Much Ado Part 3

When Friday rolled around the party at Leo’s house was all anyone could talk about. Even the teachers knew about it at this point. When the final bell for the day tolled the students were quick to rush home, eager to get ready for the simple masquerade party. Leo was quite popular at Messina High and had invited nearly everybody, and those without invitations had plans to sneak in. Becca and Tony had come over early to help with decorations and they could already feel the excitement in the air.

“Guess who is our homeroom this year,” Leo called to Becca as they worked together to hang up a banner above one of the doorways. Becca shrugged. “John, Pat’s brother,” he said unhappily, rolling his eyes.

Becca laughed. “Well that has to be a sour fifteen minutes,” she said, feeling no envy whatsoever. John was, well, disagreeable, to put it simply. Becca had no real reason to dislike him, but there was just something about his attitude and solitary ways that put her on edge.

“Yeah, tell me about it. I just hope he doesn’t show up tonight,” Leo frowned, “Though knowing him, I wouldn’t be surprised if he did.”

“And if he does, who cares? The worst he is going to do is sit in some corner moping behind a black mask,” Becca joked. “At least he isn’t obnoxiously annoying,” she said in a low voice. Leo looked at her and raised a brow, realizing they were not just talking about John now.

“Please don’t tell me you are comparing Ben to John,” he said, pausing at the top of his step ladder to cast her a look.

“I’m just saying, they both get on my nerves,” Becca replied.

“Ben’s not a bad guy, Becca. Give him a break.”

“No, he’s just a pain in the ass who doesn’t know when to be quiet,” she sighed.

“At least he isn’t some… overly melancholy drama king who mopes too much and doesn’t know what color is,” Leo laughed as he taped his corner of the banner.

“True. Maybe if we combine the two we’ll have a decent person,” Becca laughed in reply, reaching for the tape from Leo. “A little bit of John’s melancholy and some of Ben’s humor… a good balance. Not too boring, not too obnoxious.”

“You are too picky, Becca. We’re never going to find you a boyfriend.”

“Probably not,” Becca grinned.

“Wow! That looks great!” said Stella as she walked into the room, crossing her arms and smiling up at her brother and best friend. “Tony’s just about done out back. We just need to bring out the food,” she said, looking around the room and taking in all the decorations. Leo got down from the stool and moved to the stereo set, turning on some music. Both girls smiled at him.

“This party is going to be great,” said Becca.


When the boys arrived they could hear the music playing before they even came inside. Once they did come inside the music grew much louder and the colorful lights put smiles on all their faces.

“Damn. Leo outdid himself this time,” said Ben from behind a mask as they moved through the house, trying to find their friends and hosts.

Moving out to the back patio it didn’t take them long to spot Leo, Tony, Stella, Becca, and Hannah, all standing together with a few other people and talking loudly, laughter mixed splendidly with their words. The boys were wearing full masks while the girls had classic masquerade style masks that only covered their eyes. Chris and Pat looked at each other through the eye holes in their masks. Pat gave Chris a pat on the back before stepping forward. Chris moved away, watching nervously.

“Nice party, Leo,” Pat said, doing his best to sound like Chris. “Would you like to dance, Hannah?” he asked, turning to the shorter brunette beside him. She looked to her brother, smiling, and he winked at her. She nodded, and they walked back into the main house hand in hand.

Ben had taken off in another direction as well the moment he spotted Becca among the bunch. The last thing he wanted right now was the put up with her. He grabbed himself a drink and wandered aimlessly through the crowd, hoping to find something interesting. He finished the drink rather quickly, almost disappointed that it was plain old punch and not something alcoholic. Tossing the cup into the trash he turned back to the table and reached for another cup. As he did he knocked wrists with someone else and looked up, startled to see Becca, eyes covered only by an elaborate blue and gold mask which she now pulled up into her hair, revealing her whole face. He sighed, pulling his hand away as she grabbed up a cup.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to get in your way,” Becca said, amused.

“Oh, no, I’m the one who got in your way,” he practically drawled, figuring that Becca didn’t recognize him and therefore deciding to play along.

“Hmm,” said Becca, sounding curious.

“What?” asked Ben.

“Usually I’m the one being blamed for being in the way, well, at least when Ben’s around,” she said simply, bringing her plastic cup to her lips and shrugging.

“Who is that?” asked Ben coyly.

“Who? Ben?”

Ben nodded.

“I bet you know him,” Becca replied.

“I don’t know anyone named Ben,” Ben insisted, and Becca nodded.

“Oh, well, he’s an amateur comedian, stress on the amateur, sadly. Only his friends actually like him, because makes people laugh but at the same time he pisses them off with his pathetic lines. You’ve had to have met him at some point,” explained Becca.

“If I meet him, I’ll tell him what you said,” replied Ben.

“Please do. He’ll probably crack a joke about me, which you better laugh at or he’ll start crying and refuse to eat,” Becca sighed. “Enjoy your drink.” Becca winked at him before pulling her mask back down and swiftly walking away.


On the other side of the room Chris leaned against a doorway, watching his best friend, wearing the same shirt and mask as himself, dance and laugh with Hannah. He smiled and crossed his arms, trying to keep calm and hoping things would work out.

“I actually feel bad for Chris, though. He has no idea what’s about to happen,” came a familiar voice from just behind him. Pausing, Chris turned. He had no reason to think that whoever this was was talking about him, until he realized that the person speaking was John, Pat’s brother, to his two friends, Connor and Brad. None of them were wearing masks and Chris was certain that hadn’t even been invited. He kept his distance. They didn’t seem to notice him at first. They continued to whisper and he could hear names amongst the hushed words. Finally, he became too curious and couldn’t help himself.

“Um, hi, it’s Ben,” he began, lying through his teeth but too afraid to admit who he was to them. “You were talking about Chris? And Pat?” he asked, and John looked up at him.

“Oh, hey… well, I guess I might as well tell you, everyone’s gonna find out soon enough,” John began with a frown, appearing to be concerned. He beckoned Chris closer, lowering his voice.

“My brother has a thing for Hannah,” he began, gesturing across the room to Pat and Hannah as they danced. “I heard him talking about it on the phone to Leo the other night. He said he had a plan to get her alone, win her for himself… And Ben, I know your friend, Chris, has a thing for her. I know I can be an ass but even I don’t like to see people being messed with like this.”

Looking over again Chris watched as Pat took off his mask, revealing to Hannah who he truly was. She pulled her mask back as well and they shared a quick hug. Chris turned back to John, thankful that his mask hid the anger he was sure was clearly written on his face.

“I figured you ought to know now before things really go down hill,” said John before quickly walking away with his friends, leaving Chris alone and full of confusion.

He stumbled out of the room and out onto the front porch. A few people were passing by, coming in and out of the main door, but for the most part he was alone. He sat down on the steps, pulling off his mask and running a hand back through his sweaty hair.

“Why did I have to pretend I was Ben?” he asked himself, wishing he hadn’t heard anything John had said. “So Pat wants Hannah for himself… Dammit!” he shouted, slamming his mask onto the ground. He sighed, resting his elbows on his knees and cradling his face in his hands. “I guess friends are loyal about everything except for love,” he began with a mock laugh. “I should have just done it myself, I should have just talked to her on my own instead of trusting somebody else do it!” Chris rose to his feet, practically shaking with frustration and anger. He reached down and picked up his mask, staring at it for a long moment. “If he wants Hannah, he can have her,” he said bitterly before stalking back into the house.

As he came inside Ben, who was no longer wearing his mask, ran into him, almost literally.

“Hey, watch it, man. What’s with you?” he asked, but Chris didn’t answer. “Pat told me to come find you. And now I have, so let’s go,” he said, directly Chris toward the main room. Chris stepped away.

“Leave me alone,” Chris demanded.

“Oh, come on! Pat has Hannah, so let’s go!”

“Good for him.”

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Ben asked, staring at Chris was concern.

“Just leave me alone!” Chris shouted, pushing past Ben and to another part of the house. Ben held up his hands and let out an unsure laugh.

“Okay…” he said carefully, shaking it off and deciding it was better not to get involved. Looking up he spied Becca talking with Stella and Tony in the kitchen, and he frowned. “How could she not know it was me? And call me an ‘amateur comedian’! She’s just bitter. As always. I’ll get back at her, that she can count on.”

Just then Pat toward him with Hannah at his side, looking around, obviously for Chris.

“Well? Where is he?” Pat asked.

“Who knows. I found him, tried to bring him to you, but he refused to listen,” Ben replied, rolling his eyes. “Now, if you don’t mind, I need a drink, and sadly this sober punch will have to do,” he continued, turning on his feel to walk away.

“Becca is pretty upset with you. She says she talked to someone earlier who told her you think she just gets in the way,” Pat called after him, and Ben, without missing a beat, turned back around and marched right back up to them.

“What?! That is completely untrue! Agh, that good for nothing…” Ben trailed off, clenching his fists and looking around for Becca. He snapped his attention back to Pat and Hannah, who were trying not to laugh, though Ben hardly noticed. “She insulted me, not the other way around! She told me, not realizing it was me, that I was an ‘amateur comedian!’ That I was some lame comedian. I felt like I was standing at gunpoint with a whole army of people shooting at me! I couldn’t do or say anything in my defense.” Ben groaned, still ignoring the laughter that was being poorly suppressed by Pat and Hannah. “I swear, if her breath were as bad as her demeanor she would infect the entire planet, no one would go near her. Every word she says is like a knife in my chest,” he said, pounding a fist into his chest for emphasis. He sighed again. “Please, talk about something else. The last thing I want to think about right now is her.”

“Oh look, here she comes,” said Pat with a huge grin. Ben turned around to see Becca with Stella, Tony, Leo, and Chris, slowly moving toward them.

“Please give me something to do. Anything, anything at all! I will go get something from your car, get you both drinks, refill the chip bowls, anything! I just don‘t think I can handle talking to this, this vixen!”

“All I need from you right now is your company,” Pat smirked, making Ben’s face fall.

“That isn’t funny,” he said seriously. “Gah! I am out of here. I can not bear to hear a single word from her!” Ben quickly pushed past Pat, leaving he and Hannah in a fit of laughter as the friends approached.

“It seems you know how to get under his skin,” Pat said to Becca. She smiled weakly.

“I guess you get to know what buttons to push when you have a history like ours,” she said softly. He somber disposition confused Pat a little. He looked up at Leo, who just shrugged. “Anyway, I found Chris like you asked,” she continued, forcing Chris forward. He was just as sour as before and seemed to want nothing to do with what was happening.

“Why do you look upset?” Pat asked.

“I’m not upset,” Chris replied plainly.

“Then are you sick?”

“No, I’m not sick.”

“He’s not upset, and he’s not sick, but he’s not happy either. If you ask me, I’d say he was jealous,” said Becca, and Chris cast her a dirty look, which she simply shrugged off.

“I think your right Becca,” Pat said in disbelief. “Though I’m confused as to why… I told you I would sweep her off her feet for you, and I did. Though she somehow knew about our little plan, though she found it to be kind of funny, actually,” Pat explained.

Chris’ face lit up, relief and joy replacing the anger from before as he realized he had gotten it wrong.

“Go dance already,” Pat continued, no so subtly pushing the two toward each other. Hannah smiled innocently up at Chris, who was grinning from ear to ear.

Once the two love-birds were dancing the rest of the group moved to stand against the wall.

Pat was staring at Becca with a smile, and it took her a moment to realize it. When she did she turned to him and arched a brow, leaning away a little and crossing her arms.

“What?” she asked defensively.

“You’re a romantic,” he said simply. Becca laughed.

“Not really. I just want to see Hannah happy, and if involves a guy, well, I can’t really stop her.”

“Uh-huh,” Pat grinned, casting his eyes back onto the floor.

“Think what you want,” Becca shrugged, casting him a grin. “I’ll see you all later,” she said, smiling at them and walking away.

Once she was gone and completely out of earshot, Pat called a sort of huddle. As they did Hannah and Chris came walking over, watching curiously as the group moved closer together.

“What’s going on?” Chris asked.

“I have a plan… we’re going to set up Ben and Becca,” he declared proudly, and everyone began to laugh.

“Ha! They would kill each other if they ever dated!” Leo exclaimed.

“Oh, I don’t think so. I think there’s something there, they just need a little push,” said Pat. “So, will you guys help me?”

“Well I’m in, Lord knows I’d love to prove Ben wrong,” said Chris with a laugh.

“Me too!” said Hannah, and within moments the rest all agreed as well.

“Awesome. Now here’s the plan…”