272 Fireworks

[Alvelyn's Perspective]

After having a quick meal with food gathered from the many food stalls scattered throughout the pier, the clock quickly ticked to the time when the fireworks would begin. The sky had now become entirely dark, and my surroundings would be dark if not for the bright light of the festival that illuminated the pier and the bits and pieces of the dark ocean nearby it.

Since this small seaside city is mostly known for its amazing beaches, the local government had imposed a height limit on the buildings by the shore. Therefore, the tallest building visible from the pier were the short five story apartment complexes, but even those are rather further inland from the ocean. Therefore, almost no light pollution is present by the ocean, giving the sky back its natural reign over its nighttime starry sky. In this sky, the fireworks will be the most beautiful as they will be able to burn their magnificent colors to their full potential.

"Let's go get a good spot!" Noah exclaimed to us as we finished eating and tossed away the plastic containers into the nearby trashcan. "I don't want to be stuck watching the fireworks from a bad angle after coming all the way here."

"Let's go then," Loyd nodded. He met eyes with Noah and Zaksus for a brief second before breaking eye contact.

"Let's head out to the beach or to the very edge of the pier," Irina suggested.

"Be careful," Mura said out loud. "There's lots of people going to those places."

"Are you...not going?" Muria frowned as she looked back at her older sister who was still seated on the wooden bench,

"I'm not really in the mood to be pushing through a crowd that dense," Mura smiled as she gazed into the eyes of her younger sister. "Besides, I think Emilia is a bit tired as well. You can go have fun without me."

Muria seemed a bit hesitant to leave the food court area, but she seemed to be unable to resist the flow of the crowd and was forced to also start making her way forward with Irina and Luna by her side. As she is pushed on by the crowd, she gazed over her shoulder and at her older sister, who waved as she watched her off.

"They must be tired," Irina said to Muria in order to comfort her.

"Haven't they been resting the entire trip?" Noah commented.

"I guess they are right to choose not to come," Luna chuckled weakly. "This crowd is really...compacted."

"There is a lot of people..." I muttered as I brought my arms closer to my body, curling up slightly so as to avoid being swept away by the crowd.

"So many people..." Muria whispered to herself as we continued to walk.

This journey toward the exit to the beach was...rather difficult as almost everybody had the exact same idea. It was as if a floodgate had been opened and the people, like the dammed water, is now finally given an outlet to gush out of, and gush out it did. The crowd seemed to continuously shifted their way towards the exits to the beach, moving along at a constant rate with a constant pressure. There was really no going against the crowd as that is accompanied by the risk of being trampled. There really isn't much space for anyone to see what they are stepping on and where they are headed aside from the general direction. However, everyone knew that all they have to do is simply follow the flow of the crowd and they will eventually end up where they want to go.

The constant pressure that these strangers around me exerted on me was...rather unpleasant. It is not a good feeling to be forced to walk at a constant walking pace that is not something that I am used to, being forced to constantly adjust my footing to not accidentally fall or bump into the people ahead of me.

I devoted all of my energy into doing just this, focusing my concentration on this one task. This was the reason why... I neglected to communicate with the others as I was simply preoccupied. When I realized, it was already too late. I had lost sight of them in this sea of people.

I looked around, searching my surroundings for their familiar faces. I looked up and above the heads of the crowd, in search of Zaksus as he was taller than average. However, I was unable to see him anywhere in the crowd. But even then, I am not...worried per say. There's really no point in panicking when you're lost or separated from a group, because that won't help out the situation and the induced stress will only impair judgement, making the situation even worse.

After recognizing my situation, I immediately cleared my mind as I prepared for my next step. Since it is unwise to try and go against the flow of the crowd, maybe I'll just follow it to its destination or to when I reach someplace where the congestion isn't as bad to leave. Then, I'll just make a phone call and locate them.

As I maintained my own peace of mind, I continued on with the crowd. However, I soon felt a hand grasping my wrist. Once again, I tensed up, fearing that...it might be an attempt at assaulting me. However, when I looked over, all that I saw was Loyd's worried countenance. He seemed to be sweating somewhat, and judging by his somewhat untidy appearance, he must have pushed through the crowd of people.

"There you are," he said as his countenance relaxed and slipped into a smile. "I saw you being pushed by the crowd away from the group so I..."

I didn't take in the remainder of his explanation, as I really couldn't hear him with the chattering sound of the sea of people that we were in. However, I could sort of piece together what he is trying to communicate.

Although I couldn't hear him clearly as he spoke, I gazed into his eyes. Eyes often speak more than words, so that is where I focused. Looking into his grey eyes, I could sense...a genuine joy and relief. He...must've been actually worried. In addition, he is somewhat nervous right now as I could feel his heart palpitate through his grasp of my hand.

***

"They're not picking up," Loyd frowned as he removed his phone from his ear and stared at the illuminated screen.

I looked at his frowning face, and then surveyed my surroundings briefly. We had escaped from the unstoppable tide of people and are now located at its very destination: the beach. This beach was rather...crowded as there were plenty of people either standing or sitting with a towel draped over the sand. However, Loyd and I were able to escape from the worst of the overcrowding by retreating to the farthest side of the beach that is closest to the paved road that is accessible by a stairway to my right.

Sitting down on the free wooden bench, I observed my feet, ignoring the straps of my white flat sandals. My toes were somewhat red after having been accidentally stepped on a few times while walking, and it still pained me somewhat. I should have never worn sandals in the first place.

"Are you alright?" Loyd looked over at me with a worried expression on his face as he sat down next to me.

"Yeah," I responded, looking up from the ground and at the dark, ocean horizon ahead. "The pain will go away in a bit."

"You're kinda like Alevian in that regard," Loyd chuckled. He then got up from the bench and walked over to the vending machine nearby.

The light from the vending machine casted light onto his face, which naturally drew my gaze towards. I saw that he had a smile on his face, one that communicated a...calmness of sorts. It is a calmness that is only present after something that is unexpected had occurred and things did not get disturbed much and occurred as you had wanted them to be. Maybe this can be considered a look of relief?

"Here." He walked back and tried to hand me something.

I looked at what he had in his hand, an aluminum can that seemed to be collecting condensation from the atmosphere, and back up at his face. On his face, there was a kind smile, one that seemed to strip me of any caution as this was a look that...felt oddly familiar.

"This should help keep the swelling down if you put it against the spot where it hurts," he finished his sentence as I accepted the cold drink from him.

"Thanks," I said and did what he suggested. The feeling of the cold aluminum can making contact with the area on the top of my foot where it was somewhat red and felt hot to the touch due to the gathering of blood was phenomenal. The coldness of the can is as if a drop of elixir in the desperate hours of thirst in the desert, clearing away the pain as it numbed the area and provided me an escape from the burning feeling of swelling that is compounded by the summer temperature.

A soft smile broke through my countenance and replaced the slight frown on my face from earlier due to the pain. But now that the pain is numbed, my mood had improved, which explained the inconspicuous smile.

"Almost the right time," I heard Loyd whisper to my right.

I looked over at him and saw that he was staring at the clock on his phone. He seemed to be...waiting for something, waiting for the right time.

"Alvelyn." He slipped his phone back into his pocket as he looked over at me with a determined expression on his face. "I know we've knew each other for a while now..."

As he started to speak, I simply stared at him with a blank expression on my face as I was unsure of what he was saying. However, as he continued, my mouth slowly widened from surprise.

"I just feel like...you're special," he continued. "Whenever I see you...I just feel rejuvenated. It's like...seeing you happy is what's giving me energy."

Is he...is he doing what I think he is doing?

"Of all the beauty in this world," he continued, "none of that triumphs over you."

He placed his hand on top of mine, which startled me and caused me to look down at where he had done so. Then, I blushed as I looked up and discovered that he had leaned closer somewhat and was staring into my eyes. On his face, there was a slight uneasiness as well as a hint of red. He seemed to be nervous as well, but...had gathered the courage and succeeded in warding off his fears.

"Would you be my girlfriend?" he said to me. Just as he finished, the first fireworks of the night shot up into the sky, blooming into a beautiful flora of ignis.

Author's Note:

I've recovered a bit from my surgery to the point where I'm kinda back to normal now. And one more thing, to those of you that are saying if Alvelyn and Loyd get together they will drop the story, I say just drop the story because it's obvious you don't give a shit about what I plan and want to change the story into something you want it to become. Fuck those of you that are like that and it is people like you that make me consider just straight up deleting my books from this site and just stop right now.