Slow and Speedy Win the Fight

95. Dance On

Haresa

I don't know how to be a normal teenager while hanging out at a school dance.

Sheldon was immediately swept away by Rudra and they were chatting with each other with big smiles on their faces.

I shook my head to myself and stood by the DJ making sure that the sound system was okay. The DJ only consisted of a student volunteer manning a personal computer and it was hooked up to the gym's speakers. It wasn't perfect but everyone seemed to be having a fun time.

"How are you liking the dance so far?"

The DJ shrugged and went back to clicking away on the computer. I sighed.

Everyone seemed to be having fun but I found myself awkwardly standing in the corner of the room, unsure of what to do. My mind wandered and I found myself going over the list of tasks again.

The sound system was working fine. The music was audible and people seemed to be able to talk to each other still so it wasn't too loud at least. The decorations weren't wrecked. We got a lot of streamers so could make a complete rainbow and taped them on the walls. We had snacks and double-checked everyone's food allergies.

Like how Sheldon couldn't eat blueberries.

My eyes were now watching Sheldon and Rudra again and I couldn't pull myself away from staring.

Usually, Rudra was the one to fill in the silence and talk to me about mundane things and helped me feel semi-normal but he was with Sheldon now.

"Hey stranger, why aren't you having fun?"

I didn't see Mia approach me. I must've been distracting myself so much that I didn't register that anybody would've tried to get my attention. She was wearing a sparkly pink top and a red skirt that ended at her knees. I could see she put clip-on rhinestones on the spokes of her wheels for the occasion.

I let out a strained attempt of a laugh. "I was busy. This dance can't be run alone."

"You can take a break for five minutes, you know." Mia had that gleam in her eye that I was far too familiar with.

I looked down at my feet and couldn't get the courage to look at her. "It's fine, really. What if something bad happens and I need to run and fix it?"

"You can still do that while dancing. Come on," Mia said.

She grabbed my hand and tugged me towards the dance floor. I stumbled behind her as she continued to roll forward and we briefly passed by Sheldon. He seemed to notice and stared at me wordlessly. I gave him a friendly wave and he proceeded to look away, acting as if he didn't see my gesture.

We managed to get to an empty space of the room, away from the walls of the gym, and Mia spun around to face me.

"Ready to show off your dance skills?" Mia asked.

"Bold of you to assume that I have any," I joked back meekly.

"You're a hero, aren't you?" Mia pointed at me. "I'm sure you've been given the cliché 'let's dance' line during a fight. It's not that different."

"I wouldn't tell you 'Let's fight' though. Usually, people get hurt in fights too."

Mia laughed. "Don't doubt my ability to run over your toes."

She tipped her chair back so she could do a wheelie, synchronizing to the music. I followed her lead and began to sway from side to side while moving my shoulders. Mia laughed and lowered her chair so her front wheels were touching the floor again.

"How have you been doing lately anyways?" I asked her, unsure if I could just dance in silence. "Liking basketball?"

Her smile wavered. "Not really. I'm only doing it since my parents wanted me to do more physical activities. You also know how much my family loves basketball."

"Oh yeah."

The upbeat song that played on the speakers ended and a mellow tune began to play.

"How has hero work been? Still busy?" Mia asked.

"Yeah, I've been doing a single long-term mission so I was put off from doing any emergency call missions."

Her smile faltered. "That's a thing?"

"It is but it was only possible since I did a team up."

"Who did you team up with then?"

I hadn't even realized it but my gaze fell on Sheldon. He was laughing and Rudra took his hand and jutted his chin towards the dance floor. Was Rudra asking him to dance? Sheldon looked between the dance floor and Rudra, clearly unsure of whether to follow Rudra's suggestion.

"Sheldon?" Mia asked in surprise. "I didn't know you could team up with a villain."

"Well, it's usually for group work outside of our unions and agencies so like... It's not super impossible. Usually, it's other heroes though. Maybe anti-heroes or anti-villains or part-time heroes and part-time villains."

"There are part-time heroes and villains?"

The music turned up a few decibels and I had to raise my voice so Mia could hear me.

"Yeah, they're just doing all the same work as a villain or hero but fewer hours and a learner's permit. Sometimes they're anti-heroes too since that's just an apprenticeship."

"And anti-villains?"

I had to lean down to make sure I heard her properly and after she repeated herself a couple of times I responded. "Same as anti-heroes."

"What's the difference?"

"I don't know, Sheldon mentioned they're still too new? Might be a new company trying to make a new trend."

She let out a hum and I wasn't sure if she was losing interest or if she didn't know how to respond.

We continued to dance in silence and conversations from the other side of the room began to invade my ears. It was loud. So very loud.

I frowned to myself in confusion and I looked down to my wrist and a slow realization dawned on me.

They didn't ask us to wear the bracelets for this event.

I began to take deep breaths and shut my eyes. I just needed to ground myself, I should be alright. I should be okay. I usually wasn't in a crowded place when I have access to my powers. Falling buildings and fires were louder than this. Everything just had to act up now of all times. Mia was asking if I was alright and I could only nod my head weakly as I tried to ignore the numerous other conversations happening.

Maybe if I focused on one, just one.

My ears adjusted and I could hear Sheldon's voice clearly. If I wasn't struggling with my powers, I would be way more annoyed.

"What was it that you wanted to ask me?" Sheldon asked Rudra I assumed.

Rudra's reply came and along with it, came my own anger.