Navy blue chairs fell into neat lines across the gymnasium. Students filed into their assigned seats, maybe they were more like zombies but the upcoming exams had fried everyone’s brains. A strange wave of premature nostalgia washed over her, this was almost it. Graduation had never seemed so real. Informational papers were passed around, the booming voice of the principal showerd them in praises and warned them about messing up at the real event. 

     An envelope slid smoothly in her grasp. Only her name was written in sloppy scrawl. God, she didn’t even remember  what she wrote in freshman year. It all seemed so long ago and yet the past year seemed to whirl by. It was purgatory; walking the thin line between two lives. High school was almost over, then they’d have to fend for themselves. Only a few things in life were as frightening and exhilarating simultaneously. The slightly worn edges of the paper unfolded. She chuckled spotting the same sloppy writing on the envelope.

     It started quite funny. The younger her had a peculiar sense of humor, a mixture of sarcasm and self deprecation. But th younger her had hidden family issues behind thinly veiled jokes and her heart bled for her past self. Even she found it amazing; how far she’d come. As the letter rattled on, the last paragraph stretched onto the back of the single sheet of notebook paper. 

‘I hope you’ve finally learned to accept yourself; god knows I’ve tried.’

     Tears b, she let out a shaky sigh. She remembered the self loathing she used to feel. The hopelessness. It had been a long, winding road. But then she remembered the relief she felt when she came out to her friends, then her parents, when less changed than she thought. A smile broke through, the same nostalgic feeling of that first truth warmed her chest.

     Another thing she found funny being that the younger her seemed to thing that she grow up to be a loser. In fact the paper read, ‘did you ever make close friends? I hope that at some point you managed to get significan other too, and at the very least I hope you’re reading this ‘cause you’re actually graduating.’

     She found herself mentally going through the checklist. Close friends? Check. Actually graduating? Check. She did have a girlfriend at one point in senior year but it had barely lasted a month. Half a check. There were other questions too like if she ever went partying and if she were honest with herself that one garnered two check marks. So all in all she’d definitely lived up her high school years. Something still felt missing though.

     From across the large hall, she caught sight of Irene Bae. Irene was many things; a classmate, her friend, and sadly her crush. The only thing worse than being one of the last to walk was sitting so far away from the beautiful girl.

     After at least three hours, the graduation practice was over. Sooyoung walked up to her, a mischievous grin on her face. The taller girl was a beacon for trouble, at the same time there was no one else that knew how to have a good time. Anything Sooyoung had to say would definitely be interesting.

 “Hey Wen, so there’s a party tomorrow,” she held her hand up to stop from any interruptions, “and since I’m so nice and you’re so cool I thought ‘let’s invite the resident mom.’ Sounds fun right?”

     Wendy rolled her eyes, “Park, I told you I was going to lay off with the parties when I woke up at next to a bush at the last one.”

 “Yes I remember, but dude there won’t be any tequila this time I swear and the music will stay at a low so you won’t be paranoid about cops all night! Come on!”

     Sooyoung started to pout, “please? I already told one of my friends that you’d be coming!”

 “You did not set me up on another blind date! Sooyoung, I swear if,” she was cut off by the taller girl’s flailing hands.

  “Not a date! Just a friendly meeting. Wendy you’ve been single for, like, ever! It’s a girl this time. I mean, I finally took a hint after you dated Taeyeon; so no more guys. It’ll be fun I promise! I can even get you your own drink. Just come to the party, please.”

     It took Wendy all of five seconds to give into Sooyoung. She had always had a soft spot for her, call it being whipped for her friends or just motherly instinct; either way she relented among Sooyoung’s cheers.

      The keys to her car spun around her finger while she marched down the hall. They’d been released from school for the rest of the day but she had to walk halfway across campus to grab her books from the choir room. The halls were practically empty... except for one other person. A person with a perfect back view and neatly ironed clothes.

 “Irene!” 

     The other girl jumped in fright for a moment before turning around. “Hey Wendy, you scared me.”

     She scratched the back of her neck when she caught up, “yeah sorry. I was just trying to get your attention. Where are you headed?”

 “Just getting my stuff. What about you?”

 “Oh, um, same.” There was an awkward pause, the kind where she wanted to keep talking but there wasn’t really a place for further remarks. She coughed, “so, um, do you have a ride home? I could drive you?” She didn’t really know why the last part came out as a question but she was happy that she got words out at all.

 “No I don’t, you don’t have to drive me though I’d hate to waste your gas.”

 “It’s not a problem really!” She winced from the shrillness of her own voice before taking a moment to settle on a quieter tone. “And I can’t just let you walk home, you’d offer the same to me.”

 “Okay if it’s really no trouble; just let me grab my things.”

     Wendy let out an almost inaudible ‘okay’ watching the Irene dip into a classroom. She didn’t care if she was leaning against the wall with an undeniably dopey smile on her face. Irene had agreed to driving with her! But wait. That meant The Irene Bae was going to be in her car. ! She hoped it wasn’t too messy. She couldn’t even remember how it looked this morning. Before she could shut down into panic mode, Irene linked arms with her and walked them to the choir room. It took a moment for Wendy to get over the warm smile. At this distance she was sure that smile had stopped her heart.

      As they neared her black bmw she prayed that it wouldn’t be too messy inside. While Irene unloaded her bag into the trunk, she headed round to the passenger side door. She gave an exaggerated bow and opened the door for her guest, secretly peeking in through the window to make sure it was clean. She let out a sigh when she saw two clean front seats, knowing the back of the car was still a hidden mess.

      She had know of Irene since she was a kid, they grew up in the same neighborhood but never really talked. This meant she of course knew where her crush lived but she figured that would be a little creepy since she had never been invited over. So she nervously asked, “directions?”

     Irene’s eyebrows raised, “we live on the same street, actually. Uh mine is the grey brick one at the end of the road.” She seemed to stutter before continuing, “uh not that I needed to know where you lived, I just sort of, I just happened to see you. You know?”

     Wendy didn’t mean to make her crush embarrassed and so she tried to change subjects. “Hey, there is a party tomorrow night, you know Sooyoung right? Well, yeah, it’s at her house and I was wondering if you’d want to tag along?” The longer Irene took to respond the higher her anxiety became.

 “Yeah sure, that sounds good. As long as I can get a ride from you. And this is my stop.”

     Wendy tried to reign in a triumphant shout, settling instead on a smirk. “You’re on, Bae.”

     As soon as she saw Irene disappear into her house she danced a little in her seat. She’d get to be around Irene more and, with any luck, get out of Sooyoung’s blind date! Tomorrow wasn’t going to be so bad after all.

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Here for a new story, kids. This one is going to be a little lighter than Temptation, Ignorance but I’m feeling the summer vibes. Also graduation is still fresh for me so I’m going to explore some of that. Any way, expect maybe five or six chapters and enjoy your day!