Maria studies in high school, and schoolwork comes easily to her. She has six friends in her class, and they all spend their free time together when they're not in lessons or doing homework. Some of the classmates call them the "Shanghai Six" (the reason why is unknown).
Maria is a very cheerful girl, good at mathematics, and participates in olympiads. Anna is her close friend, and they often sit together during classes. Maria stays over at Anna's house to work on presentations since Anna has a good internet connection, and on weekends, they like to go to the local nightclub to dance with their other friends. They also have other acquaintances from different schools who are also in high school.
Today is Maria's birthday. Everyone at school congratulated her, it was a lot of fun, and the teachers gave her a good grade. Her friends gave her greeting cards. Maria decided to celebrate her birthday on Saturday, since today is Thursday. Anna, Dina, Danna, Agul, and Aya are all coming to the Panther club at 9 PM on November 16th.
Maria is wearing a black long-sleeve sweater with her shoulders slightly exposed, decorated with small straps. She's wearing black capri pants and pointed boots. Her wavy hair is pinned up with clips, so the ends of her hair fly out in different directions. Maria has naturally wavy, curly chocolate-colored hair. Her eyes are brown, her height is 160 cm, and her skin tone is warm. She has blue eyeshadow, mascara, eyeliner on her lower lash line, and nude-colored lip gloss that matches her naturally plump lips. The other girls are also beautifully dressed in early 2000s style with makeup and hairstyles. All the girls have chestnut hair, except for Agul and Danna, who have light hair. Agul is a tall, light-skinned girl who won the Miss City competition and took the Grand Prix a year ago. She went to the main contest but didn't win any prizes. She's very gentle and obedient, following the rules, but tends to exaggerate and make up stories about things that didn't happen but that she wished would. Perhaps it's a phase or the influence of growing up. Anna is Maria's best friend, a beautiful and well-groomed girl from a wealthy family. Her parents are both doctors, and her father is an official in the healthcare sector, and they have a driver. But Anna often walks home with Maria because it's more fun and pleasant. On their way home, they often buy donuts, ice cream, and Chupa Chups lollipops. Despite spending the whole day together at school, they always have something to talk and laugh about. They understand each other well and share similar interests. They are both easy-going and adventurous, having been the first to try cigarettes and alcoholic drinks together. Dina is a straight-A student. She has been studying with Maria since third grade, and they've always been close. Dina has a very strict mother, and Maria thinks she's a bit scared of her. Dina is as close to her as Anna, but she's more grounded and doesn't like to take risks. She refused to try cigarettes and alcohol, only starting after turning 18. Danna and Aya are both good students, simple and modest girls who are always supportive of each other. Aya is a bit harsh and often argues with Anna. Danna often copies the clothing style of other girls. She's quiet, so she found a common language with the rebellious Aya. Aya is a bit bigger, with a sporty build. The boys in class don't find her attractive, possibly because of some extra weight, but it suits her. Aya likes a guy named Arthur, a short, dark-skinned basketball player. Many girls in school are interested in the boys from the basketball team. Aya set a goal to get closer to him and wasn't afraid of her older brother, who also studied at their school and knows all the boys. He's very strict and often comes to pick her up from school.
Saturday. The girls prepared all day, each on their own, as their parents don't often let them go to clubs. The friends met in the lobby at the entrance of the club near the cloakroom, handed in their coats, paid for entry, and went upstairs. There's a small lounge with sofas where you can relax, and another staircase leading to the restaurant upstairs, which leads into the main hall. From there, they went down into another room. It's a two-level hall, with the dance floor on the first level and chairs on the sides, with a long bar counter. You can go up to the second level via a staircase from the middle of the hall. There are tables where you can order drinks and food, and a good view of the dance floor. It's common for people to stand on the second floor behind the railing and watch from above.
Maria and her friends took a table on the first floor, ordered drinks, salads, wine, and started celebrating and enjoying the evening. There weren't many people in the club, and the music was from the late 1990s-2000s. The girls danced all evening, but it got a little boring. There weren't many guys to meet that night. They planned to meet someone. Anna's boyfriend is in university in another city. Dina had just broken up with her boyfriend, and now a classmate is trying to win her over, but she keeps him at arm's length. The others didn't have anyone.
Maria: "There aren't any good-looking guys tonight. Except for that guy at the end of the dance floor," she pointed at a tall, light-haired guy who was dancing with a group of friends. He was wearing a dark blue sweater, black jeans, and black shoes. He had light brown eyes, full red lips, and dark brown hair, and he was light-skinned. He didn't notice her, but Maria thought his face was handsome. He was slim.
Anna: "He's so skinny. You like guys with a more athletic build. He's definitely not your type."
Maria: "But he's tall and handsome. Look at his face, isn't he cute, girls?" She turned to her friends, who agreed and said, "He's probably dancing with someone, so he's not available."
Maria: "So what? He's still my handsome guy, I'll just call him that! He might be seeing someone, but I'll just enjoy looking at him. That's not forbidden (haha). There are very few tall and good-looking Asians." She started watching him more closely and asked her friends, "Could you keep an eye on my handsome guy? Is he still dancing with her?" She decided that every time they went to the club, she'd look for this mysterious guy and watch him. She always asked her friends to keep an eye on him because she didn't want him to notice that she was following him. Maria was proud and always tried to hide her feelings. She wanted to appear cold and uninterested in anyone, as if it were difficult to impress her. She didn't know where this image came from in her mind, but she stuck to it. She never approached a guy first to introduce herself, and she reluctantly accepted flowers from guys who congratulated her or tried to show attention. Giving out her phone number or calling someone first wasn't something she planned to do. The most she would do is send a text message if it was urgent, but such situations had never arisen until today. She didn't have any painful experiences, but she had a trigger in her head, a pattern that always worked. She followed the image of an unattainable lady. Up until that day, no guy had caught her interest except for the one from the club. Many guys had tried to flirt with her, but she always rejected them, either because she thought they were too geeky or simply didn't like them. She had principles, though they might seem outdated in today's world. She wanted her first man to be the man she would marry, someone she was sure of. She didn't want to just date boys, as the conversation would eventually turn to intimacy. She was 17, and her friends had already experienced sexual intimacy, but Maria wasn't in a rush. She wanted to meet a guy who she genuinely liked, someone she could potentially tie her future to. This is why she often turned down dates — she didn't want to lead them on. Most of these boys were athletes, basketball players, wrestlers, or judokas.
Anna: "You like athletic, muscular guys. And this one's skinny." (She laughed.) "Well, this is the first guy you've found attractive. At least you should find out his name. I think I saw him in another club. He was wearing a shirt with palm trees. Didn't you notice him? My brother has a shirt like that, so I paid attention to this stylish guy. Hehe."
Maria: "No. When was that? I would've remembered. I just saw him today, and I think he's attractive. I always look at the face first, then everything else. If I'm going to choose a boyfriend or a husband, let him be good-looking so that I don't get tired of looking at his face every day. I'll have to see his face every morning when I wake up." (And she laughed loudly.)
Maria and Anna decided that next Saturday, they would go back to the club and try to find the mysterious guy, who hadn't noticed them and had danced all night with the girl in the black outfit with black hair tied in a bun. Maybe she was his girlfriend, or maybe not...
