Deep Red

37

I was letting my eyes wander over the students who were writing their exams in front of me. 20 minutes left. Some of them had already finished and handed their papers in. I was curious to look at them, but I knew I wouldn't be able to keep myself from giving tips to the rest of the students, if I did. So to keep things fair, I had to remain quiet. And look out of the window or something.

It was the last week of school before summer break. Two weeks until summer camp. And that stupid party on I-Island was happening soon as well and I really, really wanted to go, but I had neither the money to go to the actual event in question nor an invitation to the party. I had been there once in my life and it was amazing and I really, really wanted to go again and if it was just because I felt the need to go out and enjoy myself while being dressed up in some fancy clothes.

I sighed. 15 minutes left. Maybe I could treat myself and get a nice dress anyway... and never wear it. No. Nuh uh. That wouldn't do. There weren't even any school dances, except for graduation and that one was still a loooooong way off. Maybe I should call Aiko and go out with her.

No. I couldn't do that. Aiko was great and she was fun to be around, but she was not a good person to go to parties with, because she had no shame if she only just smelt alcohol. That was a bad idea.

The only chance I had at going out this summer was either going on my own (which would be pretty sad, to be fair) or somehow managing to convince Shouta to come with me. Which he wouldn't, because he just wasn't the kind of person for that. He was usually being really sweet to me, but I doubted that he would go that far. I mean, we were still only friends (sadly).

Although I couldn't believe he had actually remembered the dance at my graduation. My God, those were some different times. Or maybe they weren't so different after all. That's when I first realized that I had been crushing on Shouta all this time. That's when I was part of that stupid game of Truth or Dare. That's when I got kicked out of my parent's house "for being a fucking whore".

I was sitting at the table that I was supposed to be saving for my friends... who had gone to God knows where. I was debating abandoning the table and just getting some damn drinks already. I mean that's what I had brought the hip flask for - to spike my own personal drink with some alcohol.

This was terrible. I don't know what I had been thinking when we all decided to go "as friends". I mean, of course they'd paired up and I was gonna be the odd one out. It had been difficult enough hiding the fact I was going to this graduation party from my father. If he had found out, I'd be sitting here with a black eye, that much was for sure. And I wasn't going to risk that, not when I had worked night shifts to be able to afford the dress I was wearing.But now I kinda wished I had stayed home.

I looked around. A lot of people were dancing. There were some standing around, sitting this dance out or just drinking. I noticed a kind of awkward group of three guys that didn't look familiar at all. Were they even third years? I squinted at them and that's when I recognized them.

Shouta Aizawa and his two friends. I was pretty sure that Kayama had managed to smuggle them in somehow. As far as I knew she was friends with them, even got them a place to do their work studies at. It looked like they were discussing something... all three of them suddenly looked over to me and I quickly turned away. Shit, hopefully they hadn't seen me staring at them.

I had no idea how long I was looking away for, but I was quickly interrupted by someone clearing their throat next to me. I looked over and saw Aizawa standing right there. He looked a little nervous, despite his usually indifferent demeanor. I glanced at the other two behind him who were watching closely.

"Hey, uh... the guys bet that I would be too shy to ask you to dance, so uh... do you wanna dance? Maybe?" he asked, blushing a little. A bet? I wasn't sure whether to say yes or no, but it was a chance for me to get away.

"How much did you bet for?" I wanted to know.

"If I lose, I buy both of them lunch. If they win, they have to buy me lunch. But I suppose, I just won, because I did ask, so..." he answered and turned around to walk away. They bet on me over lunch? I felt a little insulted and quickly got up. This one wasn't going to get away so easily.

"Hey!" I called after him. He paused and slowly turned around, one eyebrow raised. I walked over to him and grabbed his hand, just as a slow song came on. Ah fuck. That wasn't the plan, but what the hell.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Aizawa asked, as I pulled him towards the dance floor. I turned around to him and put his hands on my waist.

"You asked me to dance for a dumb bet, but you didn't even wait for an answer?" I replied with a smug grin.

"I... I didn't think you'd even consider it. I mean... I definitely didn't think you'd say yes." he told me.

"Well, I do wanna dance with you. And you asked, so dance with me. Or are you gonna chicken out?" I wanted to know, the smile still on my face. It looked like he was blushing a little.

"No, I'm not gonna chicken out. You're probably gonna be disappointed by my dancing skills, though." he said.

"You're doing pretty good so far." I replied. I mean, we were both basically swaying on the spot, since it was such a slow song. And I had to admit, it felt good. I had been more or less watching this boy for a year at this stage and now we finally got to actually talk and fucking slow dance? I wasn't gonna complain about that.

"So did Kayama smuggle you in?" I asked quietly, moving a little closer to him. Something about him was just really comforting. He was warm and even though he looked small and scrawny, I could feel that there was a lot of muscle in those arms of his. And he smelt good - like a mix of coffee, freshly washed linens and soap.

"She did. I didn't plan to go, but Yamada and Shirakumo dragged me with them." he answered.

"And? Is it as terrible as you expected?" I wanted to know. His dark eyes met mine and I swear, I could see him smile softly.

"No, I'm actually glad they dragged me in here now. Dancing with you is kinda fun." he answered without breaking eye contact. I felt my heart completely and utterly melting right then and there.

The alarm I had set for when the exam would be over violently brought me back to reality. I turned it off and stood up, watching a few of the kids trying to quickly scribble down the last bits of their answers.

"Alright, everyone. Time's up. Put your pens down and bring your papers to me. And don't forget to put your names on them!" I told them and watched as half the class went pale and started going through all the pages to quickly note down their names. The others slowly got up and brought me their exam papers.

"Did you see her the last few minutes? She looked like she was daydreaming or something. I wonder about what. Do you think she's seeing someone?" I heard one of the girls whisper to another girl.

"Probably. She looked like she was absolutely smitten." the other girl agreed. Oh my God. They had noticed that? Shit. Well, it wasn't too bad, to be fair. It had just been a silly memory.

Although I did wish that I had talked to Shouta earlier and not the last day I was at U.A. Because that whole evening back then just made me realize that I probably had a high school crush on him the entire time without even realizing it. And the dance wasn't even the best part...