-Party-

"I already regret my decision of going to this stupid party," Zane complains, standing in the middle of a crowd of adults who are hopping up and down.

"Baby brother, it's not that bad! You just have to loosen up!" Garroth responds in a cheerful tone.

Zane rolls his eyes and pushes through a bunch of people, finding a staircase to sit on. He takes a deep breath and exhales. Garroth is always telling him to get out there more and try to have fun and he knows Garroth is right. Zane believes that if he gets out more....he might be known or have some kind of importance.

The room is too crowded.

Zane removes his mask to breath easier; he knows nobody can see him right now.

———

     Aphmau, Katelyn, and Kawaii Chan enter the house where the party is held and hear music blasting from one of the rooms.

     "Eek! I'm not used to parties like this.," Aphmau squeals.

     Katelyn laughs at this reaction. She's been to a few parties when she was in college, but that was mostly for dancing purposes. She would get in whatever dance fight she could and she would earn a nice amount of cash too.

     "Aphmau it's fine! As long as you're not challenging me to a dance battle or anything," Katelyn teases.

     Aphmau and Kawaii Chan both laugh in response. Kawaii Chan looks over and sees a table filled with sweets!

     "Mmm! Sorry! Kawaii Chan is gonna go!" Kawaii Chan says before running off to the table.

     Katelyn and Aphmau look at each other before shrugging. Once they look away, they notice a well-dressed woman in front of them.

     "Hi! It's Melissa! Thanks for coming to my party!" Melissa greets with a bright smile.

Katelyn squints her eyes and then smiles.

"I'm Katelyn, this is Aphmau. You're the one from the dance competition right?" Katelyn asks.

Melissa nods, somewhat flattered that she was actually remembered from that.

"Yeah! You were super professional yet very relaxed and fun!" Aphmau compliments.

"Aww thanks!" Melissa says, blushing.

Abruptly, another woman with bright orange or ginger hair appears.

"Aphmau! It's nice seeing you!" She says in a friendly tone.

"Lucinda! It's nice seeing you too!" Aphmau replies with excitement.

Lucinda smirks as she looks at Katelyn.
"Oh... I guess I didn't see you there!" Lucinda teases with a small laugh.

"Whatever!" Katelyn responds angrily.

"You know, I never understood why you hate me so much," Lucinda mentions, now leaning on a wall.

"Because-"

"Alright you two! Can we please get along?" Melissa cuts in, stopping those two from having an angry cat fight or something.

"Oh... sorry Mel.." Lucinda apologizes, walking over and putting her arm around Melissa.

"Hm.. It's alright. Let's just have fun, okay?" Melissa asks, kissing Lucinda's cheek.

Lucinda blushes a bit and smiles.

"Drinks on me?" Lucinda asks.

"Hehe.. everything here is free!" Melissa jokes.

Lucinda laughs softly and walks away with Melissa. Katelyn sighs and walks out to the crowd of people dancing.

Aphmau awkwardly stands there alone and walks around, trying to find an area that's not completely crowded. She sneaks through the crowd and finds a staircase and Zane is there! 'Why am I not surprised?' Aphmau questions.

"Hey Zane!" Aphmau approaches with a wave.

Zane looks up and sighs in relief, smiling softly.

"I'm so glad you're here!" Zane says in relief.

Aphmau grins and takes a seat by Zane. Those two have been best friends since about college and they tell each other everything. Aphmau knows that Zane always says he wants to be alone, but the truth is, he just wants someone who understands him. Zane knows that Aphmau is really silly, but she's had kind of a rough past.

"So.. what are you doing here? At a party!" Aphmau asks in surprise.

Zane chuckles quietly and exhales.

"Garroth convinced me," Zane responds.

Aphmau snorts and then nods.

"I saw you're dancing with Aaron. You two have a song picked out yet?" Zane asks, loosely wrapping his arms around his knees.

"No, I just told Katelyn and Kawaii Chan recently... we still have to think of a song choice," Aphmau answers, looking down at her feet.

"What about you? You pick a song?" Aphmau asks, looking back up at Zane.

"No.. I just feel like I need to do something new... Something unexpected I guess?"

"Yeah?"

"Yep...I just feel like I'm always shadowed by Garroth."

Aphmau hums.. thinking of ideas for Zane, then it hits her!

"Work with a partner! Do something.. romantic!" Aphmau exclaims.

Zane's eye widens and he shakes his head.

"Aphmau! I.. I can't do something romantic! I've never well... experienced romance.."

"Then you just need someone who has.... Like... like... Kawaii Chan!" Aphmau suggests, pretty loudly.

"What?! Are you insane?" Zane exclaims.

"Come on! It'll totally be different! You two are exact opposites! It'll be so unexpected! Plus Katelyn and Kawaii Chan haven't signed up yet!"

Zane starts picking his nails as a blush grows across his cheeks.

"Come on Zane! I'm not asking you to make out with her!" Aphmau teases.

"Gah! Aphmau! That's so gross!" Zane complains, hiding his blushing face.

Aphmau laughs and begins to stand up.

"At least consider it? Anyways, there's cupcakes here... I'm gonna go," Aphmau says before she leaves.

'Me... working with Kawaii Chan? That would be a disaster!' Zane thinks to himself. He stands up and walks over to the table Aphmau was talking about and sees Kawaii Chan there. He moves his eyes away and looked at the cupcakes, taking one and immediately eating it. It's definitely not the best cupcake he's ever had, but it's a cupcake.

Suddenly the music stops... and a voice is heard over a microphone.

———-

Travis

Travis is standing on a chair, looking over everyone as he nervously clears his throat. Everyone's attention is on him. Once Travis regains his confidence, he speaks.

"Hey everyone! I need to do something for a special someone! In order to do this, I need a lot of space, so can everyone make a circle for me?" Travis asks.

Without hesitation, the group of people make a circle and Travis makes his way into the middle of it.

"My best friend Dante, told me that I hadn't used every line in the book... Which I mean, the flirting book. It's turns out, what I needed isn't a line at all... It's a dance," Travis announces.

"This dance is for a special girl... Katelyn!"

Suddenly music plays from the speaker.

"Cooler Than Me" by Mike Posner plays.

Travis hands his microphone to someone and begins dancing slowly, searching for Katelyn's eyes. Suddenly he's met with a pair of light blue eyes and he locks his eyes on her's. His dancing shows determination and confidence.

Even when he turns, he always stops to meet her eyes. The crowd of people are clapping to the best and cheering him on.

Katelyn blushes.... she can't believe Travis is doing this. She can't help but laugh to herself...

At one point of the song, everyone is hopping up and down as Travis pulls Katelyn into the circle.

They're both laughing and he's spinning her around and he's lip syncing the words to her. Katelyn smiles and shakes her head.

Suddenly...

Katelyn has a sense of sadness. She pulls away from Travis and walks out of the circle and runs out of the house.

Leaving Travis standing by himself in the middle of the circle...

"Shit!" Travis yells, feeling embarrassed as he runs off to the bathroom.

———

"Katelyn Sama! Is Katelyn Sama okay?" Kawaii Chan asks after running after her.

Katelyn shakes her head and wipes away the single tear that fell from her face.

"It's just... I miss Jeffory so much... I can't believe I left him."

Kawaii Chan lowers her eyebrows, somewhat confused. Katelyn just shakes her head again and sits down on the porch.

"Just go back in the party KC... I'll be okay."

Kawaii Chan was going to say something else, but she decides there's no point. She walks into the house and shuts the door. She looks over to the snack bar and realizes someone is looking at her. The blue eye looks away nervously and he turns around to walk away. 'What's up with Zane Kun?' Kawaii Chan thinks to herself.