𝐍𝐲𝐱 (𝘨𝘹𝘨)

X - midnight love

Olive Rios

I'm finding people who recognize me and tell me how much I look like my father, who tell me to treat myself to some maté or some alfajores. I decline the maté, due to the memories I've not yet to accept that come with drinking the bitter drink.

I roam around, looking for Victoria. I bump into Irene and she tells me I look like my dad in the suit, which makes me smile. There's nothing I love more than to be compared to my dad and nothing I hate more than being compared to my mother.

"You look so handsome, Olive," Irene tells me warmly, with a small tilt of her head. She dismisses herself from my presence and leaves me to speak to a woman closer to her age. Irene is quite the social butterfly, always making sure everyone is entertained with her conversations and charisma.

I find Victoria in the corner speaking with a young boy around her age. I stop myself in my steps and I feel my brows furrow. They're laughing loudly and speaking Spanish together. I feel my heart clench a little as they say goodbye to each other with a kiss on each other's cheek.

I watch Victoria as she bites her lip, looking around the room and sighing. Her dress is swishing emphasizing her pretty figure. She spots me out of the several people admiring her in that green dress.

She starts walking towards me and I exhale, realizing I had been holding my breath.

"Hey," I say with a bit of a forced smile.

"Hi," She says in a small voice.

"Who was that boy?" I say, clearing my throat and trying to seem nonchalant. I put my hands in the suit pockets so that I don't fiddle with the rings I'm wearing.

"Oh, just a childhood friend," She waves the question off, as if it had little importance.

"You mean childhood boyfriend." I mutter under my breath. She must've heard me, because she bursts out laughing. This was a whole, hearty laugh that utilized her whole chest. I chuckle awkwardly as she giggles, trying to control her laughter. People start looking at us and I blush hard.

"You—you can't be..." She tells me while trying to suppress her giggling, "You can't be serious." She has a big smile on her face and humor is dancing in her crinkled eyes

Couples start joining up to dance and I realize that not everyone is partnered up with someone of the opposite sex.

"Well—I only—I assumed—stop laughing at me!" I exclaim, my heart racing.

She giggles one more time and hold her hand out to me. "Dance with me?" She asks, her almond eyes warm and sweet. I take her hand, trying to suppress my smile. My heart clenches as we take to the dance floor.

"I don't know how to dance," I whisper, panicking a little. I impulsively took her hand when she offered to dance, not processing that we would actually have to dance.

"Just follow my lead," She tells me, putting one hand around my shoulders and the other on my hand. I awkwardly place one hand at her waist. I'm not sure if I was just doing some hopeful thinking, but I felt her shiver. She leads me back two steps and front two steps and soon enough I'm twirling her. She laughs lightly as I step on her feet and I whisper apologies to her.

I got a hang of the dance pretty soon, to Victoria's relief. There was a nagging feeling in my chest, though.

I can't tell her how pretty she looks tonight. I can't tell her that her curls are styled nicely. I can't tell her that the green dress suits her a lot because she knows, because anyone would know, that I'm out for her. If it's not given away by my masculine style, haircut, or hobbies; it's given away by the fact that I'm blatantly attracted to her.