She watched them dance happily, swaying from side to side on the dance floor surrounded by their entire senior class. Wendy could feel all the wood and gasoline being thrown into the fire of jealousy that started to grow with the rise of the couple that were now announced the king and queen of homecoming. She couldn’t bear to watch the sight unfold in front of her. She picked up her dress that ran to the floor and made her way towards the doors that held the exit sign on top of them. Tears started to well up in the corners of her eyes, as everything in sight got blurry but she ran and ran away, as far as she can from that scene that broke and shattered every piece of her. Joy deserved to know how she felt but Wendy was too late to confess, to pour her heart out and tell Joy how she was completely head over heels for the younger one. To be able to express her everlasting love she felt towards Joy. She could feel her lungs aching from the collision of lack of air that was a result of her running and crying. Wendy found herself standing in the middle of the football field of their school, standing there in the darkness that was dimly lit by the crescent moon in the dark and night sky. She felt her lungs ache by the second but nothing could compare to the pain her heart felt at that moment. It was an unwritten rule: head of cheerleading dates the quarterback of the football team. Why did she think that could ever change? Why did she think Joy would ever like her back? Why did she aim so high, too high only to break herself? She felt as if her heart was ripped out by him and Joy just watched in silence.

Wendy had grown to like Joy since their freshmen year, walked into loving her. All she did was walk into a trap set up to break hearts. Wendy couldn’t recall the exact moment she felt the overwhelming emotions take over her, the exact moment she noticed all the small details Joy did and how she fell in love with every single one. They were friends for the longest time but when high school rolled in and their interests had put them in different standards, Joy instantly became the most popular girl in school who befriended the lead vocalist of the choir. Everyone was jealous of their friendship but Wendy found herself jealous of all the boys who attempted to flirt with Joy. Joy never showed interest towards them so she just assumed she had all the time in the world to confess to Joy. She had waited till homecoming, deciding they’d go together and there she would confess her feeling towards the younger. It was the perfect plan that was until their senior year rolled in and Sungjae was introduced as the new student.

On his first day, he made the football team and was even announced to play as a quarterback for the team. With Wendy’s absence, and Joy seemingly spending more time in cheer; Sungjae and Joy found each other compatible. He approached her like a woman, not a girl like all the other boys, and spoke to her like a gentleman, formally asking her to dinner. Joy was flattered and couldn’t deny. That day was the first time Wendy had experienced her heartbreak. Sungjae and Joy’s relationship only blossomed from there and Wendy found herself occupying herself with every possible school activity possible, drowning her pain and misery in a much more productive way. She channeled that anger into her newspaper writing, her debates, and put every emotion on display when she sang. She couldn’t understand what went wrong. Did she take the time given to her for granted? She should be the one who takes Joy on dinner dates, driving her to her house after the date and dinner they’d share, walk her to her door step and leave her with a kiss that made Joy ache for more. She should be the one who would stay up with Joy talking about the most random conversations; about their future and hopes and dreams and aspirations. About the fears they both had for the future. Wendy was suppose to be the one who called Joy first thing in the morning and her voice was the thing she should hear last thing at night. And tonight, she should’ve been the one dancing with Joy. Wendy should be the one who has her arms wrapped around Joy’s waist, dancing the night away. A sudden voice brought Wendy back to reality, “You couldn’t even be happy for me in there?” Joy’s voice echoed through the empty field, taking Wendy by surprise. Wendy turned to look at Joy, her face stained and tainted with the tears she previously shed. “What do you want me to say? That I’m happy for you, happy that you and him are working out perfectly? Because you know how I even felt when you started dating him but you still pursued it.”

“He was nothing but nice to me. What do you have against him?”

“He stole you away from me,” Wendy screamed, letting her feelings pour out. She had contained them for way too long now and they bottled up inside her for a while. The feelings of hurt and betrayl slowly filled her during the year and it had reached to the point she felt suffocated. Everyone had their limits and she reached hers today. “I’m sick and tired of pretending like my feelings for you don’t exist. I hate how you come to me crying almost weekly because of some he did. Because I know I can treat you way better than he does. Treat you the way you deserve, like the queen you are.”

“Where is this all coming from?” Joy questioned the confession of her best friend. Wendy’s heart began to tug, feeling like she had said too much already but she had already gone to a place where she cannot turn back, might as well go all the way. She poked at her heart, “From here. God Sooyeong, I’ve loved you since we started this crappy high school together. From the moment we held hands and promised high school wouldn’t change us. The moment you looked into my eyes and I felt comfort. Your eyes were hypnotizing but they felt warm. They felt like I was finally home. I understand you might never feel this way that you might think I’ve gone insane but I was insane for not doing anything earlier.”

“And why couldn’t you tell me this earlier?” Joy approached Wendy cautiously, like if she broke a certain distance Wendy would shatter into pieces. “Why did you have to tell me this tonight? When I figured out Sungjae would propose to me after graduation”

Those words caused Wendy to fall to the floor, realizing she had lost Joy. She didn’t just lose her best friend, but the only person her heart was willing to love. “Don’t marry him, please don’t.” Wendy’s voice came out weak and barely audible. Joy ran to her best friend and hugged her. “I sound selfish but I really need you. If you marry him, you’d have to leave with him and I couldn’t bear losing you”

Joy lifted Wendy’s head and wiped her tears. “Did I have to take such drastic measures to make you finally confess?”

Wendy looked up at Joy with a confused look, not knowing what the younger even spoke about. It was Joy’s cue to continue speaking, “The proposal part was a joke. We ended things with him before the homecoming but you had a date so I told him we could still go together. I’ve loved you, I always have. You were too occupied to realize how much heart eyes I darted your way. Sungjae realized I was in love with you before I could even comprehend my feeling for you and he was the one who told me to go for it when I saw you leave the dance”

OKAY LOOK, I have two chapters and they both have like open endings, I decided to make this one more on the bright side and cheerful. It matched the song, just altered the ending.

One direction – Loved you first.