“Dating Advice, Drama, and Dance” (79.19) (Kalei)

After hanging out for a bit with Zates, Oka, and Lillia, we all got antsy for more dancing. Or at least I claimed to want that, going back to the dance floor worked well for Marms and I, as we were able to stealthily separate from the others. Now when Aira inevitably popped up letting us know Jeans wanted us to find Blade, my friends wouldn't be right there when Jeans was around.

I was feeling great about how well this was working out. I'd talked to my friends, well, we didn't talk about the big thing, but that'd be for after the dance. But we got to hang out like normal. I got to dance with Marmalade.

There was chatter among my classmates as the music stopped. The DJ got up, waved and bowed before leaving, announcing that the late band, Radiance, would finally begin their performance. Part of me hoped this band would be worth the wait, and another wondered what took them so long. At the same time, I dunno if I would've been as game to dance if this one was as bad as the dad rock band, we kind of needed some time with a DJ's playlist.

The first band members from Radiance to take the stage were...weirdly dressed in all black, including masks that covered their faces. They looked like stage hands for a play. Maybe that was their gimmick? I wondered if maybe they just didn't want to take attention away from the lead singer, who strode onto the stage.

A girl with a flowing cape took the stage. She had a bizarre getup on, a white and pink body suit made her look like she was getting ready to pilot a mech, not sing. The girl managed to pull this look off through sheer confidence.

"Sorry for the wait, everyone," she said, waving. "But Radiance is finally here to blow you away! I'm Zoey, and I can't wait for you to see this performance, we've been prepping it for a long, long time. Let's do this!" She started clapping, and slowly everyone around me started joining in.

Once she started singing, the atmosphere in the dome changed. 

Her voice was stunning, immediately making everyone feel the exact emotion she wanted to convey with her lyrics. An upbeat song had us cheering, a soulful, emotional song had us teary eyed. It was one of the best performances I'd seen live, and I could easily make that assessment just a few songs in. During one of the slow songs, I turned to Marmalade, who looked content, sleepy almost.

"She's really pretty," Marmalade said.

"Eh," I said, shrugging. "She's alright. Her music's great, but she's not really my type, you know?"

"Hm?" Marms realized what I'd said just as I did. "O-oh."

Our eyes met, and in that moment, Downside's voice came through clearly in my head, sounding just like she did when we were in that other dimension hot tub together.

"OK, I've been quiet and letting you handle this, and you've been doing great, but. Tell her. Right now."

"Huh, wait, huh?" I thought back, maintaining composure so Marms didn't see me looking like I was arguing with myself. "You're freaking me out, wait."

"There's nothing to be freaked out about. You have to tell her now, though. Please, Kalei." Downside thought.

"Tell her...?"

Marmalade and I started slow dancing, eyes still locked on each other.

"You know exactly what I mean."

I did, but...here? Right now?

"Yes, right now, I can't stand waiting another second," Downside thought.

"But..." I thought.

"No buts! You know what you're feeling, and there's no way she doesn't, either."

"OK, I can't but, maybe...although? Does although work to replace but?"

"Don't argue this,"

"I don't want to argue, I'm just."

What was holding me back? It hit me that it was the same thing holding me back from telling my friends about Downside, about getting them involved, the thing that was at the heart of this snowball of stupid rolling out of control. I felt the same about that as I did about telling Marmalade what I'd been feeling for a long while now.

"Scared."

"Don't be scared," Downside thought. "I mean, I can't promise it'll all work out, but there's no way this is another Nikki situation. Marms is so cool, and hot, and smart, and funny. I love her. You love her. And I'm you, so you love her. We love her. So tell her."

As Zoey kept singing, it felt like a gust of wind passed over me, bringing clarity with it.

I knew she was right. I knew what I felt about Marmalade. I had to tell her.

"Marmalade," I said, floaty feelings wonderfully blossoming across myself. I just had to tell her.

"Yeah?" Marms said, smiling softly.

Just say it. Three words and everything will be better. It shouldn't be tough. It should be freeing. I readied myself, and...

"I'll...tell you in a minute," I said, laughing nervously.

Marms blinked, I couldn't tell if it was disappointment on her face or not.

"Oh, sure, yeah," Marmalade said.

Downside swore up a storm in my head at my failure. I tried to argue that I had just delayed it a minute, but would I get a chance like that again?

Zoey took a break just then.

"Wooo!" She cheered. "Everyone having fun tonight?"

I was barely paying attention now. Someone grabbed my arm. Aira, and I could read the look on her face.

"Kay, we're ready," I sighed.

What would have changed if I just confessed then and there? Would Aira have still shown up a moment later? Or would Marms and I be too happy to care about that and would have run off by now? Maybe nothing would have changed, but I couldn't help but feel like a complete failure as we regrouped outside the dance floor with Roux, Syval, and Raytris. The slime girl was sitting, head in hands, looking like how I felt.

"You alright?" I asked.

"I...something about this music's giving me a headache," Raytris said.

"Hopefully once we take care of this we can step outside after," I said, my thoughts dull as I tried to remember when Raytris even joined our little group.

Jeans projected herself out from Aira.

"We're too late," she said.

"What do you mean? Blade get away?" I asked. "So we can go back to the dance?"

"No, I mean Blade won," Jeans said.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

Jeans sighed deeply. "I don't know if you've noticed, but three-quarters of the class just vanished."

I looked around, seeing that there were significantly less of our classmates around.

"And there are no chaperones around, no teachers, nothing," Jeans said. "We're likely in the void right now, and the culmination of everything they've been plotting is about to come to light. If you'd just listened to me, we would have taken care of this already."

A pit in my stomach was growing.

"You can't blame us for this, we agreed to help you, not do everything you say," I said. "We'll just stop her now and everything will go back to normal. If we're working together, you can't expect us to—"

Then something happened that turned the pit in my gut into an abyss.

"Hey..."

I froze, like someone had just pointed a hundred very sharp knives at me. But it was the voice of a threat. It was a soft, confused voice. A voice like a baby bird lost from its nest. I was already trembling as I turned to see Zeta approaching, with Oka and Lillia beside her.

"Hey, wait..." Zeta said, already shaking more than me.

That asshole Jeans just smiled softly, not leaving, letting Zeta and the others see that she was beside us, right as I just said we were working together.