Whose brilliant idea had this been? Why hold this event so close to the lake on such a cold day? I obviously understood why they had to shoot them out over a lake, but I allowed myself to be a little bit grumpy.

My breath came out in a cloud of condensation. Despite wearing all the winter essentials, the cold air sapped any warmth I hoped to savor. I had tried walking in place, but that wasn’t any better. I pulled my scarf taught, feeling how I imagined a human popsicle would.

Teeth clacking together from shivering so hard, I removed a glove against my better judgment to check my phone. Still nothing. I rubbed my hands together and exhaled deeply, the resulting vapor looking like a drag from a cigarette.

It hadn’t been so bad earlier when I had been doing a scavenger hunt with Ethan and everyone. The constant running around kept me warm, but when we decided to part ways—this was all in accordance with Ethan's plan—the lack of movement left me freezing. Nora had wanted to join me for whatever reason, but Ethan has managed to convince her to stay with them. Actually, he more or less bribed her with free food, but the result was the same.

A decent amount of people had already begun to gather on the hill, a prime spot for viewing the fireworks. Some had spread out blankets to sit on, while others braved the frozen ground. I was debating heading down there to claim a spot but remained on the sidewalk, figuring I’d spot Rika easier from here. Since this was a nature trail, alcoves of bare trees flanked me on both sides. Thankfully, they only extended as far as the path winded. Otherwise, it would have been a pretty poor location to view a fireworks show from.

“I’m here!”

Such a loud voice could only belong to the girl I was waiting for, and I turned to her with a small smile. “Hey, how was work?”

“Bleh.” She stuck out her tongue. “It felt like everyone had a complaint tonight. Free tip for you, don’t ever get a job where you have to deal with a bunch of annoying customers.”

“But I thought the customer was always right?”

“Anybody who believes that has never worked in retail.”

Chuckling, I motioned toward the hill. “We should probably head over before all the spots are taken.”

“Do you mind if we watch it from here? Too crowded over there for my tastes.”

“That’s fine with me.”

We walked along the winding path until we reached a railing. Rika gripped it tightly with her mittens, and I stood beside her. There was a middle-aged couple lively conversing a few meters off to our left. Luckily for me, they were far away enough that they couldn’t overhear us, since it would have made everything much more awkward.

“I’m surprised nobody else was interested in watching the fireworks.”

“They planned to, but they wore themselves out doing the scavenger hunt,” I lied. “I’m glad you made it though. Otherwise, I would’ve been stuck watching it alone.”

She giggled into her mitten. “That would’ve been really sad for you. Not much different than usual, but still sad.”

“Harsh. You know–”

The fireworks burst to life from the cannon, silencing my retort and cutting off all the conversations around us. They were flowers, spreading out across the night sky and replacing the darkness with their brilliant lights. Wispy trails of smoke could be seen in between the brief pauses where another one had to be loaded. The crowd admired the display with ‘oohs’ and ‘ahs,’ becoming more vocal whenever a particularly large firework was launched. Rika watched on, propping herself up against the frozen railing. She seemed tired, and I felt bad about even asking her, but I knew I needed to now. If I didn’t, I would continue to make excuses. There was never going to be a perfect opportunity, a perfect mood. I would make do with this chance I had.

Another batch of fireworks were fired into the night sky, the vibrations reverberating throughout my chest. The sound of the explosion accompanied by the smell of gunpowder and burning timber filled my nose, the smell of the powder overpowering the other to a certain degree. At the moment, it was a subtle scent, something that would’ve gone unnoticed if I hadn’t been paying close attention. I took a deep breath, the smell now lingering in my nose and throat.

It was now or never.

“Rika, I have something to tell you.”

“What’s up? You sound so serious.”

“I’m not the best with words. You know that.” She laughed in response, confirming my suspicion. I swallowed before continuing. “And I know this may come as a surprise since I’m also not great at expressing myself, but… I like you. I like you, and I hope you'll go out with me.”

She averted her gaze for the briefest of moments that I could have imagined it. The display ramped up, the unrelenting noise drowning out even the crowd now. Her lips moved, but I couldn’t hear her. I inched closer to her, but when I reached out, she shook her head. The world was silent but for the fireworks, and I closed the small gap between us.

“Rika, what’d you say?” I asked, voice hoarse and shaking.

Blue light splashed across her face. Then purple, and the red, followed by all three at once. Her lips were colorful when she repeated herself. “Sorry…”

That was all I managed to catch, the rest of it lost to the sounds overhead. But that was all I needed. It was easy enough to fill in the blanks. Her forlorn expression spoke volumes.

LonMair399

And with that volume 1 comes to a close! It has been such an amazing process getting to this point, and I'm very happy and proud to be able to be here even with everything that has gone in the past year. I'm so grateful for each and every one of you who has stuck with me along the way. It means more to me than I can ever put into words. Thank you! Volume 2 will begin release on Wednesday and keep the adventure going!