It’s a little cramped in my small apartment, but honestly, it’s a good kind of problem to have.

“Why can’t I get my eyeliner straight?” Aria whines, huffing in front of the small handheld mirror she’s holding and trying to do her eyeliner at the same time. “Are my eyes crooked, is that the problem? Maddie, are my eyes crooked?” She’s holding onto a black eyeliner pen, and I can’t really tell if her eyes are crooked.

“Aren’t we all not a hundred percent symmetrical, though?” Raleigh says. “Except Jaeyong. He’s totally symmetrical. Jerk. God, I love his stupid face so much. Can’t wait to see him.” She pinches an invisible face in front of her, and shit, I didn’t know Raleigh would be so very whipped.

While Aria’s the mother hen, Raleigh’s more serious, more grounded and well-rounded than the rest of us, and to see her completely into her boyfriend is kind of nice to see, but I’m still reserving judgment for when I meet this Jaeyong guy. If we can meet him.

I just started getting into K-pop and while I love it, yeah, I really have no idea just how big Trickshot is.

They’re playing at Wembley, Maddie. That’s big, idiot.

I smooth down my Trickshot shirt, grinning down at the album cover for their Trickery album that’s on the front, looking down at my comfiest and most distressed pair of jeans, legs freshly shaved, hair freshly washed, and even though my muscles are kind of sore despite the recovery I’ve done in hopes of relaxing for the weekend, I’m ready to have a good time.

“If anybody pushes you guys from behind, you have to start throwing elbows, all right?” I say, demonstrating for the class. I shove my elbows into the air behind me, showing them exactly how to do it. “I don’t want any hospital visits. Shit, I haven’t been this excited about a concert in forever.”

“I know, right?” Aria says, sucking in a breath and holding it while both Raleigh and I watch her do a wing from one eye, let out her breath, and then the other, looking pretty even to me. She swipes on some mascara and lays the lip gloss on so thick that I think Ayden’s going to be wearing most of it during the course of the night. “How do I look?”

“Like you got crooked eyeballs,” I smirk, reaching over to fix a few stray baby hairs that have escaped her braided pigtails. “No, you look great. You both do. Boyfriends everywhere will swoon.”

Aria laughs, then nods. “Hell, I hope so. Ayden still can’t believe that Jesse’s coming to the concert, too. Ayden’s doing this for me, I know he is, but it’s nice that Jesse’s showing up, too. He’s looking forward to it, and the Stones think I’m the coolest person on the planet. Thanks again for the autographs.”

“Jesus, Aria, how many times are you going to thank me, huh? I just wrote my name in cursive writing, okay?”

Aria nods, getting to her feet, smoothing out her shirt and tucking it in her jeans so that it’s tighter around her waist. She spins towards the full-length mirror in my tiny bedroom, checking her own self out and giving her reflection a thumbs up. “I’m ready,” she says. “Raleigh, are you okay?”

We both catch Raleigh sitting on my bed, bouncing a little on the mattress, like her legs just gave out from under her, staring at a far corner in my room with enough intensity that I wonder if she can peer into the next dimension and see ghosts.

If Raleigh does see any ghosts, I don’t want to know a single thing about it. No way.

“I don’t know…I feel weird? That doesn’t seem like the right word. My English has gone to shit, I swear,” she says, blinking still at that corner, but when Aria passes a hand over Raleigh’s eyes, she just keeps blinking along, and I swear I’m getting the creeped-out goosebumps.

“If she starts speaking in tongues, or her eyes go all-black or some demon-type shit, I’m out of here and leaving her with you,” I tell Aria, who looks back over her shoulder at me, frowning.

“Stop it. She’s fine, or she will be.” Aria crouches down so she’s on her knees in front of a seated Raleigh, and I take my seat next to her on the bed, ignoring the way my heart thumps erratically at the idea that Raleigh could be possessed. I’m never watching The Amityville Horror ever, ever again. Fuck that shit, fuck that.

“C’mon, Raleigh,” Aria says, reaching for one of Raleigh’s hands. “Tell us what’s wrong?”

Raleigh sniffs, and oh shit, it’s that kind of emergency. I take a quick jog to my bathroom, pulling out a wad of toilet paper, keeping close in case I’m needed for an emergency hug situation. I hand the wad of paper to Raleigh, who gives me a little smile, making eye contact, and I’m happy to report that her eyes are their regular hazel colour.

Thank all the football gods, or else I would’ve run out of here screaming my head off.

“I don’t know, it’s just…the past six months were really hard. It’s fine when I’m busy, you know? When I have my routine, teaching my kids at school, hanging out with my colleagues after work who have been trying to set me up on blind dates since practically the beginning of the school year,” Raleigh says, voice going watery now, and she swallows audibly while nodding down at her hands, playing with the wad of tissue.

“Blind dates, huh?” Aria says, prompting Raleigh to continue while I try to stifle my questions. Are dating apps not that popular over there in Seoul?

Focus, Maddie, you have to focus. Raleigh needs you right now.

“Yeah, they call it sogaeting. And it’s just…I wish he were with me, you know? I wish I could hang out with him every freaking day even though I don’t really need to see him every single day. I just want the option of at least being in the same city, the option that I could pop on a bus and visit him at his apartment if I had the hankering to kiss him goodnight,” Raleigh sighs. “The last couple of months were really hard. Trickshot, all the guys, they’ve achieved so many things, and I wanted to be there, to hold Jaeyong’s hand while I told him how very proud I was of him, and the distance…it’s hard.” Raleigh shrugs, like that’s all there is to it.

“And this week…God, I’m going to sound like such a dick, but this week has been hard for me. Waiting for Jaeyong to come to London and seeing the two of you with Ayden and Jesse. Not that I’m not happy for you…that’s not it.” Raleigh sighs. “This isn’t coming out the way I wanted it to.”

“You’re not jealous, we know that. You just want Jaeyong around, that’s all. We can understand that, Raleigh.”

“I still feel crummy about it. Shit, you know how happy I am for the two of you? Do you even know?” Raleigh pats at her chest, right over her heart and I’m appalled to find my own stupid eyeballs welling with tears.

“Ah, fuck, don’t do it,” I say, sniffing hard, tilting my head back to banish the tears from whence they came. It’s a battle of wills, and I’m really, really great at winning battles of wills. “Don’t do this to me. We all look super cute, and we’re going to a K-pop concert and I’m fucking excited. We’re not supposed to cry right now.”

I get a slap on my thigh for speaking sense, smarting against the exposed skin through the rips in my jeans. “Hey, these legs are insured for a hell of a lot of money, okay?”

Raleigh snorts, and I’m calling it a win.

“Shut up, Maddie, let Raleigh talk. Do you know how happy we are for you? That you got to be reunited with Jaeyong and finding love? That’s a story for the grandkids, huh?” Aria smooths Raleigh’s hair back, behind her eyes, being gentle and wonderful while I sit here, still rubbing at my leg.

I’ve never been good at doing the talking, just the doing part of existing in the world. Looks like I could still use some pointers in that area, and honestly, I wish I could take some notes from Aria.

Where’s a pen and paper when you need one?

You literally have your phone in the pocket of your jeans, dumbass.

Right, right, right.