[uCHAPTER FIVE:[/u]

Smiling, Gabby sent me a look. "Well?" She demanded. "What are you waiting for? A orange carriage and some rats? Go! Get out of here."

"But what if the guys-"

She shook her head. "Don't worry, cherie, I'll cover for you, okay? But I won't need to if you don't hurry up and go."

"Gabs," I said smiling, "I love you so much right now. You are the best non-sister ever."

She grinned back. "Just go, Alexie."

I shot her one last grateful smile before I took off through the side doors and outside. My heart pounding in my chest, I hurriedly rounded the corner of the building and instantly my entire body sighed with relief. He stood in the middle with his back to me in the moonlight. Hearing my steps rounded the corner he turned around. He didn't smile as he took me in and I felt my heart sink a little.

He made his way over to me. "You came." He began again. It was a question or filled with surprise and doubt. It wasn't even a statement. Simply, it was just him, observing.

I smiled a little and bobbed my head up and down. "I told you I would."

He smiled now and took my head in his hands and stared down at me. "Wait, I want to try something." He said.

I nodded, the oxygen exiting the room so fast my brain was begining to feel dizzy. "Oh?" I asked, breathlessly.

He nodded. "But I can't do it with your mask on."

I laughed. "Oh, right.'

I reached up and pulled my hair up so that he could untie the two ribbons that held my mask over my face. Then he pulled them back and let the mask fall into his hands. My heart in my throat, I slowly let down my hair before turning to face him.

He stared at me for a long moment as his eyes filled with something like wonder as he drank me in. The chocolate brown curls framing my face. My creamy white skin sheering in the moonlight . My emerald green fighting against the dark brown for dominance over my eyes.

Finally a smile overtook his face and he took my face into his hands. "God, you're beautiful," he whispered, gazing into my eyes like I was the only girl in the universe.

A smile lit up my face as I gazed at him. "Thank you," I responded, rather somewhat shyly. "And what about you?"

His eyebrows came together in confusion. "What about me?

I tapped it gently. "Your mask." I told him, my voice lit with giddiness and laughter.

He suddenly looked like he'd just gotten punched back to reality and wished to be anywhere but here. "Oh, right." He muttered, blinking slowly as he gazed away from me.

"I don't care if you're the beast, you know." I softly said.

"The beast?" He repeated turning to look at me, still confused.

"You know, the horribly ugly guy in Beastly." I answered. At his blank stare I tried to clarify more specifically. "Or the monster from the legend, Beauty and the Beast." Realization hit him but not understanding. So I said it again. "I don't care."

Because despite if you are "beastly" or average, right now you are the one thing anchoring me to the planet, I thought, keeping my gaze steadily on his. Then wanted to smack myself. There is no such thing as love at first sight. There is no such thing as love at first sight. I chanted mentally, hoping to weaken some of my attachment to him. It didn't work.

He started to laugh. "You are one strange girl, you know that?" He said moving a tendril aside as he cradled part of my neck and lower jaw in his hand. And I knew he wasn't calling me weird.

I laughed too. "Yes. After all, I'm a teenage supermodel but yet who loves nothing more then to curl up with a good book. In Hollywood, strange doesn't even begin to cover it."

Shaking his head and laughing again, he pulled up the rubber string from behind his head and before turning to me so I could do the rest. I gently moved the mask up to the top of his head and sadness filled my heart.

It wasn't because seeing his face was a major let down to all the build up. If anything that was the last thing he was. He had thick, black hair that flopped from his scalp to a few strands hanging down into his eyes. His skin was golden bronzed and I could tell it wasn't that fake tanning crap Californians were obsessed with. He had a strong nose over full lips and a sexy, self assured smile. No, he was more beautiful then I imagined.
My heart sank because I recognized his face and therefore who and what he was.

My eyes widened and I gasped as I yanked back my hand as if I'd been burned. "Oh my god," I gasped. "You're one of them. You're a Teague."