Episode 11: The Dance List
731 Words
Monday mornings at Eclipse University were always chaotic.
Students hurried between buildings with coffee in one hand and lecture notes in the other.
Amara had almost reached the Business School when someone collided with her shoulder.
“I’m so sorry!”
Papers flew everywhere.
“Oh no…”
Amara dropped to her knees, gathering the scattered documents.
Another pair of hands reached for the same sheet.
“Sorry,” she said automatically.
“It’s my fault.”
“It’s ours.”
She froze.
That voice…
Looking up, she found herself face-to-face with Kael.
Again.
“You?”
A small smile tugged at his lips.
“It seems we keep running into each other.”
“I was literally thinking the same thing.”
They both reached for another page at the same time.
Their fingers brushed.
Neither of them pulled away immediately.
The moment stretched just a little too long.
Then someone loudly cleared their throat.
“Ahem.”
Ronan stood behind Kael with the expression of someone trying very hard not to laugh.
“I hate to interrupt whatever this is…”
“…but the meeting starts in five minutes.”
Kael slowly stood, handing Amara the last page.
“I should go.”
“You probably should.”
For a second, neither of them moved.
Then Kael smiled.
“I’ll see you around, Miss Cole.”
“I guess you will.”
⸻
“Okay.”
Lily dropped into the seat beside Amara during lunch.
“I have a question.”
“Oh?”
“Are you secretly manifesting Kael?”
Amara nearly choked on her drink.
“What?”
“You’ve accidentally met him…”
She started counting on her fingers.
“…at the café.”
“…the bookstore.”
“…the library.”
“…the charity fair.”
“…and now in the middle of campus.”
Amara laughed.
“When you list it like that, it sounds suspicious.”
“It is suspicious.”
Before Amara could answer, a campus-wide notification buzzed across every student’s phone.
ECLIPSE UNIVERSITY ANNUAL FOUNDERS’ GALA
All first-year scholarship students are required to attend.
Student Council members will be assigned as escorts for the evening.
Lily gasped.
“Oh…”
“What?”
“This is huge.”
“It’s just a formal dinner.”
“No.”
Lily shook her head.
“It’s the biggest social event of the year.”
“People remember who you arrive with.”
Amara shrugged.
“I’ll probably get assigned some random senior.”
⸻
Across campus…
The Student Council was having the exact same conversation.
Ronan looked over the printed escort list.
“So…”
“Who’s escorting the scholarship students?”
“The assignments are random.”
Kael nodded.
“As they should be.”
Ronan looked far too amused.
“You might want to see this.”
He slid the list across the table.
Kael scanned it.
Then stopped.
Escort: Kael Draven Vale
Student: Amara Cole
He looked up.
“This is wrong.”
“The software generated it.”
“It can be changed.”
“It could.”
Ronan folded his arms.
“But then everyone would ask why you changed only one name.”
Kael stared at the paper for several seconds.
Finally…
He placed it back on the desk.
“…Leave it.”
⸻
That afternoon, Serena stormed into the Student Council office.
“I’d like to request a change.”
The secretary looked up.
“What seems to be the problem?”
“My escort assignment.”
“I’m assigned to Nathan.”
“And?”
“I’ve attended every Founders’ Gala with Kael.”
“I’m afraid the assignments are final.”
Serena’s expression hardened.
“Who is Kael escorting?”
The secretary hesitated.
Then quietly answered,
“Amara Cole.”
For the first time in years…
Serena completely lost her composure.
⸻
That evening, Amara opened the official email.
She read it once.
Then twice.
Then a third time.
Your assigned escort for the Founders’ Gala is Student Council President Kael Draven Vale.
She immediately called Lily.
“There has to be a mistake.”
Lily screamed so loudly Amara had to pull the phone away from her ear.
“No mistake!”
“This is fate!”
Amara laughed despite herself.
Or maybe…
It was the beginning of something neither of them understood.
- Writer
