Strings of Fate: The First Loop

CHAPTER 45

The dance floor swallowed us whole. Inez spun me like she was wind wrapped in satin, her gown catching every light like a starburst. And I, I caught myself laughing. Really laughing. My head thrown back, hair flying, a sound escaping my throat before I even knew I still had it in me. We twirled like we used to. No heartbreak. No boys. Just rhythm and rebellion. Movement for the sake of joy.

“You’ve really got it,” Inez grinned, breathless.

“I never had it,” I said between laughs.

“Liar.”

Then, with a dramatic flourish, Tim slid between us, hand outstretched and eyebrows raised. “May I steal her for a moment, Your Grace?”

Inez gave him a theatrical curtsy. “She’s all yours, sparkle prince.”

Tim placed my hand on his sequined shoulder and began to waltz, to a beat that was very much not made for waltzing.

“You know this isn’t the tempo,” I giggled.

“Shhh,” he said, completely serious. “It’s about the aesthetic, Betty.”

So I followed. I let him spin me across the floor, his movements grand and ridiculous. People moved aside, smiling, some clapping. And for a few surreal seconds, I felt like the main character in a dream I hadn’t dared to imagine. Twirled. Celebrated. Weightless. Maybe I didn’t need to be found tonight. Maybe I just needed to be seen. Then Drake sauntered over with that familiar lopsided grin. “Okay, my turn. He’s making you dizzy.”

I laughed and stepped into his arms. The tempo slowed, and so did my pulse. Drake didn’t try to dazzle or distract. He just… held me. Gently. Steady. Like I was something worth holding, even if I wasn’t shining tonight.

“Still no James?” he asked, voice low, just for me.

I shook my head.

“I hope he knows what he’s missing,” he said.

I didn’t answer. I didn’t know how to.

Before the silence could bloom into something heavier, Corey swooped in like a prince from a school play, overly formal and ridiculously charming. He bowed with a flourish, taking my hand like it was part of a ceremony.

“I shall be your final dance,” he declared. “Let’s finish the rounds, my lady.”

I grinned. “Lead the way.”

Corey was surprisingly light on his feet, twirling and dipping with exaggerated flair. He lip-synced to the lyrics like a pop star in a musical, then fake-tripped just to make me laugh. And I did. Again and again. Real laughter, stitched together with the soft kind of joy you don’t realize you’ve missed until it returns.

And then... A sudden burst of sound and light.

The DJ’s voice boomed through the mic: “Everyone! Time to light up this floor!”

Glitter erupted from the ceiling like some magical punctuation mark. Without a word, we all found each other, me, Inez, Tim, Corey, Drake, and crashed into the center of the floor like a constellation reuniting. We didn’t need choreography. We just jumped. Spun. Screamed lyrics at the ceiling like it could hear us. The lights painted us in streaks of gold and scarlet, electric blue and jungle green. Everything sparkled, the air, the floor, our skin, our laughter. And for one glittering, beat-soaked moment, we weren’t the ones waiting. We weren’t the broken ones or the background extras in someone else’s story. We were just us. Loud and alive. I closed my eyes. And for the first time in days… I didn’t feel like I was drowning. I felt like I was flying. Even without him. For now.