Maple Valley — Festival Night (Day Two)
The second evening of the Autumn Festival arrived with a cool breeze that carried the scent of autumn through every street of Maple Valley.
By sunset, the city itself seemed to glow.
The sidewalks surrounding Westridge University were crowded with students, families, alumni and visitors who had come to witness the university's most cherished tradition. Small cafés along Maple Avenue remained open late, their windows glowing warmly against the cool evening. Street performers played violins and acoustic guitars beneath rows of maple trees while local vendors sold roasted chestnuts, cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate.
For one weekend every year...
Maple Valley belonged to the students.
The city embraced them.
And Westridge University became its beating heart.
---
Across the campus, thousands of lanterns illuminated every pathway.
Golden lights hung from ancient maple branches.
Paper decorations swayed gently above the crowds.
Music echoed from different corners of the university as students wandered happily between food stalls, game booths and performance stages.
At the centre of everything stood the largest attraction of the evening.
An open-air wooden dance floor.
Built beneath towering maple trees.
A banner stretched across its entrance.
"AUTUMN DANCE UNDER THE MAPLES"
The dance floor remained empty for now while technicians adjusted speakers and musicians tuned their instruments.
Within an hour...
It would become the busiest place on campus.
---
The Group Arrives
Lisa and Sophie walked through the festival gates together, each carrying a paper cup of hot chocolate.
Lisa stopped for a moment.
"...Everywhere looks different at night."
Sophie smiled.
"I think I like tonight even more than yesterday."
"I know I do."
Students rushed past them laughing.
Some wore traditional autumn-themed outfits.
Others had flower crowns made from maple leaves.
Camera flashes lit the pathways every few seconds as memories were captured one photograph at a time.
For a brief moment...
Lisa forgot entirely that she was hundreds of kilometres away from Sunshine City.
Westridge already felt like home.
---
"Walker!"
Kevin's voice travelled across the courtyard before he did.
He appeared carrying a cardboard box filled with decorations.
"Perfect timing."
Lisa blinked.
"You volunteered?"
"I was volunteered."
Sophie laughed.
"That's different."
Kevin sighed dramatically.
"The Student Council believes I have leadership qualities."
Lisa looked inside the box.
"...These are fairy lights."
Kevin nodded proudly.
"I lead fairy lights now."
Sophie couldn't stop laughing.
---
A familiar calm voice came from behind Kevin.
"They made him carry the lightest box."
Austin.
Standing quietly with both hands inside the pockets of his dark jacket.
Kevin looked offended.
"I was trusted."
Austin looked at the tiny paper decorations inside the box.
"You were supervised."
Lisa smiled.
She noticed something.
Austin looked... different tonight.
Not because of what he wore.
Because he seemed more relaxed than usual.
Not much.
Just enough for someone paying close attention to notice.
---
Before anyone could continue...
Another voice joined them.
"Looks like I made it."
Ethan Philip approached carrying two bottled drinks.
His effortless confidence remained exactly the same.
Several students greeted him on the way.
He greeted every one of them back.
Kevin folded his arms dramatically.
"There he is."
"The celebrity."
Ethan sighed.
"I've been here thirty seconds."
"And already five people said hello."
"They're friends."
"You have too many."
Lisa smiled quietly while watching them.
Despite their different personalities...
They somehow worked well together.
---
Preparing the Dance Floor
The Student Council requested volunteers to help decorate the dance area before the evening programme began.
Kevin immediately pointed at everyone.
"We volunteer."
Lisa looked at him.
"When did we agree?"
"When I decided."
"You really enjoy making decisions for other people."
"It builds character."
Austin answered quietly,
"It builds complaints."
Kevin ignored him completely.
Within minutes...
The five of them were hanging lanterns between wooden posts, arranging chairs around the dance floor and placing candles inside glass jars.
It wasn't exciting work.
But somehow...
Doing it together made it enjoyable.
---
Lisa stood on the lowest step of a small ladder trying to tie a ribbon around one of the lantern hooks.
She stretched higher.
Almost reached it.
Almost.
"Oh, come on..."
The ribbon slipped from her fingers.
Before it could fall—
A hand caught it.
Austin.
Without saying a word, he reached up with ease and secured the ribbon in place.
"There."
Lisa looked up at him.
"You could've let me struggle for another five minutes."
"You looked determined."
"I was."
"You were losing."
She laughed.
"Fair."
For the briefest moment...
The corner of Austin's mouth lifted.
Barely.
A smile that lasted less than a second.
Lisa noticed it immediately.
"So you do smile."
Austin looked away almost instantly.
"...Rarely."
"I'm counting that one."
"It doesn't count."
"It absolutely counts."
Kevin looked over from the opposite side of the dance floor.
"Did Austin just smile?"
Austin sighed quietly.
"No."
Kevin pointed dramatically.
"He denies everything."
The group laughed.
Even Austin didn't argue.
For tonight...
That was enough.
---
As the final lantern was secured above the dance floor, the first notes of live music drifted across the courtyard.
Students slowly began gathering beneath the glowing maple trees.
The second night of the Autumn Festival...
Had officially begun.
The first song floated gently through the cool autumn air.
It wasn't loud.
It wasn't meant to be.
A slow acoustic melody echoed across the courtyard as strings of golden fairy lights flickered beneath the maple branches. One by one, students began gathering around the dance floor.
Laughter mixed with music.
Camera flashes illuminated smiling faces.
For a few beautiful moments...
Nothing else in the world seemed to matter.
The Dance Begins
An elderly music professor stepped onto the small wooden stage, adjusting the microphone with a warm smile.
"Good evening, everyone."
The conversations gradually softened.
"Thank you for being a part of another Westridge Autumn Festival."
He looked around at the sea of students before him.
"When I first joined this university twenty-six years ago, someone told me something I'll never forget."
He smiled to himself.
'One day, you won't remember every lecture you attended... ...but you'll always remember the people standing beside you during moments like these.'
Silence settled across the courtyard.
"I hope tonight becomes one of those memories."
A wave of applause rose through the audience.
The band behind him adjusted their instruments.
A violinist nodded.
The pianist pressed the first few gentle keys.
Then...
The music began.
Couples slowly stepped onto the wooden dance floor.
Some danced confidently.
Others awkwardly laughed through missed steps.
Friends encouraged one another to join.
Nobody cared about perfection.
Only participation.
Ethan Makes His Move
Lisa watched the growing crowd with an amused smile.
"They make it look easy."
Sophie nudged her gently.
"Go dance."
Lisa looked at her in disbelief.
"With who?"
"I don't know."
"Find someone."
Before Sophie could answer—
A familiar voice spoke beside them.
"I have a suggestion."
Lisa turned.
Ethan stood there with one hand tucked casually inside his jacket pocket.
The warm lantern light reflected softly across his face.
He smiled.
Not his usual teasing smile.
A genuine one.
He extended his hand.
"Would you like to dance?"
Lisa blinked.
For a brief second...
She looked at the dance floor.
Then back at Ethan.
A small smile appeared.
"I'm warning you."
"I'm terrible."
Ethan laughed.
"So am I."
"I don't believe that."
"You shouldn't."
She rolled her eyes.
"At least you're honest."
He bowed dramatically.
"I try."
Lisa laughed before placing her hand in his.
"One dance."
"One dance."
Together, they stepped toward the centre of the dance floor.
Austin Watches
Several metres away...
Austin stood beside one of the maple trees.
Hands inside his jacket pockets.
Watching.
He hadn't intended to.
He wasn't even looking for Lisa.
Yet somehow...
His eyes had found her anyway.
Now she stood beneath the lanterns.
Laughing.
Talking.
Dancing with Ethan.
The music surrounded them.
The golden lights reflected in her eyes every time she smiled.
She looked...
Happy.
Austin lowered his gaze.
A strange feeling settled quietly inside his chest.
Not anger.
Not jealousy.
Something quieter.
He searched for the right word.
Couldn't find one.
It wasn't that Ethan had done anything wrong.
He hadn't.
Ethan had simply asked.
Lisa had simply accepted.
There was nothing unusual about it.
Nothing unfair.
Then why...
Why did it feel like someone had quietly taken something from him...
...that had never belonged to him in the first place?
He exhaled slowly.
His fingers tightened unconsciously inside his pockets.
Across the dance floor, Lisa laughed again as Ethan jokingly missed a step.
The crowd around them laughed with them.
Austin looked away.
He suddenly found the music...
Far away.
Kevin Notices Nothing
Kevin appeared carrying two paper cups of hot chocolate.
He handed one to Austin.
"You've been standing here for five minutes."
Austin accepted it quietly.
"I know."
Kevin looked toward the dance floor.
"Ethan's actually not bad."
"He isn't."
"You should've danced."
Austin took a small sip.
"I wasn't planning to."
Kevin shrugged.
"Your loss."
Completely oblivious...
He wandered away toward another food stall.
Austin watched him leave.
Sometimes...
He envied Kevin.
Life seemed so simple through Kevin's eyes.
Sophie Notices Everything
Unlike Kevin...
Sophie noticed.
She had been watching since Ethan invited Lisa.
She looked toward Austin.
Then toward Lisa.
Then back again.
Her expression slowly changed.
Not into surprise.
Into understanding.
She quietly folded her arms.
"...Oh."
The word escaped almost silently.
She didn't know exactly what was happening.
But she knew enough.
Austin hadn't been watching the dance.
He had been watching Lisa.
And the way his eyes quietly drifted away...
Said more than any confession ever could.
Sophie looked back toward the dance floor.
Lisa smiled brightly while talking with Ethan.
Completely unaware.
Sophie smiled faintly to herself.
"So that's what's happening..."
She whispered so softly that even the wind carried the words away.
The song came to an end.
Applause filled the courtyard.
Lisa and Ethan stepped away from the dance floor, both laughing after nearly colliding during the final spin.
"You definitely lied," Lisa said between laughs.
"You know exactly what you're doing."
Ethan placed a hand over his heart dramatically.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"You've danced before."
"...Maybe once."
"More than once."
"...Twice."
Lisa laughed again.
"Hopeless."
"But entertaining."
"I'll give you that."
Their laughter blended effortlessly with the sounds of the festival.
Yet across the courtyard...
Beneath the oldest maple tree on campus...
Austin quietly turned away.
Nobody called his name.
Nobody noticed him leave.
Except one person.
Lisa.
Just as she thanked Ethan for the dance, her eyes wandered across the crowd.
She caught a glimpse of a familiar dark jacket disappearing beyond the lantern-lit pathway leading toward the quieter side of campus.
She frowned slightly.
"...Austin?"
Before she could think about why...
Her feet had already taken a step in that direction.
TO BE CONTINUED..