Nova Luna

Twenty-one - Pandora

**

"Elios," Rhea whispered. "He's waiting for your order."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did you order?" I asked. I was, again, staring into blank space. This only usually happened with Helen, because she was the one I was most comfortable with.

I realized I'd missed what Rhea was talking about a while ago. After I ordered, she started talking again.

"So, what I was saying, it's really weird that I feel like I know the insides of that art gallery, when I never really went there, not even once," she speculates.

"Go on." Of course, it caught my attention. This is what I had been waiting for a long time now.

"I had a dream, I think it was last week," she continued, "I was performing in that art gallery. I was dancing with someone. Lots of people were watching us. Of course, that's because we were the only two performers."

"What happened next?" I asked.

Don't worry, Rhea. I've got all the answers you need.

"I woke up after our performance," she replied. "So like I told you, it's like Déjà vu. Especially that I met you around that area,"

"What does it have to do with me?" I acted confused, but in my head, I was yelling. Is this really it

"You're the one I was with from that dream, Elios. Maybe that's also the reason why I was comfortable with you. I usually don't get along with people like that easily," she replied.

"It wasn't a dream, Rhea, But instead of dancing, the two of us were painting, and everybody looked at us when I screamed to call you."

I wish I had said that, but I didn't say a word. I just stared at her for the entire time she was talking.

**

"I'll see you at 3," I messaged her.

This wasn't the first time I'd see her, but I felt anxious about today. She'd told me all these stories, remembering details of her experience in the art gallery. 

I should've felt more confident, since I could tell her more about the memories we had made together since that first dark night in front of her apartment building months ago. But for some reason, I was feeling nervous. I was more scared than excited. 

It was only one o'clock in the afternoon and I was already dressed up, waiting in my car. I couldn't stop fidgeting with any stuff I could pick up. I hadn't turned on the engine, and the smell and heat of the car didn't bother me one bit. 

I was sweating, my hands were shaking, and my legs kept on moving back and forth. I had rented the whole dance studio until closing time. I shouldn't be worried about being late.

But I knew that the studio wasn't the reason why my heart was beating so fast. I put my windows down for some fresh air. I waited for two and a half hours before I started my engine. Then I drove straight to the art gallery. 

"Come on, Elios. This is better than expected. You only had to listen to her and now she's remembering everything on her own, calm down," I whispered to myself, while walking down the streets towards the dance studio. 

I saw her from a distance, entering the building, and it just made me worry more. 

It's all I've been waiting for, why am I so nervous?

I was in the staircase when I came across the group of dancers who had just finished rehearsing. They were the same group I watched the other day, the graceful and playful spiders.

I entered the dance studio, and there I saw Rhea in front of the giant mirror wall, tying her shoes in the middle of the room. 

The sun was shining on the left side of the room where the windows were. It usually annoyed me to see the sunlight shine so bright like this. I'd always hated how annoyingly hot it could be. But thankfully, it was an air-conditioned room. 

And the sunlight reaching for Rhea was a sight to behold. It was like I was an observer in space; I was witnessing how the sun gives light to the moon right before my eyes. I wanted to paint a picture of this exact moment, but she stood up and called me.

"Are you ready to dance, Elios?" She asked. I was still speechless, so I nodded yes. 

"What kind of dance do you want to learn exactly? Ballet?" 

I only smiled back, and held her hands.

"How about a slow dance?" 

"Alright, the dance position," she replied while sounding so serious. 

"Put your hand on my left shoulder blade, and hold my right hand. You can raise your hand as high as my eye level without raising my shoulder, or at my back, but let's do the shoulder blades first, and as for the footwork..."

I wanted her to know that I never really wanted to learn how to dance. Dancing wasn't that interesting for me at least. I sucked at dancing. 

But the way she moved...

She was lightly holding my hand, and swayed me along with her. We were about a foot or two apart. I'd always been extremely bad at sports, due to my terrible footwork. 

It was almost embarrassing how many times I stepped on her feet on our first tries together. I was all red in the face while she took the lead. I only followed her pace, and we danced and swayed for a good two hours, until I got it right. 

She was surprisingly patient in how she taught my uncoordinated footwork. 

My dear, these clumsy feet are willing to try, if they're dancing with you. Rhea, please don't let me go.