MASH

Chapter 21: What's Going On?

Kristle's POV

As creeped out as ever, I put on one of my fake smiles that I give to people everyday so that they think I'm listening. I don't mean to sound snobbish but I don't listen to half of people's conversations, especially Tiffany's. I got to admit, all she talks about is the latest gossips and who's going out with who, etc. etc.

I exited the store and looked back just in time to see Jessica glancing at the man with the brown hair and eyes with his girlfriend. There was a hint of sadness in Jessica's eyes and surprisingly, the man had it too.

I started to worry. Jessica didn't take the breakup with Joel too well. She was super depressed for a whole month. She wouldn't stop crying at home which shows that she puts on a brave face at work. We Chandlers are very good actors and actresses. We can mask our emotions very well.

When we're sad, no one on Earth would even guess that we were. Maybe only one out of a hundred people can see through us, excluding Chandlers. My point is that Jessica acts strong- and she is, but she's also breaking down to pieces.

Joel was her first love. I remembered teasing her about it but she will always shake it off despite what I said. Following your heart might not take you to the best places but it will take you on the right one.

Jessica's love life does not end with her being 'forever alone', it will end with a happily ever after. I mean she's smart, funny, sisterly yet sometimes sarcastic. Her personality is quite easy to like.

I remembered the day our parents died. I was about five and then I didn't know grief. Jessica cried her heart out but ever since she liked Joel... she managed to forget about it for a while and be truly happy.

Now, I don't think she could handle anymore emotional roller-coasters in her life, but yet, this is her journey. Now I sound like a psychologist. I never did like advice-giving but it is a natural instinct. You all might find it annoying and so di I but I tried every means possible but as you might have guessed, it failed.

Clarice once rubber-banded my mouth (don't ask) for a week. Then at the next week, I wore a wrist rubber-band and for every advice I give, I snap it. Hard. I realised that it was in vain and ended up with a bloddy rubber-band at the end of the week.

Once, I tried the latter for every time I think of Tristan and let's just say that well... I ended up in the emergency room. Like I said, don't ask.

So back from La-La land, I said, "Jess, you okay?" Jessica blinked a few times, as if woken from a trance before saying, " Don't worry Kris. I'm fine"

" No you're not." I said sadly. "Did he mean a lot to you?"

" No! What makes you say that?" She asked nervously, " He just... looked like a guy I know."

I raised an eyebrow but said nothing. She's obviously hiding something. We can hide our emotions but we can't hide secrets well. So with the very little clues I had, I tried to figure out what happened. The only possible solution is that the guy's a two-timer. Jessica's not the type to be in an affair... right?

Forget it! If she didn't find it important enough to tell her own sister, then it couldn't be that bad right?

The angel Kristle poofed on my right shoulder and said, " Kristle, Jessica's your sister. What if she gets depressed all over again? The breakup with Joel was hard enough. What if... she commits suicide or something?"

Those last words hit me hard. Mom and dad are gone... I can't lose Jessica too. Then, the Kristle devil appeared on my other shoulder and said, " If she didn't find it important enough to tell you, then I don't see what's so important. Do you? I mean, does Jessica ever hide anything from you?"

While this World War 3 was raging in my head, Jessica lightly tapped me on the shoulder and said, " Hey you alright sis? You look like you're in a war with yourself. Do you wanna go home?"

I nodded, not daring to speak. What's going on?

Tristan's POV

I sat on my bed, deep in thought. My room's quite simple. It has a bed (obviously) and posters of 'Dr. Who' and 'Harry Potter' hung on every side. I have a unique set of clothes including one with the captions 'I AM JEALOUS OF ME TOO.'

My study table is at the far end of the room and what sat on my table was my personal laptop. I could distantly hear my sister Michela next door on the phone with one of her friends who was called Caitlin I think.

Apparently, Caitlin got a new boyfriend named Liam and is blabbering about how hot he was. I mean seriously, is that all that girls see in boys? But, I didn't care at all. I need to figure out my feelings for Kristle.

She's a great girl. She's smart, optimistic, funny and sweet. She's not tough to deal with. She actually is very approachable. Ask her anything and she'll tell you, unless it's supposed to be a secret. Her style is unique though quite common.

So the million dollar question is... Do I like her more than a friend? If I do, our friendship is going down the drain. I chuckled at the thought of how Kristle was back then. She wasn't that nice due to the fact she keeps all her emotions bottled up.

She still does that now but at least she's opening up now. She was quite rude, even shallow and conceited sometimes. Before I was her friend, I always thought I'll never be friends with her let alone her best friend.

I just saw her as this 'troubled' girl who think she's the centre of the Earth. But now... things change. I remembered when she taught me guitar and I thought her drums. I remebered whe she was fourteen, she managed to solve every algebra question my level, which was a year more than hers, thought was the hardest.

You should see the look on everyone's faces. It was absolutely priceless. Now that I think about it, my two years of being friends with Kristle was kind of the best years of my life. I laughed at her jokes, which were genuinely funny though some are not.

She doesn't take on her anger at anyone. She just keeps them bottled up. It's not a good thing but at least it shows that she cares. I think that I like her...

GAH! Seriously? Why is this so complicated? I don't know what's going on. I automatically fished out my phone and dialed the familiar numbers. There were a few rings before Kristle answered.

" Hello?"

" Hey Kristle."

" Oh... Hi Tristan. What's up?"

" I ummm... wanted to ask ou something." I raked my hair nervously.

" Okay? What?"

" How do you know when you like someone?"

" Why do you ask?" she said, curiosity hinted at her voice.

" I umm... might like this girl..."

" Oh..." There was a tint of sadness in her voice but I must have imagined it.

" Well," she said, " I don't know. I think that when you like someone, you just feel like the world would not be a better place without the. You feel like everything that anchors you in this life is that person. I'm not a great advisor for these kind of things. Your heart will answer that question."

She hung up before I could say another word. I stared at the phone. Alright. Heart, do I like Kristle?

It must be my imagination but my heart jst said, " Yes you do. Think about it. If she wasn't in your life, would life be at least this great without her? I think not."

Gah! What's going on?

Hey guys and girls. I'm K as you might have known. I did not write my chapter for quite a while bcause of my exams which ended on Thursday. In my defence, I was studying really hard and I am having my 'great depression' due to some... issues in my life I would rather not talk about. So anyway, hope you'll comment and vote this chapter. Thanks! Oh and by the way, I edited my previous chapter so it would match what G said in hers.