"Holy crap," Henry poked his head through a crack in the door, "you take forever I swear."
"I'm a girl," I threw my shirt at him. It caught onto his pirate hat and hung over his face. "Cut me some slack."
"Dude," Eric pulled Henry away from the door, "the longer you talk to her, the longer she's gonna be in there. Go talk to Kevin."
"Oh...you right."

Their voices faded a little in the distance as they walked further away. All the guys were pretty much gathered in the living room, waiting for me to finish.
And for Aron and Haylie to come.
Ugh.
I really hope her costume's so ugly that the doorman doesn't even let her into the building.

"Ok I'm done," I opened the door, adjusting the pieces of fabric that draped from my arms. The gold colored wreath was seriously pinching my head but I ignored the congested feeling it gave me.
After all, beauty is pain.

“Are they here yet?” I asked as I walked into the living room. 8 pairs of eyes turned and looked at me, all extremely wide eyed. One mouth dropped open.
Aron crossed the living room in a couple steps, extending his hand out to me. I took it, but my eyes were on Mark the entire time. He looked pissed. Almost annoyed. Perfect. Serves you right for going to the Haunting with Haylie.

“Wow,” Aron gave me a full body glance, his eyes moving from the top of my head all the way down to my feet, “you look amazing.”
“I feel like you should carry a fog machine with you. You could be like Goku!” Jackson called out from across the room. Peniel cracked a smile while Eric and Henry just flat out cracked up.
Kevin pushed Jackson, “Dude, she’s supposed to be a Greek goddess. Tell me who in Dragon Ball Z ever looked like that.”
“But the fog machine is still a great idea,” Eric raised both his hands, making a box with his fingers and aiming it so that I was in it. “Yo, you would totally win best costume.”

“You guys are so hilarious,” I pulled out every single bit of sarcasm I had in me. They troll me so much that it literally didn’t even phase me anymore.

“I think you still look stunning,” Aron leaned down, whispering in my ear. I felt my cheeks getting hot.
This guy was such a sweetheart, but the more he acted kind and caring, the guiltier I felt for using him for his extra ticket.
I’m a horrible person.
Like actually.

“We need to leave,” Mark said, walking by and bumping into Aron with his shoulder as he dragged Haylie behind him.
Peniel followed him to the door, “Yeah guys. We’re gonna be late if we don’t move it.”

“I swear, the music’s so loud I can’t even hear myself think,” Kevin yelled.  I nodded to what I faintly heard. He could’ve totally said something different but honestly would’ve done the same thing.

When in doubt, smile and nod.

I danced as much as my limited arm and leg room allowed me. The dance floor was so packed that the most you could honestly do was jump around a little and move your arms maybe a couple inches away from your body.
Doing anything else was just totally out of the question.

We were all in a big group, making a small cluster near the edge of the floor so if anyone needed to leave for a bathroom or drink break, they didn’t have to fight and push their way through the crowd of sweaty young adults partying it up. There weren’t any clocks in the room so no one really knew what time it was, but judging by the amount of traffic I could see from out the window, it was probably close to midnight already.

We’ve been here for 3 hours already.
It honestly only felt like a half hour went by.
Either way, I was long overdue for a break. And apparently so was Mark. I watched him say something to Haylie, his lips dangerously close to her ear. She smiled and nodded, taking his hand and pulling him off the dance floor. The two of them sat down at the table we claimed when we first arrived. I looked away before Mark could notice me watching him.

But I had seen enough.
I seriously felt nauseous just by looking at her getting all flirty with him. And the confusion of me and Mark’s relationship was making my head hurt.
Aron was quickly taking advantage of the open space Mark and Haylie left, losing himself in the dancing. I didn’t want ruin his fun so I slipped off the dance floor by myself and headed towards the balcony.
The cold air embraced every part of me as I stepped out, feeling the wind blow through my hair and the draping pieces of fabric around my arms. I inhaled, taking in what little clean air New York City had to offer then exhaled loudly. Down below, taxis inched their way along the street and every streetlight and billboard sign were lit up.
“There you are,” Aron walked up behind me. I was kinda disappointed it wasn’t Mark.

Actually…I was really disappointed.

“Sorry,” I responded, watching him lean on the balcony railing next to me, “I didn’t want to pull you away from your dancing so I didn’t tell you I was coming out here.”
“It’s fine,” he smiled, patting my back gently. “I would’ve came with you anyway.”
I let a small laugh escape from my lips, “You can go back in though. I’m fine, I just needed a bit of air.”
Aron shook his head, “Nah…I need some air too. It was getting really stuffy in there.”
“Tell me about it,” I sighed, touching my fingers to my temple. They were throbbing.
“And plus,” he fixed his eyes downwards, “I needed to tell you something.”

Oh no.
No no no no no no.
Please don’t tell me what I think it is.

“Go for it,” I nervously responded. I have no idea if he could tell but my voice actually shook a little.
“Well,” he picked himself off the railing and turned so that his body was facing mine. I didn’t move, “Having lab together every week and spending long hours together working on lab reports have kinda shown me how dedicated you are and how much passion you have for your major. So I guess it got me thinking about if you would actually have that same dedication and passion in a relationship. So I guess what I’m trying to say is,” he gingerly took my hands into his. I still couldn’t move, “I like you _______________.”

Crap.
He said it.
The one phrase I’d really hope he didn’t say. The only thing that I wish didn’t come out of his mouth.
Honestly, I didn’t know what to say.
I’ve never been good at rejecting people. Especially people who I still have to see every week.

There was so much going on in my head. I felt like it was going to split open.
Everything was actually spinning. The taxis and lights down below were going in and out of focus.
One minute I was looking at his puppy dog eyes, then suddenly, I couldn’t see anything at all.

Author's Note
chapter title: Again-Yui [x]
DUN DUN DUUUUN :)