As I turned around, I was met with the face of a familiar girl, the one whom I had copied not even a moment ago.

The one whose face vanished as I traveled back in time during my dance.

Her black hair, tied in a ponytail, bounced up and down behind her as she reached out her hand and asked.

"We're unofficially planning a dinner for the new club members. Are you free?"

"..."

Tilting her head, a smile appearing on her face, her onyx-black pupils locked onto my face, she continued.

"I'm Gemma, by the way, the captain of the team. Nice to meet you!"

Barely opening my mouth, I whispered, my throat sore.

"Athen."

"Hmm...Athen...Athen. A-then Ath-en. Athen!"

After repeating my name, but much louder, a couple of times, Gemma pointed at the teacher and other dance club member in the distance before saying.

"That's Professor Paskali, she's our club advisor! And behind her is the vice-captain, Katie."

Nodding my head, I watched as the two of them attempted to block Carissa from exiting, presumably for the same reason as I.

Nodding my head, I bitterly smiled.

Now probably wasn't the time to be alone; I'd probably sink deeper into my memories.

"When is it?"

"Hm?"

Looking at me confusedly, Gemma pointed through the windows at the pitch-black sky and said.

"It's 7...so we were thinking now?"

Immediatly turning around, gazing through the windows, I paused.

7? I danced for 3-4 hours!?

It was just...a single moment for me.

Shaking my head, I simply said.

"I'm ready, then."

Nodding her head happily, Gemma left me to find the other successful applicants, not forgetting to say as she walked away.

"My eyes are on you, so don't try to slip out."

Within a few moments, I found myself within a crowd of the nine other students, surprisingly recognizing two of them.

Alongside Carissa, Joy, my teammate from the practical, had also gotten in.

Leading us out onto the academy streets and toward the train station, Gemma happily hummed while trailing at the front with Katie, while Professor Paskali stood at the back, perhaps making sure no one left.

As we stepped on the mana train, I sighed and moved away from the crowd, leaning against a window and gazing outside.

Yet, just as I was about to fall back into a daydream, a sudden voice thankfully interrupted me.

"Athen...was it?"

Looking at the jade-green-eyed girl before me, I simply nodded my head and answered civilly.

"Yes, I believe we were on the same team with Serena."

"...yeah."

Nodding her head, she awkwardly stood beside me and looked out the opposite window.

*WHOOSH*

As we left the station, the beautiful pitch-black sky, lit up by hundreds of skyscrapers, came into sight, yet I wasn't looking.

Because I saw them.

Their figures.

"Alright, Dance Club Students, we're getting out!"

Awoken by the voice, I heeded Gemma's instructions and left the train.

After a short roll call, where Professor Paskali confirmed everyone was here, we finally entered a restaurant...or more like a club.

After passing through a thin hallway, not even room for two people to walk next to each other, the thirteen of us filed into a private room.

Instead of regular lights, RGB lights lined the room, lighting up the area in red, green, and blue simultaneously.

Additionally, there were multiple tables, around seven booths which could each seat four people, and a massive holographic screen floating in the air.

As I sat down in an empty booth, Joy sat across from me, seemingly too nervous to approach anyone else.

Yet, just as I looked down at the menu and began to wonder what to order, the chair next to Joy screeched as someone pulled it out.

Looking up, I was met with another unexpected face.

Glancing around, I found all the other booths either completely full with people or empty with no one.

It seemed she was also too scared to sit alone, despite her emotionless appearance.

As the three of us placed our orders, the other members began bonding, standing up, and singing as lyrics appeared on the massive screen.

Unfortunately, I didn't recognize any of those songs, meaning that this world had created them.

Thus, I had no desire to sing along.

Finally, breaking the awkward silence that had descended between us, Joy wiped her face and said.

"Four hours of dancing straight...that was brutal, right?"

Raising my head to my forehead, I pretended to wipe some sweat off, yet before I could fake-agree, a soft voice sounded from across me.

"You're not wiping anything."

Carissa's snow-white pupils locked on my clean forehead for a moment before quickly returning to the table.

Awkwardly, I sighed and said.

"Yeah..."

Glancing around the other seven students, I quickly found myself to be one of the only two boys in the room.

The other boy was having the time of his life, surrounded by girls and eagerly sitting.

His name was practically being chanted as he stood at the front of the room, singing his heart out.

"Coal!"

"Coal!"

For a brief moment, I wondered why I couldn't do that.

Yet, my mind instantly destroyed the thought.

There's no point; none of them are real anyway.

As our food arrived, I eagerly picked up my fork and ate, ready to politely exit after my plate was cleaned.

Before me, surprisingly, Joy had managed to converse with Carissa, both of them talking about the recent practical.

At that moment, Joy's head suddenly flicked toward me as she curiously asked.

"You know, Serena, right? You ate with her, didn't you!?"

Groggily looking up, I asked.

"Did you not see the first part?"

Confused, Joy scratched her nose and questioned.

"What first part? All I saw was you two eating together."

As I dug into the platter of beef bulgogi before me, Carissa answered in my stead.

"Serena was yelling at him; it was hard to miss."

Lifting up my head, I continued.

"So, that ends it. I don't know Serena."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.