"Sorry… am I in the right place?"
His voice was low, yet it somehow silenced the room. Most conversations die mid-sentence as their head slowly turns towards him.
Standing beside the door was a man in his mid 20s, his hands rested slightly against the handle, with his sleeves slightly rolled to his elbows.
His face stood out from the crowd, due to his beautiful yet messy silver hair and manly handsome face.
For some seconds, the room remained silent with only music playing in the background.
Then…
"Oh my God, you actually came!"
Stephanie said, her voice bursting with excitement as she rushed toward him for a hug.
"Over here! Come in, come in!"
The room shifted.
People leaned toward each other, whispering among themselves.
"Who's that?"
"Wait… do we know him?"
"He's hot."
"Was he in our class?"
He walked in slowly. His smile was beautiful yet humble, that made most ladies slightly blush without realizing.
"I wasn't sure if I had the right place," he said as he took a seat next to Stephanie.
"You really are something," Stephanie replied quickly. She slipped her arm through his and leaned awkwardly closer than necessary, smiling at the room as though presenting him as hers.
"You're exactly where you're supposed to be."
"Stephanie, sorry... who is that?" one of them finally asked, voicing the same question that lingered heavily on everyone's mind.
"Who could this model be?"
She turned dramatically to the others, smiling sweetly. "Have you all forgotten him already? Seriously? You guys aren't serious, right?" She smiled softly. "...This is Francis."
"Francis?" Everyone still looked confused.
"Francis, our classmate from high school. Have you guys forgotten that quickly?"
Their faces were still confused, then whispers slowly spread from person to person. Someone recognized him, then another, then the crowd caught on.
"No way."
"Wait, that's him?!"
"Damn…"
"You look so different!"
"You look amazing!"
Suddenly the crowd exploded.
A crowd quickly formed around him, consisting mainly of women. Mostly complimenting and some random questions in between.
He smiled gently, nodding slightly and answering politely, calm with a hint of awkwardness mixed in.
Across the room, Anna was watching. Her heart raced from the sight of a previous crush. Her cheeks swollen and red from frequent smiles.
Before she realized it, she had already taken a step toward him.
"Hi."
She said calmly, her voice softer than the others', quieter but quite beautiful.
"Hey," he answered, turning toward her. At first it was just a usual greeting, nothing new nor special. Just polite attention and that was all.
Anna smiled there in silence, her heart cursing at her for being so. She tried speaking but no words came.
Then...
His brows knit slightly, staring deeply at her face and oblivious to the surroundings. His thoughts filled with different facial images, trying to recognize her as seconds passed.
And then it landed.
"…Anna?"
Her lips curved in excitement, "You remember."
His expression changed, not dramatically, just calmly and almost overjoyed.
His eyes moved from top to bottom, scanning her beautiful outfit.
"You look…" he paused, like he was choosing the exact right word, "gorgeous."
"I love your dress," he continued. His words felt more real than before, and his smile was at its brightest.
At that moment, it was as if time paused and the world slowed down.
Ben on the other hand wasn't so pleased. A smile cheeped on his face, forced but there. His hands wrapped harder against his glass watching her smiles so much with Francis.
He stepped forward with his hand extended between them.
"I'm Ben," he said smoothly. "Anna's partner."
Francis blinked once, then accepted the handshake. "Oh. Nice to meet you."
Anna's eyes widened.
"Partner?" she laughed lightly, nudging Ben's arm. "Ignore him, he's joking. He's just my best friend. My very best friend from childhood."
She said it easily, without hesitation, smiling naturally without much thought in her words.
But to Ben it hurt for some unknown reasons. His inside coiled in pain but hidden behind an empty smile.
"Yeah," he chuckled. "Just best friends." Once more with a smile that felt off.
Francis, on the other hand, nodded, relaxed again. "I see."
An awkward air was beginning to blow through the room, making the entire reunion unlike its previous self.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Stephanie's hands slammed into each other loudly, drawing the room's attention back to her.
"Okay! Okay! Enough side conversations! It's getting boring and the night is still early. Why don't we do something to brighten things up, like maybe a game or something."
The others started laughing, yet curious.
"A game?" someone asked.
"Yes!" she answered. "Like maybe we can take turns talking about life after high school…what everyone's been doing since then. Jobs, relationships, scandals, everything." She paused, "what do you think about it."
Most people began smiling, agreeing immediately while some either tried avoiding the topic, or began excusing themselves. But at the end, majority rules.
One by one, people began sharing what they had been doing since graduation. From job stories to promotions, marriages, and success stories.
Laughter filled the room once more, though some of the stories either sounded too exaggerated to be true or they were more like quiet bragging than simple updates.
As more and more time passed, Stephanie once again grew bored. Her eyes slowly wandered through the room, from person to person until they landed on Anna, who was seated, completely focused on the stories.
She smiled softly, especially with the absence of Ben, she was the best candidate to tease.
"Anna, won't your boyfriend be coming anytime soon? I did hear he was released," she said, interrupting the person who had been speaking previously.
The room's attention slowly shifted toward Anna as most of their eyes were either judging or softly smiling.
Anna smiles softly, "I haven't heard from him, anyways it's more than decade already, some of us grew wiser, he probably did as well." she said, her words venomous like a snake.
Then she stood up with absolute confidence from the suffocating atmosphere, excusing herself from the room with Stephanie bitterly staring at her.
She smiled softly as she walked towards the balcony.
****
The cool night breeze welcomed her as she stepped out, closing the door behind her.
She inhaled deeply, looking toward the late-night sky, with the light from the stars and moon finally calming her down, the silence slowly wrapping around her shoulders like a shawl.
"…Better."
"You also felt suffocated, right?"
She froze in fear, turning quickly toward the voice.
He stood there, leaning against the railing of the balcony. One of his hands was wrapped around a glass of red wine, the other resting on the railing.
His eyes lifted toward the sky as if he had been stargazing before she arrived.
"You scared me," she said softly, her breath finally stabilizing.
"Sorry."
"You came out here too?"
"I'm not really good with people, as always," he said, his voice filled with disappointment. "Never was."
She tilted her head. "That's hard to believe."
He glanced at her. "Why is that?"
"You were literally the talk of the entire school."
He blinked. "I was?"
She stared at him. "You're serious? Or are you just messing with me?"
"No! No, it's not like that. I just don't think anyone really noticed me," he said honestly. "I mostly slept through class and had almost zero presence."
Anna let out a quiet laugh.
"You really have no idea, do you?"
"What do you mean?"
"Girls from other classes used to walk past our classroom just to get a glimpse of you."
"…You're joking."
"I'm very serious. You were literally the talk of the entire school. Among seniors and juniors combined."
He stared at her for a moment before bursting into laughter, an easy, unguarded sound that made her doubt her ears.
That laugh eased the tension between them slightly, creating a moment that felt strangely intimate.
They talked easily after that, just random conversation that flowed well…like a couple reconnecting after many years apart.
At some point she said casually, "Hey… can I have your number? We should catch up properly sometime."
He didn't hesitate. "Sure."
She handed him her phone for him to type it in, which he did. A simple and harmless gesture without any hidden intention from either side.
At least, she thought it was.
"Anna?"
A call for her from behind.
She turned, curious who it could be.
Ben stood in the doorway, his face covered with a smile that was slowly fading.
His gaze moved slowly from her face…
To the phone in Francis's hand…
To the awkwardly close space between them.
This time, his face didn't hide his emotions.