Chapter 13: The Shadow in the Dance Studio

  On Saturday afternoon, I came to the dance room as Zheng Meimei said, and Ye Zikuo followed me. When we entered the dance room, we only saw the dance teacher Yue Die practicing alone, spinning, jumping, and making a perfect turn. What she did was so beautiful that I couldn't help but stare at her figure with my eyes fixed on her, unwilling to move away.

  "Niè Jiāng, you're not going to ask me to wipe your mouth again, are you?!" Yezi Ke's words snapped me out of my daze. Yezi Ke handed me a mirror, and I quickly wiped away the drool on my face, feeling embarrassed. I pretended to be calm and sat down in the resting chair to think, but then Yue Die finished her dance and walked over to me with a smile: "Niè Jiāng, I haven't seen you come here to play in a while." I hastily stood up: "I've just been busy lately."

  "Teacher Yue!" Zheng Meimei's high-pitched voice made my head spin, and I couldn't help but glare at her with a hint of resentment. But then I saw that her arm was bandaged, and Zhao Yu was following closely behind her. "What happened to you?" I asked, looking at her bandaged arm. Yue Die sighed and said, "Yesterday, Zheng Meimei was practicing dance and suddenly slipped, causing her arm to slam violently onto the floor, fracturing it on the spot!"

  Zheng Meimei looked at me pitifully and said, "Ning Lie, you have to help me." "How can I help?" I asked, puzzled. "Replace her in the dance!" Zhao Yu answered on behalf of Zheng Meimei. Yue Die seemed a bit uneasy and said, "Ning Lie is only good at playing the piano, and she's not very coordinated when it comes to dancing. Besides, we're going to participate in the city competition." I nodded in agreement with Yue Die's words, and saw that Zheng Meimei was pouting, her face twisted in anger as she said, "If my arm hadn't been broken, I wouldn't have withdrawn voluntarily and let Han Yu mock me!" Just as I was smiling at Zheng Meimei's sulky expression, I inadvertently caught a glimpse of what seemed to be a shadow flashing by in the dance studio. I was taken aback, rubbed my eyes, and looked again, but there was nothing there.

  Just as I was wondering, a pair of hands clutched onto Yue Die's neck, and she started coughing violently, saying: "What's going on?! I don't even have a cold!" I observed the people around us, except for Ye Zi Ke, it seemed like no one noticed that Yue Die's neck was being clutched. "Teacher Yue, your necklace looks really nice!" After saying that, I reached out to grab the necklace, and my hand touched the pair of hands, which instantly disappeared without a trace. "Oh, this necklace was given to me by my fiancé, isn't it pretty?!" Yue Die smiled as she took it off to show me, I pretended to be very interested, but my eyes were scanning around. Suddenly, a strand of hair appeared in front of my eyes, followed by a bloody and blurry face staring at me with an eerie expression. I quickly retreated backwards, trying to hide the panic on my face, fortunately, Zheng Mei Mei and the others didn't notice my unnatural expression.

  "A Butterfly" A man's voice sounded, and we looked towards the source of the sound. A mature and elegant man was smiling at Yue Die, "Didn't you say we were going to have dinner together? Have you forgotten again?" "Hao Jue, it's me who forgot," Yue Die said, pulling Hao Jue in front of us. "It just so happens that I have a few students here, let's go together!" Zheng Mei Mei and Zhao Yu naturally expressed their enthusiasm for going, while I was still curious about the place and smiled, saying: "The song that Teacher Yue taught me last time, I want to go practice in the music room. You all go ahead!"

  Zheng Meimei pointed at Ye Zikuo and asked, "And what about him? Did you bring him?" Ye Zikuo suddenly clutched his stomach and said, "Oh no! My stomach hurts so much, I think I ate something bad!" After saying that, he quickly left the dance room and ran towards the restroom. Zheng Meimei and others watched Ye Zikuo's series of actions, although they felt it was fake, but also saw that Ye Zikuo didn't want to go eat together, so they had no choice but to leave first.

  The entire dance studio fell silent, and I quietly sat down in the chair, perking up my ears to listen for any strange sounds. There weren't any, and that shadow had also vanished. As I was about to get up and leave, a shadow began to dance elegantly not far from me. Although it was just a blurry shadow, it could be seen that she was no less of a dancer than Yue Die, with every movement beautiful and flawless, even surpassing Yue Die. I was stunned, the impeccable dance moves making it impossible for anyone to look away. When Ye Zi Ke patted me, I signaled him to be quiet, pointing at the shadow for him to see.

  The soft piano sound came from somewhere, and it was actually "thedayilostmylove". It's strange, why is it the song that Yue Die taught me? "Isn't this the song we played at Hui Xian High School last time?" Ye Zi Ke said in a low voice. "Yes, it's a song that Yue Die taught me." I replied, but looked more suspiciously at the shadow until the piano piece ended and the shadow disappeared. I stood up and made a decision: "I'll replace Zheng Mei Mei to dance!"

  I walked out the door, and Ye Zikuo seemed to still be observing something. "What's wrong, aren't you leaving?" I asked. Ye Zikuo made a shushing sound and motioned for me to listen with my ear. A faint crying sound came from somewhere, but I didn't know where it was coming from. Ye Zikuo looked puzzled too, so we just left the classroom.

  But I kept feeling like someone was watching me from behind. When I turned around, there really was a woman standing at the entrance of the dance room staring at me, making my heart feel creepy. So I quickened my pace and walked forward, but collided with someone and fell to the ground. As I got up and apologized, the other person just looked at me with a provocative expression.

  I stared blankly and said, "Han Yu?" Han Yu nodded slightly and continued to say proudly, "Ning Lie, can you change your habit of rushing around recklessly?" The reason I was staring blankly at her was because she had changed so much compared to when we were in middle school.

  Han Yu ignored my puzzled expression and instead pulled Ye Zi Ke along, saying: "Hey! Are you new to our school? Come eat with me!" Ye Zi Ke inexplicably pulled his hand back and said: "Why should I eat with you? I don't even know you!" I felt like Han Yu was acting strange, but couldn't quite put my finger on it. I smiled and said: "Ah, the school flower has spoken, you'd better follow her! This is an honor for you!" Ye Zi Ke looked at me with a sly expression and immediately became flattering, saying: "Okay! Let's go!" After they left, I started thinking to myself, what's going on with Han Yu? Her personality wasn't like this before... Just as I was thinking, someone patted my shoulder, it was Zheng Mei Mei.

  "Hey, I just saw Han Yu going to eat with the classmate you brought along. Why didn't you go?" I furrowed my brow and asked: "Mei Mei, don't you think Han Yu has changed a lot compared to middle school?" Zheng Mei Mei gave me a white eye and said: "Everyone says she's had plastic surgery, haven't you heard?" "Plastic surgery?" I only then remembered that Han Yu's facial features hadn't changed much, but were indeed more refined than before. However, her temper was also strange, with a bad case of princess syndrome. "Well, no matter what, our school's most beautiful is still Teacher Yue. She's pretty, dances well, plays the piano well, and has an excellent fiancé." I nodded in agreement and said: "Right, Mei Mei, I've decided to take your place!"

  "Do you want to dance?" Zheng Meimei asked, "My coordination is very poor, but I will try my best!" I replied, "Ning Qi, I can accept you, but if you drag our team down, I won't show any mercy and kick you out directly." Yue Die hugged her arms, smiling brightly at me, saying, "I'll go home first! Hao Jue is still waiting for me!" After she finished speaking, she hastily walked downstairs, seeming very flustered and fearful. Zheng Meimei pulled me, saying, "Let's go home too!" I nodded, and the flashes of lightning illuminated the dark sky, in the corridor outside the dance studio, that shadow kept appearing and disappearing under the lightning...