dot dot dot | winrina

dance the night away

❝ let's dance the night away (hey)

yeah, one, two, three, let's go ❞

‒ twice, ' dance the night away '

winter pov

"Oh my God," Ning groaned, ripping through her closet at inhuman speed. "What in the world am I going to wear?"

"Calm down," Winter said from her bed, where she was on her phone, tapping away as usual. "She won't be looking at you the entire time."

Winter had gotten ready a while ago, not paying much mind to what she wore, since she never dressed up much for parties. The redhead had thrown on a pair of tight black jeans, a white crop top, and added a black denim jacket on top. She'd adopted a mindset for these kinds of events; if you don't bother anyone, they won't bother you, and it'd worked out quite well for her so far.

So far.

"Yes, but I'll be looking at her the entire time and what if she picks up on it-"

"Ning. She likes dark clothing. Pick out something black."

And then thirty agonizing minutes later they were in Winter's car and driving off in the direction of Kazuha's house. Ning had eventually settled on black cargo pants and a lacy black tube top, with a black smoky eye as makeup. She hadn't worn a jacket, which would probably bite her back later, but Winter had assured her she looked fine, so it didn't really matter much.

An already in-the-mood Kazuha greeted them, wearing a white tank top and baggy jeans. She grinned. "Winter, Yizhuo! Glad you could make it. Drinks are in the kitchen. Don't break anything. Love you guys!"

The party was in full swing when they entered. The house was dark, multicolored lights hung around the room pulsing in time to the techno music blaring from speakers somewhere by the DJ in the living room. People were everywhere, drinking, dancing, talking. The main room was a mass of bodies all moving and gyrating at the same time, while the occasional straggler weaved through them.

In short, it was a classic high school house party, and Winter was bored of it already- until she spotted a group in the corner.

Four cheerleaders stood clustered close together, whispering conspiratorially between their hands. They all wore similar outfits- short dresses and heels, their long, glossy hair illuminated by the lights in the house.

Karina Yu, Chaewon Kim, Sakura Miyawaki, and Wonyoung Jang- the four most popular girls in the entire school, standing in a group all together in Kazuha's house. Hell, even walking past them would probably give someone delusions of grandeur. Their looks alone were enough to make someone spiral.

Ning tapped Winter on the arm, her mouth opening to speak, but then her jaw dropped and Winter knew she was a hopeless cause.

Aeri had emerged, dressed in all black as usual, with dark red lips and black eye makeup. She looked good, even Winter had to admit, and Ningning looked completely taken.

"I'm gonna- yeah," Ningning said quickly as she hightailed it in the direction of the other girl, and then Winter was alone, rolling her eyes at the Chinese girl's speedy exit.

Alone. At a party. Fantastic.

So of course she had to watch everyone else not being alone: Yunjin gazing at Chaewon from across the room, Sakura somehow magically dispersing the male crowd around Kazuha as the soccer player looked at her like she'd created the sun, and Yujin trying to flirt with Wonyoung, who looked all too pleased. This was the prime reason Winter didn't enjoy parties; she was an introvert, but one who would go to the ends of the earth for people she loved. She had endless care to give, and parties that involved one-night stands and brief moments of enjoyment didn't sit well with her. She preferred long, sweet moments and heart-to-hearts; she was the more emotional type, but you had to be close to her first.

In short, she was caring and protective- only if the subject cracked her hard shell. It was for this reason Ning sometimes called her Minter as a joke, since they'd once eaten dark chocolate candy with mint cream on the inside, and Ning had said, Reminds me of you!

Winter shook herself out of this memory and continued to eye the cheerleaders carefully, suddenly realizing that one of them was, in fact, not fraternizing with the common folk.

Karina Yu.

Winter was confused. It was the second time in a singular day- a Friday, no less, when her minimal active brain cells were normally devoted to letting off and finishing up remaining assignments- that her eyes had been drawn to the Yu girl.

It was perplexing.

She was shaken from her train of thoughts by Yunjin appearing at her shoulder.

"Hey, Kim!" The ginger-haired girl seemed genuinely delighted to see her, and she swayed a little, a drink in one hand and a flannel slung carelessly over her shoulders. A cap sat backwards on her head, and Winter doubted it actually belonged to her. "Whatcha doin'? C'mon! There's shots over there, and"- she lazily pointed her finger in the direction of a tower of shining glasses and giggling partygoers- "I think Zuha's doing a dance-off with someone there"- this time the finger was at Kazuha, who was showing off her flexibility to a growing crowd- "and there's food over there"- and now the finger was in the direction of some people raiding the fridge. "Wait. Zuha doesn't like that guy and he's stealing her stuff... Lemme just... Bye!"

The clearly more-than-a-little-drunk girl stumbled off in a random direction, and Winter leaned against the wall with a sigh.

It was going to be a long night.