“The nerve! The audacity of that girl! I mean, who does she think she is?!”

“‘Rene I think you’re blowing this a bit out of proportion…”

“Out of prop-..? Do you not see this? Do you not see that I am reacting in a perfectly rational and expected way after...that?!” Irene her phone into the girls face.

“I’ve seen the text ‘Rene, I saw it the first time when you threw your phone at my face, I’ve heard it a million times since you’ve read it out loud so much, I just don’t get why you’re so riled up over a text that’s like 2 lines long?”

Irene took a deep breath,

“Seulgi….Seulgi, Seulgi, my dearest Seulgi,” she dramatically paused and placed a hand on her best friends shoulder, “what would you do, if the cutest person on the planet sent you a message after inviting you to a party, ending with the line Really looking forward to seeing you there! And with a smiley face no less! The reason I am ‘riled up’, as you put it, is….look at it Seul!”, she pushed the phone back up into the poor girls face,

Irene dramatically flopped onto her bed, next to Seulgi, while making small frustrated noises into the duvet,

“What does she meeeeeeeean?!” she wailed while kicking her feet out of frustration.

Seulgi was finding this whole debacle hilarious, though she was trying her absolute best to keep her resolve in front of the flailing girl next to her. Seulgi had known Irene for a few years now, having met her in high school, and watching the normally quiet and reserved girl panic and freak out while yelling about this Wendy girl was, quite frankly, priceless.

After Irene had calmed down a bit she rolled over onto her back and stared at the ceiling, she sighed and spoke again,

“What do I do, Seul?”

“Well number one, stop….” she waved her hands in front of Irene, “...all this.”

Irene sat up at that, a little ashamed of her earlier freak out, she pushed her glasses back up her nose and looked at Seulgi, waiting for her to continue,

“Then, we get you a bomb outfit, then you rock up to that party,” She leaned forward towards Irene who was staring at her as if she was spouting the secrets to the universe itself, “and you charm the pants off of her.”

“What! I’m only going to watch her play a set,” Irene looked at her shocked, “there will be no pants charming! Pants are staying firmly on! Uncharmed!”

Seulgi fell apart laughing at that, sometimes it was just too easy to tease Irene.

“Okay, okay, okay, but seriously ‘Rene, just show up and let things just happen, just hang out with her, pants on and everything,” Irene gave her a pointed look at that, “I know it can be hard for you sometimes but just...be cool. You got this.”

Irene sat up next to her best friend and laid her head on Seulgi’s shoulder, what the girl said to her was in a joking tone but she knew Seulgi meant every word and it meant a lot to her that she was there for her.

“Thanks, Seul, that means a lot,” she nudged her in the ribs gently “even if it’s coming from you.”

~~

The day of the party quickly rolled around and to say Irene was nervous was a bit of an understatement. But, with a full heart, and a good luck text from Seulgi, she walked up the drive of the house where a low bass line and the loud voices of its occupants could be heard. Irene could do this. She thinks.

She stepped inside and realised very quickly this might be more than the friendly gathering Wendy promised her back at work. There was a good number of bodies occupying the front room, maybe thirty or forty people and the crowd didn’t seem to thin out at any point in the house. The lights were dim and a low blue light dominated the room, giving off the vibe that Irene was in some sort of club rather than someone’s home.

God she didn’t even know whose house this was, what was she doing?
 

Irene did what was best for her in crowded places and just let herself be swept up and followed the flow of people. Irene looked behind her as she watched the front door, her only means of escape, moving away from her as she was jostled, pushed and moved into a room further back.

Irene got to a room where there was more space and was able to move freely again, she was well and truly in the house now and had no idea where she was. Irene started walking around the place rather awkwardly as it soon dawned on her she knew absolutely no one here and wasn’t banking on the fact she wasn’t going to be able to find Wendy right away.

This is a nightmare, Irene thought, what if I never find her and she thinks I bailed?

Irene followed the music to where it was loudest hoping she’d find Wendy there too. She stepped into the back room, where the DJ set appeared to be playing from and there she was and Irene was speechless.

Wendy was stood over the decks, hands flying over them as she played the music that ebbed through the whole house. There she was, red hair up in it usual ponytail, white headphones on and the biggest smile plastered on her face. Irene had never seen Wendy like this. She was in her element, expertly executing every move, hyping the crowd in the room, urging them to dance to her music.

Wendy looks over the room and she lights up with a smile when she spots Irene. She jumps up and down a little and gives Irene an excited wave that may or may not have Irene’s insides doing backflips. Irene watches Wendy quickly whip out her phone, type something and then look back to her while pointing at her phone. And sure enough Irene felt a little buzz in her back pocket, she looked at the text that had just been sent through.

From: Wendy (22:13)

I’ll be done in 15 or so? But I’m gonna play our song that you helped me with for you :) Wait for me after that?

Irene looked up from her phone and saw Wendy was still staring at her a little expectantly. Irene nodded, telling Wendy she’d wait for her. She’d always wait for this girl.

Wendy beamed back at Irene and pointed down at her decks as she slid the fader up, fading into the song. Our song, Irene thought, she called it our song.

The familiar drum beat kicked in, the bass of the speakers making Irene’s whole body feel the beat, the cool synth soon followed through and Irene's breath caught in as she was thrown back to the coffee shop. It was like she was listening to it again for the first time, but everything she felt back then was amplified by the speakers and she could feel her heart beating for this girl a hundred times louder than the last time.

Irene couldn’t stop staring, she was glued to the spot, entranced by the girl dancing behind the decks. Seeing Wendy like this, so free and so happy. Irene loved watching her like this, dancing and smiling. And that’s enough for Irene, but to see Wendy, to watch her dance and be free to their song, it suddenly meant so much more.

It’s at this point Irene admits it. She’s spent weeks acting as if Wendy was some small crush because yeah, she’s cute, but now Irene is painfully aware of how much she’s fallen for th