October 4th, 2052, is one day I'll never forget. It was a Friday, the day before I took Yong-Rae to the U.F.O., two days after discovering the Leopardi's hideout and three days after saving Rae from being kidnapped. Even with everything that happened that week, that Friday was easily the most impactful on my young life.

  That morning I sat in band class staring across the room at the dark haired flute player as I struggled to come up with anything to say. Just the other day I found out that the comic store Melody works at is some kind of front for a mob that's been kidnapping teenagers along with who knows what. I don't want to think that she's guilty, but I can't deny that she has some association with them. She said her uncle knows the owner, maybe he's a part of the criminal family. Hell, for all I know, he could be Leopardi himself. I gotta ask her about it somehow, but I can't make it obvious that I know too much about it. Maybe I should just do it as Night Hopper. This is more of their problem anyway. All Rayleigh should be worried about right now is learning this stupid song on my tuba!

  "Whatcha looking at, bro?" My sister interrupted my overthinking.

  "NO ONE!" I said defensively

  "Really? Cause it looked like your eyes have been locked on the flute section the last few days. Is there a certain Melody you can't get out of your head?" She teased.

  "Shut up!" I scoffed, "You're making it sound like I'm a total creep, but it's not like that."

  "Oh? Then what is it like, lover boy?" Riley asked.

  "It's nothing, just…" I sighed. She's not gonna leave me alone unless I give some kind of answer. "There's something I need to ask her, but I don't know how to say it."

  "Awe, don't worry it's not that hard. Just make her a sign with some flowers. That's what Sam did for me. Works every time… Well most of the time." She cheered.

  "Yeah, no, I wasn't asking for advice, " I said, rolling my eyes.

  "I see, but you're not denying it." She grinned.

  "Denying what?" I asked.

  "Okay, I'll let you handle it yourself." She said, walking back to her section. "Orchids are her favorite, by the way. Good luck."

  The school day went on, and it seemed that all I could think about was Melody, although if I'm being honest, her connection to the Leopardi family wasn't the only thing on my mind. When I saw her again in English class, talking to her felt harder than normal. We happened to be doing a unit on Greek mythology. We were supposed to be reading for the Odyssey, but I could tell Melody was already finished as she was quietly doodling something in her notebook. This wasn't unusual for English class, but today the silence between us got to the point of feeling unbearable. Come on, Rayleigh, now's the perfect chance to talk to her. I don't have to interrogate her with a bunch of suspicious questions at once. Just say something to break the ice, then figure out the rest in the moment.

  "Hey Melody, can I ask you something?" I hesitantly asked.

  "Oh? I guess so. What is it?" She said nonchalantly as she continued to draw.

  "I've noticed you seem to know quite a bit about Greek mythology. Do you have a favorite myth?" I wondered.

  She looked up, her eyes widened. "Funny you ask. I was just thinking of one." She admitted, "Have you heard of the Muses?"

  "Yeah, I know a bit about them. They were basically the goddesses of inspiration, right?"

  "Pretty much. Interpretations vary, but there were nine Muses, each in charge of inspiring a different form of art, literature, and even science." Melody informed, "One of my favorite myths with them is a story that has been mostly lost to time. The story goes that the cult in charge of maintaining the Muses' temple had noticed that over the years less and less people had been coming to pray to the Muses for inspiration. They worried with the way things were trending, it would not be too long before no one believed in the Muses anymore. They thought if the Muses weren't being worshiped, then the inspiration they gave would disappear, causing the creation of new art and literature to seethe with them. So they prayed to them with this concern, asking for a way for their divine inspiration to carry on. At first, the Muses didn't want to believe it, but Apollo was given a prophecy that agreed with the cultist. So the Muses came down to the temple and told them that inspiration couldn't come from nothing, but they did offer another solution: a ritual dance that, when performed between two humans, would draw out the power of the Muses." She held up her notebook, showing me her drawing of figures engaged in a strange dance.

  I nodded, "Wow, is that a real myth? I know just as much about mythology as the next guy, but it seems a little farfetched."

  "Do you think any myths are real?" Melody asked.

  "I know it's just a story, but I was wondering where you heard it?" I explained.

  Melody shook her head. "It comes from a tapestry that was just uncovered around 12 years ago in Thespiae, however, many credible sources have doubted its authenticity."

  "Well, do you think it's legit?"

  "I'm not sure, but while I was researching it for this- uh personal project, I came across a form where people tried recreating the dance of the Muses and claim that it actually still works." She stated.

  "Yeah right! You really believe that doing some silly dance move can channel the power of gods?" I laughed.

  "When you put it like that, it does sound stupid." She chuckled, "But you know there is a theory that claims ancient people would often misinterpret what we now know as titles as magic or miracles. I'm just saying that maybe those myths could at least have been based on something more real than we thought. I wish there was a way for me to know for sure, though."

  "Wait, that's it! The only way to know is if we try it for ourselves." I exclaimed.

  "What do you mean?"

  "I'm saying we should try doing that dance together! Ya know, just to see if it really does anything." I suggested, not thinking about what that may have implied.

  "You- You want to dance? With me?" Melody gasped, turning her head away from me.

  "Yeah, of course. I mean- uh - only if you want to…" I said, feeling my heart tighten a bit. Oh no, did I say something wrong?

  She looked up at me with a soft but genuine smile, "I'd love to dance with you, Rayleigh. And well, there is a dance coming up that might be a good chance to try it…" She trailed off.

  I was too distracted by the idea of doing a ritual that could possibly channel the power of Greek goddesses to really understand what she was saying, so I replied, "That's cool. I'm usually not one for public dances, but if you think it could make the ritual work better, we should go to it."

  "So… You'll go to homecoming with me?" Melody asked.

  "Yeah, I'll…" Did she just say homecoming? As in me? Go to homecoming? With her??? "Uhhh… If that's what you want, sure!" I blurted out. This time it was me turning my head away from her. Did I just say yes!

  "Great!" She cheered, "Riley was teasing me earlier today, saying you had something to ask me. I kinda thought that it might have been that, lol."

  RILLLEEYYYY! …

  Cut to the next morning where I explained the situation to Yong-Rae. I left out the part where I suspected Melody having connections with the Leopardi Family, however.

  "So yeah. I guess I do have plans for homecoming that I really can't get out of." I sighed.

  "Man, leave it to Rayleigh to accidentally ask out a girl to homecoming." Rae laughed, "You gotta thank your sister for being a good wingman."

  "No, I should yell at her for not minding her own business." I grumbled.

  "What, do you not want to go out with Melody?" He asked.

  "It's not that. I just… I don't know how I feel about her." I tried to explain, "Sure she's cute, and smart, and funny, and has really cool interests, and is pretty creatively talented…"

  "It sounds to me like you like her." Rae suggested.

  "But I don't know if that means I like like her. I don't understand how anyone figures out if they like someone." I vented.

  "I've also been single for my whole life, so I wouldn't know either. Maybe you could ask Riley or your parents." He advised.

  "HELL no!" I scoffed.

  "Suit yourself," He shrugged, "By the way, I think that actually channeling the power of the Muses through dance sounds like B.S. But I've heard a study that found that doing physical activities, like dancing, with someone can help you to understand your true feelings for them."

  "Well, a year ago I would have thought that us standing in a U.F.O. right now would have been impossible but here we are." I argued, missing his point.

  "Never mind. So what's your plan?" Rae asked.

  "When Riley found out, she suggested we go as a double date with her and Sam so it 'd be less awkward for us. You should come with us too as a third, or fifth wheel." I offer.

  "Okay, sure, but what about Wesley Simmons?" He reminded.

  "Oh, right… I'll need to do some digging to see if I can find what move he could make and when. Hopefully, it's before or after the dance, but if it happens to be during it, I might need you to cover me while I leave early." I explained.

  "Get to digging then. I'll try decoding the notebook over the weekend, then we can meet after school on Monday." He suggested.

  "Sounds good. Maybe we can just meet at my house instead of all the way out here."

  "Please!"

  After that enlightening meeting, we trekked back through the woods and rode our bikes down the mountain to the city. As soon as I got home, I got straight to digging, searching the web for any information about Wesley Simmons and any events on the 12th that could be his target. I couldn't find much. He didn't have any social media as far as I could tell, and there was nothing that could lead me to his current whereabouts. However, his name did come up in the national title registry as The Faunist. Looking up "events in Shadow Brook, October 12th" was slightly more helpful. Other than our school's homecoming, the only other thing that caught my eye was the annual Hero's Association fundraising gala. I had a strong feeling about that, mostly because Drako-Knight always makes a big appearance there, and Wesley going after him would pretty much confirm my theory of Drako-Knight being associated with the Leopardi's. That would definitely qualify as a "conflict of interest," Shepherd mentioned in her report. The only problem would be the gala started at 9pm and homecoming was from 7pm-10pm.

  Come on, there has to be some way to find out if this is it! Hell, I'm not even sure if he's planning anything on the 12th at all. I'd hate to ditch my date half-way through for nothing! As I sat there thinking of what to do I felt a gentle sinking in my chest. This reminded me of my pendant. I took it off to look at it closely and saw that most of the sand was still stuck in the top part of the hourglass, but a single grain had fallen to the bottom. I sighed. Maybe there is a way…

  I waited until that night, but, unlike usual, I didn't go out patrolling as Night Hopper. I dug through my draws to find a mostly full bottle of prescription sleeping medication and popped two pills. This better be worth it. I got down to my bed shorts, put the pendant around my neck and even put on some "ambient sweeping sand sounds for sleeping". Finally, I used my suit to make a small 0 gravity zone around my bed and lied down, floating just above it. As I tried to fall asleep, Melody's myth came to mind. If the Muses can share their power, maybe Apollo can too? I tried my best to think of nothing but the sound of the sand… Eventually through the sand came another noise…

  tik - tok

  tik - tok

  tik - tok

  The dream that followed, like all dreams, was fuzzy and generally nonsensical, but I'll do my best to describe it. It started at the homecoming dance. I was there with Riley, Sam, Yong-Rae, and Silvi. They started playing one of my favorite songs, a niche indie song they'd never really play at a school dance. I started dancing with Silvi, but when I realized it was a love song, I was suddenly dancing with Melody instead, while something was watching us from above. I remember we were dressed in formal green clothes, then people started laughing at us for wearing green at a black-tie event. Our gym had changed into the setting of the gala. The mayor was giving this award to Drako-Knight, but they were interrupted when a bunch of animals broke in, and with them was a man marked with a lock and key on his arm. However, in the moment, I thought; Wait, was that Silvi back there? With the bit of lucidity I thought I had I tried to turn the dream back to when I was dancing with her, but it didn't work. Instead, Drako-Knight saw me, transformed into a dragon, and charged at me. That's when I woke up screaming, but not in my bed. I was back to lying in the sand. Only this time there were no stars falling, the sky was completely empty, and there was no ticking to be heard. I seemed like I was stuck in there, but after a while, I abruptly dropped straight through the sand, out the bottom of the glass, onto my real bed.

  Thankful I set my gravity field to only last a couple hours, and falling, even for a moment, never fails to wake me up. I quickly jotted down everything so I wouldn't forget it then tried my best to go about the rest of my weekend as normal.

  On Monday after school, I got a chance to fill in Yong-Rae about the gala.

  "It seems like a strong contender, but what if that's not it?" He questioned.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  "I have an app that scans police radio and notifies me of any relevant crimes happening. If he acts up anywhere in the city, I'll know. If there's no sign of him by 9pm, I'm going to stake out the gala." I explained.

  "Bummer." Rae sighed, "But all heroes have to make sacrifices, I suppose."

  "Anyway, did you read the journal yet?" I asked.

  "Sorry, but I couldn't get very far into it. The way Urania uploaded the language was weird. I'd guess it assumed my brain worked more like a computer and gave it a bunch of instructions on how to translate from one language to another. I can technically read it, but I have to go character by character, following the steps to decode it Urania put in my head just to get the meaning and a rough translation to English. Needless to say, it's been a pain in the ass." He informed.

  "Hmm… Then maybe we should make a computer do it." I suggested. "If the instructions were made by a computer for a computer, then I'd bet it'd be a lot faster."

  "I thought of that; the only problem is the instructions aren't that simple. I couldn't ever begin to explain the steps to you, much less write it in code for an Earth computer to follow." Rae argued.

  "What if you tried using your technopathy powers? If an A.I. can upload information to your brain, then why wouldn't you be able to do that in reverse?" I questioned.

  "No, that wouldn't… Wait… I've never tried that before, but maybe… No guarantee, but if it does work, it could save us a lot of time." He hummed. "I still don't like the idea of letting an A.I. in my mind, but I'll give it a cautionary shot."

  "Nice! Let me know if there's anything I could do to help." I offered.

  "With your programming skills? I'll pass. Just worry about keeping the city safe this week, and I'll handle this mystery." He joked.

  "My programming isn't that bad… at least for a teenager. Anyway, were you able to get anything useful out of the journal yet? Like the alien's name?" I asked.

  Rae took the journal out of his backpack and flipped to the front page. "Uh, let's see. There's this word on the inside cover and signed at the bottom of some of the pages, so I'd bet that's it. It's uhhh…" He paused, thinking of how to translate it. "There's no real way for humans to pronounce this, but it'd be IO, PI, and KAL all spoken simultaneously. It would mean something like "pretty talk"? Wait, that doesn't sound right…"

  "IO, PI, KAL… Pretty talk? KAL, IO, PI… Calliope! That's what I'll call them!" I declared.

  "Calliope? Wait, isn't that one of the Muses?" Rae wondered.

  Before I could answer him, we heard a knock on my bedroom door, and we scrambled to close my browser tabs and hide the journal.

  "Yo, losers, open up! We're going shopping!" Riley declared.

  I hopped up to unlock the door and talked to her, "Hey we were kind of in the middle of something. Can we do this another time?"

  "Sorry, but I told you this morning, remember? Rebeca already agreed to take us homecoming shopping, and it has to be today because it's Mom's day off so she can stay home to watch Ronny and Tod." She reminded me.

  "Yeah, I got that, but I already have a suit, so you can go without me."

  "You're not seriously planning on wearing Rowen's handy-down church clothes to hoco? Come on, you've been saving up your allowance for a while, so you can splurge on a suit that fits right. Oh, and Rae can come too if you guys still have nerd stuff you need to talk about."

  "I actually spent a lot of my savings a while ago on - uh computer part- for my computer…" I lied. Even with most of the tech in my suit being from the U.F.O. the rest of the components weren't cheap.

  "Yeah, I'm down for some shopping." Yong-Rae volunteered, "Rayleigh and I were pretty much done with our secret meeting, anyway."

  Once I was outnumbered, there was no point in protesting. We piled in our big sister Rebeca's car and went to just about every place in town as Riley searched for the perfect dress. At first I wanted to get something purple, but Riley claimed purple was her color and I should wear green to match with Melody. Damn, guess it really is fate? I picked out some nice dark gray slacks, a white dress shirt, and a green vest with a clockwork design on the inside with a matching tie. Yong-Rae was less traditional in his outfit, with the bold choice to wear plaid dress shorts with a matching shirt, blue suit coat and chain necklace in place of a tie. Surprisingly, he had the confidence to pull it off, and it gave me the idea to wear my pennant over the top of my clock tie. After trying on like 20 different fits, Riley finally decided on a dark purple, knee-length dress with lace trim on the top, bottom, and straps and a lace choker. I almost felt jealous of how good she looked in it. With that out of our way, the only thing left for me to do that week was wait and hope that Wesley would show up somewhere before Saturday. But of course, he never did.

  Whether I liked it or not, the big day came. But before I could crash the gala to get some answers, I had to go to my sophomore homecoming. The only upside was that I'd get through the hardest part of my night first. I never understood the appeal of dances. Who would want to spend their evening standing around the school's gym/cafetiere, packed like sardines with everyone else in the school while the most basic party? music plays so loud you can't even hear the person next to you? The whole idea seemed over-hyped and pointless. Of course, I wasn't going to tell any of my friends that.

  At 6:30pm sharp, Sam (being the only one of us old enough to drive) picked Riley and me up from our house. Thankfully our dad wasn't home to give them "the talk", he told me to give it to Sam for him, but obviously I did not do that. We made a quick stop at a store where I picked up a bouquet of orchids. When we got to our school, Yong-Rae was already waiting outside for us. He probably used his network to fast travel here. The dance was about to start soon, but we stood outside waiting for Melody to arrive.

  “Come on, it’s getting cold. Can we go inside now?” Riley asked.

  “Wait a sec, Melody said she’d be here in five minutes tops,” I argued.

  “Yeah, and just when was that?” She yawned.

  I nervously checked my phone, “Six minutes ago.”

  Sam Joked, “Welp, sorry dude, looks like she ghosted you.”

  "Does this mean I can be promoted from third wheel to second?" Yong-Rae jabbed.

  "That doesn't even make sense." I grumbled.

  “You know we could have just picked her up,” Riley complained.

  “I offered, but she never gave me her address." I sighed. "I wonder if she's afraid of me meeting her family?" I accidentally said aloud.

  "Wait, why would you think that?" Rae questioned.

  I quickly thought of an excuse, "What? Nothing! Just that you know, she might be worried they'd try to scare her date off. From what I've heard, they kinda seem like they'd be the type too."

  “Right… but are you sure she thinks of this as a date date?” Questioned Riley.

  “Nope!”

  Right on cue, Melody’s uncle pulled up in a fancy sports car that drew many eyes toward it. I stared in awe as Melody stepped out wearing a gorgeous green kimono-style dress. My mind drew a blank as she rushed over to us. I couldn't see much of her uncle through the tainted windows, but I saw what looked to be a pin-stripe suit.

  “Hey, wow, you guys all look great. Hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long.” Melody cheered with an eye-catching grin.

  “Oh, not all we just got here too, and ah … you look–” I started.

  “I know it’s a bit too much, isn’t it? My older cousin let me borrow it because I didn’t have any cute dresses of my own. I was worried it might be out of place, but it doesn't seem like the social dress code here is that strict.” She laughed.

  "What, did you think this was a black-tie event?" Rae asked.

  "I hope not. Seeing as you're wearing shorts." Melody joked, "Those are some nice flowers, Rayleigh."

  I looked down and remembered I was still holding the bouquet at my side. "Oh, these are for you!" I nervously explained, offering them to her, "I heard you like orchids, right?"

  "Awe, they're my favorite! How'd you know?" She asked, giving Riley a wink, "Here, I got something for you too." She took my arm and put something brown and fluffy attached to a keychain in my hand.

  "Wow, thanks! Uh, what is it?" I asked.

  "A rabbit's foot. They're supposed to bring good luck. I figured you could use it." Melody smiled so sincerely.

  "Oh- how a- thoughtful!" I tried to smile back. I figured she was just trying to be nice because she is the kind of person to believe in that stuff, but something about holding the severed body part of a dead animal, especially a hare, made me uncomfortable. Begrudgingly I put it in my vest pocket, then we went inside.

  My first impression of homecoming left me whelmed. It was pretty much everything I expected. The music was mid, the room was crowded and hard to move around in, there wasn't really much to do other than chat and "dance". But somehow, most everyone looked like they were having a great time. Not that I even started to understand the appeal, but my mood soon became lifted as I was dragged in.

  "Come on, guys, get in here." Riley called, pulling the group in for a selfie. She proceeded to take like 20 more in a row. We probably spent at least 15 minutes just taking pictures with each other. Normally I'd feel like complaining, but I felt weirdly content during it. That was until I looked back at one of the photos and, for a brief second, saw Silvi. I jumped back, doing a double take, and saw it was clearly just Melody in the picture.

  "You alright, Rayleigh?" Melody voiced her concern.

  "Yeah, I'm fine. It was just a dream." I thought aloud.

  "A- What?" She asked.

  "What? I, uh- I mean, you're a dream- a good dream, you know- You look good in that photo. Hahah…" I blathered.

  "Thanks, you look like a good dream too," She chuckled. "I wish life was like a dream more often."

  "Maybe someone else's dream. Mine don't usually end well." I told her.

  She looked concerned but refrained from asking what I meant. I tried to play it off, but I couldn't get any words out. Just then the mandatory line dance song came on, and Riley started dragging everyone to get in formation.

  I tried my best to stay on the sidelines, but she shouted, "Come on, bro, get your butt out here!"

  "I'll be fine without making myself look like a fool." I retorted.

  "You'll only look like a fool if you think this is foolish." Sam advised.

  "Yep, now get out here and dance with your date!" Riley demanded.

  Begrudgingly, I took my place in the line next to Melody. At first, she didn't look too happy about doing the dance either, but once I joined, she gained a contagious smile. Damn, I hate it when Riley's right. Once the line dance concluded, we retreated to the wall to catch our breaths. Yong-Rae left to use the bathroom, and Riley and Sam wandered off to gossip with Heather, leaving Melody and me alone together. There was a long moment of silence between us. I tried my best to come up with anything to say but got distracted with a sudden realization. Last year, Silvi asked if I wanted to go to homecoming with her as friends, but I declined. I don't even remember what I did that night instead, but now I'm really wishing I had spent it with her… My throat started to choke up a little, but I had to push it down when Melody asked me a question.

  "Hey Rayleigh… Can I ask why is it you wanted to dance with me?" The question caught me off guard, but honestly, I was wondering something similar.

  "Well - I just thought that myth was pretty interesting and I could tell you cared a lot about it so… I guess I wanted to make you happy."

  "I see… That's quite kind of you, but I was hoping that wasn't your only reason."

  "Wait, no, it's not just…" Is she saying what I think she's saying? "Did you have another reason for going with me?" I asked, unable to look her in the eyes.

  "Hmm, what do you think?" Melody teased.

  My body tensed up. I don't know! I can't even read my own heart, much less yours. Thankfully, Yong-Rae came back before I had to answer.

  "Hey what's up, I miss anything?" He asked.

  Melody answered, "Not much, we were just discussing our dance."

  "Oh, the Muses thing? Rayleigh told me a bit about it, but what exactly do you have to do?"

  "It should be pretty simple, we just wait for the right song then follow the steps of the dance while invoking the names of the nine Muses."

  "Right… And how will you know if it worked?"

  "I've heard it works in a couple different ways, but I'm guessing we should at least feel some sense of connectedness that grants us inspiration and motivation." She assumed.

  "So, basically, just being around you will give me a bardic? Nice!" I cheered. "I hope I don't mess it up though. I've never really danced with anyone before."

  Yong-Rae tried to comfort me, "Hey no need to worry. If you're nervous, you can warm up by dancing with me if you'd like."

  I wasn't sure how serious he was being with that offer but I declined, "Yeah no thanks, I'll just practice the steps by myself."

  "Your loss. Melody?" Rae offered, reaching his hand out to her.

  She rolled her eyes, "Sure, why not?" She laughed, taking his hand. They went out a ways and began hopping around to the beat of the current party song. Suddenly my heart began to tighten, and my face got hot. Did he just steal my date? What does he think he's doing? Not cool man… Wait, why the hell am I getting jealous? We're all just friends, and they're clearly dancing as friends… Right? Just like how I'm gonna dance with Melody as friends later. In fact there's no reason to make this weird. I'll dance with Rae as friends right now! I ran out onto the dance floor and took Rae's other hand, subtly pulling him away from Melody.

  "Hey look who decided to join." Rae smirked, "What made you change your mind?"

  "Not to make this weird, but like, DUDE… Are you trying to mess with me? Did Riley put you up to this?" I quietly interrogated.

  "What? No, she had nothing to do with this. Maybe I just wanted to dance. Or maybe I like helping people get out of their comfort zone." Rae chuckled as he twirled me to Melody. Reactively, I took her hands to balance myself, and suddenly we were circling each other slowly. The hype party song faded as a romantic slow dance song came on, not one that was too cheesy or overdone. It was actually pretty nice.

  Melody gulped, "Are you ready?"

  I nodded, "Lead the way, malady."

  Once we started the Dance of the Muses, I began to see Melody in a way I never had before. Maybe it was just her dress or the lighting, but she looked absolutely radiant. Her eyes seemed to sparkle in the light of the disco ball as she gracefully led me through each step of the dance.

  "Euterpe, Erato, Terpsichore," We softly chanted.

  I was so busy looking at her I hardly even noticed all the other couples that were slow dancing too. However, I did notice once some of them started watching us. Our dance brought us near the center of the gym, and the crowd around us started stepping back, leaving a small circle as our stage. Normally, being made the center of attention like this would have made me embarrassed, but when I looked back to Melody, all I felt was the inspiration to keep going.

  "Polyhymnia, Clio, Urania," We continued.

  I felt as if our hearts began beating in unison. We glided through the movement of the dance once more, this time almost effortlessly. The song that was playing seemed way more powerful, or rather I could hear it more fully and pick out each different line and instrument of the composure. Is this just in my head, or is this really working?

  "Calliope, Thalia, Melpomene!" We crescendoed.

  As we went through the steps one final time, I swear I could see a faint golden trail following behind us. Suddenly it felt like all my problems could be easily conquered. That I could find all the answers I was looking for. Starting with the one that's been on my mind all night. I locked eyes with Melody as we finished our dance. It would all be so easy, but only if I was with her… I blinked and Briefly saw Silvi in front of me, only for a moment before disappearing and leaving me all alone. As the music faded, I looked up as if I expected something to be watching us from above. But of course there was nothing but the wall and ceiling. I glanced down at Melody and saw she was also looking up.

  "Did you feel that too?" She asked.

  I looked up again, this time noticing the clock on the gym wall as it hit 8:55.

  "Crap! I gotta go!" I gasped.

  "What?" Melody questioned.

  "I gotta go crap." I exclaimed, "Ugh, sorry, my stomach is killing me. I need to go to the bathroom." I started taking off. "It was great dancing with you, though!"

  I ran out, pushing my way through the crowd to find Yong-Rae. Once he saw me, I nodded to the clock, and he nodded back in understanding. I went into the bathroom, and about 30 seconds later, Rae followed.

  "I gotta go like now, you can get me home right?" I explained.

  Rae's eyes lit up, making his phone a portal to my desktop. "Yeah, but what do I tell Melody?"

  "Just say that I got really sick, and you had to get me home." I told him.

  "Wait, but she doesn't know about my-"

  I was in such a hurry I hopped into his phone before he could finish. Suddenly I was hurrying through cyberspace and got shot out into my room before I could realize what he was saying. Franticly, I threw on the Night Hopper suit over my homecoming suit and leaped out my window to the gala. Of course I felt guilty, but I had to push Rayleigh's feelings down and focus on the mission at hand.

  Despite my best efforts, thoughts of orchids and rabbit's feet remained.