Strings of Fate: The First Loop

CHAPTER 55 - SO, I KEPT RUNNING...

There were hands over my eyes, warm and impatient.

“Inez,” I said, not even trying to hide the exasperation in my voice, “where are you taking me?”

“Promise this will be good for you,” she whispered, tugging me forward like a child dragging their sibling into some half-baked surprise.

“How is that supposed to make me feel better?” I muttered, but let her guide me anyway. Maybe I was just too tired to resist. Maybe I trusted her more than I wanted to admit.

The floor creaked beneath our feet, the sound of hurried steps and shifting rugs echoing in the hollow hallway. Then, shuffling. Rubber soles brushing against dusty tiles. My nose filled with the scent of something old, wood polish, fabric softener, mothballs maybe. And something sweet, too.

When Inez’s hands lifted, I squinted into the darkness. But then, light.

Vanilla-scented candles flickered in corners like tiny stars trying their best to stay steady in the wind. Fairy lights blinked to life, threading warmth through the room. The ceiling shimmered with mesh cloths and glowing plastic butterflies swaying gently above us like frozen memories mid-flight. Flower petals lined the floor in uneven trails. I blinked, breath catching. Matt stood across the room, grinning like the fool he always was, except this time, there was something solemn in it. He walked toward me slowly and said, “Just give him a chance, okay? It’s your turn to listen to him, B.”

Then he walked away, disappearing out the same door we entered. That’s when I saw him.

James.

Hair brushed neatly, uniform straightened like he took time, not for appearances, but out of respect. He looked like the boy I first saw on that hallway back in June. But not quite. There was something else now, an earned stillness, a gentleness that wasn’t performative. He took two steps forward. I took one step back.

His voice wavered. “B… I... I never got the chance to dance with you at prom… so here I am… just a boy asking a girl if she’d give him the greatest honor, for just one dance.” He held out his hand. Not forceful. Not entitled. Just... open.

I stared.

His eyes weren’t demanding anything. Just hoping. His smile wasn’t rehearsed. Just present. And for a moment, everything stilled. The first note of the song played, softly at first, like the heartbeat of something too scared to begin.

(Life at First Sight by Alexander Stewart)

> Never thought I'd have a reason to
Put somebody else first...

My hand trembled as I reached for his. I wasn’t sure what moved me more, the lyrics or the way his fingers closed around mine as if they already knew the contours of my soul. He guided me close. His other hand rested gently on my back, mine found his shoulder. His breath trembled too. We moved slowly. Like two people learning gravity again.

> When a stranger knows you more than you know yourself...
And your missing piece was in somebody else...

Each step pulled a thread, joy, pain, betrayal, forgiveness. We spun, and in that small turn, I remembered the way he made me laugh. The way he broke me. The way he showed up anyway.

> It was life at first sight
My future in your eyes…

His hand tightened slightly at my waist as he turned me, and the world slowed. The candles flickered in rhythm. The fairy lights melted into constellations. Our shadows danced across the floor like ghosts we were finally brave enough to face.