The dinner party is terrifying for me. I’ve never been one for social situations, but I always come to support Brynne. When we walk into the room, I see Blaze across the room, so I rush over to him.

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“Wow” he says, looking at me with a gentleness in his eyes. “You look beautiful.”

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I roll my eyes and give him a small kiss before leaning into his shoulder and watching everyone enjoy themselves.

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“Do you ever feel like you don’t belong here?” I ask after several moments of silence.

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“What do you mean?” Blaze asks quietly, looking down at me.

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“I mean like everyone else seems to be so comfortable in places like this.” I say, looking around. “I mean look at Brynne. She is able to entertain groups of people without dropping her smile. Everyone loves her and it takes her almost no effort. I just feel like I’m not needed here.”

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He looks down at me and gently lifts my chin with his hand so that I am looking up at him. “Rayne. I know Brynne is different. But that doesn’t make you not belong. Brynne can handle the social side of leadership, but this place would not function without you. You’ve trained half the people here. You have taught us how to use powers that you’ve never had. Babe, you are needed here.” He pauses. “I need you here.”

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I smile up at him and lean my head back into his shoulder, his arm around my waist, and we continue watching the room.

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About halfway through the night, a song comes on that I don’t immediately recognize.

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“Can all the couples come out to the dance floor.” Nova says through the microphone at her DJing booth. “This is Make You Feel My Love by Adele. It will be our last slow dance for a while, so don’t miss it!”

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Blaze takes my hand and pulls me out to the dance floor. I lean into him, and we slowly begin to dance to the song.

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My parents made me take ballroom dance lessons with Brynne when I was 7, and I hated every moment of it, but as Blaze, spins me around the dance floor, I’m thankful for those months of lessons. By the end of the song, everyone is watching us as we glide across the dance floor. I don’t notice the hundreds of eyes on me until the song is over and we stop. I honestly don’t know how Brynne does it. I wish I could just disappear. I close my eyes and hold Blaze’s hand tightly and imagine I was in the quiet of the library. When I open my eyes, all the people and music are gone. The only person around is Blaze, who is still gripping my hand.

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I look around and take a deep breathe, enjoying the silence and the smell of books. “This is so much better.” I whisper.

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“How’d you do that?” Blaze says, looking around the room in shock, still processing what just happened.

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“I honestly don’t know.” I respond, pushing a table up against the wall to clear an area in the middle of the floor. “It’s never happened before. I just got overwhelmed with everyone watching me and pictured the quiet of the library. Then when I opened my eyes, we were here.”

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I plug my phone into the speakers in the library. “Dancing with you was really great though.” I go and dim the lights so that the floor of the library is now our own personal dance floor. “Where’d you learn to dance?”

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“My parents were rich and we had dances almost every Saturday, so I learned how to dance pretty young. As a young boy, I was expected to be able to lead the girls in ballroom dances.” He says with a look of disdain. “What about you?”

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“Brynne was in a lot of pageants when we were younger. So when she took ballroom dance lessons, my parents made me take them with her. I hated every moment.” I give a small laugh. “I honestly never thought I would use it.”

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I press play on my phone, and music starts playing through the speakers.

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I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed anything as much as I enjoyed tonight.