Her eyes slowly opened as she woke up from her slumber. She heard her phone ring. She groaned as she reached over to grab it.

“Hello?” she said lazily.

“Hey,” a sweet voice on the other end answered.

Her face automatically turned into a foolish smile as she sat up in bed wide-awake.

“Hey,” she replied. “What’s up?”

“So, I’m really bored and you should totally come over and hangout with me for the day.”

“Sure. I just woke up, so I’ll be there soon!”

“Awesome, see you in a bit Lizzy.”

“Bye Nana.”

Lizzy put her phone on her bed and got up. She stretched her limbs and went to the bathroom. Nana was her best friend, they’d been friends ever since middle school. It was summer vacation, the last vacation they would spend together before going their separate ways for university in the fall. Lizzy looked in the mirror one last time to make sure she looked decent. She was wearing white shorts with a plain black t-shirt. She shrugged and grabbed her backpack, slinging the straps over her shoulders.

“Mom, I’m going to Nana’s,” she yelled as she ran down the stairs.

“Alright,” her mom called from the living room.

Lizzy put on her shoes and opened the door. She hopped on her bike and pedaled her way towards Nana’s house. It was a beautiful summer morning; the sky was blue and the sun shone brightly. Lizzy couldn’t help but smile as she thought of all the things her and Nana would do today. After twenty minutes of biking she arrived at her house. She hopped off her bike; it fell on the lawn and walked towards the house. She knocked on the door. It swung open instantly to reveal a beautiful, bright-eyed girl standing on the other side wearing ripped jean shorts and a black tank top. A smile came across both their faces as they saw each other. Lizzy walked in and Nana hugged her. As they hugged, Lizzy saw Jongsuk approaching, Nana’s boyfriend. Her smile instantly became a frown.

“Hey Lizard, what’s up?” he taunted as he grabbed her in a headlock and ruffled her hair. Lizzy smiled uncomfortably even though she wanted to scream on the inside. It’s not that she hated Jongsuk, okay well maybe she sort of did, but not completely. He was a to Nana at times, and it made Lizzy angry that her best friend was with someone as terrible as him. She deserved better, Lizzy thought. Jongsuk let her go and went to the kitchen.

“You didn’t tell me he was here,” Lizzy whispered.

Nana put a hand to the back of her neck and shrugged. “I didn’t think you’d mind.”

Lizzy sighed heavily. Nana grabbed Lizzy’s hand and led her to the kitchen. Jongsuk was standing by the counter sipping on a beer. Lizzy rolled her eyes. Nana propped herself up on the counter and Lizzy followed suit. Nana looked at her with a playful glimmer in her eye, she smirked. Lizzy felt intoxicated just by that one look, she smiled and bit her bottom lip.

“Wanna go for a swim?” Nana suggested.

“I didn’t bring my swimsuit,” Lizzy replied.

“You could borrow one of mine, come on,” she said as she hopped off the counter.

They went to her bedroom. Lizzy shut the door behind them. Nana grabbed two pairs of swimsuits from her drawer and threw one at Lizzy. They both turned around to change. Lizzy was facing the mirror and could see Nana changing from it. Nana took off her shirt and Lizzy inhaled sharply. Her dark hair cascaded down her . Her skin looked so soft, Lizzy thought to herself as she tried to pry her eyes away. Nana put on a black bikini top and turned around to catch Lizzy watching her. Lizzy smiled sheepishly and Nana returned that smile. Once they were both done changing they went out to the backyard pool.

“Last one in is a rotten egg,” Nana yelled as she ran and jumped in the pool causing the water to splash.

Lizzy laughed. “I guess I’m the rotten egg, again.”

She sat down and slipped into the pool.

“You need to get over your fear of jumping into water,” Nana mentioned.

You need to break up with your boyfriend, Lizzy suddenly thought.

Nana splashed Lizzy with water. Lizzy screamed, and splashed her back. They continued playing in the water until they heard music playing from inside.

“Are you hosting a party?” Lizzy asked.

“Not that I know of.”

They both got out of the pool and dried themselves off before they went back in the house. There was music blaring from the speakers and people were there. Nana walked up to Jongsuk.

“Did you invite these people?” she asked.

“Yeah, I thought we could have a party, let loose ya know?” he said as he grabbed Nana’s waist pulling her closer to him.

She rolled her eyes and tried to pry him off but he was holding her firmly. He leaned in several times trying to kiss her, but she kept dodging his attempts.

“What’s wrong?” he asked angrily.

“You invited people to my house without my permission. I was only supposed to hangout with Lizzy today,” Nana explained frustrated.

“And what’s wrong with having a few other people over?”

Nana groaned and finally got out of his grip. She walked over to Lizzy who was sitting on the couch. She sat down beside her.

“You okay?” Lizzy asked.

Nana smiled and lied. “Yeah of course.”

“Come on, let’s go change,” Lizzy said as she got up. She held out her hand and Nana took it. They went to her bedroom to change into their clothes. Nana threw a towel at Lizzy, who caught it and they both dried themselves. Nana wrapped the towel around her head to dry her hair and Lizzy did the same.

“So, since today was supposed to be just us two hanging out, let’s ignore the party downstairs and just hang up here,” Nana suggested.

Lizzy smiled from ear to ear and nodded in agreement.

“Want me to paint your nails?” Lizzy asked as she looked at Nana’s hands.

“Sure!” Nana said as she got up to bring over her nail polish.

“Pick a colour,” Lizzy said.

“This purple one is pretty,” she said as she pointed to it. Lizzy picked it up and opened the bottle. She took out the brush and put the bottle down.

“Give me your hand,” she said.

Nana put out her hand and Lizzy held it with her other hand. Her hand is so soft, Lizzy thought as her breath caught in . Nana stared at Lizzy and bit her bottom lip. She could feel her pulse racing. I hope Lizzy can’t feel my pulse race, she thought. Lizzy concentrated on Nana’s nails. She finished painting both hands and looked up and smiled at her best friend.

“They’re so cute! Thank you,” she exclaimed as she kissed Lizzy gently on the cheek.

They were both taken aback by this sudden gesture. Lizzy chuckled and Nana’s face turned beet red.

“S-Sorry,” Nana stammered.

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it,” Lizzy reassured her.

Nana lied down on her bed and Lizzy followed. They were both staring at the ceiling in silence for several minutes before Lizzy turned to face Nana.

“Why are you with Jongsuk?” she asked.

Nana’s eyebrows furrowed. “Because we like each other.”

“Do you actually like him?”

Nana sat up. “Do you wanna go downstairs and see what they’re doing?”

Lizzy sighed. It was typical of Nana to ignore Lizzy’s questions when it concerned her feelings for Jongsuk, but Lizzy let it slide. They went downstairs and saw them all dancing to the music blaring from the speakers. Jongsuk instantly grabbed Nana and tried to grind on her. Nana looked uncomfortable and pushed him off.

“What the ,” Jongsuk yelled.

“Later,” was all Nana said before she went to Lizzy who was sitting on the couch.

“Let’s dance,” Nana said as she pulled Lizzy from the couch.

Nana put her hands on Lizzy’s hips, which made Lizzy blush. Lizzy put her arms around Nana’s neck. Nana pulled Lizzy in closer. They were swaying to the beat of the music, both of them intoxicated by the sound, and their touch.

My heart is love beat, without you, I’m love sick

My love screams to find you

Will you come back to me? It’s all my fault

What to do with my heart that beats toward you?

Will you forget those last, cruel words, baby?

Oh, my heart is love beat, without you, I’m love sick

Without you, my smile disappears

“Without you, my smile disappears,” Nana whispered, repeating the last line of the chorus.

Lizzy heard that, but she wasn’t sure if Nana had meant for her to hear it.

Can’t we be sweethearts, can you hear my heart’s love beat?

Come on can’t stop, this unstoppable sound

Be my baby my one and only baby

Listen to my heartbeat, I need you

“Listen to my heartbeat, I need you,” this time Nana whispered it into Lizzy’s ear. Lizzy’s pulse quickened and she felt her face heat up. Once the song was over Lizzy let go of Nana and went outside. She sat near the pool, her feet in the water. Nana came a few minutes later and sat beside her, she put her head on Lizzy’s shoulder. Lizzy slowly looked down and Nana took her head off Lizzy’s shoulder and faced her. Their breaths were shallow and they both stared at each other with desire in their eyes. Lizzy looked at Nana’s lips and back up to her face. Nana noticed. They both leaned in, hearts beating quickly, when suddenly Jongsuk came and pulled Lizzy’s hair. He pushed her to the ground. She hit her head on the cement floor and it started bleeding. Jongsuk grabbed Nana by the shoulders and shook her. Nana felt tears escape her eyes as she started crying.

“You’ve got to be ing kidding me?! I knew you were ing cheating on me! With a ing girl? With ing Lizzy? At least if you were gonna-“ He didn’t have time to finish what he was going to say before Lizzy pounced on him and threw him to the ground. She punched him several times before Nana grabbed her and pulled her off of him. Lizzy was bleeding and crying.

“Hey…hey…stop, it’s over.” Nana said as she cupped Lizzy’s cheeks.

Lizzy nodded, both of them were breathless; she pulled Nana closer and kissed her. They kissed with all the desire and love that they had hidden all this time. Once they let go they put their foreheads together.

“I love you Lizzy,” Nana whispered.

Lizzy smiled, relief overcoming her body. “I love you too Nana.”

The day was over and Lizzy hopped on her bike to go home, bloody and bruised, but she didn’t care, she couldn’t stop smiling, she finally got the girl she had been in love with for years.