Chapter Twenty-Seven
Matt
The end of finals signaled the start of winter break, and within a few days, everyone would be heading home for the holidays.
Jett and TJ would make their way back to Canada. Cody was off to Michigan. Jonah and Keith lived in-state. And I would be carpooling back to Illinois with El and Jade.
But for tonight, we had a special event to attend, followed by an end-of-semester celebration.
The theater was filling up, and luckily, we found an open row towards the middle. I hadn’t seen El dance live in years; I’d only seen the videos that my parents would send from the performances they’d attended during her time at UIUC.
She advised the show would be about an hour long with an intermission halfway, and I hoped the boys would be able to sit still for it.
It was nice that they all insisted on coming along to support El.
She’d always been a part of our group in their eyes, but especially after this last semester, they loved her even more.
She didn’t know it yet, but she’d have six bouquets of flowers waiting for her after this performance.
There were five minutes left until the show started, and I could already tell allowing TJ to sit next to me was a fucking mistake.
He was a grade A babbler, currently going at it with Jett on his other side, and it was taking a conscious effort to zone him out.
He better not cause one single disruption while El was up on that stage.
My knees bobbed, fretfulness consuming me with each minute we got closer to the curtain rising. I was thrilled to see El dance, but I was nervous as hell. I wondered if this was how she felt when she attended my games.
I peeked over TJ’s shoulder as he skimmed through the program that highlighted all the dances and their performers.
There were a handful of solos, duos, trios, and group dances. El was only doing a solo this semester.
“The name of her dance is Jueune et belle,” TJ read. “What the hell does that mean?”
“I don’t know,” I said.
“What language do you think that is?”
Here we go.
Releasing a sigh, I muttered, “I don’t know, TJ.”
Truthfully, I had no idea. El hadn’t told me anything about her dance. All I knew was that it was en pointe.
He glanced up at me, stupidly concerned. “You seem grouchy. What’s wrong?”
You.
“Nothing,” I replied.
His voice dropped to a whisper. “Oh, it’s starting.”
A young woman took center stage, offering a short speech and welcoming everyone to the show. El’s dance was fifth on the schedule, and I felt guilty for wanting everyone else off the stage that went before her.
I was so antsy to see her that it was ripping me up inside. I couldn’t understand how everyone was so calm.
A critical voice popped into my head saying, Probably because they’re not in love with her.
When the angel in question took the stage, my eyes ate her up. I’d been missing her over the last few days while she was busy rehearsing, and seeing her now, all pristine and ornate, caused a sense of happiness to ripple through me.
Her pink tutu was shining under the harsh stage lights, illuminating every stone and every sparkle that decorated it. Her bun had some sort of hairpiece in it, although I couldn’t tell what it was from this far.
She started in the back left corner of the stage, posing so elegantly. I took a mental screenshot.
The music was slow, as were her movements, but she carried grace and strength with each step. I was mesmerized, and every time she rose en pointe, TJ let out a subtle gasp beside me.
Violins were all that could be heard, no lyrics or other instruments. And it took me a few moments before I realized the melody was familiar.
As if trying to get closer to her, I pushed myself forward until I was quite literally on the edge of my seat, fully enthralled.
Juene et belle.
Young and Beautiful.
As she danced, the music became part of me. A strong tide of sentiment engulfed me.
Fuck, I was excited to hug her so tight after this.
I wanted to know why she chose this song. Was there meaning behind it or was I feeding too deeply into it?
In a perfect world, the dance would’ve been for me. The song. The costume that posed a striking resemblance to her prom dress. The choreography. The performance.
El was absolutely flawless up there, captivating the entire room’s attention. She even had TJ dead quiet, which said a lot.
It was two minutes and thirty seconds of impeccable beauty. And when it was over, our entire row shot up to our feet, and my smile was so big that it made my face hurt.
She gave a small curtsy before running off stage with her arms in a ballet position.
I wanted to see her now. To hug her. Give her the flowers I’d picked out for her. Ask her why she’d been enticed by that song.
But six gargantuan hockey players scrambling through the small aisle would disrupt the show, and we’d all agreed to leave during intermission.
After the next two dances, El texted.
El: I’ll meet you in the front parlor during intermission!
Me: Okay
The following few dances went by painfully slow. Every second that passed without seeing El was drawing me closer to insanity.
As the lights cued and we were okay to move around, I instructed the guys to head to the front parlor. El had no idea that they were with me, so it was going to be fun to see how she’d react.
She was chatting with someone, her back to us as I brought a finger up to my mouth, signaling for the boys to keep quiet. To my surprise, they did.
I could hear her conversation coming to a close, and my heart sporadically leaped around inside my ribcage as I tapped her on the shoulder.
El’s face lit up as she turned, in disbelief at the sight of six hockey players, staring sheepishly with flowers held at our chests.
A loud, enthusiastic gasp twirled from her mouth, the same way she’d been twirling around on stage. “You guys!”
Resembling a fairy, El jumped into my arms, and I tried my best to clutch her to me without crushing the flowers or her tutu.The smile she gave was powerful enough to bring the deceased back to life.
It was addictive to see, far more addictive than any drug could’ve been.
I wanted to see her glow like this all the time.
Gleefully, El went around, extending a thankful hug for everyone. When she got to Keith, I wasn’t sure how I’d been expecting to feel, but content was there, almost like some sort of healing I didn’t realize I needed.
I was unable to whisk my gaze away from her as she struggled to hold all her flowers, her arms full of a stunning array of colors to compliment her costume.
Then she ran off to support her friends during the second half.
Immediately, I missed her. I knew she had obligations, but selfishly, I wanted to be around her all the time.
Keith’s words rang through my head again.
“Do me a favor, will you? Tell her how you feel.”
With a deep breath, I decided I was confessing to her tonight.