Youth With You

चार

After I smashed the beer bottle on his head, the anger that had been bottled up and running around in my body for over ten hours finally dissipated, which was as refreshing as breaking free from a lingering evil spirit.

No one was in the mood to listen to lectures that day, and despite the incident, everyone quickly settled into the party atmosphere.

I, along with Sorn, Minnie, Bright and Metawin, prepared a break dance routine that day. Originally, I kept worrying that I wouldn't dance well and would be unable to let loose. Ultimately, when the night came and the music started, I felt amazing—better than I'd ever felt before. Every dance step was on the beat, and I felt that every movement of my body was extremely coordinated. Although I wasn't the lead dancer, I felt as if everyone's eyes were glued to me, which was a wonderful feeling. I then saw Irene sitting below, smiling as she watched me.

All the programs finished. Everyone started to eat cake, as the music continued to play, the atmosphere exceptionally lively.

The background music suddenly changed to that English song with terrible pronunciation. I could hear it as soon as the intro came on. The music resonated with my heartbeat, leaving my body in a state of unspeakable beauty.

I bounced and swayed to the rhythm to my heart's content, and because the words weren't pronounced correctly, I put my all into singing them.

I noticed that many people had stood up and were dancing in the middle of the classroom, everyone's faces gleaming. Irene also got up, walked over to me, and began to sing with me.

I scooped up a piece of cake with my hand and smeared it onto the right side of Irene's face. She immediately became shy and angry and used her hand to block her face, then tried to wipe off the cake.

Hence, I touched the left side of her face and forehead with my cake-coated hand.

Irene haphazardly wiped her face, then finally remembered to fight back and dug out a cream flower, slapping it onto mine.

I laughed as I scraped off the mashed flower and put it in my mouth. I didn't forget to sing as I ate, then felt as if I was missing something, so I grabbed the broom in the corner and held it in front of me, pretending it was a guitar.

Irene laughed, and it was at that moment that I found out she could also laugh so freely.

I undid my hair tie, letting my hair shoulder-length hang down.

Between the ceiling lights hung decorative garlands that were dotted with small golden stars. Irene and I faced each other as we sang and danced, the stars turning into streams of golden light that fluttered overhead. I'd never tried drugs before, but I guessed that what I felt at this moment was similar to taking drugs.

A great amount of euphoric substances were produced in my body, making me unlike myself, or rather, I was having an out of body experience and had become my true self.

My soul broke free from my body and drifted away. She was finally released from her sixteen years of confinement and stared at Irene, dancing as she came up to her. As the music sang "California," she placed a soft kiss on her lips.

Irene froze for a moment but quickly returned to her previous state.

I could no longer tell which was the real me between my spirit and physical body. If my spirit was me, then how could I kiss her lips? If my body was mine—the "me" that hadn't touched Irene—why did I feel a throb at that moment, like I had gotten an electric shock?