Hollow Twilight - A LitRPG Novel

Chapter 34

Reid blew out a long breath upwards, feeling the hot air against the tip of his nose. He rubbed his hands together to get some feeling back in them and glanced up at the dark sky above.

He felt like an idiot. Without a ride to the dance he had had to walk all the way to school in his formal clothes. He only had the one pair of dress pants, normally used for funerals and visiting grandparents, and two good shirts to pick from, the type with buttons because that apparently meant something. He still didn't understand why he couldn't wear shirts or sweaters. It had to be long-sleeved, it had to button up and be tight on his joints. Being uncomfortable was mandatory.

It was a struggle to put his jacket over it and his pants were two thin, leaving him with freezing legs. He had to keep taking his hands out from his pockets to rub his legs and then they would get cold and the cycle repeated.

Now he was standing outside of the school. A couple other kids bumped past him on the way inside. He just didn't want to go through the door and possibly face the reality inside. He felt like a dork. He was awkward and strange and this wasn't how he ever dressed. And he knew Issac would be in there somewhere, wearing his ridiculous white suit that he loved, doing spin moves and throwing out high-fives because this was his favourite time of year. He was probably on steroids now that he actually had a date. Or Maple would reign him in.

Reid huffed and pulled open the door, not making eye contact with anyone as he rushed to his locker and stuffed his coat inside. He pulled at his collar, trying in vain to give his neck some space. It stayed stiff as always. He felt a button rubbing against his wrist. This sucked.

The gym decorations hadn't changed in all four years Reid had attended. They rolled out the same banner, the same giant snowflakes hanging from the ceiling. There were tables around the edges of the spaces with no chairs at them. There were some free chairs pressed up against the walls and they were instantly coveted by handfuls of students until a teacher came by and urged them to go dance.

Reily was late, apparently, leaving him a message on his phone. So now he was just stuck at the dance feeling awkward. He shuffled into a corner, nodding at one of the teachers giving him a look and then whipping out his phone like so many others around him so he could pretend to be busy.

A minute later he felt a tap on his shoulder and found Maple had wormed her way in next to him. She was in her usual dance outfit, the same thyme green dress she had brought to the very first one. At that time it had been baggier and hemmed at the ends to fit her. It was the only dress she had and she had been instructed to grow into it. That had never come true entirely and every so often the light would catch on one of the pins along her side.

"Trying to look cool for your date?" Maple asked. She brushed the ringlet of hair out of her face. Her mother did this for her every year and she hated every second she had to live with it.

"She's a bit late, that's all." Reid shoved his phone back in his pocket. "Aren't you supposed to be on your big date?"

Maple blushed a bit, a rare side of her he had almost never seen prior, and she shook her head. "He's off doing his rounds, you know how he is." She pointed across the gym floor and Reid only needed a second to spot the brilliant white in a crowd. "Everybody has to see it and then he'll go to the bathroom, probably. Go see Mr. Tannehill and do a dance. Then we can try to be a couple."

"So he hasn't even tried?"

"It's been...awkward. But we'll get there eventually. As if you'll be mister suave when Reily shows up." Maple jabbed into Reid's side with her elbow to drive home her point. He winced a bit, never ready for her strength. And then the pair returned to pressing against a wall.