I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been so happy. Every moment with Callum either made me smile, excited or comforted. And I wanted more. We fooled around at trinket stalls and laughed as we tried some games, and even ended up playing with smaller children – the Knight boys inclusive.

When it was 8:50pm, we moved into the Town Hall for the folk dance. The Hall was effulgent with light from the ceiling bulbs, and it had been decorated with burgundy and white linen across the walls, held together by flower arrangements.

A lot of people had already arrived and chatted amongst themselves. There was excitement in the air in anticipation of the dance. The only people who sat were the musicians who were in a corner, tuning their instruments.

“I have something to confess,” Callum abruptly said, his words so fast I barely caught them.

I looked at him and noticed how uncomfortable and jittery he seemed. He cracked his knuckles, his gaze flicking about the crowd in the room nervously. He looked like a ghost was following him.

“Are you alright?” I asked, concerned.

He took a deep breath and shut his eyes. “I can’t do it.”

I was confused but also apprehensive. “Can’t do what?”

He sucked in his bottom lip and promptly released it, his eyes still shut. “Dance. I can’t do it. I want to but I can’t.”

A sigh of relief escaped my lips.

“I’ll trip and I’ll fall. I’ll embarrass us, and I’ll embarrass you – Oh my God.” He held his breath as if a horrendous vision was conjured up behind his shut eyes. “It’s going to be horrible. Tangled on the floor with broken hip-”

I laughed. “Callum, open your eyes!”

One of his blue eyes peeled open.

“Both of them,” I instructed.

He looked at me with both eyes.

“Do you not know this dance?” I asked.

“Well...” He twiddled his fingers. “I’ve never danced here but...but I practiced, since this year I would be going with you.”

My eyebrows shot up. “Practiced?”

He nodded sheepishly. “Mother coached me tirelessly.”

I couldn’t help my goofy smile. The image was just amusing yet heart warming.

He blushed. “What if it wasn’t enough and we fall? In front of all these people-”

“We won’t fall,” I assured him in a soothing voice. “Just don’t think about all these people and focus on me. Me, who’s telling you to loosen up.”

He nodded so seriously it made me feel like I was a teacher and he was a student burning all my instructions to his brain.

“Loosen up,” he repeated and let his arms fall to his sides.

“There you go!” I grinned. “Now just think of nothing else but enjoying yourself. I know your mother taught you well.”

He nodded once, seriously again. “They were fruitful sessions.”

“Then you’ll be fine.”

And he was. He was shy and awkward at first, but he easily loosened up and got used to it. The first dance was a popular fast dance, that was both a group dance and partner dance. Some movements we did as a group, and others we did with our partners, including dancing while holding hands and spinning. Since it was a fast dance, all the actions had to be done quickly, which made it more exciting and enjoyable.

As Callum twirled me, I managed to catch a glimpse of my dear friend Ed dancing with...Isabelle?

To say I was surprised was an understatement. I followed them with my eyes throughout the dance and they looked happy – laughing even. I was quite amused, and made a mental note to ask Ed about it later on. Actually no, I would ask her the very next day.

After moving on our feet in dance for 30 minutes, Callum and I exited the hall in high spirits, and I let him treat me to a snack and juice.

While we sat on a bench by the bonfire next to the Hall to enjoy our samosas and juice, I noticed couples snuggled up around the bonfire; some standing and others sitting. Some were even sharing blankets, yet it was a warm night.

I spotted my mother as well, standing next to Mr. Vincent. She had that special shawl clutched around herself as she listened and nodded to what Mr. Vincent said, smiling every now and then.

“I think he likes mother.”

Jerry’s words chimed in my brain, and I was reminded of my mother’s life – from Mr. Vincent always being around to that shawl that wasn’t from him. I didn’t want to think about what was going on in her life because it made me uncomfortable...or perhaps I didn’t want to face it yet.

Turmoil swept over me and I stopped chewing to stare at my beautiful mother and Mr. Vincent. I shouldn’t be nosy and get involved, I reminded myself.

She looked to the side and made a double take. Her lips parted and she seemed to freeze for a bit, her expression dazed. I wondered what could have caught her attention and tried following her line of sight across the bonfire. My eyes landed on...Ed?

Only Ed was talking to someone next to her. Tall, hands in his pockets, bare forearms with white sleeves folded to his elbows. Burgundy trousers with braces. Light brown skin, curly black hair.

Inspector Raphael.

And he wasn’t looking at the talkative Ed. His gaze swept across the bonfire, directed at my mother – I think.

I shouldn’t get involved.

A touch on the shoulder from Mr. Vincent took mother out of her daze so she could look back at him. She offered him a feeble smile. My eyes darted across the bonfire to Inspector Raphael, who simply turned and walked away. Ed followed, calling after him.

My mother looked back to the spot Inspector Raphael had been standing and her gaze lowered, a frown sporting her face.

I shut my eyes and took a deep breath. I shouldn’t – wouldn’t get involved.

My body rocked as Callum bumped lightly into me.

I opened my eyes, facing him. “Mm?”

“It’s time for the next dance,” he whispered.

Back at the hall, we found couples had graced the dance floor, slowly swaying to the soft tune of the string quartet.

“Looks like we’re a little late,” he whispered, his eyes on the couples.

Instead of replying, I slipped my hand into his and led him to the dance floor. He was speechless as I faced him and closed the distance between us. I looked at our conjoined hands and raised them to the right position.

“Did you practice for this dance as well?” I asked in a low voice and flicked my gaze to his blue one, which seemed to be watching my every move like it was all new to him. My heart picked up its pace at the thought of me being the first girl he danced with like this.

“Uhm...” He was disoriented as I took his other hand and placed it on my lower back. I kept my gaze on his eyes, but his eyes looked elsewhere but my face. They looked at my braids and at my hand that slowly made its way up his arm to rest on his shoulder. His body tensed under my touch.

He gulped, his skin already the colour of my name. Perhaps I enjoyed painting him with it a little too much.

“Did you?” I asked again, and his eyes finally met mine.

My heart made a small flip.

In his eyes I saw helplessness at first, but it was soon replaced with certainty.

“Yes,” he whispered his reply and lead me to waltz.

As we swayed and stepped in sync to the music, his ginger, cautious touch on my back became a firm hold, and his body grew closer to mine until our chests touched. I wondered whether he could feel how wild my heart hammered and if his followed the same beat.

I leaned into his shoulder as our movements slowed to a simple sway, and the side of his face grazed my ear when he gently pulled me closer.

Everything about the way he held me made it seem less of a dance and more of an embrace. It had me grinning and blushing into his shoulder, and the butterflies that came with it surely made a home in my now warm chest.

*****

“That good, huh?” Ed teased, smirking up at me.

“Ed, there is another meaning of magical and I experienced it yesterday,” I cooed, unable to keep the stupid smile off my face.

It was Sunday afternoon and we sat at the patio of LightHouse. Mrs. Plumberry had cut up some watermelon and a tray of it settled on the table between us. Instead of worshipping the red juicy fruit and going at it like Ed was, I sat with my head in my propped up hand, lost in reminiscence of the previous night.

I sighed. “My first date with a boy and it couldn’t have gone better.”

Ed took a bite of her melon. “Well I’m glad everything worked out for you, but what next?”

“What do you mean?” I asked with half a heart, still remembering my dance with Callum.

“I mean, Establishment Day is over and so is the whole issue with Poppy,” Ed said, picking out the watermelon seeds with a spoon. “The whole reason you got to know Callum in the first place was because of a lie you told Poppy and then you had to live up to it. The plan succeeded, so what are you going to do about Callum?”

“Ugh, don’t remind me, Ed,” I groaned, sitting upright. “If Callum finds out I was using him to prove a point to Poppy, he might be angry with me so don’t even mention it again.”

“It’s too late for that.”

My skin prickled at that new but all too familiar voice. Ed and I turned our heads to the side, where Callum had appeared looking at us with nothing short of a regrettable, disappointed look.

Oh my God, no. Had he heard?

“Callum.” I couldn’t recognise my own voice as I called out to him. “What are you doing here?”

He directed his blue eyes to me. “I shouldn’t have interrupted...no.” He shook his head. “I shouldn’t have come here.”

He swivelled and stalked back to the side of the flat.

Ed and I exchanged a shocked look before I shot out of my seat and went after him.

“Callum, wait!” I called, following him round to the front of the flat. My nerves rattled with apprehension at how much he’d heard, and what he thought of me.

He turned around to face me as we both halted and the confused, somewhat disillusioned look in his eyes made my breath hitch.

“What plan was she talking about?” he asked softly, like he was afraid of the answer but still had to know. “You used me... because of Poppy? What does that mean because I need to understand.”

My mind reeled as I thought of the best way to break it to him, but as usual my mouth ran before my brain could properly think.

“It’s true,” I blurted. “I lied to Poppy that I had a date to Establishment Day because she wouldn’t stop taunting me. And when I met you, I thought that I could get you to ask me but in order to do that, I had to find ways of getting close to you so I’d earn your interest.”

His eyes dulled and his frown deepened more and more as I spoke, but I continued.

“The plan was to get you as my date to Establishment Day so Poppy would eat her words, and I accomplished that so...” I trailed off and shrugged, not having more to say.

“So...” He picked up where I left off and pain flashed in his eyes. “I was a pawn, amidst some kind of rivalry between you and her.”

I let out a little nervous laugh. “It’s not as bad as you make it seem.”

He looked even more hurt by my reply. “Yes it is, Rose,” he dissented in a low tone. “You weren’t really interested in me. All you wanted was to best her.”

“No!” I denied, but realised there was some truth in his words. “Well, yes I did. But you have to understand me. This is only a small hiccup that will soon go away. The whole Poppy issue is over now.”

He nodded. “I understand, Rose. But I don’t think you understand me,” he said. “For once, I thought I had finally found someone who genuinely wanted to spend time with me, and to know me. Turns out I read everything wrong and you had another agenda.”

“Yes, but...” His words made me feel guilty and I couldn’t gather the guts to defend myself.

He shook his head ruefully and turned to leave. There was this rift edging between us and I didn’t know what to do to stop it.

“I did want to spend time with you,” I expressed at last.

I couldn’t let him leave without clearing up this misunderstanding. He didn’t turn, but his voice reached my ears.

“You’ve lied to Poppy. How do I know you’re not lying to me right now? And how can I know that the time you spent with me wasn’t a lie?”

I bit my bottom lip as my heart constricted at a loss for words. He didn’t trust me anymore.

“But Rose.” He faced me once more, and it was the first time I’d seen him look so dejected. “You didn’t have to go through all that trouble. I’d planned on asking you to be my date since that evening when you walked into my father’s workplace – when you first knew my name.”

My lips parted in surprise as a rush of mixed emotions swirled up within me. I couldn’t even pinpoint what I was feeling at the revelation other than surprise.

He shrugged and lowered his gaze. “I’m sorry you had to waste your time with me, but you don’t have to anymore.”

My heart sank. “Callum.”

His blue eyes met my brown ones and the gaze that had given me butterflies before caused me pain instead.

“Goodbye, Rose,” he stated, his voice slightly breaking.

He swallowed and rotated, walking down the path and out of the gates.

Why did everything hurt so much? It wasn’t supposed to blow out of proportion like this. I hadn’t  thought it a big deal, but looking at his face and the sadness in his eyes, it made me feel otherwise.

A/N:

This chapter has one of my favourite lines in the book. Can you guess which line it is?

Thank you for reading😊 and don’t forget to vote⭐!