I waited until I heard the door at the end of the hall open and close before turning to examine what may still be in the room. The walls, ceiling, and floor were white. The tiles on the floor had a scuff here and there but other than that they were purely white. The lights around the mirrors were unlit and the counter under them didn’t look very sturdy.

I approached one of the chairs, pulling it out. It seemed sturdy but I was to anxious to sit. I looked in the mirror, I looked tired. But the bags under my eyes were the only sign that something was bothering me. My stomach was churning at every little noise. I could hear a hum of music from where the others were, every once in awhile I could pick out a few words from the song they were listening to. But for the most part, it was quiet, too quiet.

‘I need to find some way to make some noise so it’s not so quiet.’ I thought to myself. I began to look around the room. I looked on the shelves and in the cabinets that were on the wall opposite to the mirrors. The shelves only had boxes, which most of them were empty. Inside one box though, I found an old, dusty iPod dock. The cabinets had a few bins that contained some hair products, old make up, and other various items. I found in the back of the top shelf, a pair of nice looking speakers. I pulled them out and examined them. “These look like they’re in nice condition.” I commented to myself quietly.

I mindlessly set them up and pulled my concealed ipod nano out of the small pocket that was on the inside of my suit-type jacket. I wiped off the screen and pushed the small button on the top. It light up and allowed me to plug it into the dock and start some music.

At first I played the songs more on the quiet side. I scrolled through the songs and decided that the first song worthy of my situation was GD’s Heartbreaker. When it came on I turned the volume only high enough so that I could hear, but no where near loud enough that they could hear me if they were to come down the hall.

I started to sway in place and lip sync to the song as I faced the ipod dock. When the chorus came though I couldn’t help but break out into dance. I could feel that bubbly feeling that always came with dancing. A smile broke out across my face as my muscles slowly started to relax and my body took over. I closed my eyes and danced to the chorus, like I have many times before.

Even when the chorus was over I continued to sing aloud and dance with a big grin on my face. I grabbed a brush off the shelf and made it into a makeshift microphone before making a 180 degree turn. I sang and danced to the song as I watched myself in the mirrors. When the song ended, shuffle took over and Shinhwa’s Venus came on. I took a breath before relaxing into the softer style of the song. I began to dance along to the original choreography. But at some point in the song I remixed the moves into my own. I smiled and played the mirrors as if there was an audience behind them. I smiled and winked when it made sense, and soon I felt my energy begin to build up.

The song soon ended and SHINee’s Lucifer came on. I grinned as I got ready for the choreography that was without a doubt one of the hardest choreographies that I’ve ever attempted to dance to and achieved. The music began and I took Taemin’s role and dance to his parts. I sang the whole song as it played through. As I danced I could slowly see the music video begin to play before my eyes; I became in sync with the choreography. When Minho’s rap came up I temporarily did a small dance that I had made myself. By the time the song ended I was panting.

I hadn’t danced like that in awhile. The last time I had danced at all was a few weeks before I had came here. My close friends had thrown a going away party and we had danced all night long. I smiled as the memory played through my head. I plopped down in the chair by the mirror, which to my surprise held me up and didn’t even creek. I closed my mind and allowed my mind to take me back to that day. I could see the party like I was looking down on it.

~

The stereo was blaring music from when we all listened to the same genre. Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, the original Brittany Spears songs, Bowling for Soup, Fall Out Boy; these were just a few that were in the mix. “Melanie!” My sister shouted as she entered the room with a few bags of junk food. She flung them on the table before advancing towards me, “I’m going to miss you!” She cried as her body crashed into mine. She hugged me and cried into my shoulder.

“I haven’t even packed yet.” I said patting her back. She mumbled something that I didn’t quite catch. “Come on honey, let’s not cry at my party, ok?” She looked up and carefully ran her fingers under her eyes, fixing her make up. “You are still going to help me pack right?” I asked her.

She smiled, “Do you really think that I’m going to let you do anything alone until you leave?”

“Nope. That’s exactly what I thought I was going to hear from you.” I started to laugh and she joined me.

 Dirty Little Secret by All American Rejects stopped playing. Anna yelled from across the room, “Melie~ Come on don’t just stand there! Dance with us!”

I smiled at my sister before we both joined the others in the open area. Big Bang’s Fantastic Baby started to play, and I stopped dancing. “Wait a second,” I mumbled to myself.

~

I opened my eyes to find myself in the small white room. I let out a sigh, “I really thought I was back there.” GD’s voice filled the room as Fantastic Baby opened. I smiled as I got up and started dancing. I opened up dancing to the choreography that I had made for GD’s part. When Taeyang’s part came on, I began to dance to the original choreography but naturally took Daesung’s part. I danced over to the ipod dock and turned it up, ‘It is impossible to listen to this song without it being loud.’ I thought to myself. I sang and danced to the song as if I was in my own world and I was the star. I got back into my fantasy concert mode and imagined there being lots of fans in the crowd that were cheering for me.

When it got to Daesung and Taeyang’s mixed part I broke out in an interpretive dance that hopefully showed a fight within. I heard the crowd start to cheer and yell. I smiled and continued to dance and sing with their energy. When the song ended I grinned as the crowd erupted into applause, and a few whistles.

The room began to come back into focus but the applause didn’t stop. I turned around to find the door wide open with Big Bang and everyone else standing there clapping. Horror took over my body; my hands flew to my face attempting to smother the urge to scream.

‘How long were they standing there?’ I wondered in horror. ‘How much of that did they see?’