Zenon's Game Chapter 229

He pointed at me from across the five feet of empty space. "Remember when we went scuba diving? This first move is in honor of the moment we realized some of us don't know how to swim."

He pinched his nose with one hand and waved his other in crescent motions, mimicking sinking in water. He shook his legs as he lowered himself to the beat of the music.

"Now that we're down here," he called out from his crouched position, ignoring the laughs he was receiving, "We're going to drive up like Zenon in his black jeep wrangler when he thought buying a car like that would made him cool."

Zenon laughed and looked the other way. I didn't know Zenon back then, but I bet he was really feeling himself the day he picked up that car.

Axel extended his hands like he was holding a steering wheel and rotated it left and right in some shaky driving with a lot of shoulder action. He pretended like he was checking himself out in an invisible car mirror. Exactly like Zenon would.

As Axel was 'driving' by, Zenon switched off the invisible motor. He joined in on the acting.

"Let's do something Bryce's never done in his life," Zenon said, putting Bryce on blast. "Push a shopping cart."

Bryce yelled out at that jibe. Axel then told me, "Come on Candace, we can do this all day."

They were really making fools out of themselves to prove a point: That having fun shouldn't be weighed down by external negativity.

"Join us, Candy," Zenon told me.

"OK," I exclaimed, unable to control my laughter, "I'm joining!"

I get it. They practice what they preach. When Zenon says, 'don't listen to what people think', he means it. The cringy moves and awkward dancing was enough to convince me.

The dancing came and went in waves. Sometimes we were on the dance floor, other times back at our table to drink and take a break. Our group had started to mingle with strangers and our joke dancing had become more realistic.

Axel was talking to a girl beside our table that was not Cynthia. I didn't want to stress out, because they still had time, but I was stressing out.

I saw Cynthia throw repeated glances in Axel's direction.

I nonchalantly wandered over to the drinks area where Cynthia was standing by herself. Maybe she needed a wing woman and I was here to offer my services.

Axel was crushing it tonight, I had to admit. Girls liked his outgoing personality. The girl he was currently talking to literally threw her hair back and laughed.

"What's he saying that's so funny?" Cynthia asked me, "Can he share the joke with the wider group?"

Suddenly, Axel choked on his drink.

He sputtered and covered his mouth with his hand. His forehead wrinkled as he stared out on the dance floor. After he got himself together, he called out a name:

"LARA!"

Cynthia asked me, "Who?"

As if I know?

We tried to see who he was calling out to. Axel excused himself from the conversation with the girl he was already speaking to and jumped back on the dance floor. "Lara!"

We watched him walk up to the most beautiful girl I have ever seen.

A stunning girl with cascading dark hair and striking green eyes. She was in a white dress that accentuated the curves on her body, even more so as she danced. Her tanned legs and arms were highlighted by blue, green, red lights from the dance floor. And she wore white converses.

She was in the center of a lively group when she saw Axel. She threw her arms around his shoulders and they spoke, though we couldn't hear.

"Who is that?!" Bryce asked, popping out of nowhere to stand beside Cynthia and me. He was sipping his drink through a straw.

"Aren't you already seeing someone?" Cynthia asked back, catching his interested tone.

"She seems busy with Candace's boyfriend right now," Bryce answered, trying to pull me into the mix.

I glanced over at Bianca and Zenon on the dance floor. They weren't very close, so I didn't mind.

The three of us went back to staring at Axel and Lara. Our table was on a small platform above the dance floor, so we looked like three scrooges on a stage.

But when Axel and Lara turned to walk back to our table, we quickly pretended like we were looking anywhere else but at them.

Who was she?

*23.23 on New Year's Eve*

Last year I was in my bedroom when the clock struck midnight. And I wasn't even upset about it.

I didn't have to worry about holiday surge pricing or how I was going to get home. I didn't have to stand for hours in uncomfortable clothing. I entered the new year in comfort and a onesie.

But this year, there was uncertainty. So much fun, but also uncertainty.

I watched Axel speak to the mysterious girl. Her hair descended in dark waves around her shoulders and her smile was radiant. They sounded so excited talking to each other.

"What are you doing here?!" Axel asked her, visibly surprised.

Lara replied, equally shocked, "I was going to ask you the same thing!"

They held onto each other, given the wild crowd around them.

Her lipstick was incredible. I was hypnotized by how glossy they were.

There was a sort of poetry to their reunion. They had bumped into each other, thirty minutes before midnight, on the other side of the world.

Cynthia, Bryce and I leaned in to eavesdrop. We were trying to be subtle. I poured Bryce some orange juice as we pretended to have a reason to linger.

"My uncle has a place in Dubai so I'm here for the week," Lara said, speaking over the heavy sound of the beach club's music.