Project: Socialize (Chapters 198-Continued) [Hiatus]

268. Firework Festival

[Alvelyn's Perspective]

I watched as Alevian disembark from the car and peered out the tinted windows when the car drove off. I watched as he started making his way back to the house, towards the direction that we came from. What he had in mind, I have a vague idea. Therefore, I there is really no point in me trying to stop him or even try to go with him. What he is going to be doing...it's something reserved for a male, or should I say the effect will only be sufficient if it was a boy that will be doing such a thing.

"Where is he going?" Noah asked me as he looked over from the front seats of the car.

"Back to the house," I simply responded.

Noah nodded his head as he took in my response. Then, he simply sat back down on his seat and creased his brow, as if thinking about something. Not long after, that frown disappeared as he shrugged his shoulders, almost as if disregarding what had just happened.

I heard the sound of my phone ringing, and looking down, I saw that Irina had called me. I stared at her name and my eyes shifted between the [Reject] and [Answer] prompt on the touchscreen. Slowly, I moved a finger to the green [Answer] prompt and picked up the call.

"Hello," I said into the phone as I brought it to my right ear. The cool phone screen that was pressing against my right cheek felt rather comfortable.

"Did...did Alevian get out the car just then?" she asked.

I glanced to my right and at the closed door that Alevian had left out of a few minutes earlier.

"Yeah," I said into the phone.

"W-why?" Irina sounded rather perplexed and confused about the whole situation. "Where's he going?"

"He's heading back to the house," I answered her.

"On foot?!"

"Yeah," I said once again.

"Um..." She stuttered somewhat.

If I have guessed correctly, she must want to call Alevian and inquire as to why he does not want to go to the fireworks festival. However, based on my knowledge of her, she's probably a bit too shy to do that right now. Her relationship with my male form...it probably has advanced to the point where they can call each other and have a casual chat, but I suppose Irina's simply too afraid to take the first step. Maybe she is gathering the courage, but until she does so, I doubt that my male form will call her for a casual conversation.

"Just have fun at the festival," I said calmly into the phone, trying to comfort her as I know that she must be feeling rather bitter right now, maybe even a bit down about it all. She must be extremely excited to spend time with him at the festival, but...things don't always go as planned. "I'm sure Alevian would want that."

What I just said, it is something that is definitely a fact. I felt that way, so Alevian also feels that way.

"You can talk to him about it when we get back," I continued. "So in the meantime, let's enjoy ourselves. Alright?"

"I guess you're right," Irina's voice seemed to soften a bit as it regained her usual cheerfulness. "Thanks, Alvelyn."

"What for?" Her sudden expression of gratitude caught me by surprise as I was unsure as to what I had possibly done that would warrant an expression of thanks.

"For comforting me," Irina whispered into the phone followed by a soft giggle. "You're so similar to Alevian in that way. I guess it's because you are his twin."

I am him, but a different gender...

We soon pulled into the packed parking lot by the pier, and although the parking lot is rather packed, there were still plenty of space open. So, finding parking spots for our two automobiles did not take a long time. Once the cars have been parked, we all disembarked and met up.

"Alevian really just dipped, huh?" Zaksus commented when he saw Alevian's absence.

"Guess he has something more important to do," Noah added in.

After a brief mention of Alevian's departure, our group made our way over to the entrance of the festival, stepping foot on the pier characterized by wooden flooring, bright lights, and a beautiful and calm ocean in the dark of the night. Numerous stalls lined the two sides of the road, and numerous smaller roads branched off from and connected to this central main road, splitting the festival into numerous different areas. On the road were a large crowd of people that flowed up and down the road as if a river that flowed both directions. The flow was slow as everybody seemed to be enjoying their time and observing each stall, taking in the food options and games available. The stall operators seemed to have fed off this genuinely positive atmosphere as they all had pleasant smiles in their faces as they watched the crowd of people walk by.

"Wanna get some food first?" Luna asked Irina.

"Sure," Irina nodded. "What does everybody want to eat?"

"What do they have?" Zaksus asked.

"There's like...literally everything," Irina said, walking over and showing him the selection on her phone.

After deciding what to eat, we all started walking in the general direction of the nearest food stalls. Our progress was rather slow as there were plenty of people that crowded the wooden pier, making it so that each step that we took had to be tiny shuffle steps.

"Be careful not to get lost," Mura said to us. "Stay near each other and don't let the crowd push you away."

"We're not kids, Ms. Edel," Noah laughed in an amused manner.

Mura shook her head and sighed as her facial expression softened while gazing at her students as they made their way through the crowd towards the decided destination.

I gazed over my shoulder and at my two teachers, Mura and Emilia. I've always wondered what are their opinions on events like this one, where they are required to come and chaperone for us for our trips. Do they actually enjoy themselves, or are they simply here because it is required by their job?

I observed their countenances. On Mura's face there was a slight smile. On Emilia's face, well, she has that simple conserved countenance that betrayed little of her thought process. However, I assume that she must not be feeling any repulsion about this whole thing. Maybe she is also fine with this trip and is actually enjoying herself? She seems to have been changing recently, being able to enjoy mortal enjoyments now, so...

I suddenly felt a firm and yet gentle hand grasp my wrist. I tensed my body and turned my head in search of who it was that grabbed me, but I relaxed my guard when I saw that the hand belonged to Loyd, who looked into my eyes in a calming manner.

"Wrong way," he said with a slight smile on his face.

I looked in the direction that his body was facing in and saw that the others were walking down this smaller road that branched off of the main road. Then, I looked in the direction that I was originally going to walk in, which was populated by crowds of strangers that made the walkway extremely congested.

"T-thanks," I said to him, nodding my head.

"No problem," he said.

Then, the two of us walked after the others. He led me through the crowd, using his body as a shield for me as we walked to catch up with the others. The whole time, he had one hand in mine as he lead me behind him.

I stared at his hand that was holding onto mine. His hands were larger than mine and stronger than mine. It was a hand that hinted at security and calmness as its warmth seemed to dispel any possible signs of doubt, similar to Alevian's presence. It was...weird holding onto his hand like this, causing my face to feel somewhat warm as I blushed.

Author's Notes:

Sorry for not updating for the past few days. I had a surgery to remove a tumor in my head. Even now, my face is still swollen from the procedure.