Bolero

Chapter 8: Bolero

~ Loki ~

Then

"I seriously can't believe we are partners, dude!" I tell Luther. Both of us are sitting on the couch and holding our gaming equipment, controller. Playing the best adventure RPG for Xbox One, The Witcher III: Wild Hunt.

He grunted. "Lucky you! I hope she is also my partner, that advanced program is really bad timing." He said as he runs up to the mountain. The harpies are absolutely horrifying as they fly up in the sky. We are currently in the middle of the forest.

"What? You like her?" I snorted.

"Well, she's attractive. That's why I want her to be my partner, people would look at us. It will be like beauty and the beast. Plus, she got the 3B's bro." He takes a glance at me and winks, he laughed after he did that. "But I don't like her as much as you do." He added. And he looks at me with that playful grin.

I manage to smirk.

Looking at the game, I continued to walk on the pathway of the forest. We are far from the village, and someone asks us to kill the harpies. That's why we are finding the harpies because it's one of our missions.

"I'm nervous. How would I interact with her, normally? I might embarrass myself in the practice. She said she would wait and watch me in the gym." I said worriedly. Then I sip on my lemon juice. Every Sunday we would lock up in my room playing video games, eating nachos, and drinking our favorite beverages.

My cheat day. Sometimes we need that too.

I grab for the nachos and dip it in a piece of cheese with beef toppings. Hardly recognizing our munches as we eat nachos. Chips by chips.

Then suddenly we saw a lot of harpies roaming above with their long black skinny wings.

I climb to a rock followed by Luther's character. Once we got a good view and angle to those creatures, ready for our trip, we set fire on them. They growled. They are more than six so it's hard to kill them all. When one of them drop and died they started to get bold, grudgingly, coming for us. Gladly, we gather and ambush those harpies making sure they are burning with the fire.

We run across the trees because they fly so fast. And we did again the gather and ambush plan.

"You ask the wrong dude. You know, I never actually liked someone before. So, I'll never know-how. But if you want to be friends with her, treat her like how you treat me. Maybe it will go well." I averted my eyes from the video games to him. He looks confident when he said the last part. I must agree.

I heave a sigh and nod.

"Yeah, maybe." I never thought it would be awkward once you started to like someone. It's like suddenly you are very aware of her mere existence, and you don't want her to think anything substandard about you. Plainly, you want to impress her.

Monday came and I woke up too early than usual. Getting excited I cooked our breakfast which is eggs, bacon, and pancake. I make sure Mom's coffee is ready when she woke up.

"Wow, I'm impressed! Is there something I should know? Do you need anything?" Mom says as soon as she's seated at our kitchen island. She's smiling wildly, she didn't expect me to wake up early than her.

My Mom has long black silky straight hair. She has freckles on her cheeks and a light brown color of her eyes.

My mom was eighteen years old when she delivered me. We never talked about my father because according to Mom she doesn't want to think about it, she would always tell me that she's young and foolish. Though, she never mentions that it was a mistake. She will always end our conversation regarding that topic by telling me that I am her biggest blessing.

I grew up with my grandfather and grandmother. They are very happy to take care of me when I was a child. Because my mother doesn't have enough time to take care of me, subsequently, finishing off her college degree. It was not until I turned twelve when she decided to live here in New Jersey.

She thinks that there are more opportunities here than in the small town of Virginia.

"No, I'm just excited for school today. You know I got in on the basketball team." I said proudly. She nods still smiling. "Oh, I get it. You want a reward, am I right?" I laughed.

I put her mug in front of her. Giving her the usual amount of caffeine. She likes her coffee black, that's what I made her.

There was a time I wonder how good it tastes, so I took a gentle sip. And goodness gracious. I never expected it to tastes awful. Also, I heard some coffee formula has goat shit on them.

Apparently, I'm not a fan of coffee.

"No, I don't need anything right now. I'm good Mom. However, it's been so long since we ate in a restaurant, don't you think you owe something for yourself? My very hard-working mother?" I then prepared our meal. Holding our plates with those appetizing breakfast I raised my eyebrows at her, she chuckled insincerely.

"What are you talking about?" She said with a baffled expression. "Okay, fine. Maybe I forgot about the days. Let's have dinner tomorrow. Where do you want?" She looked skeptical at first but then she smiled sweetly at me after having a taste of bacon.

I know she's quite problematic about our finances, but I think it should be balanced, sometimes you should have your leisure time spending on the things you want. That's what I want to tell her.

"I don't know. Whatever you want Mom." I replied briefly. She smiled and reached for me to ruffle my hair. "How come you grew up like this?" She's laughing weirdly. I just shook my head. "Because you're my mom, I guess."

My morning went well like that.

"Loki, do you mind if I seat beside you. I have something to discuss with you about our activity slash assignment." Sheepishly, Era said. She didn't stutter but I can see how the tone of her voice changed. The sound reverberated higher than what I imagined the tone of her voice is.

"Sure." Taking a glance at her. I don't think I can look at her directly without stuttering or acting stupid.

I saw her from my peripheral vision, slowly seating on the vacant seat beside me. I look at her, but not to her eyes, waiting for her discussion.

Noticing how early today she is, makes me feel more energetic and inspired for today.

I waited for her to start the conversation, but she seems angry while looking at me. Afterward, she sighed. With her bare right hand, she holds the lower part of the table. The other hand holds the chair that she's sitting. Slightly, she crouches, moving sideward and closer to the table and chair to me. She closed the distance between us.

"What are you doing?" I said ridiculously.

"Of course, we have to keep this just between us." She whispered.

She looks serious, meanwhile, I can't find anything of what she's doing seriously. I find it absurd.

"What are you saying?" I whispered back. There are already eight individuals in our classroom. The four of them are sitting beside the window which is 3 chairs away from us. The two of them look at us with eyes questioning. I'm sure they find it absurd too, what Era is doing. While the other four are in the second row, minding their own business.

"Can you dance?" She whispered again, not minding my question. I nod. I can't find my voice to answer. I'm not so sure if I'm good at it. I mean, I can grind my hips and take turns without slipping.

I should not say no, it's not good if she will think of me as something inauspicious. Bad omen.

"Very well, I think we can do a Latin dance." She paused for a moment looking around before nudging toward me and whispered, "Let's do Bolero, don't you think it's good?" timidly she says.

Does she never find what she's doing awkward at all?

How can she not sense it?

She doesn't even mind being this close to me, it's suffocating. I can feel her looking at me. My side profile is her view since I'm facing the board toward the front area of the room, afraid to look at her, we might kiss.

"Good," I said with my ragged breath. I'm sure she doesn't notice how I ran out of breath.

"Good." She mimicked. She then put the table and chair in their normal position.

It was not until then when I felt my lungs fully capacitated with oxygen.

To be honest, it felt so uncomfortable. It was like we are breathing the same air.

Next time, I'll let her know what personal space means.

I'll make sure of it.