when the masquerade is over

For a  moment, Henry thought he might have stepped through the looking glass, but no, he'd hid under the covers for the most part.

Actually, he wasn't sure if he could lift his head from the pillow. And the room was pink. But not an awful pink. More like a rose filtered sunlight. He squinted thinking he could get used it.

He slowly uncovered his face and saw she was staring at him.

"What?" He wanted to know.

It was Josie.

"Nothing." She winced as if he'd spoiled the moment. She turned her back to him as if he might disappear if he wished.

He shut his eyes tight, but let one eye open as he took a peek. He saw the curve of her bare landscape. Then he realized he was naked too.

He sighed.

"You said, you never sleep with clothes on." She said, but she didn't look at him.

"Huh." He knew that was positively not true. He generally dressed for bed like he might be waiting for a house fire. But faintly then, he remembered saying that. He was laughing then.

God, how he hated his laugh. It was senseless,yet it reached an intense level of intoxication. He made a face wondering what to say next as he nursed his bottom lip. Funny, how he couldn't lift himself up to get going. He wanted too.

"Are you mad at me?" He wanted to know.

"You, can be so silly." She turned back to him. "Just..so silly.." She smiled to him. "I love that about you."

Josie wished she hadn't said it. She didn't mean too. After all, it was a very long night. They'd left the Prom early. Actually, they went back to her house, but they'd talked outside for the longest time. He was all mellow about how mixed up he was and what was he going to do once he graduated high school.

But then, out of nowhere Henry said, "Lets make a movie!"

"Where?" After all, they were sitting in her car, not to disturb anyone.

"The cemetery." That clown face of his. It was so hard to take him serious, but she drove, thinking they'd never get out of the car.

He talked about zombies for the longest time.

"But there are no zombies here." She informed him once they carefully walked between the tombstones in the moonlight.

"I'll put them in later." His voice might have slipped, but she really didn't think much about it. Naturally, they laughed and he turned on his camera phone. "This is perfect." He was all grins, but later, all she saw was a black picture.

She really wasn't sure how long they'd been out in the night, but then she noticed it was almost one in the morning.  They should probably go home.

"Do we have too?" He clung on to her as if he was the bestest friend she'd ever had. So, it took another hour to get him to the car. They'd kissed in the dark. Between the tombstones, the hood of the car, studied the stars and then it happened all over once more, like a new passion of some kind. He couldn't have been drunk. He could not.

But he was laughing. Then she was laughing.

Josie sighed, thinking it over. She couldn't be making this up. But he didn't look like it could have happened now.

They'd been so quiet back at her house. Maybe too quiet.