Chapter 260. Practice Doesn’t Make Perfect. (3/5)
When she stood up from her seat, I picked up my jacket from the back of the chair. The two of us wandered around the underground tunnels through the university in search of somewhere private to practice. I didn’t bother wearing my jacket since it was pretty warm inside so I carried it around under my arm.
When we made it all the way to the university’s gymnasium we turned back. There wasn’t anywhere good. We passed through the university center again, this time in the direction of the museum I frequented. Anytime we thought we found a decent spot, some random stray student would walk by.
When we came up from the underground tunnels to the first floor of the building with the museum I grabbed her hand and stopped her from proceeding further. When forced to a stop so suddenly, she asked, “What is it?”
I didn’t want her to stumble upon my little sanctuary that very few students knew about.
I looked around to try and find something I could use to not raise her suspicions of why I didn’t want her to proceed any further.
My eyes suddenly lit up when I noticed a short offshoot hallway to our side. I’d forgotten about the washroom in this building. It was a single room washroom designed for handicapped people. If it was here, unlike the large public washrooms around the campus which multiple people could use at once, it was nearly impossible we’d be discovered.
Not many people used this washroom because of the low traffic to it. Sunday, there would be even less.
“There’s a good place over here.” I pointed to the side, down the hallway.
“Won’t people see if they pass by?”
I dragged her by the hand down the hall and rounded the corner into another small hallway parallel to the main one we were in. When I opened up the door to the handicap washroom her eyes lit up.
“Oh! So there was an isolated washroom like this here? Good catch.”
“Yeah.”
She dragged me inside without any sign of reluctance.
“Hey, should you really be okay with dragging a guy into a washroom like this?” When inside the washroom I put my jacket down on top of the counter beside the sink.
“What’s there to fear a phony devil?”
“I’m still a guy.”
“But you’ve got a girlfriend already. Rather, shouldn’t you be the one scared right now? You’re locked up in a washroom with a scary goth girl like me.”
“Who’d be scared of the little goth girl who was so scared she slid down the wall onto the ground when I left the school lab that day.”
“I wasn’t scared!” She flared up when I provoked her and grabbed my collar pulling me closer with her right hand as she intimidatingly glared me in the eyes.
“Haha. How scary~”
“You should be scared or else I’ll do something that really scares you.”
“Oh? You think you can scare me? You’re just an obedient domesticated little puppy who’s always chasing after the student council president. You’re all bark and no bite. What’s there to be afraid of?”
“All bark... and no bite?” She bit her lips frustrated because she couldn’t refute my evaluation of her.
“So? Are we done with practice already?”
“We haven’t even started.”
“Our faces are already pretty close though, don’t you think?
Her lips were only a few short centimeters away from mine.
“Our faces being just this close wouldn't be enough to convince him.”
Her face moved a bit closer until there was less than a centimeter between our lips. With her head tilted a bit to the side, her nose was brushing against the side of mine. She closed her eyes, moved her head back a bit as she tilted her head to the opposite side, and closed the distance again. Her nose brushed up against mine again. Right before our lips touched she stopped in place. Even with her eyes closed, she was able to get the correct distance using her nose as a guide.
“Don’t you think it’s a bit dangerous to close your eyes?”
“But it’s more convincing if I can do it with my eyes closed. Alicia was able to. If she can do it, why can’t I when I’m an actor in the theatre club?” Izora whispered softly.
“But if there’s an accident and you mess up, you realize what will happen, right?”
“My first kiss will be yours then.”
“Then shouldn’t you be more cautious? I’m sure you wouldn’t want that to happen.”
“It’ll serve as punishment if I can’t do it right and fail.”
“I’ll be quite troubled if you fail.”
“A punishment for failure will serve to motivate me to not let it happen.”
She tilted her head further to the right as her left hand slid up my chest and crossed over my shoulder. She let her left arm dangle over my shoulder from her elbow at a forty-five-degree angle behind my back.
“Uh, do you really need to go this far?”
“Yeah.”
Suddenly she applied force with her right hand and pushed me back against the door.
Her face closed the gap once again.
“Hey, you have to make it look realistic as well.”
“Uh… can I not just perform on the day in question?”
“I might mess up if I don’t know what you’ll do.”
“Alright, I get it.”
I wrapped my left arm around her waist. I placed my right hand on her hip and slid it up along the side of her body. When I reached under her arm it slid over the top of her chest, up to her neck. I lightly choked her neck between my thumb and index finger.
I pushed her back a bit, took the offensive, and moved my face closer to hers. Our lips never touched once, but other parts of our bodies were in close contact at all times.
Her breathing sped up whenever our faces drew near.
“It just doesn’t feel the same,” she muttered out with our lips nearly touching.
Obviously. I never faked the kiss with Alicia after all.
“Then, should we give up?”
“No. I want to keep trying until I get it right.”
“You’re so stubborn. Why do you insist on it being perfect?”
As I spoke she pulled her head back. She moved back in close with her eyes shut when she responded, “I want to be an actor in the future. If I can’t even make a convincing kiss scene with someone I don’t actually have any feelings for, I’ll never make it in the industry.”
“Oh? The scary goth girl wants to be an actor? But what about your tattoos and piercings? Won’t they be problematic?”
This time she moved her face more to the side and her cheek brushed against mine. She let out a hot breath of air as she spoke, “I’ve mastered how to cover them up with makeup.”
“Oh? Have you now?”
“Yes, I’m confident in my ability to hide them. When I get into university.”
“You mentioned you were going to university before, was it to become an actor?”
“Yes. I’ll enter the faculty of arts for theatre. I feel like pretending to be someone’s girlfriend isn’t bad for gaining experience.”
“Do you want to make it big and be famous one day?”
“Of course.”
“You want to be looked at by others?”
“Yeah.”
“Is that why you like dressing like this? Because it draws people’s eyes?”
“Maybe. Are you going to laugh at me and call me delusional?”
She’s like a caged bird who wants to spread her wings and fly high in the sky.
“No, I won’t laugh. I think having a dream like that is fine and all… but, if your dream is too far out of reach, you might crumble when confronted with the reality of how difficult it really is to get there. University isn’t necessarily a place to fulfill dreams. It can be a place where lofty hopes and grand aspirations go to die. What really matters in university are the connections you can make there. Your grades come second.”
She might actually be presented with an opportunity to make a very strong connection. That was the only reason why I told her this.
“Connections? They’re more important than grades?”
“Yeah. You could have good grades, but if no one is willing to put in a good word for you, you may never find work in your field. When people say luck plays a factor in success, what they don’t say is that it's who you are lucky enough to meet. If you’re not at the right place at the right time and you miss forming that connection, it can be the difference between life and death.”
“I see. I’ll keep that in mind.”
Chapter 260. Practice Doesn’t Make Perfect. (3/5)
When she stood up from her seat, I picked up my jacket from the back of the chair. The two of us wandered around the underground tunnels through the university in search of somewhere private to practice. I didn’t bother wearing my jacket since it was pretty warm inside so I carried it around under my arm.
When we made it all the way to the university’s gymnasium we turned back. There wasn’t anywhere good. We passed through the university center again, this time in the direction of the museum I frequented. Anytime we thought we found a decent spot, some random stray student would walk by.
When we came up from the underground tunnels to the first floor of the building with the museum I grabbed her hand and stopped her from proceeding further. When forced to a stop so suddenly, she asked, “What is it?”
I didn’t want her to stumble upon my little sanctuary that very few students knew about.
I looked around to try and find something I could use to not raise her suspicions of why I didn’t want her to proceed any further.
My eyes suddenly lit up when I noticed a short offshoot hallway to our side. I’d forgotten about the washroom in this building. It was a single room washroom designed for handicapped people. If it was here, unlike the large public washrooms around the campus which multiple people could use at once, it was nearly impossible we’d be discovered.
Not many people used this washroom because of the low traffic to it. Sunday, there would be even less.
“There’s a good place over here.” I pointed to the side, down the hallway.
“Won’t people see if they pass by?”
I dragged her by the hand down the hall and rounded the corner into another small hallway parallel to the main one we were in. When I opened up the door to the handicap washroom her eyes lit up.
“Oh! So there was an isolated washroom like this here? Good catch.”
“Yeah.”
She dragged me inside without any sign of reluctance.
“Hey, should you really be okay with dragging a guy into a washroom like this?” When inside the washroom I put my jacket down on top of the counter beside the sink.
“What’s there to fear a phony devil?”
“I’m still a guy.”
“But you’ve got a girlfriend already. Rather, shouldn’t you be the one scared right now? You’re locked up in a washroom with a scary goth girl like me.”
“Who’d be scared of the little goth girl who was so scared she slid down the wall onto the ground when I left the school lab that day.”
“I wasn’t scared!” She flared up when I provoked her and grabbed my collar pulling me closer with her right hand as she intimidatingly glared me in the eyes.
“Haha. How scary~”
“You should be scared or else I’ll do something that really scares you.”
“Oh? You think you can scare me? You’re just an obedient domesticated little puppy who’s always chasing after the student council president. You’re all bark and no bite. What’s there to be afraid of?”
“All bark... and no bite?” She bit her lips frustrated because she couldn’t refute my evaluation of her.
“So? Are we done with practice already?”
“We haven’t even started.”
“Our faces are already pretty close though, don’t you think?
Her lips were only a few short centimeters away from mine.
“Our faces being just this close wouldn't be enough to convince him.”
Her face moved a bit closer until there was less than a centimeter between our lips. With her head tilted a bit to the side, her nose was brushing against the side of mine. She closed her eyes, moved her head back a bit as she tilted her head to the opposite side, and closed the distance again. Her nose brushed up against mine again. Right before our lips touched she stopped in place. Even with her eyes closed, she was able to get the correct distance using her nose as a guide.
“Don’t you think it’s a bit dangerous to close your eyes?”
“But it’s more convincing if I can do it with my eyes closed. Alicia was able to. If she can do it, why can’t I when I’m an actor in the theatre club?” Izora whispered softly.
“But if there’s an accident and you mess up, you realize what will happen, right?”
“My first kiss will be yours then.”
“Then shouldn’t you be more cautious? I’m sure you wouldn’t want that to happen.”
“It’ll serve as punishment if I can’t do it right and fail.”
“I’ll be quite troubled if you fail.”
“A punishment for failure will serve to motivate me to not let it happen.”
She tilted her head further to the right as her left hand slid up my chest and crossed over my shoulder. She let her left arm dangle over my shoulder from her elbow at a forty-five-degree angle behind my back.
“Uh, do you really need to go this far?”
“Yeah.”
Suddenly she applied force with her right hand and pushed me back against the door.
Her face closed the gap once again.
“Hey, you have to make it look realistic as well.”
“Uh… can I not just perform on the day in question?”
“I might mess up if I don’t know what you’ll do.”
“Alright, I get it.”
I wrapped my left arm around her waist. I placed my right hand on her hip and slid it up along the side of her body. When I reached under her arm it slid over the top of her chest, up to her neck. I lightly choked her neck between my thumb and index finger.
I pushed her back a bit, took the offensive, and moved my face closer to hers. Our lips never touched once, but other parts of our bodies were in close contact at all times.
Her breathing sped up whenever our faces drew near.
“It just doesn’t feel the same,” she muttered out with our lips nearly touching.
Obviously. I never faked the kiss with Alicia after all.
“Then, should we give up?”
“No. I want to keep trying until I get it right.”
“You’re so stubborn. Why do you insist on it being perfect?”
As I spoke she pulled her head back. She moved back in close with her eyes shut when she responded, “I want to be an actor in the future. If I can’t even make a convincing kiss scene with someone I don’t actually have any feelings for, I’ll never make it in the industry.”
“Oh? The scary goth girl wants to be an actor? But what about your tattoos and piercings? Won’t they be problematic?”
This time she moved her face more to the side and her cheek brushed against mine. She let out a hot breath of air as she spoke, “I’ve mastered how to cover them up with makeup.”
“Oh? Have you now?”
“Yes, I’m confident in my ability to hide them. When I get into university.”
“You mentioned you were going to university before, was it to become an actor?”
“Yes. I’ll enter the faculty of arts for theatre. I feel like pretending to be someone’s girlfriend isn’t bad for gaining experience.”
“Do you want to make it big and be famous one day?”
“Of course.”
“You want to be looked at by others?”
“Yeah.”
“Is that why you like dressing like this? Because it draws people’s eyes?”
“Maybe. Are you going to laugh at me and call me delusional?”
She’s like a caged bird who wants to spread her wings and fly high in the sky.
“No, I won’t laugh. I think having a dream like that is fine and all… but, if your dream is too far out of reach, you might crumble when confronted with the reality of how difficult it really is to get there. University isn’t necessarily a place to fulfill dreams. It can be a place where lofty hopes and grand aspirations go to die. What really matters in university are the connections you can make there. Your grades come second.”
She might actually be presented with an opportunity to make a very strong connection. That was the only reason why I told her this.
“Connections? They’re more important than grades?”
“Yeah. You could have good grades, but if no one is willing to put in a good word for you, you may never find work in your field. When people say luck plays a factor in success, what they don’t say is that it's who you are lucky enough to meet. If you’re not at the right place at the right time and you miss forming that connection, it can be the difference between life and death.”
“I see. I’ll keep that in mind.”
