Twicelight

Chapter - 10

Third person's pov:

Everyone watched Sana and Tzuyu as they walked together to their lab table. Sana noticed that Tzuyu no longer angled the chair to sit as far from her as the desk would allow. Instead, he sat quite close beside her, their arms almost touching.

Mr. Ban backed into the room then - what superb timing the man had -pulling a tall metal frame on wheels that held a heavy-looking, outdated TV and VCR.

Mr. Ban shoved the tape into the reluctant VCR and walked to the wall to turn off the lights.

And then, as the room went black, Sana was suddenly hyperaware that Tzuyu was sitting less than an inch from her. She was stunned by the unexpected electricity that flowed through her, amazed that it was possible to be more aware of him than she already was. A crazy impulse to reach over and touch him, to stroke his perfect face just once in the darkness, nearly overwhelmed her. Sana crossed her arms tightly across her chest, her hands balling into fists. She was losing her mind.

Sana's eyes, of their own accord, flickered to him. She smiled sheepishly as she realized Tzuyu's posture was identical to her, fists clenched under his arms, right down to the eyes, peering sideways at her. Tzuyu grinned back, his eyes somehow managing to smolder, even in the dark. Sana looked away before she could start hyperventilating. It was absolutely ridiculous that she should feel dizzy.

The hour seemed very long. Sana couldn't concentrate on the movie - she didn't even know what subject it was on. She tried unsuccessfully to relax, but the electric current that seemed to be originating from somewhere in his body never slackened. Occasionally she would permit herself a quick glance in Tzuyu's direction, but he never seemed to relax, either. The overpowering craving to touch him also refused to fade, and Sana crushed her fists safely against her ribs until her fingers were aching with the effort. She breathed a sigh of relief when Mr.Ban flicked the lights back on at the end of class, and stretched her arms out in front of her, flexing her stiff fingers. Tzuyu chuckled beside her.

"Well, that was interesting," Tzuyu murmured. His voice was dark and his eyes were cautious.

"Umm," was all Sana was able to respond.

"Shall we?" Tzuyu asked, rising fluidly.

Sana almost groaned. Time for Gym. Tzuyu walked Sana to her next class in silence and paused at the door; Sana turned to say goodbye. Tzuyu's face startled her - his expression was torn, almost pained, and so fiercely beautiful that the ache to touch him flared as strong as before. Her goodbye stuck in her throat.

Tzuyu raised his hand, hesitant, conflict raging in his eyes, and then swiftly brushed the length of Sana's cheekbone with his fingertips. Tzuyu's skin was as icy as ever, but the trail his fingers left on her skin was alarmingly warm - like she'd been burned, but didn't feel the pain of it yet.

Tzuyu turned without a word and strode quickly away from her. Sana walked into the gym, lightheaded and wobbly. She drifted to the locker room, changing in a trancelike state, only vaguely aware that there were other people surrounding her. Reality didn't fully set in until she was handed a racket. It wasn't heavy, yet it felt very unsafe in her hand. Coach Clapp ordered them to pair up into teams.

Mercifully, some vestiges of Mark's chivalry still survived; he came to stand beside her.

"Do you want to be a team?"

"Thanks, Mark - you don't have to do this, you know." Sana grimaced apologetically.

"Don't worry, I'll keep out of your way." He grinned. Sometimes it was so easy to like Mark.

It didn't go smoothly. Sana somehow managed to hit herself in the head with her racket and clip Mark's shoulder on the same swing. She spent the rest of the hour in the back corner of the court, the racket held safely behind her back. Despite being handicapped by her, Mark was pretty good; he won three games out of four singlehandedly. He gave her an unearned high five when the coach finally blew the whistle ending class.