Time was one of those unreliable currencies, as its worth differed from one person to another.

 

Depending on the situation, one minute could feel like an hour, and the reverse could be said to be the same; where your senses tricked you into thinking that time had passed by too quickly even though evidence suggested otherwise.

For Tira, the three-hour period of hellish dress-up sessions had embodied the first principle. It felt as if time had stretched into infinity and she nearly thought her suffering would be never-ending.

 

There was always something they had to add to her face, another thing to add to her hair, and the torment only stopped when the alarm she had set finally rang and they had to wrap it up.

By stepping on the gas (and possibly running over a traffic cone or two), Lydia had gotten them all to Uni B’s parking lot in record time, much faster than when she drove them all back to her home.

 

They had gone by so fast that the scenery had blurred into mere lines and colors.

 

If Tira had had car sickness or held any value to her life, she probably would have jumped out of the vehicle, even at the cost of causing another accident, just to be able to escape the roller coaster ride it had been.

 

Thankfully, she had neither, and thus she managed to sit tight until they finally arrived at their intended destination.

"I feel like I’m going to hurl..." Hannah leaned against the car with her head hung low and trembling all over.

 

"Haha, sorry! I didn’t want you girls to have a late debut." Lydia was careful to lift her dress off the driver’s seat before she helped Ayu safely disembark after her feet had touched the ground first, before finally locking the car.

 

"Come on, I’m sure your plus ones are waiting. Let's not make them wait any longer!"

Tira was curious about everyone's plus one, as there was a group of guys waiting by the entrance for their potential partners. Especially about who Hannah would be accompanying with since Elvin had left. 

 

Her answer came soon enough as the queen bee waved over as a boy from the other class that came over to greet her, meeting in the middle, and he bashfully complimented her as they walked in together through the flowery gate that marked the venue's entrance.

 

Surprisingly, Donny was the one who had come out after Hannah had entered, and even more surprising was the sight of him politely asking Ayu for her hand, "Shall we?"

 

"Thank you for waiting." Ayu replied with a light blush on her cheeks and, smiling as she waved to Tira, the two made their way.

 

As Tira took a closer look, she noticed that the handkerchief folded on Donny's suit had the exact same pastel pink and blue shade to match Ayu's dress, folded in the shape of a flower to be his pocket accessory.

 

While everyone else made their way to their partners, Lydia did not wait either, the older woman walked over towards Cahya, who also had color-coordinated his suit with her navy blue mermaid dress, and talked while grinning while they made their entrance.

 

Everyone looked excited about the party. That was a good thing.

 

"Let’s go?"

 

Sariya glanced up, arms offered for her to hold. Tira took it with her glove-covered hands. Though they weren't able to mask the ring, there were still other uses for it, after all.

 

"Let’s."

The party crew had outdone themselves in decking the outdoor party to the nines. Food, decorations and music; everything seemed as if it was out of a fairy tale.

 

Guests were chatting happily in every corner, some standing and some sitting, clearly drowning in the festive mood as they enjoyed the atmosphere of the room before the newlyweds came out to move the reception along.

As the two of them entered the premises, some of the loud laughter had turned to quiet whispers. Tira could feel all the eyes that drilled into her, the number of gazes on her increased rapidly in numbers, though some part of it was shared between her and Sariya since she was the only girl who had arrived in a suit.

The dress was the only thing she could think of to blame since it was too eye-catching for an evening party like this.

 

Its gradient shade of dark night’s blue turned into soft purple as it went down, accented by the embroidered area above the breast in black and silver thread, where the celestial pattern had spread out to her elbow, embroidered onto a semi-transparent fabric which then changed back to silk again as it reached her wrist.

 

Lydia had added crystals that had made the illusion of a starry-filled sky even more believable, as the mixed yellow and clear beads among the soft glitter layer were diverse in size, almost representing real stars when they twinkled and glittered when they were hit by light at the right angle.

 

Sariya’s suit had to be handled with the same dye treatment as her dress in order to match it. Lydia said it was so that it would shimmer dark purple if the light from her dress hit the velvet suit, though it was only now that she could see what the woman had meant.

The only downside to this was that Tira's hair had all but been pulled back. It was held back by a silver hair ornament in the shape of blooming flowers, reminiscent of the hairpin she had used in her sparring not too long ago. Her face was clear for everyone to see, and in return, her vision was no longer shaded by the dark veil of her own hair.

 

It was bright. Too bright. She did her best to hold back her squint and concentrated on finding their table, ignoring most of the looks that trailed after them as they made their way. They managed to wade through the gobsmacked crowd safely until Sariya pulled her seat for her and they sat down successfully.

The good news was, she wasn't sharing a table with Dias, who sat across from the red carpet that had separated the ground and was having a merry time with the other groomsmen.

 

The rather unfortunate, bad news was, this table not only had the ladies seated together, but that also included the rest of the bridesmaids, who hadn’t stopped eyeing her weirdly since she dragged her way from the entrance and sat down on her designated seat.

 

"Tira?"

"Yes?" She replied to Rina, confused. For some reason, even the food staff weren’t moving to pour her drink, they paused in their tracks with their lower jaws looking as if it was close to hitting the ground.

 

"Oh god, you’re really Tira?!" Felicia nearly leaped off across the table with how ecstatic she was. "Lydia, did you do liposuction on her or something?! What the f—?"

 

"Language, girls."

 

Mis Erisa used her teacher's voice to silence the ruckus that was about to happen, although she herself glared at the gaping server who finally snapped out of it, before looking back at Tira with pleased eyes, scanning her face once over with a genial smile. "You look beautiful, Tira. Don’t mind what others are saying."

 

She didn't. Tira had tried to not mind all the attention, although any more of this would make her skin break into hives if it continued any longer.

 

Somehow she still managed to hold back herself from outright running away and managed to extend her gratitude for the support and the drink. "Thank you, miss."

Once again, saved by the bells, finally, the two emcees returned to the stage and began to move the show along with a few mic-taps. 

 

"Welcome, welcome, all! I hope you’re all not getting used to your seats just yet, as we have to welcome the newlyweds to the stage!" Rizal riled up the reaction of the attendees with a huge grin.

 

"Come on, everyone, get up!" 'Anggi' (as Lydia had informed Tira) kept time with her partner and motioned to the end of the red carpet, "Mr. and Mrs. newlyweds, please come forward!"

With the accompanying cheering and applause, the couple made their way out from behind the moveable curtain, walking out hand in hand as the red velvet curtain was pulled to the side for the unveiling of the happily married duo.

 

They, of course, had used the time between the ceremony and reception to change into their second set of clothes, consisting of a wonderful green and gold color pair for both of them. The gold patterned shape of gardenias, daisies, and apple embroidery almost looked like it was crossing over from the dress to the suit due to the position that Ma’am Farah had taken on Mister Triya’s right.

 

Both were smiling as they made their way and arrived at the stage with no problem, standing by the two emcees who flanked the male and female respectively with drinks in hand, which had Ma’am Farah shifting to hold her bouquet with the left hand.

Rizal finished clapping and continued to run the event. "Now, now, the first order of business! We shall leave it to your best man and maid of honor to open the toast. Please, remember the tissues are situated to your right in case of any water leaks during the speech."

 

Accompanied by laughter and chuckles, the guests took their glasses of water, and champagne for some, and raised them high for the two main stars of this event to begin.

The best man stood up and, after a short nod to the maid of honor, began to clear his throat before he spoke.

 

"Now, I’m not going to lie, I am mostly here because I was the only other teacher who was in the same age range as our handsome groom over there."

 

The man paused as the crowd chuckled again, and he wore a gentle grin as he continued his speech.

 

"But for the past three years I’ve known him, I can sufficiently say that there has never existed any man more dedicated, passionate, and loyal. He loved his students as if they were his own, and more than once; he was more than ready to stay back late to listen to their plights and troubles. I’m sure that the social studies kids can attest?" 

 

"YEESS!"

 

Came the mixed chorus from many, many tables. Sir Yono's smile was light, like the flute glass he was raised to the sky, and brighter than the setting sun as he led the toast. "And thus my point has been made. Cheers!"

 

"CHEERS!!!"

 

Taking a shallow sip of the water, the guests clapped and cheered for the wonderful speech before naturally dwindling down as they turned their attention to the maid of honor.

 

Miss Erisa stood up carefully, with a glass in hand, and sighed before she started her speech.

 

"I’ve known these two idiots from the courses of our college days and more, so it was as much of a struggle to figure out which one would get me as their sidekick today."

 

Miss Erisa’s words once again got the crowd to laugh, as she herself smiled mischievously at the newlyweds. "So if you can’t tell by now, the bride won. But that’s not the main reason why I decided to accept to become the maid of honor. The suit offer was fine after all."

 

At that remark, Miss Farah's face turned intrigued and confused.

 

"Farah, do you remember the day that you came to me, after the final year’s bonfire party? Oh, you do, don't you?" 

 

When the bride's face twisted in horrified realization, the maid of honor teased her further with her next words, "You were on the verge of crying, and I had to coax you to find out what was wrong. You cried in the end as you spilled that you two might have to break up because you were going to get deployed to a local school while he was going to the capital. I saw your heart break that night at the mere thought of separating, despite how you always clamored that his fancy on you would pass when you graduated."

 

"Well... do you remember what I said?"

 

Miss Farah nodded her head, eyes watery as she held back tears when Miss Erisa continued,

 

"I told you, ‘No good friend of mine should deny what’s good for her, especially in matters of the heart; go chase him! Tell him your heart belongs to him, before it's too late." 

 

The woman paused as she gave the two another thorough look, her smile subdued for just a split second, before the grin came back on full force. "And, well, we all know how that chapter ended."

 

"So all I want to say is, cherish the time you two have together. It was fate that you two ended up together, but it was all the hard work that you put down before this day that acted as your foundation to allow you two to finally bask at this moment." 

 

Raising her cup high, Miss Erisa yelled at the top of her lungs to end her speech. "Anyway, that's all I have to say, so—cheers!"

 

"CHEERS!!!"

The two newlyweds then ascended to the podium and sat on the throne of honor under the loud applause and cheers of the attendees. Even the two emcees let the moment linger for a little longer as they joined in for the last toast.

 

After that, the free meals began.

 

 

Because the party had been designed to be an open buffet, there were many open burners with various meals spread across the room, surrounding them.

 

Tira had eyed the line that formed to congratulate the couple and decided to wait a bit until the groomsmen's turns were done before she even stood from her seat.

 

"Want any food?" She asked Sariya to distract herself while she waited.

 

"I’m thinking the mushroom and oyster soup looked pretty good." Sariya leaned in and pointed to the open kitchen to the north."And the steak will be more to your taste?"

 

"Maybe something lighter, like soup. I’m not up for greasy food today." Tira roughly motioned to her face, and Sariya gave a silent nod of understanding. Oil would stick so easily to her skin that it wasn't even a joke anymore, and she didn't want to ruin everyone's combined effort too soon.

 

Perhaps later, once two hours or so had passed, but not yet.

Dias had finally gone up to congratulate the couple at last. He talked with them amicably as he shook both of their hands. He didn't dawdle for too long, as he gave them one last polite nod and stepped off the stage, now giving the bridesmaids' table the chance to go up.

Tira waited in line as Miss Erisa went forward first, climbing up the stairs to hug her friends before she got Lydia to take a picture of them on her new phone. There wasn't much that she said to the two other than well wishes, as the rest had been conveyed during the toast earlier.

 

"I don’t know much about you two other than you are getting married, but thank you for letting me tamper with your wedding dresses and suits. This has meant a lot to me, more than you can think of." Lydia gave the most Lydia-like wishes to the two, who took it with grace and smiled back as the two women hugged briefly. "Congratulations!"

 

"Congratulations on the wedding, sir, ma’am." Ayu went next, giving the two a brief handshake and smiling shyly while saying, "I wish you two happiness."

 

"Thank you, Ayunda." Sir Triya was perhaps a bit too happy that he didn't realize that Ayu’s face had stilled for a moment, still unused to being called by her full name without the negative connotation following it. "And heh—Hannah, what's got you shaking so hard?"

 

"I mean! I mean!! It’s your wedding, sir!" Hannah had to stifle herself down to just say that much, wiping her eyes on the tissue she pulled out of her purse. "It’s just so... oh well, I'm not going to ramble now! I wish you two a lovey-dovey time on your honeymoon~"

 

"Oh you!" Miss Farah bashfully laughed away the winking girl, giving the turn to the last person on the line, her.

 

"Tira, hello!"

 

"Congratulations on your wedding."

 

Tira suppressed the involuntary shiver as she shook their hands, giving the slightest smile so that it wouldn't come out as intimidating; the smile that she had practiced for the past week, along with the high-heel walks. "I wish you two happiness."

 

"Thank you for attending, and..." Sir Triya paused, taking in a gulp of breath to gather himself, and smiled, "And thank you, for taking that chance. Even though you didn’t do it for us, we’re always going to be grateful that it led to this."

…And what should she say to that?

From his words, it seemed that Sir Triya didn't believe her selfish reasoning from back then, so would he believe it if Tira said otherwise?

 

That would just sour the festive mood; something she didn't want to happen. So she just nodded and moved aside to give space to Sariya and the third-year girls to pass their congratulations. She stepped down from the stage carefully only to lock eyes with Dias once again.

 

He'd been staring since the beginning, and as their gazes met, he gave a small toast with his water and a smile.

 

Tira nodded back.

Getting back to her seat had suddenly turned into a grueling event when, out of nowhere, men came out from all corners and were intentionally trying to block her path.

 

She entertained one or two who simply wanted to talk, ignored the rest who tried to flirt, and politely declined any and all offers to dance on the designated dance floor.

 

The one who had tried to forcefully pull her to the side was still writhing on the floor as Sariya had whacked the back of his head with her cursed-book-filled handbag and kicked his family jewels for the finish.

 

"Nice shot."

 

"You taught me to be precise." Sariya nodded with satisfaction as they left the security to deal with the man and went over to the food buffet. "Well, it looks like the line is clear at last. Let's go."

Despite what Sariya had said, the soup and salad bar weren’t that big of a hit to begin with, so there wasn't much of a long line for them to peruse to get to the plates. Duck, fish, and other white meats were also in the same vein, as most of the others gravitated towards the beef-based menu, since it was the most aromatic meal at the moment. The other meats looked just like plain smoked meat.

 

Speaking of smoked duck... she suddenly thought of something. "I'm getting the steak. Can you bring this to our table?" 

 

Tira handed the plate to Sariya, who shot back a questioning look but took the plate nonetheless in her free hand. "You’re getting it in the end?"

 

"Not for me."

 

Sariya only gave a brief nod and returned to the table with full hands, while she stood in line and waited until finally, after what had felt like an eternity of aching heels and tendons, she was served the steak and got to walk away.

 

With how quick and sharp Tira placed her strides, it was hard for her to get stopped this time. So she got from the steak and across to the boy’s table and served the meat in front of the demi-god in a matter of seconds, putting the plate down before he could even react.

 

"Enjoy."

 

She didn't stay long, already tired from her murder-walk and wished to rest her legs, but she knew her situation was better as the two on the podium were going to be standing for the next... However long it took to greet hundreds of guests; though not all five hundred would take as long as close friends and students would, like what their group did. But it was still a considerable amount of time to be standing.

The duck, as expected, tasted like a duck. At least the soup was also tasty.

The sound of a glass hit by a spoon rang from the speaker system half an hour later.

 

"May we interrupt your mealtime for a moment?" Anggi spoke into the mic as Rizal clanged a spoon against an empty glass. "Now that the couple has had enough time to rest on their majestic throne, we figured now would be a good time to have the first dance!"

 

Multiple outdoor photography lamps turned on simultaneously at that moment, the beam from them illuminated the slowly darkening sky. It was directed at the two newlyweds on the stage, who winced for a moment as the lights assaulted their eyes.

 

Despite looking a bit tired, their smiles didn't disappear from their faces as Sir Triya stood up to lead his wife down the stairs.

 

The band configuration this time had also changed. Ayu had joined them as a side as a singer. Mustafa, whom she remembered as Ginan's survival buddy, handled the acoustic guitar, as another man on the Cajon joined the violin guy who had played for the ceremony much earlier. With the addition of Aris manning the audio mixing, they made a small, five-man band.

 

Once in position, the percussion gave the "Three, two, one…!" beat and began tapping away at the box with all kinds of rhythms.

 

The guitar plucked the strings, as the violin played the backing track, the melody filling the cold, chilly, yet refreshing evening air.

 

Ayu swayed to the count, smiling as she immersed herself in the song, before she gently, with controlled care, parted her lips to sing.

 

As her voice accompanied the acoustics and the strings, the two people in love started to dance to the lovely song. Their eyes were locked onto each other, longingly gazing at each other as if they were the only two to exist in their own little world as they waltzed.

 

The band was also working hard as Ayu gave it her all to hit all the notes, helped by the backing vocals of the guitarist, as they let the two be the brightest stars of the night’s event.

 

The song was familiar, despite it being in another language and it was quite an old piece that even Tira would have heard at least once in her life. Despite the fact that it was sung by a young girl rather than a forlorn old man, Ayu's impressive control allowed her to pull through and inject the longing and all-encompassing love into the lyrics themselves.

 

There was a reason that she sat in the front of the choir, as the main soprano that every other girl aimed for. Her unique voice was enough to make her stand out in a crowd, and by her lonesome, it made Ayu shine as a star in her own right.

Soon, the first dance was over, and the two bowed to the crowd, who were cheering with applause and whistling. This time, she found the culprit of the ear-piercing high-pitched whistle. It turned out to be Nina, the girl from the supernatural killer case.

 

Who would have thought?

As the couple retired back to their chairs, the dance floor was now free for everyone else to flock onto and use for the rest of the night.

 

Then, the violinist finally gave his name, following Ayu’s introduction, when Rizal went over to ask for their names. Jamal had said his name with a slight gruff. Mustafa the guitarist smiled as he introduced himself, followed by Riveandy on the mixing, and Johannes on the Cajon. 

 

 

"And what would your band name be?" Anggi asked with a hint of playfulness in her voice.

 

"We haven’t decided yet." Jamal answered with the most deadpanned face and tone, taking over from Ayu, who was panicking on the spot because of the question.

 

Which was absolute fuel to the two devil extroverts as their grins turned mischievous. 

 

"Alright! Good luck with your next song. Ladies and lads, give it up for; 'We Haven’t Decided Yet'! Whoohooo!" 

They were lucky to have put themselves away from punching distance, because Jamal looked absolutely livid, glaring at the two kids with the annoyed exasperation of one who was dealing with brats, while the other two boys laughed and smiled at the joke.

 

Aris only shook his head with a knowing smile, perhaps already used to dealing with the kind of shenanigans they had pulled on a daily basis.

 

Ayu did get the buffer time to calm down thanks to them, and she resumed singing, announcing the next song on their setlist.

 

Not all were bad.

Those who were interested went out to dance and started to get up from their tables. As they played a fast-paced jazz number, it brought the younger folks down and burned their energy away. 

 

Ayu had also started to get into it more, shedding away her nervousness and enjoyed the sway as the piano solo had been replaced with violin now, with Jamal shredding a slick lick at the bridge.

The hype kept building up as the third song was soft rock, although this was another oldie, which did get a couple of adults pairing up to join in.

 

Professor Lucas had danced with Miss Hartati for this song, though it didn't seem that they knew each other very well, except for the seating arrangement that had put the two together as neighbors. Still, it looked like they have a grand time, unlike Peter, who was still moping in the corner as he couldn't get any ladies to be his dance partner three songs in a row, resigned to only tapping his foot to the rhythm by himself.

 

By the time it was done, Rizal took over as the vocalist so Ayu could rest, belting out a slow ballad where a lot more elderly could dance at, which they gratefully did so. There were some cute interactions but none as cute as when a grandma had asked Henry for a dance which he couldn’t really refuse and landed him with some teasing and cheering from his university mates.

The grandma’s boldness had the unintended consequence of opening the floodgates for other, younger men and women to try their luck on the groomsmen and bridesmaids not long after.

 

Armand managed to fend them off as he and Rina finally took to the dance floor for yet another slow classic song, while Donny got to have a dance with Ayu since she was resting her vocals who had been replaced by Mustafa, who took over the vocals. A fitting choice since the original singer of the song had the same gravely, husky voice as he did.

 

Surprisingly, the diva was soon asked by Henry for another go though, as the higher tempo rock made its return to the setlist, which Ayu had accepted with glee. 

Lydia had been partner-hopping the entire time, spending it on anyone who dared to offer, and so was Felicia, hot on the older woman's heels.

The two were owning the dance floor with their friendly dance-off on every song, and so far, the score was three for three.

 

They left in their wake a pile of exhausted men. She couldn’t help but imagine an incubus party-like scenario that had caused that pile to form, as the aftermath of the two's rampage tonight.

Hannah had retired soon after dancing the seventh song, occupying her seat to catch her breath, whereas Sariya had already returned home as soon as the fifth song ended, summoned by her parents and mysteriously, somehow managed to rob the snack bar and sneak back with enough cookies to last a lifetime in her purse.

 

How? Tira had no idea. Probably magic.

 

Starting with Sariya's leave, Tira finally noticed that it was quite late in the evening for the kids, and most of the parents with small children were already starting to excuse themselves to catch up on more sleep.

 

She had nothing to do at home after this, nobody to take care of, and got to enjoy some of the few fruits served by the buffet, uncaring about whether it was wiping her lipstick or not since she had held up her end of the promise to not mess up her face earlier in the party.

Sir Triya and Ma’am Farah joined again one last time on the eighth song, the poppiest song of all, which was presented by the duet of both Rizal and Ayu as they switched back to a slow tempo, performing a nearly acapella performance.

 

This was one of those rare songs where the lackluster instruments they had fit one-to-one with the original lineup.

 

She knew this trivia only because the song was so popular that it hadn't left radio broadcasts since January. The earworm had burrowed so deep into her brain and, from the looks of it, was not considering leaving anytime soon.

"Well folks, we’re going to have to pause our fun at the dance-off for just a tiii~ny bit of intermission," Rizal announced as he finally finished singing, switching back into emcee mode once more.

 

"As of now, we are finally going to pull down the curtain on the beloved couple, and do the one last rite of... bouquet throwing!"

 

"Ladies and lads, if you feel unlucky in love before then go ahead and try your luck!" Anggi took over as Rizal struggled to detach his microphone from the stand, "There’s only going to be one chance for you all to get maybe a little boost for your love life! Don’t waste time prettying up, or learning the likes and dislikes of your crush. In fact, don't you even confess! Just catch the bouquet and your life will turn around!!!"

 

"Sister Anggi, are you okay? Should I get the bouquet for you?" Rizal bantered back once he finally detached the mic and could get to a proper position.

 

Anggi did a mock sob at the offer, her lips frowning and her eyes pleading like a little kitten. "It’s fine, it's not like I’m unhappy being single…" and immediately did a turn around to smile, ending their skit. "Anyway, remember, the flower doesn’t count; you want the handle! Here’s the countdown! Five!"

 

Ma’am Farah prepared herself on the stage by turning around so her back faced the audience, and did some practice swings along the countdown. "Four!"

 

"Three!" Those who had been seated at the sides were joining in on the countdown, cupping their hands around their mouths to further amplify their voices.

"Two!"

"One!"

In a beautiful arch behind, the flower bouquet flew past the heads of the girls who were desperate to catch it, their hands raised high in slim hopes of following the trajectory that had veered from looking almost straight to the back the lower it was descending.

 

For those with superhuman reflexes, though, the fall was going so unbearably slow. It went so slowly in Tira's eyes that she could predict exactly where the thing was going to land, right on the third seat on the table across from hers—

And rolled right in front of Dias’s arms, to the shock of the demigod himself, who had taken his arms off the table when he realized what had transpired, "No, I—"

 

"Just take the flowers, boss!" Rizal suggested into his mic, starting to clap in hopes he could persuade Dias onto doing it with public pressure. "Come on, take it! Take it!"

 

"Take it! Take it! Take it! Take it!"

 

The plan worked as the crowd soon chanted along, and with an exasperated smile, Dias finally took the bouquet off the table, and was met with cheers once again.

A tug on her sleeve stole her attention. Hannah was looking at her with tired eyes and yawned before she could talk properly "Can you walk me home? I don’t think Lydia is going to stop partying any time soon."

 

That was a reasonable and realistic assumption, though it seemed that the brunette just didn’t want to stop the senior from partying just because she was tired, and so was Tira, if she was being honest.

 

So, discreetly wiping her lips, she made sure her heels were still worn the correct way before she stood up from her seat with one last look towards the flustered man across the table, whose eyes were no longer locked onto her for once and nodded in agreement.

"Alright, let’s go."