Frolic and the Homecoming Princess (1)
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“Yes, thank you…”
He was not some kind of matchmaker, so I did not know why he was volunteering to find me a partner, but I agreed for now.
Time passed, and before I knew it, the day of Frolic arrived. Jake was still curt with me, and since I did not want to bother him anymore, I kept my distance as well, leaving things awkward between us.
“Chloe, should I come pick you up?”
Scott asked as we headed down to the lobby after class. But when he noticed my luggage, he made an ‘oh, right’ expression and corrected himself.
“Never mind. You have to stay since you are a princess candidate.”
“…Yeah.”
“But who’s going to escort you?”
At Scott’s cautious question, I answered blankly.
“I do not know. I might just go up alone.”
Since I was going to be laughed at anyway, I wondered if I should just show up confidently as a solo.
“Um… Then should I do it?”
“You?”
Scott then muttered timidly again.
“Uh, y-yeah… If you are okay with it, I thought it might not be bad if I, if I did it…”
Thinking about it, it was not a bad idea. He was a boy, too. Why had that not occurred to me?
“Want to do it?”
When I asked Scott, he brightened up and nodded eagerly.
“Yeah! Then I will bring my tuxedo too!”
What was with that reaction, like he had been waiting for this? I tilted my head as I watched Scott hurry off.
No way, right? Surely not.
Yeah. Who did I think I was? If I thought like that, people would point fingers and call me delusional. Pulling myself together, I headed to the waiting room where the Homecoming Queen and Princess candidates were gathered.
“Bri, how are you so pretty?”
“That black dress looks amazing on you.”
The voices of Bri’s entourage rang out loudly, echoing all the way outside the door.
In the waiting room, Bri, already changed into her dress, was standing there.
“Light pink suits you better than black…”
Our Bri is a summer cool type, after all.
“Hey, what did you just say!”
“Huh?”
“Are you finding fault with the dress Bri is wearing right now?”
Ah. Did I say my thoughts out loud? Oh no…
“No, that’s not what I meant―”
“What do you mean it’s not, you loser.”
At that moment, one of her entourage pressed her index finger against my forehead.
“Who do you think you are, saying whether black suits Bri or not?”
Facing the girl from her entourage who was clearly furious, I waved my hands.
“What I meant was―”
“And how pretty is your dress, then?”
Then another girl from her entourage snatched the bag I was holding.
“Pfft. What is this? You are wearing a black dress too? So you were just jealous and saying it does not suit Bri?”
…That was not it. And besides, the dress had been chosen by my mother, so I had no say in it.
“How pathetic…”
Being mocked while surrounded by Bri’s entourage was bad enough, but Bri staring straight at me made me even more ashamed. At the very least, I had to explain myself to her.
“Brittany. That is not what I meant―”
I had just opened my mouth to make one last protest when it happened.
“It is okay, Chloe.”
Bri smiled, her eyebrows slanting downward.
“I know, too, that black does not really suit me.”
That is not it, Bri!
“And girls, how could you corner Chloe like that?”
When Bri scolded them, her entourage responded with sulky voices.
“Ugh, Bri. You are too nice for your own good.”
“Yeah, exactly. This is when you should get angry!”
“Bri is just too soft-hearted.”
Then all of them glared at me at once.
“You should know how lucky you are.”
“We are only holding back because Bri told us to end it here.”
“Stay in your lane, loser.”
Then they shoved my shoulder and spoke to Bri.
“Bri, let’s go get your hair done now.”
“Do not pay attention to a nerd like this. Come on, okay?”
“Yeah. Aaron will be waiting.”
From mentioning Aaron Eisenhower to shooting me a sideways glance, her entourage played their extra roles perfectly. After they took Bri and left the waiting room, I was left alone and collapsed into a chair.
Ah, I am sick of all of this.
If I just did not go out, would it automatically count as forfeiting?
…No. I promised to cheer for Jake’s performance. To do that, I have to participate in Frolic.
I sprang back up and muttered to myself.
“Fine. Whatever.”
I took out the dress Chloe’s mother had chosen and started getting ready to change. But then.
Oh no. This is bad.
There was one thing I had overlooked. Instead of a zipper, this dress had crisscrossed laces like shoelaces. You had to pull them tight and tie them to wear the dress properly, and this was not something I could do alone.
“Hoo…”
With no friend around to help, I struggled, trying somehow to tighten the laces by myself.
That was when the door flew open.
“Hey, Ander…”
“Ah, that startled me…”
In the mirror, I saw Eisenhower standing there with his hand on the doorknob, looking just as surprised. He seemed to grasp my situation immediately and muttered with a sigh.
“Can’t you even handle something like this?”
Then he let go of the doorknob and walked into the waiting room.
Whoosh—
The scent of the cologne Eisenhower often used filled my nose. As he strode up behind me, I shrank back instinctively, yet at the same time, my heart started pounding.
“There is no one to tie it for you, right?”
Even when he talked, he had a way of being irritating. I felt him grab the laces of my dress. The warmth against my bare skin felt strange. I felt unnecessarily nervous.
Gasp!
At the moment he pulled the laces tight, I sucked in a breath in surprise.
What is with him? Why is he acting so unreserved…?
As the laces tightened one by one from the bottom, Eisenhower’s breath tickled the back of my neck. Then I heard a quiet snort of laughter from behind.
“Hey.”
Eisenhower looked at me and lifted the corner of his mouth.
“Breathe.”
Only then did I realize I had been holding my breath.
"I—…! I was breathing, okay?!"
Of all times for my voice to crack… Embarrassed, I squeezed my eyes shut. I could even feel heat rising on my face. But closing my eyes turned out to be a mistake. With my sight blocked, my other senses became even sharper.
Eisenhower’s steady breathing, the firm forearms supporting me, and even his unexpectedly gentle hand movements. I felt all of it clearly.
The skin he touched as he tightened the laces felt like it might burn from the heat. Why did it feel like I could not move carelessly, as if there was a weight pinning me down? Quietly, I clenched the hem of my dress. After tightening it all the way, Eisenhower seemed to start tying a ribbon behind me.
Rustle, rustle.
The sound of the chiffon laces brushing together was strangely suggestive.
“……”
“……”
It seemed like he was done tying it, so why was he not saying anything? Feeling awkward waiting, I slowly opened my eyes. Then my gaze met Eisenhower’s in the mirror.
A storm of emotions swirled in his hazel eyes. I did not know exactly what they were, but I could tell they were complicated. It felt overwhelming to receive all of that alone, so I lowered my gaze. Then I heard Eisenhower’s voice as he took a deep breath.
“Hey, Clo―”
“Ahaha, really?”
His words were quickly drowned out by a high-pitched voice coming through the open door.
“Wow, our Bri is really amazing…”
“…Bri was looking for you. So you were in here.”
It was Bri and her entourage.
“Oh my, Aaron. We must have missed each other.”
Bri walked in with a bright smile. She seemed not to notice the discontented looks her friends were exchanging.
“I have something to talk to you about regarding my escort. Do you have a moment?”
At Bri’s question, Eisenhower nodded a beat late.
With that, Bri and Eisenhower left the waiting room, leaving me alone with the three girls from her entourage.
“Hey.”
One of the girls from her entourage spoke up.
“I clearly told you to stay in your lane, didn’t I?”
She looked extremely displeased. Taking her lead, the other girls in her entourage chimed in.
“You did not get all full of yourself again just because you are helping Aaron with geometry, right?”
“No way. She should know her place.”
Ha, I was not doing anything. I was just standing there. He was the one who barged in!
“Well, well, why are you looking at us like that?”
The girl who had spoken first crossed her arms and sneered.
“Looks like you have a lot of complaints about what we are saying?”
“Yeah. I do.”
I could not hold it in anymore, so I decided to finally say what I wanted.
“I never stepped out of line. And I’m not tutoring Eisenhower because I want to.”
I glared at each of the girls in her entourage one by one as I continued.
“I do not have even a speck of interest in him!”
My emotions surged, and my voice ended up getting louder. I paused to steady my breathing, then delivered my final words.
“…I am just doing my job, get the recommendation letter, and be done with it.”
The girls stared at me with blank expressions. They looked like they had never expected me to talk back.
“…I am going to step out first.”
Feeling uncomfortable staying with them, I immediately opened the waiting room door. And ran straight into a dark silhouette.
“……”
Eisenhower’s gaze, standing outside the door, burned into me. His hazel eyes were full of reproach.
What is it? Why are you the one looking disappointed?
Confused, I slipped past Eisenhower and left the waiting room.
As I hurried down the hallway, I heard rushed footsteps behind me.
“Hey, talk to me for a second.”
Eisenhower grabbed my wrist.
“I have nothing to say to you.”
When I turned my head away from him, Eisenhower tightened his grip and spun me back around.
“You seriously―”
“C-Chloe!”
Scott’s voice came from the other end of the hallway.
“Derek said to gather in the lobby.”
Ah, was it already that time? Thinking that I would have to quickly finish my hair with a rough braid, I shouted back to Scott.
“Yeah, I will be there soon.”
Then I tried to shake Eisenhower’s hand off. Or rather, I tried to...
“Let’s talk.”
Eisenhower did not loosen his grip, so I was still stuck in his hold.
“I told you, I have nothing to say to you.”
“Chloe Kim, your true feelings―”
At that moment, Scott grabbed my other wrist.
“Let go of Chloe.”
It was the first time I had ever heard Scott speak in such a firm voice.
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