Platts’s year-end party was always held at a country club near the school.
The club before Christmas had already finished decorating lavishly and was showing off a festive atmosphere.
From the entrance leading to the club, light bulb decorations were entwined on all the pillars and trees. In addition, sculptural trees and reindeer decorations were placed here and there on the lawn.
The yard wrapped in splendor was extremely gorgeous and a dreamlike sight.
Upon entering inside, a large, stylish chandelier hung from the ceiling. The interior was also decorated showing off the Christmas atmosphere to the fullest using artificial flowers.
The waiters were all dressed neatly and moved busily. Meanwhile, students dressed to the nines in accordance with the dress code of red were busy gathering in groups of threes and fives, laughing and chattering noisily.
Like them, in a burgundy dress shirt with a black vest, and pants long enough to cover his heels—Henry, dressed in extremely formal attire, entered inside.
As soon as Henry appeared in the hall, the attention of people who had been busy talking amongst themselves instantly shifted to him.
It wasn’t for any particular reason. At least not for Henry himself.
“Henry? What’s going on? You came to the party without a partner?”
“Right. It’s not like you couldn’t find one…”
“Hey, that’s not like you.”
Among the crowd, people who probably only knew each other’s faces and names spoke loudly toward Henry.
Yes, this was the reason. The reason Henry received more attention than usual was.
That ‘that’ Henry Lowell came to the party without a partner.
Generally, a partner at a party also meant ‘someone who has reasonably built relationships at school and has a friend of the opposite sex or lover to attend parties with.’
That’s why when a party of this scale was held, renting out a country club with a proper dress code and all, most people were always desperate to find a partner of the opposite sex.
Not having a partner was an important factor, enough to be a reason to reconsider attending the party.
As such, if it were the original Henry, he should have been bothered by the gazes gathering on him and felt embarrassed.
If it were Henry Lowell until relatively recently, he might have definitely been unable to bear the embarrassment and wanted to escape from the party.
But for some reason, today was fine. Even though everyone was asking why he came alone, saying there’s no way he would do that.
The time when he feared this kind of attention felt like the distant past. Now, the feeling of annoyance was winning over the thought of fear.
The fact that Henry Lowell appeared alone became such a topic that even Joseph, who had been spending time with his girlfriend, came to ask him.
“Why did you come alone?”
Henry couldn’t help but get sick of the questions constantly directed at him. Too tired to answer each one, he substituted an answer by slightly raising the corners of his mouth in a smile.
Hair carefully combed and swept up. A neat collar. The corners of his mouth that had to be smiling every moment, conscious of the gazes.
Henry suddenly felt that everything surrounding him was uncomfortable. He thought his own appearance was exactly like something set up to meet someone’s expectations.
If you think about it, coming here without a partner was like that too. It was rare, but it wasn’t like there were no people who came without partners.
Far away, even Declan Russell didn’t have a partner. Since breaking up with Hazel, he’d never had a partner at any school event.
“Did you really come without a partner? It’s so strange to see you alone.”
“Want me to introduce you to someone even now?”
Chattering as they pleased, they were convinced Henry would naturally ‘be introduced to a decent female student.’ Just looking at how they started looking around inside before even hearing an answer showed that.
“No, it’s fine.”
Henry hastily stopped them.
“Really? What’s wrong with you? Did you eat something bad?”
“Is it really that strange that I came without a partner?”
Henry asked his friends who were looking at him with suspicious eyes.
Lightly overturning Henry’s expectation that they would at least politely deny it, his friends said.
“Well, yeah, it kind of is?”
“There’s no way you would do that.”
They seemed to believe there must be a special reason why Henry came alone.
“I just wanted to come alone. I’m tired of going around looking for a partner.”
He wondered. Who was the “me” they were talking about?
Was the self they knew and himself really the same person?
Even though he’d always lived like that and enjoyed it, everything felt unfamiliar.
Questions he’d never thought about even once kept repeating.
Henry suddenly thought that perhaps he himself wasn’t a scriptwriter leading people, but an actor who had stepped onto a theater stage.
Always having to choose nice clothes, set up matching hair, practice decent expressions—the kind sports star of the school, Henry Lowell.
As long as he was given a role, he had to speak the assigned lines and act according to the well-crafted setting.
In the end, according to them, today’s Henry Lowell should have appeared wearing well-fitted clothes matching the dress code, arm in arm with a popular friend of the opposite sex.
He fulfilled all the other elements, but just one. Today’s Henry didn’t appear with a friend of the opposite sex.
For just that reason, everyone here found such a Henry strange.
Henry no longer wanted to bother explaining the reason. He’d never had the desire to do so from the start. Because there wasn’t anything worth calling a reason.
They all waited for Henry Lowell to say the answer they wanted to hear.
But ironically, the reason Henry came alone was that there was no female student he wanted to go with.
In the past, even if there was no one he wanted to go with, he would have proposed to just anyone from the cheerleading club.
To make excuses, now he just didn’t feel like he had to propose going together to a female student.
Henry only now freshly realized how different the self people saw and his real self were. How unfamiliar the ‘self’ he’d pursued and crafted was too.
It felt like a convulsion would occur in the corners of his mouth that he was struggling to keep raised. Suddenly, an impulse to run away to a place where no one could see came over him.
At that moment, at the back of the party venue.
“Aaaaah!”
Splash-!
The sound of someone screaming and jumping into the pool in the back was heard.
“That crazy—hey! Waylon, that guy really jumped in!”
“Wow! Hey, come in! It’s refreshing!”
“Hey! It’s 44°F right now!”
“It’s just for a moment, what does it matter!”
Noisy shouts. Happy laughter contrasting with the cold winter air.
Perhaps because the person who entered the outdoor pool in this cold weather was having fun, one by one, people began impulsively jumping into the pool as well.
In turn, the sounds of splashing into the water could be heard. Right after, voices screaming could be heard, unable to endure the bone-chillingly cold pool water.
No matter how you looked at it, it was a perfect environment to catch a cold. That’s why normally he would have lightly ignored it and passed by, but today, for some reason, he wanted to do something he didn’t usually do.
He wanted to submerge himself in a place where no one could see him. For Henry, who only moved within plans, impulse was an unfamiliar yet thrilling emotion.
Henry walked toward the terrace as if possessed, looking toward the pool. Joseph, who had been standing some distance away talking with his girlfriend, hastily grabbed Henry.
“Hey, what? Are you going in too?”
Joseph’s voice wasn’t small. Joseph’s words, Henry’s arm being held, the place Henry’s body was headed.
Those who confirmed all of that cheered.
“Henry! You go in too!”
“Yeah! Hey, this is also commemorative.”
Even in the atmosphere encouraging Henry, only Joseph desperately held onto Henry.
“Hey, are you trying to catch a cold? Why are you suddenly trying to do something you don’t usually do?”
“…Exactly.”
“What?”
“I want to do something I don’t usually do. Especially today.”
At Henry’s answer, Joseph burst into a hollow laugh but let him go.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you if you regret it. Ugh, your mother is going to make a fuss again.”
Leaving Joseph’s voice behind, Henry walked toward the pool. The closer he got to the water’s edge, the clearer his mind became bit by bit.
Even without going in yet, it was certain the pool water would be ice-cold. Imagining the coldness when he jumped into it, his heart pounded and his fingertips tingled.
“Henry, hurry!”
Doing something unsuitable. Moving contrary to everyone’s expectations and thoughts.
Just that fact alone made him feel excited. His heart felt lighter.
Henry jumped straight into the pool without a moment’s hesitation.
