-Tobias’s P.O.V-

“I...I need to…I have to go.” The girl says breaking away from my arms.

“But why?” I ask her holding on to her hand, not willing to let go.

“I just…my brother must be here by now. I have to look for him.” She tries again.

“What if I don’t see you again?” I ask her and that is the reason I don’t want to let go of her.

Before I can say anything else, she shakes her hand free and takes off into the crowd. I take off after her. She’s headed straight for the door. I pick up my pace but she had a couple of second’s head start and is able to go wherever she intended to.

Why did I tell her my name? Did I ever do something to hurt her before? Why was she so shocked? I thought she liked me. Why did she have to run away? All these questions swim through my mind, confusing me even more.

 I sigh and turn around to go back in. When something hits against my foot and skids away. At first I don’t see anything on the floor. But when my eyes sweep over the corner where there is a dustbin standing, I see a bit of black peeping out. I bend down to see what it is.

The ‘black thing’ is a phone!

I tap on the screen to bring it to life. The lock screen picture comes up, which confirms my hunch that the phone belongs to the girl I just danced with. She must have taken a picture of herself and used it for the lock screen. But unfortunately she’s wearing her mask.

I swipe my hand across the screen to access the home screen but a little tab pops up, asking for the PASSWORD!

She really is keen on keeping her identity hidden. There is no way to find out who she is with this phone. Now, this thought makes me real sad. I go back in and make my way to the spot on the bleachers where I had first met her. I sit down with the phone in my hands and keep staring at her picture.

A voice calling me by my nickname brings me back to life.

“Hey! Four!” My best friend Zeke’s voice calls out. He walks up to me but stops a few feet away.

“That’s you, right?” He asks, probably because of my glum look.

“Who else if going to look at you if you call him Four?” I ask him but I still remove my mask to assure him completely that it’s me.

He sits down next to me, on her seat.

We don’t say anything for the first couple of seconds. But then I decide to break the silence by asking him “Did your date bail in you or something?”

“Nah! She started talking to her lady friends and then just wouldn’t stop.” He replies and points to a group of girls standing near the middle. They’re talking and laughing. I recognize two of them to be Shauna and Cara.

“You’re her date. You’re supposed to stay with her throughout the ball.” I say.

“I was just standing there looking at them and trying to make some sense of what they were talking about. All I understood was that they have overflowing closets and in Shauna’s case, a good boyfriend as well.” He tells me.

I start laughing, forgetting about how sad I was two minutes ago. “Good boyfriend?” I manage to say.

“Ha-ha. Real funny man.” He says, shaking his head and smiling.

We stop laughing after a few minutes and go back to sitting in silence. My emotions get the better of me. All that I can think of right now is her. The way her body moved when she danced and her soft hand in mine. We had even flirted.

“Shauna was happy but you weren’t. Another reason I came to you.” Zeke says, again breaking me free from my thoughts.

“What do you mean ‘not happy’?” I ask him.

“You had a look in your eyes that I have never seen before.” He explains.

“What type of look?” I ask him.

“The look which said ‘someone has hurt me.’ Who was it?” He replies.

“A girl.” I say.

“Yeah I know! It has to be girl! Except that you aren’t…?” He breaks off.

“No! I’m not gay!” I reply at once.

“Alright. Then give me specifics. Like name.” He presses.

“If I knew her name wouldn’t I just talk to her on Monday at school?” I point out.

“What? You don’t know her name!” He exclaims.

“No!” I scream.

“Then we have to find out.” He says, rubbing his hands together.

“How?” I ask him, surprised.

“I thought you had a plan to do that.” He raises his hand as he says this.

At first I glare at him but then a plan starts coming together in my mind.

“You’re right. I do know how.” I reply smiling down at the phone in my hand.