Chapter 236.

Chapter 236. The Valentine’s Day School Dance: I Said I Won’t Let Go. (4/4)

With my thoughts on Alicia, my eyes unconsciously wandered away for a moment and stopped on her in the crowd.

I noticed she wasn’t paying attention to the two at the center. Rather, her eyes had landed on me at some point. When she realized our eyes had locked, she averted her gaze to pretend it had only been a coincidence. I didn’t look away and kept my eyes on her and noticed she secretly peeked at me one more time from the corner of her eye. When she understood she’d been caught, she didn’t turn her gaze back to me again.

My focus returned to the confrontation at the center. It appeared they were evenly matched in a deadlock where it was impossible to determine who was superior.

However, that was when people started to notice something. It was the difference between night and day. The student council president hadn’t even been using a single glow stick the entire time. 

At that moment, the student council president shook his head helplessly. It was the look of someone who decided to finally unleash his trump car like it couldn’t be helped.

As you’re a worthy opponent, it would be a disservice to you if I held back.

He took out two unlit glow sticks from his pockets, held them with his index finger and ring finger on one side, and middle finger on the opposite side. He cracked both of them simultaneously with his middle finger and shook them as he moved his body.

The glow spread out from the center of the crack and a blue radiance illuminated the two sticks in his hand.

As he moved he dropped both of them. One might think it was a clumsy action, but it was intentional. He kicked them up with his feet and juggled them concurrently. Using the tips of his toes, back of his heels, knees, thighs, elbows, and shoulders. As his body resembled a constantly moving and changing wave he kept the glow sticks airborne without stopping to grab them. They danced about on their own in the air like magic. Sometimes you could even see when he hit them up.

It looked like they bounced up off the ground on their own while spinning with the dim illumination. One might think there were strings attached with some of the movements, but there were none.

He was like a puppet master with invisible unseen strings attached to the glowing light twirling about in the air.

With how the student council president participated in soccer as well, it made sense why he was so skilled with his feet and juggling the glowsticks as though they were a ball. His superior dynamic vision also allowed him to. I couldn’t help but think of him as a man with superior genetics.

Did he have any weaknesses?

If so, I couldn’t see through them. I didn’t know him well enough either. I only knew him from second-hand accounts I’d heard.

When Jass saw the student council president’s prowess, he let out a sigh and shook his head, resigned to his defeat.

It was the look of a man who’d conceded on this battlefront but believed the war was not over. Though he lost the battle, the fire in his eyes wasn’t gone. He would still compete again in the future.

When it was over the circle cheered and crowded around the two. Both sides were amazing from everyone else’s perspectives. Even though Jass wasn’t the student council president’s match, he still got him to get serious.

Haaaaaah… what sort of depressing world do I live in for glowsticks to be used as weapons and trump cards?

If someone from a world of swords and magic transmigrated here, what would their reaction be?

I slid back down to the ground against the wall as I genuinely mulled over such nonsense.

I’m a devil, right? If devils exist, why can’t fancy stuff like magic exist? I’d love to see some black magic ritual or something one day.

Come on gods of foreshadowing and flags, do your thing.

It has to be a real one, okay?

It can’t be some shitty one where nothing happens.

Caught up in my depression over the lack of magic in the real world, I failed to notice when the atmosphere and ambiance in the room changed. At the thirty-minute mark, the DJ made an announcement I hadn't paid attention to.

“Hey. Ran.” It was only when I heard someone call out to me beside my ear that I snapped out of it and looked up. Rosa was in front of me. She was smiling at me with half-open eyes. Her eyelashes were curled up, something about them sent my heart aflutter.

“I met you in the dark, you lit me up.” I immediately recognized the song playing in the background. It was called Say You Won't Let Go by James Arthur.

She grabbed onto my hand, pulled me up to my feet, and dragged me out of the crowd closer to the center where there was more open space.

“You made me feel as though - I was enough.”

Many people had skirted off to the side and took a seat. There weren’t that many couples. As it was the first song, there were many that were bold enough to slow dance to the very first song.

“We danced the night away, we drank too much...”

Rosa just so happened to be one of those bold ones though.

“Then you smiled over your shoulder.”

“For a minute, I was stone-cold sober.”

“I pulled you closer to my chest…”

There were about twenty couples with their arms wrapped around each other, sticking close together while swaying together. Most looked to be third years, there were five second-year couples, while Rosa and I were the only first-year couple there. It’s not that there weren’t more first-year couples, they were just a bit too uncomfortable to get up.

There were obviously much fewer first-year couples than in the second and third year though just as a result of how long they had to build relationships where love blossomed.

For the time being, for the first round of slow dance songs, it was only Rosa and me. The other first years were too nervous. They all probably thought, ‘It doesn’t need to be the first set of songs. We can take our time.’

The third-year couples all stuck close together in the same vicinity near the DJ, same for the second-year couples closer to the opposite wall. The two of us stuck out like a sore thumb.

With our arms around each other, she pressed her cheek against my chest and nuzzled up close to me. The gloomy expressionless look on my face was visible to all. This was the worst.

“I knew I loved you then.”

“But you'd never know.”

All their eyes were focused on me because we were the odd ones out. It was hell. First, second, and third years. We stood out too much as a completely mismatched couple that didn’t suit each other.

“'Cause I played it cool when I was scared of letting go.”

“I know I needed you.”

“But I never showed.”

Rosa didn’t care at all for the gazes on us.

For her, it was just the two of us here in this instant forever suspended in time.

“But I wanna stay with you until we're grey and old.”

“Just say you won't let go.”

“Just say you won't let go.”

Rather than continue to focus on the surroundings I could do nothing about, I focused my attention on her. I closed my eyes and took in a steady breath. The scent of her hair entered through my nose and filled my lungs.

The uneasiness from the surroundings began to fade. I visualized a world where it was only the two of us surrounded by a pitch-black world under a single spotlight.

There wasn’t anyone else here but us. Nobody. We were alone.

“I'll wake you up with some breakfast in bed.”

“I'll bring you coffee with a kiss on your head…”

I forgot the gazes of everyone.

Normally, I always ended up in this pitch-black world alone. But here, right in my arms, a girl had snuck her way in and glued herself to me.

“When you looked over your shoulder.”

“For a minute, I forget that I'm older.”

As the song played on, I slowly reopened my eyes. 

“I wanna dance with you right now.”

I couldn’t help but think that.

“Oh, and you look as beautiful as ever…”

When I looked down at her, the song matched my thoughts exactly.

“And I swear that every day’ll get better.”

“You make me feel this way somehow.”

I couldn’t help but agree. Ever since we met, as much as I didn’t want to admit it, life had definitely improved. It wasn’t nearly as dreary or bleak with Rosa in my life.

“I'm so in love with you.”

Unknowingly, I was.

“And I hope you know.”

I’d hope so.

“Rosa, I love you,” I whispered that just to make certain she did.

“Darling your love is more than worth its weight in gold.”

Certainly. Stupid song. You’re embarrassing me by saying the things I’m secretly thinking out loud.

“We've come so far my dear.”

“Look how we've grown.”

Have we?

“And I wanna stay with you until we're grey and old.”

You’re not wrong.

“Just say you won't let go.”

“I won’t.”

“You won’t?” Rosa asked curiously.

“Just say you won't let go.”

“I said I won’t.”

“Heheheh. You really won’t, huh?” Rosa giggled to herself when she heard my confirmation.

“I wanna live with you.”

We already are.

“We already are.” Rosa made the same joke I thought in my head.

“Even when we're ghosts.”

“Don’t you think that’s a bit far?” I asked.

“Jeez, I’ll haunt you forever you know~”

“'Cause you were always there for me when I needed you most.”

“I'm gonna love you till.”

“My lungs give out.”

“Only that long?” Rosa asked and immediately complained, “What a cheapskate.”

“I promise till death we part like in our vows.”

“So I wrote this song for you, now everybody knows.”

“Finally it's just you and me till we're grey and old.”

“Just say you won't let go.”

“This again?” I asked.

“Just say you won't let go.”

“I’m pretty demanding.” She responded.

“Just say you won't let go.”

“Do I really have to? I already said it twice.”

“Oh, just say you won't let go.” She tiptoed and whispered in sync with the song right next to my ear.

I let out a small resigned sigh, “Haaaaah. I won’t let go of you, Rosa.”

She pulled her head back and kissed me on the lips as we both shut our eyes, completely ignorant of our surroundings.