Wendy wondered how fast normal friendships flourished. Despite being relatively popular, she’d always kept a very close circle of what she would consider ‘real’ friends. Though that circle was closer to a triangle consisting of Sooyoung, Yeri, and a few of the others in the music department. Even those had developed in odd ways. So she was left thinking, more like agonizing, over how fast Irene seemed to take to her. She didn’t want to read into it as a sign that Irene may be romantically inclined to her. But the dim, stubbornly hopeful side of her personality refused to completely throw away the notion. It wasn’t like this was an opportune time for a new friend, they were to graduate in a few days and then what? False promises to meet up during the break? Or maybe they would hangout, but only until they eventually moved to go to different universities. She really wanted to settle for just enjoying the time they had, however long that was, but she was beginning to think that just wasn’t enough. Oddly enough, things had just sort of clicked between them. She could easily admit, to herself, that she looked forward to interacting with Irene more than graduating. Which was a new kind of unsettling that kept her up long past midnight.

     Her alarm ripped her out of sleep with no mercy at all. She blearily rubbed her eyes as her feet hit the ground. She was scared to think that this sort of rude awakening would probably be her entire adult life. She padded down the hallway to the bathroom where she’d try to untangle the mess that sat on her head and, if she was lucky, come out halfway presentable. The mascara left an ugly streak over the bridge of her nose and she sighed as a wipe rubbed it away. She found herself trying a bit more these days.

     She pulled up to the grey house with about five minutes to spare, not a moment later Irene stepped out of the door. Wendy almost grunted at how rays of morning sun seemed to brighten when Irene practically glided down the sloped driveway. The girl gently slipped into her passenger seat, smile radiating even more at the offering of tea from the local coffee shop. If there’s one thing high school had prepared her with, it would be the ability to absorb seemingly useless bits of information. Like how Irene had mentioned in passing that she’d always preferred tea over coffee for an early caffeine rush. She pressed lightly on the gas so as not to alarm the peace emanating off of the other. With soft, calming music playing as a backtrack to their journey. It wasn’t an artist Wendy had heard of before, but with Irene’s suggestion, she found herself pleased with the soothing notes.

     Wendy parked, thankfully not embarrassingly askew, and she helped irene gather her bag in the trunk. Her steps perfectly aligned with Irene’s, until a shout drew her attention. A tall boy waved and started toward them. Wendy didn’t really know him so she suspected that it must be a friend of Irene’s to greet her so familiarly. She was just about to stop so that the two could converse when tug on her sleeve pulled her forward. Irene’s face had a comically fake smile plastered over obvious discomfort. She tried to hold back a snort at how clearly Irene was not willing to chat with Mr. Tall Bowl Cut. She almost felt bad for the guy as he struggled to keep up and was continually shut down by one word answers. With a final parting, she watched as he strolled down the hall with a fist pump. He probably thought that he did great. She turned back to the girl that hadn’t stopped holding her arm, eyebrows raised in question.

     Irene sighed, “he’s liked me since last year.” 

     Wendy joked, trying to stop the adorable pout on that pretty face, “what, he’s not your type?” She wiggled her eyebrows, “the bowl cut not doing it for you?” 

     Irene joined in, “can’t say it does. Definitely not my type.” 

     “What’s your type then?” 

     Irene bushed up to her ears; maybe she was too close? But she definitely didn’t want to lean away when she could practically fall into those eyes.

     “Wouldn’t you like to know.” 

—————

     The teasing question had been on Wendy’s mind the entire day. Hell, Irene could be aual for all she knew. It was almost weird for a high school student to not be constantly spouting off about some cute boy or hot girl. And being gay, Wendy learned not to assume about people lest she come off as rude. Which all lead back to really really wanting to know Irene’s preference. Who knows maybe she had a shot. That being said even if she did, she likely wouldn’t act on it. Wendy flirted with everyone and most of the time people would flirt back, but rarely did she date. Not to mention that casual flirting was much different from actually courting someone. 

     She pushed by the library doors, ready to miss the rest of the days classes in exchange for a glorious nap, when she spotted Seulgi with her nose buried deep into a thick book- almost drifting to sleep. Across the desk loose notes of paper and various utensils were strewn around the book and a sketchbook. She sat down across from the poor, unfortunate soul and withheld a laugh at the latter’s expense. She gently poked Seulgi right on the forehead hoping to at least wake her up. Seulgi jumped nearly a foot into the air, completely startled at her visitor. Wendy couldn’t stop the chuckle before it happened as she greeted her almost-friend. They exchanged pleasantries and small talk about their upcoming graduation, all the while Wendy bided her time until she could gather the information she really wanted. What better person to ask about Irene than her best friend? But she couldn’t inquire about the topic so brashly, she had to be careful, if any red flags arose then the conversation would surely be disclosed to the girl in question. 

“What are your plans for summer?” It was a genuine question because Seulgi was an unsurprisingly fun person to talk to, but in the back of her mind she hoped that Seulgi would mention Irene in some way. 

“I’ll probably spend it sleeping,” the bear-like girl giggled behind a manicured hand, “unless Hyun drags me out of my house like she did last summer.” 

     Wendy laughed in kind, “oh what’d she make you put up with?” She couldn’t help but be curious, her somewhat limited interactions with Irene had always seemed so laidback, half the time, it was a fight to get the other girl out of her bed. 

     Seulgi let out a short snort, “she’d always take me to go shopping, I swear we went there more to look at pretty girls than we did to buy stuff! I really only went along because she kept offering to buy me Pringle’s.” 

     Wendy’s interest had peaked, whether an intentional slip or not, Seulgi had unknowingly given her the green light. A small glimmer of hope ignited in her chest and she fought to keep the grin from peaking through. The rest of their chat had gone smoothly and she found the other girl completely endearing. Though try as she might, she found it increasingly hard to focus on the syllables of Seulgi’s words.  

—————

     She hastily selected Irene’s contact, barely noticing the various emojis that adorned ‘Bae’ in all caps. With her nap thwarted by an adorable culprit, she was completely bored and entirely too excited for sleep. The thrum of energy still buzzed throughout her extremities. When Irene replied in the affirmative to join in on her truancy adventures the fluttering in her gut only intensified. A black leather seat was precariously reclined to an almost horizontal position in her equally not suspicious, running car. Even with the year ending and her nearly perfect record, Wendy doubted that getting caught skipping school in the parking lot would go over well. She breathed out a sigh of relief when Irene exited the closest building, but the breath was simultaneously inhaled at the sheer awe of the girl’s beauty. The human body, not used to doing both actions at once, immediately protested with a violent cough. She was embarrassed and honestly a little peeved because not only had she already seen Irene today, but the girl looked absolutely ridiculous. If wasn’t still burning she would have laughed at the way the other’s eyes darted back and forth conspicuously. Irene’s normally silky hair was now frizzy from the humidity outside and sticking in all different directions. To put it simply; Wendy understood that she should not find Irene as attractive as she did in that moment. Her cough had thankfully subsided by the time her companion had opened the passenger door. 

“So, what’s the plan?”

     Wendy chuckled sheepishly, “well, I really didn’t have a plan. I was hoping you’d have an idea.”

     Irene looked pensive for a moment, the look entirely too cute for Wendy’s well-being. The girl pressed the power button on the side of her phone before clicking it again. She turned to Wendy, “do you want to go to the mall?” At the surprised look she elaborated, “my coworker asked me out on a date and I have no clothes to wear for it. He wanted to go to a baseball game so it shouldn’t be too fancy, but  have you ever seen me in anything other than long sleeves?” 

     It took a few moments for Wendy to process the onslaught of information contained in those few sentences. The butterflies had fled. Had she heard right? Irene had said ‘he asked her.’ Just minutes ago she had thought the other girl was a lesbian and now she’s got a date with a guy. Second, her brain had wanted to shout, ‘yes, I’ve seen you in my clothes! And I liked it.’ Wendy already knew her answer was yes, but helping Irene go on a date with a guy was not what she’d call a fun day. 

“Of course. What store were you thinking in particular?” 

      Irene shrugged, “I’m not sure.” Her hands moved in a scale like motion. “Guess we’ll see when we get there.”

     All too soon they arrived in the vast parking lot. Wendy dreaded the thought of of seeing Irene in all those cute outfits meant for someone else. It would also be safe to say that  her poor, gay heart was in grave danger. The sun was strung perfectly in the sky; it’s heat bathing the asphalt in a thick blanket of dancing light. Irene’s hand slipped around her arm as they made their way through the cars. Glass doors parted, blasting them with cool air. Various people milled about, some around their age and clearly not interested in the last week of school either. The other girl dragged her from display to display. Occasionally they would dip into a store laughing at the more impractical items. 

     Their path had led them to a trendy store designed and marketed for, well, someone. Irene struggled to hold in her laughter as she held up a large head band clearly meant to be a shirt of some kind. The stitched strip of cloth had the kind of saying one would find on a Facebook-mom’s profile embossed over the front. Wendy wiggled her eyebrows at Irene, imploring the slightly older girl to consider the silly item. Apparently her companion had taken the joke as a challenge. Soon Wendy found herself leaning awkwardly against the thin walls of the store’s dressing room. Her anticipation continued to grow until the stall’s lock clicked. She gulped, this could very well be her undoing. 

     Irene stepped out, her top half almost bare save for the tube top. Wendy’s soul had officially departed as she dragged her eyes over the unblemished skin. The contour of Irene’s hips drew up into a slim waist. Lean muscle met shadows in a beautiful embrace, how they flexed when the goddess chuckled at her expense. Wendy had tried to stop her gaze from fully taking in the form before her. Her last thought being that the view of prominent collarbones was completely unobstructed by any sort of bra straps. Even if Irene was striking a ridiculous pose, she was the most beautiful woman she’d ever seen. Sadly the show had only lasted for a minute before the other girl dipped back into the dressing room. 

     Wendy was called over a few minutes later, by an upset Irene. Her arm was seized in an attempt to bring her into the small cubicle. To weak to resist, Wendy found herself face to face with her companion. Thankfully, or not, Irene had put on a more modest shirt. Wendy looked around trying to spot the problem, but she came up with no reason for her to be there.

“I like these jeans but they’re too long at the bottom.” The way Irene’s brows furrowed was simply to comical. She pressed forth, “I tried to roll them like you do, but I couldn’t figure it out.”

     At this point Wendy looked down to her own pin rolled jeans, then to her rolled sleeves. She decided to blame lesbian fashion for the almost reflexive way she dressed herself. Her inner monologue would have to wait, however, because Irene was still giving her that expectant look. With a theatrical sigh Wendy sank to her knees, in front of her maybe-crush, enclosed in a tiny room that barely fit the two of them. Her brain sputtered for a second trying to comprehend the situation. Hands- that were not shaking before- reached for the bottom of the light denim, slowly pulling the material back into itself. Her eyes nervously flicked up to see Irene looking down at her already. At this point, she was face level with- she forced herself to look back down. She quickly set about finishing the second pant leg and shot up.

     Wendy conducted her hands into wild motions and declared the names of every vendor in the food court like a certified tour guide. After multiple samples and a rather heated debate of which mall food was the best, they ended up settling for a styrofoam box of fried rice and beef. Well, Wendy had settled. She actually wanted to order pizza, but she’d rather doom her stomach than decline the opportunity to share with Irene. Which somehow explains how she ended up feeding Irene with her own pair of chopsticks. Now it’s known that both of them are Korean, how the other girl could have grown up notbeing able to use chopsticks is beyond Wendy’s brain capacity. But she also wouldn’t dare bring that up, so she kept shut and lifted more beef to those perfect lips. Seriously, how was she supposed to survive when she had to see Irene’s tongue swipe across red lips? 

     It was all too soon that their feet matched pace in the parking lot. Wendy definitely didn’t want to bring it up but part of her felt compelled to. 

“So, what time is this mysterious date?” She humorously asked. At least she hoped it came across as funny. She could vaguely make out Irene’s noncommittal shrug out of the corner of her eye.

“It was supposed to be an hour ago. He seemed kind of like another Bogum,” she paused for a coy look at Wendy. “Today was better than any of that stuff anyway.”

Wendy couldn’t help but to agree.

———————————

 currently on hour 6 of a 12 hour flight! There’s a small child that had been kicking my seat for the duration of the trip and AND it’s like a million degrees in this giant, flying, metal . But also if u wanna know exactly whomst the heck I am- follow my new twitter @jada-tat-tat or something like that. It’s mostly me yelling into the void and insulting my sister’s @. But let’s be friends!