Every step graced the indoor track with split second contact, strictly maintaining staccato rhythm. It was almost impossible to keep her feet grounded. Nothing could touch her; nothing could catch her. It’s what she wanted and what she depended on. Despite the lack of runners on the track, Aya continued to keep to herself on the outermost lane. Her college’s largest indoor track was situated on the highest floor of the gym that offered a 360 degree view. She could see equal glimpses of campus and the surrounding nature through the glass walls as she burned through her 3-mile sessions.

By now, stars were visible and calling upon their friends for company. I wonder how late it is now, she thought. A recollection of the morning suddenly invaded her mind and angered her once more. She picked up her pace in attempts to shake it off. Three laps later, she realized her workout remedy wasn’t curing anything. She needed a different distraction. He’s probably practiced enough by now, Aya mused before taking a final lap to soothe her hammering heart.

It didn’t help.

“What is up with all the Christmas songs?!” she yelled, bursting through the double doors of the dance studio one floor below. Her intrusion was only disruptive for one person. Kai would always reserve the room for himself in the evening hours for the utmost freedom of practicing alone. To her surprise, what greeted her first was complete darkness. Then she noted the silence. “Kai?” she hesitantly called out. “Did you already leave?”

“It’s December, remember?” Kai’s deep voice cut through the haze of the darkness like a beacon of light. Aya rolled her eyes as Kai chuckled at his literary attempt to be funny. His voice seemingly emitted from her left, making her subconsciously turn her body 90 degrees accordingly to better receive his presence. Unfortunately, not having anything to look at heightened her sense of hearing. Suppressing the husky appeal of his voice suddenly became a challenge. Without warning, the room flooded with light before she could register the flip of the switch. Then she realized that she was face to face with him.

“Kai!” she shrieked, jumping backwards. “Don’t do that!”

“We always leave together,” he stated, ignoring her freak-out. Aya rested both hands over her heart, furiously taking in oxygen to calm herself down.

“Yes, I know that, and I can’t believe I didn’t even hear you walk over here!” she finally managed to say.

“Light on my feet,” said Kai with nonchalance. “You always commend me for it.”

“You don’t have to scare the crap out of me, Twinkle Toes!”

Kai laughed and removed his earphones, then walked towards his backpack for his water bottle. “So what’s got your shoelaces all knotted up to come barging into the studio?”

After regaining her composure, Aya made her way across the room to where Kai was crouching down by his backpack. She lay flat on her back, parallel to the wall and gazed up at a random ceiling tile. “The music at work is driving me crazy.”

Kai sat against the wall with Aya in front of him. “You had a morning shift today?” He stopped his questioning short as she undid her high ponytail, placing the hair tie around her left wrist. Kai mentally slapped himself for the inability to think straight as he watched her fingers comb through her hair. He inwardly sighed over how he found it distracting and decided to take a swig of water to snap out of it.

“Yeah. We were doing marketing updates. I know my complaining over their song choice is nothing new, but they added holiday-type songs to the playlist.”

“What, you can’t bear to ‘dash through the snow’ while you dash through folding clothes?” he playfully jabbed.

Aya sat up, hugged her knees, and then turned her head to look directly at him. “I absolutely hate ‘Last Christmas,’” she softly confided, with a note of defeat in her voice.  Her one statement was all it took for him to understand and she was aware of that. Kai casually rested a wrist on each knee as Aya rested her forehead upon hers. “How much longer will it take until I can finally get over him?” she asked out loud.

Kai took a silent breath to keep his feelings from getting the better of him. He knew his current standing with Aya wasn’t her fault, but he didn’t want to ruin their friendship above all else. “That kind of stuff,” he slowly began, “Doesn’t have an expected finish date.”

“Kai, I hate what I’m doing to you,” she blurted. He looked up the same time she did.

“It’s not like you deviously planned this all out,” he offered.

“No one’s heart deserves to be wait-listed!” she barked, her brows furrowing above eyes that were glazed over with threatening tears. Kai wanted to move. He wanted to comfort her. He knew he couldn’t. “It’s so hard to interact with any of them. I’m keeping them waiting or stupidly turning them down just because I can’t stop thinking of what ended.” Aya gripped the sides of her head with her hands and crashed her forehead down to her knees once more. “Why is that song so damn relevant?!”

Kai made his way to her now-quivering body and tenderly tugged at her wrists to pull her up to her feet. Aya didn’t reject it, even though she knew exactly what he was going to do. Kai lightly placed a hand on her lower back and guided her to the center of the dance studio. She anticipated the moment with desire and dread. He was going to lead her into a slow dance.

Before he could ready their makeshift radio, she whispered, “I love slow dancing.”

“But now you’re afraid,” he finished, creating a short playlist on the spot full of soothing songs. Aya nodded her head as he handed her one of the earphones to share. “I know.” Kai took care to establish enough respectable distance between their bodies, but to his surprise, Aya pulled him a little closer. She placed her left hand upon his right shoulder, and settled her right hand into his left. Kai completed the stance by resting his right hand over her left hip. They were far apart enough to see each other’s entire face, but close enough to feel the wisps of air from their breathing.

The first song began. They swayed in response, but maintained their formal, waltz-like bearing. Their gazes were fixed and Aya braved another confession when she felt certain that her tears had retreated. “It’s difficult to do things I like, because I either share it with him or have concrete memories.” Aya patiently waited for any sort of reply. She knew what she said would be painful for him to hear.

“That’s to be expected,” he tersely replied. “I felt like it was hopeless when I had to deal with that freshman year.” Kai started with steady steps in place, then progressed to swaying Aya in circles. She maintained eye contact with him and attempted to relax. “What’s going on with Ryan?” Kai ventured.

“Ryan is late to everything,” Aya quickly retorted. “I mean, I know that I tend to run late, but not by 15 minutes or half an hour every single time!” By now, she was outwardly whining and Kai was relieved that she was steadily allowing herself to feel at ease.

“Really?” he inquired.

“I forgave him the first few times, but then it just got so frequently annoying that I couldn’t stand it anymore. I don’t care if he’s a champion basketball player or whatever.” Aya closed her eyes to revel in a big exhale. Kai, on the other hand, reveled in the next part - when her eyelids would lift like curtains to reveal the gentle gaze of her bright eyes. “He’d ask me to study, so great, obviously I’d be down for that. But he would be late to arrive and start whining about the bus and how exasperating his work was. I would frequently find myself thinking, “I agreed to meet with you so we can study, not listen to you ramble about your misfortunes.” It’d be the same for dinners too.” Kai imagined punching Ryan in the gut for giving Aya such a hard time. “I already wasn’t that much into him in the first place, but gave him a chance by agreeing to dinner. Actually, I agreed to a handful of dinners.” Kai also felt like punching Ryan for getting so many chances to spend time with her. “Late! Always late. The food doesn’t even taste good anymore when I have to wait so long for him to arrive, then wait again for the orders to get sent to the kitchen and prepared.” Aya playfully hit her forehead to Kai’s shoulder in frustration. “How am I supposed to find an unreliable guy attractive?”

“Ryan’s good at basketball?” Kai feigned interest, purposely ignoring everything else she said, keeping the smirk on his face until Aya lifted her head up to him.

“That’s so irrelevant, Kai,” she blandly scolded.

“It’s completely relevant,” he retorted. “He’s forwardly vying for your attention and being a skilled b-baller gives him points.”

“Well too bad, cause he’s not scoring any points on me.”

“How’s the scoreboard looking for Davis?” he inquired, refusing to celebrate until he knew the status of his strongest rivals.

“Davis only talks about himself,” she sighed. “Conversations don’t exist with him, because I’m always just the listener. Do you know how boring that is?!” Kai couldn’t hold back laughing at Aya’s outburst. Irritation flashed across her eyes as her left hand slightly shook Kai’s shoulders. Once she calmed down, she continued, “Everything with Davis is dull and annoying. I don’t like the phone calls and he’s awful at texting. I mean, I know everyone is different with texting, but his one-word greetings and responses drive me up the wall. Then whenever he sees me in person, he asks why I don’t answer him.” Aya took another deep breath, surprisingly satisfied with her unexpected verbal assessment.

“Davis is an idiot.”

“Well, aren’t you rude?” she laughed.

“I’m not rude. I’m irritated.” Aya raised an eyebrow, insisting he continue. “Listening to you talk is better than watching TV or reading. Your detailed storytelling is entertaining and you’re so expressive with everything you say.”

At this point, Kai was orchestrating their dance around the perimeter of the studio. They were heading towards a corner of the room whose intersecting walls were completely lined by mirrors. The other two walls were glass, overlooking campus. Kai stopped their movement, leaving the same amount of distance between Aya and the wall as to Aya and himself. Then he turned his head to the left to look at the mirrored wall – at their reflection. He admired the way they looked like they fit together.

“Kai?” Aya’s voice pulled his gaze back to her. He smiled.

“Aya, do you trust me?”

“Of course I do,” she answered with and her eyes, without hesitation from either. Kai eased both hands off her body to gently grasp her shoulders and push her back against the mirror. Her lungs soundlessly in a gulp of air at his action.

Then Kai crossed his arms. Aya clenched her fists. He closed his eyes. She held her breath. When he finally heard her delayed exhale, he slowly leaned over with his head slightly tilted downwards.

Though both of her eyes were wide open the entire time, Aya could see nothing. She could only feel how peacefully frantic her heart was beating. They shared no physical contact for the handful of nanoseconds that seemed like hours, but Aya still felt caressed in the tenderest way possible. She felt secure and anxious at the same time. Aya pondered how someone could achieve balance between juxtaposed emotions.

Kai’s advances continued with fluid motion. His eyes remained closed as he slowly sought contact with her. His neck angled down to 30 degrees and Aya found herself flustered over how to react as his face continued to descend. Before she could decide, Kai had already met her with gentle impact. His forehead dropped to rest upon her own.

He smirked.

Aya inwardly groaned, realizing what she had just fallen for. She didn’t even need to look to know that his lips were crooked in a triumphant, devious smile. Moreover, she groaned at another realization.

“Did you want me to kiss you?” he breathed.