Why He Is Different

Chapter 5

"Len?"

"Hm?"

"I'm tired..."

Len looked at Oliver with an excited look in his eyes. "You can't be tired yet! Miku said today's one of the days when we dance on the lake!"

Oliver laughed a little. "You can't dance on a lake."

"I can!"

"Well, I can't." Oliver raised an eyebrow at Len. "You'll have to show me."

"Okay! Come on, the sun is setting!" With that, Len grabbed Oliver's arm and dragged him off to the lake, where everyone else was gathered.

As Oliver bent over the shallow water and watched the beautiful reflections of the sunset, he began to think. This place was strange, to say the least. What kind of normal place has forcefield barriers and disappearing caves? Not any kind he knew. Not to mention the fact that he was still puzzled over how Len's face had fixed itself so quickly. Now these weird people were going to dance on a lake. How does one dance on a lake? It's impossible, right? All of these thoughts ran through his mind as the sun slowly disappeared, leaving the moon and the stars to light up the night.

"Miku!" Rin turned to her, excitement shown in her eyes. "The sun's down! Can we start?"

"Not yet. Let me get the lights going." Everyone watched as the teal-haired girl kicked the surface of the water, creating a strong ripple. The ripple danced across the surface of the lake, making the many water lilies dotting the surface bob up and down. Each lily lit up with a brightly-colored glow when hit with the ripple, each lily a different color than the others.

More things to add to my list, Oliver thought.

"We can start now!" Miku announced happily.

Miku was the first to start. She stepped out on the water, her foot lightly touching the surface. It didn't sink to the sand as Oliver had expected, but instead seemed to float on the surface like the water lilies. She brought her other foot onto the water and started glide across the surface of the lake, as if she was ice skating. All the others except Len did the same as Oliver watched, not believing his eyes.

"Ollie, are you coming?" Len was on the edge of the lake, waiting for Oliver.

"Len. I can't do this."

"Why not? Are you scared? I'll stay near you if you want."

"No! I'm not scared! This is physically impossible! It's defying the laws of science, and-"

Len laughed. "I don't know who that is, but they sound like they make horrible laws."

"What? I never mentioned anyone."

"Science. Science's laws sound horrid."

"You dummy!"

"Just come onto the lake already!"

"I told you already! I can't! Just watch." Oliver stepped onto the lake, but he didn't float like the others. He sunk right to the sandy bed beneath the water.

"Huh. That's weird."

"You floating on the water like a pixie sprite thingy is weird!"

"Not to me."

"Whatever. Just go dance without me." Oliver turned his face away from Len.

Len knew that Oliver didn't want to be left out, and he didn't understand why Oliver couldn't do the things he and his companions could. He wanted to know why Oliver was different, but all he could do right now was try to make it so that Oliver wasn't lonely. Let's face it, Len had a crush on the smaller blonde boy, and had high hopes of returned feelings. With all these things in mind, Len did what he felt he needed to do.

"Ollie, come closer."

"Umm, okay..." Oliver took a step further into the water, closer to Len.

"Okay. If you want me to stop, tell me to stop. Okay?"

"Wait, what are you-" Before Oliver had given the okay, Len had slung one arm around Oliver's waist and used the other to grab Oliver's hand, pulling Oliver up slightly so that his feet dangled on the surface of the lake.

"Do you want me to stop?"

"Uh, n-no..." Oliver blushed, enjoying how their bodies were pressed together, even if he wouldn't admit it to himself.

Len noticed Oliver's blush, and started to feel hopeful. "Then will you dance with me?"

"Um, s-sure, I guess..."

Len smiled brighter than all of the lilies on the lake combined. He had gotten the answer he was hoping for, kind of. With high hopes for the future, he glided across the lake with Oliver, unaware of the glares that Miku was giving to his dancing partner.