Her Scent

Chapter 8

It was a tradition of this town, to organise a ball on the first Sunday of December. It was a big event for which everyone went. The entire town was excited about. It was going to be held in the school hall.

Finally the day had arrived when it would actually happen. We needed dates for it. If we don't have one, they will pair us with someone over there. I didn't want to go but Chris and Cas argued. They believed that we had to go as it was our first time. All people went there each year. It would be rude of me to not go.

I obviously didn't have a date. I didn't want one. But could I refuse? No. They would just pair me with someone.

I wore my black suit with a royal blue tie. I styled my hair neatly. I looked....presentable.  We decided to take Chris's car. We all hopped in and headed for the ball. We reached there in about ten minutes.

It was decorated beautifully. The theme colour was blue and white. There were several charts made by the students. I liked one particularly. It was a girls drawing. Her eye had attracted my attention. They looked real. They looked sad. It was like there was water in her eyes but she didn't let it fall down her cheeks. Her eyes looked lonely. My case was the same. I was about to read the artists name when Cas called me.

We went to the guy assigned to arrange dates. I told Chris and Cas go go ahead. I was waiting for the next date-less girl to arrive. She would be my date. I waited for almost fifteen minutes before a girl without a date appeared.

She was wearing a royal blue gown, which matched my tie. Her hair was up in a bun with few strands left down. She looks beautiful and stunning. Wait....is it...is it...Arial? It took me some time to realise that she was Arial. She looked different with make up, hair tied up and even in her gown which showed her stunning figure.

"He is your date," the man told her.

"Nicholas." She looked relieved knowing that it was me. Why? It would be better for her to have a human partner.

I saw her granddad. "Hello son," he greeted me. "Hie John." He came and hugged me. It was surprising at first. He reminded me so much of my granddad. I hugged him back.

"Look after my girl," he said after pulling back.

"Yes," I replied. Then we went in. John had to wait as he had no date. We went in and saw a man calling us.

"Go stand there," he told us. I was confused at first. Then I saw the camera hanging around his neck. We went and stood there.

"Come closer," he said. I moved a bit closer to her. I making sure not to touch her. The man huffed and came towards us. He took my hand and placed it over her shoulder. He made her put get head on my chest. She was close to me. We looked at each other. After that we left. These photos would be sent to us later on.

We entered the hall. It was beautiful. There were blue lights and ribbons below the white ceiling. There was a dance floor in the center. Most of the couples were already dancing. They were serving some drinks and snacks.

"Welcome to the grand ball," I heard someone say. I turned around and saw a boy in his 20s standing on the stage. "As you all know, this is a tradition of our place. This year we want it to be a bit different. You all have to participate in all the games organized by me and my class. Please don't deny it. I would like you all to hold your partners hand and raise it in the air. I just want to make sure that all of you have a date."

What do I do? I can't touch her. I would touch her arm but she was wearing a sleeveless dress so there would be skin to skin contact.

"Nicholas?" She called me. When I didn't respond, she took my hand in hers and raise it. Her touch was warm. Her hand was so delicate and small as compared to mine.

"Relax. You are so stiff," she whispered in my ear. If she only knew, I wasn't stiff. My skin was always like that. It could never be soft or warm like hers.

"Okay. Now we are going to divide you all according to your age groups. All kids below 15 at the right corner. All below 30 who are not married to the left. All others please come to the center. From now no my class will tell each group what game they have. And the winners of all groups will again compete to become the king and queen. No going easy on one other." Everyone laughed and went their way.

Arial and I stood at the back. I saw Jackson with a girl. What was her name.....Sally. He saw me and waved. I smiled back to not seem rude. We saw some teens coming to our group.

"Okay everyone. I'm Lexy and I'll be your instructor for the games."

"Why she?" Arial said angrily. She was upset because Lexy was there. She didn't even look up.

"Okay, so we are going to have a few games. The winner of the last game will get to compete against the other groups winners. Now our first game's name is 'Don't end'. Now you all will be given balloons. You have to face each other and place the ball in between you. You cannot touch your hand. You have to carry it to the end of the hall. Clear?"

"What if it falls in between?" One girl asked.

"Well then you gotta start again. Now let's begin." We got our balloon. This was going to be awkward. Or super awkward. We went and stood at the starting point. We faced each other. Arial was looking right into my eyes. I caught the balloon near her waist and stepped towards her.

We were close. The ball was so small that we had to come very close to hold it in place.

"Everyone ready?" Some of them said yes.

"Okay, get set go."

Arial and I started walking. It was difficult. Very difficult. Arial's dress was silky. The balloon started sliding down. I bent myself lower and tried to stop it from falling. Arial was trying her best not to let it fall but her dress made it difficult. We were halfway through when it fell.

We went back and started it again.

"Catch my waist," Arial said.

"What?" I couldn't. Her dress was backless. I can't touch her and expose myself. She caught my hands and placed it on her waist. Then she put her hands around me. This bought us even closer. Her dress brushed against my pants. Her head was an inch away from my face. She reached my chin as she was wearing heels.

"This way, it won't fall easily," she whispered in my ear. My hand was touching her skin but she acted like it was normal. She acted indifferent towards it. Once I had touched a girl's hand by mistakenly and she had made a big fuss.

She was right. The balloon didn't fall and we were fourth to complete it. As we reached the finish line I removed my hands and so did she. She caught the balloon in her hand and let it go...