Aromantic

Love is in the Air

(Assume every name in this chapter is a name-change)

We had a school dance recently and I had the time of my life.

The theme was the Roaring 20s, and the décor was amazing. I saw 2 girls who came in flapper outfits and a couple guys with those 20's hats. Everyone was dressed super nicely and the girls all had their makeup done.

I prepared for the dance with my friends, Cate and Sabine. We spent 2 hours in the bathroom doing our makeup. (Actually Sabine did my makeup because she's much better at it than I am and I just sat there.) We joked around and complimented each other and ate sweets and pizza before heading to the dance.

When we got to the dance, most of the people were milling around awkwardly, and there were 10 whole people on the dance floor (because I go to a nerd school and nerds do not dance). I met up with my other friends, and we exchanged compliments. 

Some people came with dates instead of groups of friends. Some of those people had already been couples before the dance, so they were relatively comfortable and happy, but the majority of the people who chose to come with a date seemed uncomfortable and awkward. I watched a boy and a girl come in together, scan the room, and immediately split up to be with their friends instead. 

My friend Sam came with a date to the dance, and then ended up not dancing with him, instead going to join me and my friends. Since I usually have lunch with Sam and her group (including the guy she was supposedly on a date with), I got to deal with the aftermath of that. Lunch time came around the next week (the dance was on Friday), and Sam seemed to be avoiding the Guy. She went to the gym, along with a couple of her other more athletically-inclined friends (not me lmao) and I was left alone with the Guy. He moped around and picked at his food, obviously upset.

"She won't talk to me and now she's avoiding me."

A friend and I tried to console him, saying that she probably still liked him but she just wasn't ready for a date. I knew Sam liked him though she did seem a little annoyed that he kept bringing her donuts every day (I wouldn't complain).

Love is weird. Back to the dance.

The end of the night come around, and the DJ said, "Here's a slow one for all you lovebirds."

People paired up, and for a second I stood there, until I noticed that a lot of the pairs were just friends dancing with friends and having fun. I offered a dance to my friend, Cate. We danced and we were bad at it but I still had fun. The entire time, she seemed to be looking for someone. I assumed it was Sabine. 

I thought she was over it, but then again I don't understand love.

The song started to end, and Sabine was nowhere in sight. Cate seemed to get more and more distant, finally standing still as the song ended. She stopped smiling.

I know the whole drama between them. Sabine knows that Cate has a crush on her, but wants Cate to admit it herself. She doesn't like her back, but she does like her as a friend. Cate has liked Sabine for a year now, and though I keep urging her to confess, she's scared and feels that it'd be so "nerdy" to tell Sabine her feelings. It doesn't help that in the group chat, Sabine keeps fawning over another girl in my class, Iza, who Cate is jealous of and refers to as the Ultimate Lesbian.

Love is weird. 

In October, my Civics teacher told us it was "hook-up season", and that we were all bound to find partners soon. (I cringed). He told us that winter means that it's cold and that "girls want to find warmth." He also said that spring was "break-up season" because there's no need for warmth anymore. He said to break up before that, because he didn't want anyone crying during AP season.

Sure enough, winter came around and new couples revealed themselves. My friend Sam went out with one guy, and I'm assuming she broke up with him at some point because she went with that other Guy to the dance. Cate pined for Sabine, Sabine pined for Iza, and Iza pined for nobody because she's demiro.

Love is weird. Everyone seems to like Iza one way or the other.

Iza's the girl I had a squish on in seventh grade and she's the girl who had a crush on me in seventh grade, though I was (and still am) very blind to love. Every gay girl in my class and in my group chats has had a crush on her. A couple boys have had crushes on her as well, though of course they didn't get very far. 

I kinda miss it. I don't have a squish on her anymore, but I miss having one. It was calming, having a favorite person. Seeing her would tug at my heartstrings and make me feel like everything was going to be alright. She'd bring a smile to my face doing literally anything. For once, I felt like I had a best friend who also thought I was their best friend.

She started getting distant. Her texts became more and more infrequent, until eventually they stopped. I kept sending her memes in vain. In the hallways, she'd no longer seek me out to talk to me or hangout. It hurt for a while. It always hurts to lose a friend, especially one that I thought would always be with me. 

We still talk, but it's different now. We're just school friends, acquaintances. 

a/n: There's a little more about Iza in the chapter "Crushes", and I'm not going to write much more about her.