the words sink their teeth into her flesh, “This won’t last forever. You won’t last forever and everyone will just forget that a Rebecca Ahern ever existed.”

She felt old. She was 18.

Her high-heels clicked down the staircase, she reached the kitchen counter and saw her mother cooking breakfast. The smell of freshly baked waffle hit her nose and bile began to rise in her stomach, ignoring the queasy feeling in her stomach, she took out a carton of milk from the fridge and drank straight from it. She heard a loud disapproving noise from her mother and smiled at her guiltily. It was one of the many habits she had acquired over the years, one of the many habits her mother had tried time and again to change but had eventually given up. “You are so like him, at times,” her mother said in a quite tone.

Him. Of course, she had to mention him, it was a recurring subject on her birthdays.

Brendan Anderson, her dear father, who had kicked Jamie out of his house and life when she announced her pregnancy. Rebecca wondered what changed his mind and why Jamie let him take care of all Rebecca’s expenses.

Whom was she kidding? Had it not been for Brendan’s help, her mother would have to do (God knows what) to make the ends meet.

Rebecca didn’t complain when her father spoilt her with plush cars, clothes and met her every demand. She was his daughter and she had every right. She wondered what he had planned for her birthday. Ignoring her mother’s incessant plea to have “the most important meal of the day” she gave her a fleeting hug and murmured, “I’m not hungry, but thanks mom. I love you.”

She drove to school in a Cadillac STS, a gift from her father on her sweet sixteen. She knew it had cost him a fortune but well he was filthy rich. She sighed deeply dreading what the day had in store for her.

Definitely something horrible, it was her birthday after all.

Ah, the highway to hell. She would reach school in five minutes now.

The black Cadillac ran smoothly on the highway that flanked the beach into two. Their school was in the outskirts of town and Rebecca was running perfectly on time. She loved the hide-and-seek with the crisp autumn sun, how the cold breeze gently patted her cheeks. Edmar was still on the process of being developed and thus was devoid of both the traffic and the crass cacophony of a city.

Stepping lightly on the gas pedal, Rebecca craned her neck for a better view of the giant grey-stoned building. She glanced at the road, and gasped, there was a man standing there with his back to the oncoming cars. She automatically kicked the brakes and her car came into an abrupt halt, sending her body doubling over the seat belt.

S***. Did she just kill a man?

Shocked, she hurried out of the car but no one was in sight. Bewildered, she knelt down and peeked under her car. Realising that it was a stupid thing to do, she straightened her skirt and returned to her seat in the car.

Was she hallucinating?

Her hands were sweaty, her heartbeat frantic, she took some deep short breaths to calm herself down. To her dismay, the school parking lot was empty of students. She was late and school had already started. Walking as fast as her heels would carry her she stumbled into her World History class.

“Ah! Miss Ahern, thank you for honouring us with your presence,” an old Mrs. Weber said disapprovingly. She mumbled a hasty apology, marched into the class, and took her seat at the back. “Now that I have your undivided attention, I would like to remind you all that your SATs are scheduled for 25th November, that is an exact week after your school reopens,” she announced.

Rebecca pursed her lips in a thin line as she saw Mrs. Weber give them assignments for their holiday, which would also help their SATs.

SATs. College. Future.

Each word distracted her more and more until she had stopped over-thinking about the highway incident. She had no clue about her future and more importantly, she didn’t even know what she didn’t know about SATs. The bell saved her from these unnerving thoughts.

“YOU! Where the hell have you been all this morning?” Rachel Fell attacked Rebecca as soon as she stepped out of the class.
“We were waiting for you by your locker but you NEVER showed up,” Viola Sanders crossed her arms over her chest frowning.
“I was...ugh...I slept in,” Rebecca lied. She sure as hell wasn’t going to confess that she had hallucinated about killing a man.
“Since it’s your birthday, you’re forgiven,” Viola said annoyed at Rebecca’s callousness. Rebecca smiled weakly at them as they wished her happy birthday.
They went to their English class together as Rebecca forced herself into joining their cheery conversation.












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"You have planned a WHAT?!" Rebecca dropped her glass of water, the liquid fell and spread on the floor. They were sitting at their table in the cafeteria, it was the centre table.

“A masquerade,” Rachel replied calmly, “and you are expected to be there, so don’t bail on us.”

“Yeah, don’t forget to go to your own birthday party,” Viola grinned.

“Mom knew about this?” Rebecca asked incredulously, her mother would say it was too extravagant and she would be right for the first time.

Rachel nodded, “Your costume has been taken care of too.”

Rebecca shook her disbelievingly. Her best friends had gone out of their ways to pull this off. A masquerade for a birthday party...no one in the history of Edmar High had done that.

But she will host it. She is Rebecca Ahern, after all.

“Okay. I will cut the cake,” she smiled, “who all are invited?”



“Everybody, they needed to be shown how to throw a party,” Rachel said. Rebecca nodded approvingly, “Make sure everything is impeccable.” She had to be in control of what was happening. She just needed to go with the flow.

She flipped her hair and rose to get another glass of water. She nodded unsmilingly to people who wished her on her big day. She sipped her water while talking to the student-council president, Erin Becker. Erin was always nice to Rebecca in spite of her horrible attitude, she had helped Rebecca host several events in school and Rebecca had always liked this redhead because of her optimism. Rebecca was the president of the Art club and wanted to hold an exhibition of the paintings made by the students, she needed to raise money for better canvas material.

She was returning to her sit when she was intercepted by Neil Smith. “Happy Birthday,” Neil smiled at her. Rebecca nodded stiffly at him. “Why so cold, Bex?” Neil stood in her way. “You are a filthy lying piece of s*** who cheated on my best friend, that’s why,” her words laced with venom, “and its Rebecca, don’t you dare call me otherwise.”

“What was that all about?” Rachel eyed her ex-boyfriend who was now glaring at Rebecca. “He was being the pathetic loser, he is,” Rebecca said coolly. She hated Neil Smith and she hated his guts. She could still feel his dark eyes on her but ignored him.
Rebecca looked at Rachel and squeezed her hand, “You deserve so much better that that jerk.”
“I know, I got you two,” Rachel smiled.

“I can’t believe you actually knew about this,” Rebecca narrowed her eyes at her mother who simply laughed. “Well, child you do deserve to have a remarkable 18th birthday. That reminds me, the present from your father has arrived,” she pointed at the white box that was lying on the sofa. Rebecca’s eager fingers tore open the blue ribbon and she found herself staring into a packed dress and had a note that said, “Wear me!”

“I can’t believe it! He was involved in this too?” Rebecca thought aloud, annoyed. “That is so pretty, it will look beautiful on you,” her mother smiled. “Yeah, I bet Linda bought it,” Rebecca said, immediately regretting her words. She shouldn’t have brought her stepmother into this; quickly she shot an apologetic glance at her mother. “She has fine taste, that woman,” Jamie shrugged.

Yeah, it almost matches yours.

“I know you like her Rebecca, and there is nothing wrong with it. I think she is a fine woman,” her mother said simply.

Yeah, too bad she is married to the man you still love.

“You still are the best mom,” Rebecca hugged her mother.

She knew she was all that her mother had.

“Well, time for my gift then,” Jamie gave her a toothy smile.

“There’s no need for it, you still feed me,” Rebecca laughed.

“Don’ tell me what is necessary and what isn’t, young lady,” her mother handed her a wooden box. Rebecca opened it, and she felt a lump in her throat, it was her mother’s bracelet, a sterling silver charm bracelet with a star, a crystal, a heart and an infinity sign.

“I bought it when I was your age, it brings luck,” her mother grinned.

Nothing could bring her luck on this day.

“Thank you,” she mumbled as she slipped it on. It was special, it was precious and she knew she would be wearing it for the rest of her life.

“Don’t worry, I will still cook for you,” her mother said laughed.

The black-laced dress was perfectly hugging her body. It was very long, brushing the floor. It had a cinched waist, bodice style, and no straps. At the back of the dress, black tulle dragged on the floor. It was a rather lavish ornate black and white dress. The shoes were not important as they would be covered by the dress and so she chose simple black slippers.

Her lips were wine red and her eyes were dark. She put on the feather-mask, which rose up to be a crown. She stood in front of the mirror. She looked intimidating. She slipped on her lace black gloves and straightened her wavy tresses. She knew exactly who she was dressing up as.

A dark queen.














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It was a black and white themed party, while people were restricted to the colour they would be wearing; they would have full freedom with their masks. The theme was perfect for a relaxed, but still very elegant, event. She had received the invitation for her own birthday party this afternoon. She grinned at the invitation, it was a vertical invitation with a picture of a red and black laced mask.

You are cordially invited to the eighteenth birthday party of Rebecca Ahern.

Theme: Black and White Masquerade Party

Dress Code: Formals for Men and Dresses for Women

Masks are mandatory.

Venue: The Creek Hall, TownSquare

Time: 7 p.m.

Date: 30th October 2012

Be there, be someone else.

Be masked, be unknown.

And, let the sin begin.

You have until the clock strikes 12.

She sent a little prayer to heaven; she didn’t want this birthday to be ruined like always. Her best friends had worked too hard for this and she wanted it to be perfect for her best friends’ sake rather than her own. She parked her car in an almost full parking lot. She was casually late, she straightened her posture, she had a role to play today and she didn't want to get caught in her act.

Rebecca gasped as she entered the large hall. She had seen nothing more extravagant. The whole room was decorated with dark roses, black and silver streamers, white balloons, lit and unlit candles along with chandeliers that hung from the ceiling. Her eyes rested upon the magnificent white piano that stood in a corner.

"I will give it you guys, you surely know how to throw a party," Rebecca smiled at her two best friends. Rachel made a very pretty forest fairy, with her blonde curls and brown eyes, while Viola had opted for the more traditional Juliet. Her black hair was done in a beehive and her red-dress highlighted her dark sultry eyes. "Okay, let's get this party started," Rebecca threw back her shoulders and walked confidently across the room.

"Thank you, for coming today, I feel overwhelmed at the love and warmth that you have always shown towards me. You have made this day extremely precious and I hope you enjoy yourselves today. Go ahead- make some memories," Rebecca announced. People cheered and the party started to pick its pace. Rebecca found herself enjoying with her friends around, she felt a bit relaxed. She walked around thanking people, having no idea who the hell they were.

"Now, Rebecca can we have you at the centre," Viola was screaming out of excitement. Rebecca groaned at the thought of what followed. She will have to cut the cake while people sang 'Happy Birthday' to her. She cut the cake, hoping she would die before the embarrassing chorus ended. Rebecca smiled as people clapped and cunningly avoided Rachel as she tried to shove the chocolate truffle cake down her throat.

"Now now, Ebby, you must be a good girl and eat your own birthday cake," a low voice whispered in Rebecca's ear.

"IAN!” Rebecca screamed as she flung herself for a hug. Her victim staggered backwards trying to prevent them from falling.

"Happy Birthday, Ebby," he grinned, "look out for those grey strands now, you're getting old." "You came," Rebecca's face broke into an ear-splitting smile. "Of course I came, I could never miss your birthday," Ian kissed her forehead."You missed mine," Viola said angrily to her elder brother. "I was trapped in a submarine, with only sharks as my company," Ian grinned. "Oh no you don't!" Viola slapped away her brother's arm but he pulled her for a hug anyway. Rebecca laughed. She loved to see these two fights.

Ian has travelled across the oceans, just for her.



She couldn't remember a life without Ian. He was always there for her, he was the only person in this world Rebecca put her faith on. Her relationship with Ian was far above friendship or lust. It was pure, unalloyed love that they harboured for each other. Rebecca never forgot the day Ian said that he would be shipped to Japan for a year for his internship as a marine biologist.

"So, how long will you be here?" Rebecca handed him a glass of Rose, as she sipped her own. "Couple of months, I think I will be transferred to Hawaii next," he grinned. "You lucky bastard!" Rebecca punched him lightly, she was happy for him but in her heart, she knew she would miss him. With Ian gone she couldn't focus, she felt like her system had been shut down and she felt like a zombie. He had explained to her that he would always be there for her and that she needed to concentrate on school for the sake of her future. Leaving Ian to his sister's incessant questioning Rebecca searched for Rachel. Her eyebrows furrowed deeper when she found her huddled in a corner with Neil. Neil whispered something to Rachel, which caused her to slap him.

S***. This can get ugly.

"Rachel! Come on, he's not worth it," she tugged her best friend's arm. She dragged Rachel before Neil could do something regrettable. She put her arms around Rachel while Rachel silently sobbed before completely breaking down.

"I a-am so s-sorry Rebecca, th-this was s-suppose to be your night a-and I s-spoilt everything," she stuttered. Rebecca hushed her, "Rachel, this whole thing is dumb. As much as I appreciate your efforts, this means nothing to me, not more than my best-friend." She consoled Rachel some more and Rachel promised to tell her everything that went down this evening. "But not tonight, because I have other important things to do. Like, I need to go announce the dance and music games," Rachel wiped her cheeks. Rebecca helped Rachel adjust her ruined make-up as Rachel thanked heavens that her puffy-red eyes would be half-covered by the mask.

Rachel stumbled onto the stage as Viola shot an inquisitive glance towards Rebecca. She mouthed, "Neil" and saw Viola's jaw clenching. Rebecca squeezed her hand, reassuring that they would see the end to this. Rachel announced through a heavily cracked voice, "I am sorry that I sound so awful, I think it was the alcohol." "That's a pathetic excuse, because her eyes speak otherwise," Ian whispered but was reprimanded by Viola's disapproving glare. "There will be a dance, and there will be some rules for it. You have to be dancing in pairs. You will also be pairing up in called out numbers when the music stops and please change dance partners as the music changes," Rachel continued. Finally, she said with a coerced laugh, "And if throughout this dance, you find someone interesting then you'll have the full liberty to unmask yourselves and reveal your true identity to that person, however you shall not do so unless the clock strikes twelve." Everyone cleared the dance floor and waited for the music to start. "Shall we take the floor first?" Ian smiled at her. Rebecca simply nodded. She didn't mind dancing with him; after all, he was the one who taught her.

They took the floor as people clapped. Rebecca smiled, one of her favourite melodies were playing. "Minuet by Bach, isn’t it?" Ian asked her. Rebecca raised her eyebrows mockingly, "You and classical music?" "Does that mean my wild guess is right?" he laughed. "Please, it takes more than guessing to recognise Bach" Rebecca stated. "Alright, alright I have been listening to classical music," he sighed, defeated. "I reciprocated your efforts because now I know what hip-hop sounds like," Rebecca grinned. He looked at her with disbelief, "Let's have dinner sometime, we sure have some catching up to do." "Is this your way of asking me out?" Rebecca narrowed her eyes. "I don't even have to ask you out, I already know you swoon over me," Ian smirked. "Ah yes, how this poor girl could have resisted your alluring charms," Rebecca scoffed. "Don't forget my alerting good-looks," he smugly smiled. Rebecca rolled her eyes as they swayed to the music.

They stepped out of the dance floor. She took the microphone and announced that now they would be paired up randomly according to the numbers they were allotted. She began to recite out random numbers and saw people looking for their partners. She recognized Norah Jones' voice as it crooned, "Don't Know Why"; she watched people dancing and laughing. The optimism in the air made her smile too.



One more hour, and she could actually have a perfect, disaster-proof birthday bash once in her life.

She was silently sipping the dark red wine, relishing the burning sensation in her throat. She watched as people changed partners, while some of them ate dinner, which was served. She walked towards them, asking them to help themselves. Being polite to these irrelevant faces was beginning to tire her out she wanted this to end. It was still one hour until twelve and she was becoming impatient every passing second. Suddenly a beautiful melody hit her like tidal waves; somebody was playing an unknown score. She had never heard something so enticing, so comforting, it was sweet—too sweet.

It reminded her of the fading colours of autumn, the blue winter moon, and the scented breeze of spring and the warm rain of summer.

She stared at the man sitting at the piano, his fingers fluid on the chords. He was playing the symphony almost to perfection. Unable to resist the temptation she walked silently and stood behind him while he continued to play. He stopped abruptly, sending the tune out of harmony.

The stranger stared at her face, his face hidden behind a silver mask. She stared back into his startling blue eyes, they were livid in colour, like a pool of silver ocean. She felt like he could see right through her soul and decipher her well-coded secrets, her eyes began to sting and she blinked, breaking the eye contact. She opened her mouth to compliment him but he was already moving away from her. Before she could stop him, he was lost in the crowd.

How rude.

Fuming to herself, she went back to her friends and danced with them. Her mind wandering back to those blue eyes, something about that man was oddly familiar. She couldn’t just place it quite right. The clock struck twelve.


She was officially legal.

She saw people unmasking themselves, cheering and dancing to the music, which was suddenly louder and more upbeat. Ian strode towards her, grinning, and took off his mask. “Shouldn’t you be blushing that I find you intriguing enough to reveal myself?” Ian said. “No, I will just look blank while I think of an excuse to escape your boring company,” Rebecca smiled sweetly. “It hurts more than you care to know, babe” Ian placed his hand tragically on his heart, his blue eyes dancing with humour. “Call me ‘babe’ one more time and I will break more than your heart,” she hissed. Ian laughed as he pulled her into a hug. She liked being close to Ian, he felt like home. “I have missed you and your whining,” Ian said quietly. Rebecca laughed against his chest, Ian never complained when she vented all of her anger out on him. He gave her the space, calmed her down and tried his best to speak some sense into her.

“Let’s get out of here, let’s go somewhere, anywhere,” she whispered, “just you and me.” Ian nodded, “Let’s go hiking this weekend.” Rebecca agreed she was in desperate need of this time with Ian.

She stood at the exit as people left; she thanked everyone once again for attending her birthday bash.
As if, they would have missed it.

“You two are the best friends I could have ever asked for, I can’t believe you pulled this off,” Rebecca confessed as she gave bear hugs to Viola and Rachel. They were smiling at her as she wiped away her tears. “I love you, both,” she croaked. “What about me?” Ian pretended to look offended. Rebecca stuck her tongue out but pulled him into their group hug.

This was it. She had had a peaceful birthday, finally.














---------------------------------------------





“Go Ian, I will be fine. I am a big girl and I know how to defend myself,” Rebecca pushed him towards his car. Ian was still looked indecisive. Rebecca sighed; he was too concerned for her at times. “Okay fine, but let’s leave together,” Ian said in a stern voice. What could happen in this hour of night?

Right. She might be murdered, or worse raped.

Shaking her head disbelievingly, she got into her car and started the ignition. She heard Ian doing the same.

She had refused to take a lift and so he would be tailing her. Nice.

She felt like a kid being told what to do. Frowning to herself, she drove in silence. She glanced at the rear-view mirror, and saw Ian signalling her to stop. She halted before the fork in the road. Lowering her window she said loudly, “You take left and go home Ian. I will be okay, its only five minutes.” Ian bit his lips and then glanced at the right side of the road it was deserted. He nodded and said, “I will see you on Saturday.” Rebecca steered right and stepped into the gas pedal. She could make the faint outline of the shore in the distance. She rolled her windows down and inhaled sharply. The salty moist air licked her face and she flipped her mask onto the dashboard.

Almost immediately, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Shrieking, she turned backwards to face nothing but darkness and gasped as her car skidded out of her control. Her car protested with a screeching sound as she abruptly hit the brakes. She lurched forwards, only to be brought back into her seat by a strong pair of hands. She was all too familiar with this touch. She shivered as his fingers brushed her shoulders. She turned her head to face him, to confirm that it was him and not some rapist.



“Missed me?” he whispered before taking her face into his strong palms and kissing her.