I suggest you read this with this playing in the background:
"Through the eyes of a child" by Aurora
It's the song I had playing while writing this chapter and the
one after this. You'll enjoy it. Trust me. Make sure you read
it in a quiet environment where you're comfortable. Read and Imagine!

One last sign was all she needed to push her to confront Paul. She told herself earlier that she would confront him today, but she realized she needed one last sign. Although it was impossible to get a sign without getting exposed, she really needed it. Or else, she'll be losing a real friend.

The bell rang and Alissa stood from her chair and walked out of the classroom, completely fine, and not even nervous. She was eager. She was excited. She wasn't scared to face who could possibly be the demon clown, rather she was ready to know the truth.

Alissa walked through the corridors, lowkey waiting for Paul to appear somewhere. She was patient, pretending not to expect him as she just walked out of the building with a poker face. Then, when she descended the stairs, a smiling Paul greeted her while he waited for her along the stairs.

She smiled faintly at him like she always did, "Hey."

"How was the exam?"

She shrugged, "I think I did okay." as she walked, Paul followed,

"You've been studying well, I bet you did great!" He said sounding enthusiastic, not knowing Alissa was paying attention to how he spoke.

"I hope so."

They both walked over to the building where the dance studio was as planned.

"At least now, I get to hang with you." She said and smiled lightly,

He smiled back and agreed.

While they both walked along the hallway, Alissa remembered the woman that asked her about Paul. That's when it came to her. Nobody really knew about him. She remembered when she asked who Paul Walsh was. She wasn't even familiar with his name.

Paul noticed Alissa wasn't saying anything.

"You all right?" He asked her before they entered the room,

"Yeah. I'm just nervous about my test results. I think I answered that one number wrong." Alissa was so good at lying, knowing that Pennywise could sense doubt in her,

Paul chuckled and opened the studio door, "Don't stress, Alissa."

"Yeah," When she saw the door, she thought about how she was going to confront him, "you're right," she entered the studio with him finally.

Alissa noticed they were alone again. She sat at the corner of the room and left her things on the floor beside her. Like always, Paul removes his sweater, leaving his white crumpled shirt on that matches so well with his pants and dress shoes. It was the first time Alissa paid attention to the way he dressed and the way he removed it. She felt herself blush, staring at his back as he prepared the music.

But she noticed that there wasn't even anything connected to the speakers. She saw Paul hover his hand and the equipment immediately opened and played a piano instrumental that he usually danced to. Alissa was frozen. She was shouting at herself in her head to look away. Luckily, when he turned around, she quickly glanced at her phone in her hand and scrolled her social media calmly.

Paul saw her sitting as always and looked away. He started dancing a classic with a mix or contemporary dance. He gracefully glided across the floor and watched Alissa's reflection through the mirror on the wall.

When she looked up, she watched him dance so gracefully.

For at least five minutes, she watched him dance for the first time. Not through her camera, but through her own eyes, she enjoyed every second. Only did she look back at her phone when the song ended. When she looked up again, she realized she was looking back at Paul who was panting, still with poise, while he stood there facing the mirror.

She smiled lightly at him, and he smirked at her before he began to dance again.

Alissa peeked through her lashes as he kept dancing. It was then she realized it was her favorite song playing. She knew the person dancing in front of her was not a man majoring in the arts and performing for a dancers' club-she knew it was a different entity. She was finally sure of it this time. Alissa secretly and quietly gathered all the courage to finally stand up which took over a minute, mentally shouting at herself.

Pennywise kept dancing as Paul, gliding and dancing to Alissa's favorite song. It might have taken the form of Paul but it smelled something different about Alissa. It smelled courage in her veins, her soul, and heart. Above anything else, what Pennywise feared was courage and heart.

It might have fascinated the demon clown at first, but this time, it was too intense. It was so intense that even while in the form of a human, it could smell it off her from a distance.

But the demon clown did not give up, for it would hate itself if it cowered away from the girl. Instead of being anxious, it kept dancing, and then paused to tease Alissa when it noticed her staring, "Do you wanna dance?" Paul asked with a smirk,

Alissa stared at him for a few seconds, "Yes." She said so softly, gazing at his reflection through the mirror.

Paul was left speechless. He did not know she would agree for the first time, let alone she never agreed to dance with him. At this moment, Pennywise sensed that there was something off, but still, it went with the flow.

Paul raised his eyebrows and smirked, "Finally." He teased as Alissa stood on her feet and slowly walked towards him. He observed Alissa in her black leggings and loose sweater. He noticed the sweater almost exposing her full shoulder. He did not want to stare at her flesh way too long that he dragged his eyes back to hers. He noticed she was looking at his feet.

"We'll start slow, don't worry." He assured her,

And slowly, Alissa finally stepped in front of Paul. He looked at her from head to toe, gazing at her body. She was standing too still, almost obvious that she wasn't sure what to do with her body.

"Give me your hand."

Paul reached for her hand and let her lay it on his palm, while he led her other hand to rest on his shoulder. Then, as he kept his eyes on her, he placed his warm hand on her waist, watching her reaction. "Follow me," He said softly,

Alissa nodded as she stared back into his eyes. He couldn't tear his gaze as well. They have completely been lost in each others' gaze, but Paul managed to remind himself to make the first move. He moved his foot sideways while Alissa followed him. They repeated this until they were dancing to the perfect rhythm of the song.

She watched their feet move and could not help but smile when she realized she was able to keep up with the dance. Alissa looked up and noticed that Paul was staring at her the whole time. "You're dancing what I've been practicing for months." He joked making Alissa chuckle,

She was genuinely pleased and so was he, and for a second, she forgot that she was dancing with Paul. Alissa knew in her head that it was Pennywise. She believed it so much and was rather relieved to know that she was dancing with the clown. It was a wonderful thought that Pennywise had been the one spending time with her. Instead of feeling betrayed, she felt flattered. How selfish, she told herself. But it was true, she was pleased to know that Pennywise chose to take the form of a human to spend time with her.

And now, it's dancing with her.

She felt her heart beat loud. It beat so loud that the sound reached her head. She was nervous, excited, and happy all at the same time. But instead of smiling, she was dazed-staring into Paul's eyes.

Although Pennywise did not know what exactly is going through Alissa's mind, it knew that it was of good nature. Because of this, It started to feel an ounce of fear in its blood, making It dance slower than they were before. But Pennywise could not stop staring back into her eyes. Pennywise was intrigued yet again. The demon clown was not interested in cowering in fear and leaving. It had to stay for it might find a way to convince her to be with Paul. It was the perfect time. It should not let courage and heart fear it.

This was the greatest challenge of all, Pennywise thought. This is why not one Ancient evil tried to search for its sacrifical virgin because most feared that the virgin's innate goodness would devour them instead. But now that the demon clown stood in front of its sacrificial virgin, its potential source of immense power, it found out that it wasn't that scary like how they were ought to be.

Although it is difficult to convince them, but it was surely easy to capture them.

Pennywise finally has Alissa in its trap. The only thing it needs it to make her agree to sacrifice her virgin flesh, which was the greatest obstacle of all.

Oh how it would enjoy killing her for making It struggle when it finally acquired the power it needed from her, Pennywise thought. But for now, it needs to play a part.

Alissa had her arms wrapped around his arms while they swayed to the same song, and they swayed with their bodies closer than ever. Pennywise wondered what got into her head that made her agree to dance. He stared back at her eyes.

Pennywise needed to know. It was becoming impatient.

Paul took Alissa's hand, held it to its heart, slowly led it closer to his lips and planted a soft kiss. He looked at her and noticed her gazing at what he had just done. But she hasn't pulled away yet which he thought was a good sign. He smirked and gracefully twirled her around.

Alissa chuckled at his sudden pacing. In her head, she was going crazy. She felt so much passion in her heart and mind that she didn't want the moment to stop. She was having too much fun.

"Ready for something more daring?" He teased her,

She smiled warmly, "Are you gonna throw me into the air?" She joked,

He squinted his eyes and laughed, "Is that what you're into?"

She laughed and shook her head. Before Alissa could speak again, he raised his eyebrow once at her then twirled her once, and swayed with her as he took her other hand holding it against his chest. Then, he pulled away, still holding her hand. Alissa anticipated what was going to happen next; she knew he was going to pull her back to him. When he finally pulled her back, she twirled around as she got closer to him. She stopped completely when they were inches away from each other and her hands now resting on his shoulders.

While Paul gazed back into her eyes, Alissa wrapped her arms around his neck, like how the rest of the girls from dancers' club did it when she used to watch them, and she allowed him to gently and slowly dip her lowly towards the ground, their faces just inches away from each other.

She didn't look down nor away; she kept her eyes on him while he stared back at her. After a second, when they heard the song's tempo and melody begin to be calm and slow, Paul smoothly pulled her up again, but she didn't move away just yet.

Alissa could not look away, and so did he. Her arms were still around him, and his forearms are still supporting her body when she shut her eyes while Paul was now staring at her lips.

Alissa couldn't help it, and she just gave it away, "Penny..." she mumbled, making Paul instantly looking right at her eyes revealing bright, golden, translucent eyes. Just when he immediately pulled away she stopped him quick by not letting go, keeping him in their position, Alissa shouted it's name again, "Wait-Pennywise! Stop! Stop!" She locked him in place, clutching Paul's clothes and skin.

Paul stayed in place, angry and caught by surprise, furrowing his eyebrows at Alissa, his eyes still golden while Alissa's eyes were watering,

"Don't." She demanded, "I..." It was impulsive. She desperately muttered, "I know you're Pennywise. I...I want to see you as Pennywise. I know you're It."

For the first time, she heard Paul growl like how Pennywise would growl lowly in anger and frustration.

"Please..." She said in such a desperate and passionate request, "Please."