As they walked down the hallways towards the exit, Tiffany saw a glimpse of Jessica waiting for her ride outside the school doors. She glanced at Taeyeon and asked her to stay where she is.
"Hey, Jess!" Tiffany shouted to get Jess's attention.
Jessica was leaning against a pillar when she turned towards the voice. She can't help but smile at Tiffany despite that they have been on bad terms lately.
"What's up? You are not staying at the library today?"
"Nope, I am just going to go home and relax for once. I studied the whole week." Tiffany answered.
"Can you believe it? Just in two more months, we will be done high school."
"I know, right? I should be excited, but at the same time, I am so stressed. What if I am not smart enough? I study longer than all of you, yet I still can't catch up."
Jessica stood up straight almost immediately to give her friend a hug. "Tiff, don't beat yourself so hard, ok? You always manage to do well. Even if it's not the highest. Your personality makes up for it."
Tiffany returned the hug instinctively. "I know. I know. I just keep on thinking what-ifs."
The two caught up a bit more before Tiffany decided to ask about what was on her mind.
"By the way, can I ask something?"
"Mmm yeah."
"It's about Taeyoon...."
Jessica loosens her hug and takes one step back at the mention of the name. A name she had been trying to avoid. She stayed silent but didn't move to show that she is listening.
"She had a split lip and red cheeks yesterday...I was wondering if you."
Jessica cuts her off with a loud scoff. "Right. Of course, you come here because of that."
"I am just asking...."
"What? If I hit her? Let me guess, I am the first person you asked?"
Tiffany frowned at that, feeling a bit guilty. "It's not like that. We have been friends for years. I know you wouldn't just hit someone."
"Yet every time something involves that midget, you accuse me. No matter how much I try to prove that she's fake, you will believe her. Doesn't matter if I am right or wrong; you will still believe her."
"I know Tae has flaws, and she doesn't seem like the most approachable girl here. But, if you get to know her a bit, then we can all be friends." This ain't going well. Tiffany feels like she's repeating herself again.
"All be friends? Don't give me that bullshit. And I know you knew about those index cards!" Jessica said. She could not believe the words coming out of her mouth. Before this, she had never used curse words in front of Tiffany.
Baffled, Tiffany hesitantly admitted that she knew about them.
"And yet you didn't tell me."
"I thought they would help you." Tiffany retorted, but she knows that it was a vain effort. She is slowly losing this argument.
"Help me? Do I need help!? So, you are pitying me too?" Jessica had a look of betrayal on her face. "We used to be so close, Tiff. You know what type of person I am, but you still chose to be on her side. You changed."
Just then, Jessica's driver arrived and waited beside the car. Tiffany tried again to have Jessica and Taeyeon talk it out, but the former refused. To Tiffany's dismay, Jessica also told her that she had given up pursuing her dream career thanks to their meddling. In addition, she had also left any clubs associated with music. Jessica went soon after that before Tiffany could say anything further.
------
"TaeTae," Tiffany called out to her, lying on the other side of the bed. She promised to hang with the shorty tonight, and she wants to get her mind off things.
"What are your thoughts on boys?" Tiffany asked when the shorty put her phone aside.
"Boys?" Taeyeon wondered what she wanted to ask. Her only guy friend was Chanyeol.
"You talked to quite a few earlier. Did you like any of them?"
Most people would know what Tiffany meant, but Taeyeon looked ever so clueless. "I liked all of them."
Tiffany looked at her incredulously. "Why?"
"They were all very funny." She tried recalling some of her interactions. "One boy was dozing off with his eyes open staring at my uniform like it got stains on it, and another one was stuttering, and he kept on asking how's and why's."
"You just found out that you are pretty, huh?" Tiffany teased.
"What does that mean?"
"Do you know why they act like that around you?" Tiffany still can't believe how innocent or oblivious this shorty can get about her effects on others. She could tell by the looks on some of the dudes' faces. The more innocent ones just made excuses to talk to her more. But some of them definitely had lewd thoughts.
"Why's that?"
"Because they find you attractive dumb dumb. Some of them want you to be their girlfriend, and I bet some of them want to get into your pants." Tiffany spoke her thoughts.
Taeyeon sat up on the bed after lying down for too long. She had her eyes wide open, surprised. "What's in my pants? I don't have money. I mean, I do get an allowance, but I gave it mostly to Yoona."
"Aww, how sweet of you with your sister." Tiffany smiled, but her eyes betrayed a look of disdain. "That's not what I meant, stupid!" She got up too and hit Taeyeon on the arm.
"Next time a guy asks you to talk or help him study. Be careful. A lot of guys are helpless perverts, who are nothing but horny when they see a pretty girl."
Helpless pervert? Taeyeon thought to herself. She gulped. "Oh, that. Does that mean me also?"
"You are the most interesting girl I have ever met. You are a helpless pervert?" Tiffany giggled.
"I was turned on when I hugged you to sleep. A little."
...
Tiffany's eyes widened like a balloon, and like the thought of what Taeyeon had just said slowly turned her cheek pink. "Uhmm...ok."
A moment of silence fell upon them. Tiffany turned half of her body the other way to avoid eye contact. Taeyeon doesn't know what she said that made Tiffany so worked up. It's usually the other way around.
Then Tiffany turned around, fanning herself with her hand. "Ok. Let's just watch a movie."
"Horror movie!"
Usually, Tiffany would say a straight-up 'no' at the suggestion, but today she said yes. Because her mind was shamelessly filled with joy over the fact that Taeyeon liked girls.
During the movie, both girls were scared. Taeyeon got startled a few times but continued eating her popcorn. Tiffany hid behind the shorty's back and watched the entire movie over Taeyeon's shoulders.
———
The semester went by quickly, and college entrance exams are only two weeks away. Taeyeon kept her promise and was able to bring her mark up effortlessly, now resting at a 90% average. Just at the median of their class grades. Tiffany did significantly better, too, thanks to Taeyeon's tutoring. The latter continued to host tutorials after school on Mondays.
Sunny didn't believe it was possible but noticed that Tiffany became even more attached to Taeyeon and already knew that the two were hopelessly infatuated with each other. When they hung out, the two were always holding hands or side hugging when watching movies together. She didn't mind it now and enjoyed watching the two and their relationships develop.
---
Jessica busied herself with studying, somewhat obsessed with it, wanting to prove to no one but herself that she can get perfect without Taeyeon's help.
Although Jessica seemed normal when they hung out most of the time, having been her friend for years, Hyoyeon and Yuri can't help but feel uneasy. The Jessica that they had known to love music and dancing stopped. Ever since that day, she stopped talking about the topic, and the only thing she talked about was studying and how she is doing with her dad's assignments.
Yuri worried about her the most out of all of them, and she was sitting alone in the classroom when lunch started. They used to talk a lot about their dreams coming true, how they will sing and dance together on stage.
The sad part is she has gotten into numerous arguments with Jessica over it. Now, Jessica won't sit next to her. She doesn't even talk to her unless Hyoyeon was there also.
Yuri looked towards Taeyeon's desk, and out of curiosity, she walked towards it.
Just what makes you so smart and arrogant?
She took one of Taeyeon's notebooks from her desk and flipped through it.
"No notes? What the hell." Said Yuri to herself.
Then she remembered something and took Taeyeon's notes, and walked out of the classroom.
Indeed, as she had expected, the school still stores the exam papers inside an unused storage room. And she knows just the place to get the keys.
She went to the office to ask a random question on her mind, pretending to be interested in some study abroad programs. When she was really there to snatch the keys to the storage room, that she knew from a random encounter, to be stored in one of the teacher's desks.
She left Taeyeon's notebook in the storage room. Then she wrote a note and left it, along with the key to the storage room, on the shorty's desk, hidden in one of her textbooks.
If I can't convince Jessica to return to the way she was, I will ruin your career, Im Taeyoon. She thought to herself with an evil grin over her face.