"So how do you know Hannah?"

Sacha wasn't used to dancing: she had to sit down after a while and take a break. There was a table just off the dance-floor that the group had made their own and shortly after Sacha had sat down she'd been joined by one of Hannah's friends, panting lightly and glowing with delight.

"I don't, really" the girl answered Sacha's question. "I'm friends with Jacinta. She works with Hannah."

"And . . ." Sacha half-pointed to the girl, and screwed up her eyes in concentration. "Sorry, I can't remember your name."

"Shelly" the girl shouted over the club's music. She extended her hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise" Sacha shouted. "I'm Sacha."

"Hannah's housemate."

"Yeah, that's right." The lights reflecting off the club's mirror-ball splashed across Shelly's face, sending tiny sparks of light into her green eyes. "Are you having a good time?" Sacha asked Shelly.

"Yeah!" Shelly said eagerly, and looked back towards the dance-floor. "Hannah's a lot of fun."

"That she is." Sacha smiled wryly to herself. "First time you've met her?" she asked.

"First time I've really hung out with her" Shelly answered. "I think I've met her for, like, five seconds a few times."

"First time you've really had a chance to talk to her, though" Sacha said.

"We're not really talking all that much" Shelly smiled.

"Oh, right." Sacha wondered how Shelly could tell that Hannah was so much fun without talking to her.

"A bit," Shelly explained. "But we're mainly dancing."

"Fair enough." Sacha followed Shelly's gaze out to the dance-floor. She couldn't see Hannah. "So what do you do, anyway?" she asked.

Before Shelly could answer, though, Hannah suddenly appeared over her shoulder. "Hey guys" she said, "we're leaving. This place is getting too crowded. Time to move on. Okay? Cool."

"When?"

Hannah gulped down the remainder of her drink and looked around for the rest of the group. "Now" she said.