"Hey, prick! Watch it!"

    "Me? How about you watch it, and fuck off while you're at it?"

    "Fuck off yourself, dickhead!"

    Two boys seethed in each other's faces at the entrance to the University of Falkerrick's sports centre, dubious booze fizzing and swilling in their plastic cups. After exchanging non-committal shoves, they parted to rejoin the satellites of students orbiting in the campus' tidy green spaces and stone pathways.

    Cadence eyeballed the pair as they disappeared into the party. "Steer clear of the cloakroom, killer, because those two are totally making out with each other later tonight."

    Rolling her eyes, Elise slapped her friend's arm and laughed through a heavy sigh. "Stop shipping strangers. You'll get us kicked out before we even get in," she said, folding her arms more in contemplation than anger. "Though that guy did go pretty far out of his way to 'bump into' the other one, and they stared at each other super closely..."

    "That's the spirit, my kinky romance author friend." With a smirk, Cadence withdrew her car key and slipped it into her pocket. "What do you say? Ready to get in there?"

    "We already came this far," Elise said, opening her car door and stepping out into the cold night air. "Let's go."

    Even in the sparse moonlight, the sports centre's slick glassy walls shimmered in a bold show of successful investment. Smooth rounded edges replaced the elaborate neo-classical adornments that decorated Elise's home university, and racks of floodlights poured down to drench the entrance and car park in blinding white light. Pale grey concrete slabs glittered beneath Elise's feet, sharing their sparks with the perfectly spherical hedges that lined the path to the centre's side door. A heady stench of alcohol and sweat invaded the clean breeze in sudden waves, and the gentle haze that hovered beyond the open doorway promised only a more relentless assault.

    As they passed through the entrance, Cadence skidded to a halt. Elise looked up to see a bored-looking boy sat behind a classroom desk, his dull brown eyes fixed on his phone screen. "Hi," Elise said, trying and failing to get the boy's attention through the spine-rattling bass rhythms. "We're looking for our friend. Have you seen Melody come through here lately? Melody Vintner, I mean."

    "Maybe. Depends who's asking." The boy rocked on his chair as he prised his gaze from his phone and set the device down with a huff. He glanced at the pair's faces, and he worked his jaw as if chewing over his next words. "I don't know you two. Do you even come here?"

    "Don't be such a tool, dude. We're not going to spike your cheap booze," Cadence said, leaning over the table. She tightened her grip on the edge of the surface, then sighed and shook her head. "Alright, you want the truth? Mel's stuck bleeding in the toilets without a fresh tampon right now, and her other friends are all too busy getting wasted or laid to answer her."

    With a rough swallow, the boy set his chair back on its four legs. "Oh. Right."

    "But sure, keep chewing our ears off here." Slamming her fist against the table, Cadence ground her teeth as the blood retreated from the boy's face. "Just give me your name so Mel knows who's responsible for leaving her to flow alone."

    "No! Really, it's fine," the boy cried as he screeched his seat back and rose to his feet, awkwardness skewing his stance. "It's not my business. Just go through...please."

    Cadence grinned across the table. "Thanks a lot, dude," she said as she clicked a finger gun in his direction. Nudging Elise's arm, she let her face fall close to her friend's ear. "Never fails. Pro tip: most guys will do anything to avoid dealing with period stuff."

    The entrance curtain parted around them before Elise answered, swallowing them into the centre's indoor courts. At a stroke, the core of the party announced itself as the numb bass burst into vivid life to shake its song into every hair on her body. Trails of spotlights burned through the centre's dim interior to spill prismatic light over the fluid crowd, the unfettered brightness of the lamps casting each individual person into faceless shadow by contrast. More layers of sweat stuck to Elise's bare skin with every step into the haze of alcohol and body heat.

    Along the far wall of the hall, stacks of speakers linked up with rows of spotlights and floor lights to surround a short modular stage. A fiery-haired girl with headphones large enough to crush her skull stood over an overflowing pool of bobbing heads, her concentration entirely on the elaborate technical setup before her. Suddenly, Cadence hopped ahead of Elise and dove into the bustling throngs. "Mel's probably in the pit with the rest of the raver crowd. Let's start there!"

    "Wait!" Elise cried as a train of revellers raced into her path, severing her lifeline to Cadence. By the time Elise had worked her way past the obstructive group, her friend was long gone, and the sea of partiers spread to fill in all possible gaps around her. She was alone, caged without an opening in sight.

    By chance, one of the arcing spotlights flitted past her face, and the dazzling beam burned away the bulk of Elise's panic. She kept her arms close to her sides and chased after the wandering light, ducking past someone's outstretched drink as it sloshed into her path. One leaping step landed her inside the glaring markings of the dancefloor, unable to stand still between the pulsing groups of jostling partygoers. A set of fire doors had been wedged open beside the dancefloor, and a girl with a blonde braid and a striking sheer mesh blouse strode through them, a tail of people following after her. Unspoken tension simmered in their every interaction, and Elise kept her eyes fixed on the doors even after the strangers had left.

    "Hey!" A hand closed around Elise's trailing wrist and dragged her past a thick rope barrier. At the other end of the vice-like grip, Cadence's teeth twinkled like ivory in the liquid light. "Took you long enough. I was about to climb the speakers to spot you."

    "It's not like you made it any easier by running off on me," Elise answered, raising her voice as the music blared louder from the nearby speakers. "I barely know where I am in this place, let alone anybody else!"

    Cadence clenched her teeth and rubbed the back of her neck. "Whoops. Guess I got a little caught up in things," she said. In a breath, she pulled Elise close, clutching her friend's loose arm against her chest. "Would a quick dance make it up to you? One-time offer, killer."

    Digging her fingers into the firm flesh of her friend's chest, Elise looked into Cadence's eyes. No flicker of jest flashed through them, yet the arc of Cadence's raised eyebrow lured Elise in with a different tone of mischief. "Dancing?" she struggled to say with her stunned tongue. "Shouldn't we be looking for Melody?"

    With a smile, Cadence stepped backwards and carried Elise's body with her. "Unless you want to prowl around the place like an uninvited creeper, this is how we look for Mel," Cadence answered, guiding herself and Elise into the middle of the crowd with gliding ease. She took up Elise's other hand, locked their fingers together, and raised Elise's arms straight over her head. "Come on, dork! Don't try to tell me you're too grown-up to thrash with your best friend these days."

    Elise gasped as she steadied her stumbling balance. "No, that's not –"

    "Then shut up and rock out with me already!"

    Dancing came as naturally to Cadence's body as breathing. Her feet bounced to the quickening rhythm from the speakers, and her hips swayed from side to side as the pound of the bass travelled through her body to the tips of her fingers. Submerged in the sound, Cadence's low eyelids and gently rocking head left her looking more relaxed than she had done for a while. She had been excited to find Melody, yet it was only now, in this moment of escape, that Cadence appeared truly happy.

    Surrounded by other tune-drunk dancers, Elise carried herself closer to Cadence's chest to hide from possible passing glances. She admired how easy her friend made shedding her inhibitions look, how effortlessly she embraced the pulse and heat of the music, and how beautiful the peaceful trance looked on her face. It took little more than a moment of studying Cadence's movements for Elise to begin mimicking her friend's sway, tapping her foot with tentative deliberation.

    A stray shoulder bludgeoned Elise in the back, knocking her into Cadence's body again. As if she had seen it coming, Cadence caught her friend and pressed Elise's hips against her own. "Too much partying for you already?" she asked as she patted her fingertips against her friend's waist.

    "Maybe not enough," Elise said, letting the music creep up from the floor to thaw her frozen legs. Sharing the same air and shuddering under her friend's heartbeat, there was no longer such urgency to hide away. Somehow, the merest dash of Cadence's attention drowned out the legions of strangers around them. "This is fun, but I feel like I'm a little out of practice – not to mention a lot out of breath."

    "Can't help your sucky lungs out, but I might be able to do something about the first thing," Cadence answered as she guided Elise into the beat of the next song. She came closer, brushing her lips against Elise's cheek when she spoke again. "Just keep up with me, alright?"

    Elise nodded, more than happy to let Cadence take the reins of their dance. With the heat of her friend's hands on her hips and the glimmering hazel stones of her friend's eyes ahead of her, she soon matched Cadence step for step, bounce for bounce, sway for carefree sway. She went as far as to raise her arms over her head and revel in the ring of her rattling bracelets, not noticing that Cadence had spun her around and ushered her forward until she lacked the self-awareness to care.

    Moving through the crowd had been a battle, yet now every step slotted seamlessly into their fledgling dance. They travelled the length and breadth of the floor in what felt like seconds, their eyes peeled for a wave of blush-blonde hair or a flash of immaculate pale skin. Even charged up with the party's vibes, Elise saw little more than tangles of slick, sparkling limbs. "Have you spotted her?" she asked as she fell back into Cadence's arms, thrilled by the casual contact of her friend's hold. "It's too busy. I don't think I'd recognise her if she was wearing a neon nametag right in front of me, honestly."

    Shaking her head, Cadence craned her neck to speak by her friend's ear. "I can't see shit down here," she cried, clutching Elise by her hips as a stream of people pushed past. They found themselves jostled close to the stage just as the DJ steered the music into a heavy, catchy rock number that visibly captured Cadence's attention. She beat the frame of the stage with her fist. "So, let's get high."

    "What?" Elise stuttered, lost in the glee that enchanted her friend's eyes. "The stage? But how?"

    "Well, we've had baby's first rave. Now we have the perfect excuse for baby's first stage dive!" Tugging her friend by her wrist, Cadence stopped and flapped her free arm as Elise hesitated. "Think about it, Ellie. We'll get the best view of the people here and we'll look fucking awesome doing it! Plus, you know you've always wanted to try it at least once."

    It might have been the relentless thrum of the music through her blood or the headiness of Cadence's sweet, intoxicating scent as they stood together, yet something in Elise's heart urged her to play along. An unassailable feather-lightness possessed her body when her friend looked at her, spoke to her, held her close now, and she was fascinated to see how far this unusual feeling went. "I guess it's better than nothing..." Elise said, stamping down the fear that screamed at her words. "Will you go with me?"

    Cadence laughed, inspiring a flutter of delight in Elise's core. "Duh. I can't let you have all the fun!"

    Excitement, fear, and an ample shot of adrenaline rendered Elise's passage onto the stage little more than a blurred mesh of light and shadow. Cadence's electric grip was her last connection to the real world, and she clasped her friend's hand until a thick layer of sweat clammed the length of her palm and fingers. As they set foot on the stage, Cadence made an indiscernible gesture to the DJ, who nodded and shot them a distracted thumbs-up. The fiendish grin on Cadence's face snapped Elise to her senses. She really was about to leap into the crowd on a whim.

    All thoughts of searching for Melody swept away in the anxious gale that blew through Elise's mind. The stage, so slight at first glance, now seemed to tower over the bustling mob before her. Beneath her feet, the floor tiles flexed under her weight as if they were primed to propel her into the pit, and the lights seared starry circles into the corners of her eyes.

    A soft tug pulled at her hand, and Cadence's smile beamed through the haze. "They're loving it," she laughed, nodding her head towards the crowd. The purple streak in her hair crackled in the moody stage lighting, as did the golden outlines of her keen eyes. Even with fresh sweat sheening across her forehead, Cadence's glee made her the most irresistible sight in the whole room. "See anything over there?"

    "Only a trip to the hospital in my future," Elise said as she scraped enough focus together to scan the crowd. As difficult as it was to seek a stranger with only the vaguest, most pixelated impression of their appearance, her overworked gut soon twisted with disappointment to alert her to Melody's absence. "I don't think she's here, Cade."

    "She's not at the bar either," Cadence answered, a whisper of concern souring her tone. In a blink, the bitterness faded as her renewed excitement bubbled to her surface. "Ready to dive in?"

    Elise took a deep breath. "Not at all."

    "Great! See you on the other side, killer."

    With a cheer, Cadence spun them both around, raised her arms, and leapt into the crowd. Elise's legs strained to keep her rooted to the stage, yet her hand refused to break her tie to Cadence, and her body sided with the latter. Deafened by the cries and soaked by the heat, she shut her eyes and tumbled backwards, bracing herself for the hot, heavy impact of the sports centre floor.

    Knots of ravers' hands thumped against Elise's back and knocked the wind from her body, yet their hold was safe and sound. It was also fluid. Before her eyes adjusted to the fresh glare of the spotlights, she found herself gliding, wild eyes and whooping cheers driving her over the crowd. An awkward glance to her side found that Cadence floated beside her, their hands still joined, her smile still brightening the entire hall.

    At the fringe of the crowd, the dancers tipped Elise over the barrier and into the scrambled hold of a pair of passers-by. She slumped onto the ground and released a breath she did not know she had been holding, her arms and legs riddled with aches. After a moment, she noticed the chill that dominated her hand, and turned to find the darkness of Cadence's absence.

    Suddenly, a firm weight landed on top of Elise, and Cadence's flushed face hovered over her. Her beanie sat askew over her messy hair, her shoulders heaved as she gasped for breath, and her necklace twinkled in the small patch of space between them. Joy buzzed through her friend's every move, and the pounding of Elise's heart swelled over the booming noise of the party around them. With shaking hands, she brushed Cadence's dancing hairs out of her face, threaded the necklace's silver chain between her fingers, and let an exhausted laugh part her lips. Barely a sound left her mouth before Cadence took her face between her hands and sealed Elise's lips with her own.

    Their first kiss had been a slow, tentative exploration where Elise's nerves had reined in the raging herds of her desire. Her fears held no such sway over her this time as she slid her arms around Cadence's neck and pulled her closer, eager to bury herself under the girl's weight. Sinking, melting, and burning all at once, Elise relished the sweet mint scent of the girl's skin, the slight touch of salt over her lips, and the sharp tang that sparked at the meeting of their tongues. Cadence's slightest touch along the curve of her collarbone shattered the last of Elise's thoughts like a sledgehammer, letting her lose herself in the moment as she yearned to.

    Without warning, Cadence gently sank her teeth into Elise's lower lip, and Elise dug her fingers into the girl's back to stop herself dissolving completely. This bliss was what her body had been seeking for so long, even as her lungs screamed out for air. Breathing had to wait, as did moving and thinking – Elise would not let anything come between her and Cadence now.

    Cadence lifted herself away, then fell again to plant one final peck on Elise's molten cheek. "That was super fucking metal, killer," she whispered as she trailed her forefinger over her friend's stranded lip. "How's it feel to finally pop your punk cherry?"

    Stroking the girl's cheek, Elise barely heard her own voice over her thundering heartbeat. "I think I just nearly died in about a dozen different ways," she said with a gasp. As soon as she had breath in her lungs, she laughed and locked eyes with the girl lying on top of her. "And somehow, I'm not even mad about it. That was amazing, Cade."

    "Get you, all buzzing and cute. Giddiness looks hot on you." As she spoke, Cadence's eyes tracked down Elise's body, a sly smirk pushing up one corner of her mouth. It was no more than a devious flicker, yet it was more than long enough for Elise to wonder if Cadence's hands might follow her eyes. Her aching skin knew she wanted them to, and the unmistakable pinch of disappointment twisted her muscles when Cadence's gaze returned to her face. "I hope you're not too high on life to get up and look for Mel, killer."

    "Oh." The centre's floor was rough and crowded, yet Elise had abandoned all plans to rise from its unsettlingly sticky surface any time soon. Looking for Melody in a party of hundreds of forever-mingling people seemed like an impossible task, while lying with Cadence's reassuring warmth along her body soothed her every concern with enviable ease. It took her brain reminding her that trip was not about what she wanted, but what Melody needed to hear to loosen her hold on her friend's back. "No, I'm fine. We should get back to it now, right?"

    Cadence ran her fingers through Elise's hair and finished with a playful tap on the tip of her friend's nose. "Don't sound so down. Maybe we'll do this again sometime," she said, punctuating her pause with a wink. Rising to her feet, she took Elise's wrist and helped her stumble to her feet by her side. "I'm thinking my bluff to the poor guy at the door might have been right after all. Want to come check the toilets with me, or are we splitting this joint and meeting back at the bar?"

    Leaving Cadence's side seemed so counterintuitive to Elise, yet taking her eyes off her friend while around her was downright impossible. "I think I need a breather after...everything," she said through a sigh, taking the lapel of Cadence's jacket between her fingers. "How about I have a look around outside while you check the toilets? You can even fix your scruffy hat in the mirror while you're there."

    "It's called mosh pit couture, sister, and I'm killing it right now," Cadence quipped, and her laugh tickled the strings of Elise's heart even as it hardly made itself heard over the music. "Don't do anything too wild without me, yeah?"

    "Wouldn't dream of it." As Elise drifted from her friend's side, all the things she wanted and needed to say flooded her thoughts. There was too much to fit into a single parting statement, and she did not know what she planned to say until her tongue began to move. "I'm glad we came here."

    A brief flash of surprise lit up Cadence's face, and she had to shake her head to clear the shock away. "I hope so," she answered with a wave of her hand. "Because there's plenty more where this came from, killer."

    A potent cocktail of embarrassment and excitement drove Elise through the bustling crowd and out of the double doors. As the first gust of icy night air rolled over the ranks of sweat patches along her body, she slowed her frantic strides and coasted towards an unoccupied bench. Sullen smokers kept their lights close to the centre wall, steering their gazes clear of the occasional couple too invested in each other's embrace to feel anybody's judging stare. For once, Elise caught sight of the pairs and understood them, even envied them.

    "Watch it!" a voice cried, and Elise snapped to attention in time to skirt past a person clutching their phone to their chest and a small black clutch bag to their side. The murky outdoor lighting unveiled the figure to be the girl in the mesh blouse Elise had spotted before, her braid now separated into a voluminous head of long blonde hair. "Why come to a party if you're just going to wander around daydreaming on your own, weirdo? Honestly..."

    "Sorry," Elise said, her voice trailing off as she studied the girl's face. After staring for a second too long, she cleared her throat and gestured to the nearby bench. "I just needed some air."

    "Whatever. I didn't ask," the girl snapped with a roll of her emerald eyes. She snapped her attention to her phone screen and moved to return to the party. "Just look where you're going."

    "Hold on!" Reaching out at the retreating girl, Elise steeled herself for the vicious stare that came her way over the girl's shoulder. "This is going to sound so weird, but..."

    The girl turned around, folding her arms and tapping her foot. "But what?"

    Elise ran a hand over the back of her neck. Suddenly, splitting from Cadence's side seemed like a misguided decision. "Are you Melody Vintner?"

    "Is that it? Because you're right, that does sound weird," the girl said with a scoff, fiddling with a stray lock of her glowing hair. "Yes, I'm Melody. Now, who the hell are you?"