Three: The Dancer

Tight jeans, long-sleeved crop top, because she thought showing off the middle part of her stomach was enough for her first day. She clutched her books in front of her as she walked towards her locker.

She could see from the corner of her eyes, some students were turning their heads to look at her unusual appearance. Or maybe it was just her being self-conscious. But in high school, kids notice everything.

"Looking good Williams!" someone shouted from the end of the hallway.

She gasped silently, pretended nothing was out of the ordinary. She turned her head slowly and curved a knowing smile to the person who shouted.

"Chin up, Hazel, own it!" Jan came from behind her and whispered in her ear. Her locker was right next to hers.

Right. Own it. She didn't have to pretend that everything was not out of the ordinary because everything was all good. This is the 'new' her, she has to act like it.

She noticed that the corridor was decorated with pink ribbons and hearts. They have started decorating for Valentine's day.

There was a student with pink flyers coming their way. He handed her and Jan a flyer.

"Confess your love on Valentine's day - anonymously," Hazel read it out loud. She glanced at Jan.

"Oh no, you don't ... you promise," Jan knew what she was thinking.

"But he'll never know it's me ... it says anonymously ..."

Jan slammed her locked shut, "That's irrelevant ... we made a pact that ... 'He' is no more! No more talking or thinking about him ... confess your love? Really?" she took the flyer off of Hazel's hand. "Confess your love to someone else ... okay? That's our new goal now."

Jan was right. The 'new' her should not stop with the outfit. She has to start everything new including leaving her obsession with Theo behind her. But one last act would seal the deal, she thought. If she gets it out of her system, it would be a good way to really start over and move on with her life.

Valentine is not until next week. She has the whole week to comprise a good confession of how terribly wonderful it was to have those feelings for him even though it was never returned. At least it won't disappear in silence, it will not go unnoticed.

Later that day, Jan asked her to come with her to the sports hall to meet up with Kyle, her soon-to-be third boyfriend. He plays basketball and the sports tournament was coming up in March, before spring break. That's when all the high schools in Chestnut will compete against each other.

Theo will be competing too. He's been practicing with Max for the past couple of weeks, it was all she hears about at home.

She didn't know if Theo was going to be at the sports hall that afternoon, she hadn't seen him all day, or rather, he hadn't seen her with her new look. It was after school hours, usually, he would be hanging out with Max and their cool friends around the school area particularly where something was going on, or they would be at the field practicing.

Some kids were decorating for Valentine's day, some were practicing their dance routine for the tournament opening. Kyle and his team were warming up for their practice.

They took a seat at the audience bench, a lot of kids were scattered all over the hall, but no Theo in sight. It was only the first day of her 'new' self, she still couldn't break the habit of scanning a room for that dreamy green eyes.

Her eyes then fell to the middle of the court where the dancers were getting ready to practice their routine. She was going to scan the room one more time when she saw a face looking back at her from the court. She had never seen him before. His eyes were pinned on her even though he was talking to his friends.

He was looking at her as if she knew her. She felt awkward because she didn't recognize him. She would remember if they had known each other, not because he was Eurasian, but he was super cute.

She looked over her shoulder, making sure he wasn't looking at someone else behind her. But there was no one there. When she turned back, he was smiling ... at her. She curved her lips and turned to Jan.

"Who is that?" she blushed.

"Who?"

"Hey, H ... what time are you going home?" Max came from behind her.

And where there was Max, Theo was not far behind him. Their eyes met, she looked away at Max.

"I don't know ... I just got here, why?"

"Nothing ... I have practice ... you wanna come and watch?"

She turned to Jan whose eyes were widened, she would kill her if she said yes to that.

"No, I think I'll hang back here," she said.

"Okay, come find me later if you wanna go home, we'll go together ... hey, Jan," Max said patting his sister's back.

Jan was twirling her hair, "Hey Max ..." her eyes twinkled. She had been looking at him differently ever since high school.

Hazel nudged her elbow at Jan to stop flirting with her brother.

"Ow ... what?"

"'kay ... see you later then ... I'll be at the field," Max waved his hand at them and walked over to Theo.

"Hey, Mickey ... new outfit?" Theo greeted her from the side.

"Hey ... uhm ... yeah ..." she still needed to work on her cool around him. One look into his eyes she was melting again.

"Cool," he smiled, "Catch ya' later, Mickey."

"Bye," she raised her palm and bit her nail on the other hand. He finally saw her in her new transformation and he acknowledged it. She was jumping up and down inside.

Jan swayed her shoulder at her, "You're so lame ... I don't know how he doesn't know you have a huge crush on him ... you practically drool over him."

She pushed Jan away, "Shut up ... I wasn't prepared ... okay?"

Before they could argue, music was playing on the main speaker. Everyone's attention was focused on the court where the dance team had taken their places to start their routine.

She recognizes the song, it was a BTS song, something about dropping a Mic. Students started to gather around the court. She and Jan got a good view from their seats. She could see clearly the guy who was looking at her before was right in the middle of the group.

He tied his hair and wore a large bandana over his head. His black hair was rather long, he needed to get it out of the way.

The music was so loud, she can feel the beat in her chest. The moment they started the routine her attention was solely focused on him.

He stood out among the other dancers. She had never seen anyone danced like that before. He was fast and tight, he was in his element. It was breathtaking.

She couldn't even feel herself blinking. The choreography was amazing. She was mesmerized by the whole thing. She was drifting in a daydream and the thing that snapped her back to reality was his face looking at her. He has a sweet smile and deep dimples. He winked at her.

She gasped, pressed her lips together, and let out a soft laugh.

The performance was only about 5 minutes long, but it was the bomb that could finally steal her attention away from Theo. And that cute guy with the sweetest smile had been flirting with her throughout the whole song, she felt butterflies in her stomach. And on the last note of the song, he pointed his index finger at her.

She giggled and did something she never thought she would do before in her life. She waved at him, she couldn't stop smiling.