Length of Happiness

Chapter 13 - Something is Off

When she got to class the next day, she was hoping to see Sunny, but she is nowhere to be seen, to her disappointment. Tiffany is not present either, probably at the dance studio practicing for her performance today.

Pushing her thoughts aside, she focused on the rest of her classes until lunchtime. She stared at the blackboard with her head propped up by her hand, looking as if she is deeply absorbed into the lecture. Still, her mind had already drifted away to somewhere else. She reminisced about this semester when she hanged with Tiffany and smirked at every funny thing she could remember. However, the smile turned slightly bitter when the memories brought up scenes with Sunny, somehow feeling a bit guilty. That thought was quickly pushed to the back of her mind.

On the other side of the classroom, seeing Taeyeon's smile instinctively evoked an ugly expression on her face. Jessica wondered how this damn shorty can be so impervious to everything she does to her. She wants to wipe that stupid smile off of her face, but she had not succeeded once. Whenever she talks to her, it's as if Taeyeon doesn't care a word she said and not only that, it's like she's always mocking her in some way.

...

After settling down with her food at the cafeteria, she wondered if Tiffany would hang with her today or have her final rehearsal before her performance this afternoon.

To her luck, Tiffany appeared in front of her as if God had heard her prayers again. Taeyeon made her usual stupid grin when she sees her pretty friend. Perhaps this time, the smile was a bit too pronounced that some people might think she is a clown.

"Wow, you are happy to see me today; what happened?" Tiffany looked at her as if it's just a typical Friday.

"Am I?" Taeyeon smiled, looking down at her food, feeling her skin prickling with embarrassment.

Tiffany smiled at her cute reaction and sat down across from her with her lunch.

As they dig into their food, Taeyeon keeps staring at Tiffany, wondering something. Ever since Taeyeon discovered how nice it felt to sit beside her, she started wondering. Her mind wondered what it feels like to watch a movie while laying her head on the girl's shoulders or even her lap. What if she cuddled with her to sleep, and her mind went through a bunch of other what-if scenarios? She did this to the point of daydreaming, chasing away all her worries for the day. However, she kept them as mere fantasies, thinking the thoughts must be pretty childish, needy, or worse – Tiffany would think she is weird and avoid her.

"Uhm..." Taeyeon hummed a little, trying to get Tiffany's attention, who's just silently enjoying her soup.

When the girl didn't hear her, she went up to an awkward cough. She coughed louder.

Success.

Tiffany looked up and saw her plate full of food, "Aren't you going to eat?"

"Uhm..." Back to square one again.

Tiffany squinted her eyes at her, "What are you up to?"

"Can I..." Taeyeon tried her best but only ended up in a poker face. Her body going numb before the following few words came out. Why is this so hard? It wasn't even this hard talking to Jessica.

Tiffany raised an eyebrow, thinking what might have gotten into her friend. "Alright, what are you scheming?"

"Can I uh...sit...you?" She blurted the words out anxiously.

"...sit...me?" Tiffany's eyes widened, then slowly scrunched up her face and bit her lips but failed to suppress her erupting laughter. "HAHAHAHA!"

"...arghhh! Shut up already!" She bit down on her lip, cursing herself.

"Yes, you can sit next to me." Tiffany composed herself. "Sit me...oh my god, that sounds..." she amused herself one last time, earning a glare from a red-faced girl in front of her.