She looks at her reflection in the bathroom mirror as she washes her hands. Other girls are entering and leaving in their black tie attire; dresses of every size, shape, and color appear and disappear. She dries her hands and sighs, thinking of how tired she is, wondering if perhaps she should simply leave the dance altogether; the one the previous night had been better by far. Resolving to leave with the next group within her team, she leaves the bathroom and rejoins the dance floor, using what seems to be the last of her energy to dance while she's still there. A familiar face appears out of the crowd: an African American girl she had met the night before. "Hi," she smiles and greets the other girl. "Hey...Serena," she reads her name tag. Serena looks for the girl's name tag, but can't find one. Another face appears beside her, one that Serena does not recognize. He extends his hand to her. "Sohneya, Texas" he introduces himself. Instead of trying to shout over the music she simply gestures towards her name tag. "Serena, from...Montana," he reads. Something about him catches her, makes her stop and truly look at this man. She can't help but think of how incredibly ironic it would be if something did come out of their meeting, him being from Texas and her from Montana. They dance for a time, until he offers to get her a drink. She thinks she might melt into a love-struck puddle right then and there; chivalry had always been a weak point for her. She accepts and allows him to pour her a glass of water. As soon as they are both sated she pulls him back towards the dance floor and is about to start when she notices the rings on his fingers. Curious, she asks him, "Are there stories behind these?" He nods, "Stories and meaning." Deciding to leave the ballroom so that they can hear each other talk, they stand by a wall outside and he tells her about his rings. And they talk, and talk, and talk, and all the while she can't help but think how easy it would be for her to fall for this man. Unfortunately, after a time he has to leave, and he gets her information, gives her a brief kiss on the cheek, and runs up the stairs after his team. The rest of the night she is floating on a cloud, knowing that her soul had just met his, and somehow, without even realizing it, knowing that he was her other half. Six months later, she and him are in love, the kind of love that not only happens once in a lifetime, but spans lifetimes. Though they only get to see each other every few months, it doesn't detract from their love in the least. As she looks back over the past six months she can't help but think of how different everything would have turned out if she had had the chance to leave the dance earlier, or if she had chosen to sit out while she waited, or if perhaps they had never found each other at all. For a moment a stab of fear goes through her chest; they had come so close to never finding each other. But then she smiles, knowing that it doesn't matter because they did meet, they did fall in love. And she knows that she has found the person she wants to spend the rest of her life with.
My love, I look to the heavens every day and thank God that you are in my life. I know that he had a hand in what happened that night; how would it have been possible otherwise? Thank you for the past six months. Thank you for being there when I need you, for putting up with me, for loving me despite all my flaws, for everything. "Well, you done done me and you bet I felt it, I tried to be chill but you're so hot that I melted...(Jason Mraz, I'm Yours)." I love you.
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