CHAPTER 13
Tasha was woken up by the loud ringing of her phone on her bedside table. She slowly sat up and groggily placed her right palm on her face. A pencil and her sketchpad laid nearby. From the events last night with Yuri, Tasha felt like she wanted to draw and she did. At the wee hours of the morning, she finished a portrait of the girl who left an undeniable impression on her.
Tasha turned and slowly picked up the portrait she had drawn last night. The portrait showed Yuri with her hand reached out to her, a bandage still on her cheek and a sweet smile painted across her face. And just like last night, she wore the same hoodie and sported the same hairstyle.
Tasha stared at the portrait, still unable to grasp the reason why she decided to draw to girl she “hated” but one thing’s for sure, she liked the drawing.
The phone on her table continued to ring. Tasha stared at it for a few seconds, waiting for her alarm to go into snooze mode but it just continued ringing so Tasha reached for her phone to turn the alarm off but when she looked at it, there was a reminder flashing on the screen which said, “get up!! have Physical Ed class today!!!”
And it took another second for her to realize that her class will start at 20 minutes
Although her first class today is only a minor one, Physical Education to be exact, Tasha can’t afford anymore late come-ins ‘cause she was already given a warning from the head office
“Oh shit!”
Tasha ran into the bathroom, took a really quick shower, went into her cabinet and pulled out a shirt and jeans. Her towel still wrapped around her hair as she struggled to get dressed. Once that was done, she quickly took a pen and a small notebook and grabbed her sneakers and her room key on the way out.
After hurriedly putting on the sneakers on the way down the stairs, Tasha ran with all her might towards the gymnasium where the Physical Ed class was going on. Tasha arrived at the entrance of the gymnasium, panting from all the running she did
“Hey” a voice greeted
Tasha looked and saw Yuri standing behind her, holding a can of cold ready-to drink coffee
“Sorry, all I have is coffee” she said then handed her the can
Tasha took it automatically and Yuri took it as a queue to get to class
Tasha followed suit. When they got closer, they noticed that everyone was paired up in twos
The PE teacher noticed them approaching and spoke with a raised eyebrow, “good of you two to show up”
“We’re very sorry we’re late, I had an errand to run” Yuri spoke then turned to Tasha
“And I woke up late, sorry…” Tasha spoke
The dance instructor looked at them with displeasure, “I’ll let you off this time but next time I won’t be considerate” she continued “since the two of you were late and all your classmates are already paired up, you two will be dance partners”
Tasha and Yuri turned to each other, both somewhat reluctant to be each other’s partners
“Okay, everybody listen up!, our topic will be dance!” the dance instructor announced, “So be nice to your partners as you two will help each other get good grades! Our midterms will be a written test but your finals will be an actual dance performance so I encourage you to learn every dance seriously, understood?”
The class reacted with a unanimous “yes”
“For now, I’ll explain the history of each dance. Get your notebooks and I’ll dictate the details…” the instructor continued
And so Yuri and Tasha sat next to each other and spent the most awkward two hours of their lives.
After the class, Yuri was about to leave when Tasha approached her and handed her back the can of coffee
“I remembered that I don’t drink coffee” Tasha lied, she drinks coffee, and is mildly addicted to it
Yuri curiously looked at Tasha as she took the can from her, “and you just all of a sudden remembered you don’t drink coffee?”
“Yeah, got a problem with that?”
“Nope” Yuri then looked around for a trash bin and threw the unopened can of coffee which successfully went in “3 points!”
“Why did you throw it away?” Tasha reacted suddenly, confused at Yuri’s actions
“I remembered that I don’t drink coffee” Yuri smirked
Tasha, feeling a bit offended, raised her eyebrow at the girl in front of her, “Are you mocking me? You better not be mocking me, ‘cause I’m gonna hit you if you are”
“Why do you always want to pick a fight with me?” Yuri asked calmly, “I’m not mocking you okay? I just don’t like coffee” and to avoid another possible argument, Yuri decided to just walk away
Truth be told, Yuri really doesn’t drink coffee. Earlier, Yuri was nearing the gymnasium with 10 minutes to spare when she noticed a girl running hastily towards the gym from a far. Out of curiosity, Yuri stared to see who it was. When she saw that it was Tasha, her instant thought was to give her water since she might be exhausted. Instead of entering the gym, she went to the nearest vending machine she could find to buy water but that vending machine only has coffee in can. Knowing that she’s already late, she had no choice and bought the coffee instead then made her way back just in time to see Tasha panting at the gym’s doorway.
“I still don’t know why I decided to buy that war freak girl a drink” Yuri wondered as she walked to her next class
Meanwhile
“Why is that girl so fucking weird?” Tasha pondered as she made her way to her next class, “she bought me coffee then threw it away?”
As she reached her room, Tasha took a seat at the back, just like she always does and continued to think, “And last night, we already knew each other and she still introduced herself, and even shook my hand!”
“And made me feel something I don’t know” Tasha spoke then place her chin on her right hand as her thought continued
“But her voice was really nice, I wonder if I’ll hear her sing again, maybe she’ll sing in one of our practices together or maybe she’ll annoy me again with her cute antics…”
Tasha was caught off guard by her train of thoughts, could she really be thinking of her?
“You’re here before me? That’s new”
Tasha turned and saw Amber smirking as she sat next to her
“Gotta try something new once in a while” Tasha replied “oh hey, you’ll never guess what happened earlier at PE class”
Amber leaned closer, waiting to hear what her friend has to say
“I was late” Tasha started
“That’s not new Tasha”
“I’m not finished!” Tasha reacted, “anyway, I was late because I woke up late-”
“Again, that’s not new” Amber once again interrupted
“I know already! Will you just listen?”
Amber giggled, “Okay, I’ll try to not interrupt”
“Ok, as I was saying, I woke up late and after I got ready, I ran like hell to the gym and when I got there, I was definitely late but Yuri was standing behind me and gave me a can of coffee and we ended up being dance partners because we’re both late”
Amber pondered, “She gave you a drink? Really?”
Tasha nodded
“But why?” Amber questioned in slight disbelief
“I don’t know!” Tasha said “then I returned it to her after class but she just threw it away and said she doesn’t drink coffee”
“She did that? Well that raises an even bigger question mark, since she seems to dislike you and all” Amber replied “I mean, I personally wouldn’t give a drink to someone I hate, I normally do that with someone that I really like”
Unable to hide a smile from her face, Tasha asked “Are you saying that Yuri likes me?”
“Well no, but that’s a possibility” Amber concluded “wait, why are you smiling?”
“Because I finally found a way to get back at that girl” Tasha answered, “I’m gonna make her fall in love with me then dump her sorry ass when she’s head over heels for me!”
“What?! Not this again Tasha, That’s way out of line! You can’t just go around and play with people’s feelings!”
“Why not? I’ve done that numerous times and you’re a witness to that!”
Amber quieted down, Tasha was right. She’s seen firsthand all the boys that Tasha played with, why would this be any different?
“This is perfect Amber! Since we’re dance partners, I have a reason to go see her whenever I want!” Tasha exclaimed “This is fucking perfect! I love it!”
And Amber just stared at her best friend, hoping that Tasha will be alright after all of this is over
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After a whole day’s class and an intense and tiring practice, Yuri went back to her dorm room for a well-deserved nap. After changing into a more comfy shirt and shorts, she sprawled on her bed and was slowly falling asleep when a loud knock on the door brought her back to her senses
“Oh c’mon! You have to be kidding me!” Yuri sat a bit annoyed, “I’m coming!” and went to open her door
“Hey there partner!” Tasha greeted with her cutest smile
“What do you want?” Yuri asked with annoyance
“What’s with the attitude grumpy-pants?” Tasha then entered Yuri’s room, Yuri didn’t bother to stop her from entering since it can start a fight and she was just too tired for it
Tasha sat at Yuri’s bed, legs crossed and arms supporting her upper body as she slightly leaned backwards, “I just want to talk about the whole dance routine we have to do”
Yuri stared at her with sleepy eyes, “can we just talk about that some other time, maybe even later, I just really want and need to take a nap”
“Okay, we’ll talk about it after you take your nap” Tasha answered calmly
“Okay then, thank you” Yuri replied, although a bit surprised at Tasha’s calmness.
Yuri waited for Tasha to leave but the girl continued to comfortably sit at her bed, which prompted Yuri to say, “Okay, you can leave now”
“Oh I’m not leaving” Tasha responded, “You said you wanted to talk after your nap and I agreed to it but you never said I had to leave, so…” Tasha then comfortably lay down on Yuri’s bed, “I’m staying right her until you wake up from your nap”
This was Tasha’s way of forcing Yuri to talk to her and seeing that Yuri was tired, one way of getting back at her for annoying the shit out of her before and she’s really having fun seeing Yuri’s irritated expressions
“Are you freaking serious?” Yuri said with exasperation
Tasha playfully nodded and smirk, “oh and don’t bother going to my room and trying to sleep there, I locked it”
Yuri stared at her and face palmed herself to control her growing annoyance while Tasha looked on, enjoying the feeling of being the one that causes the annoyance and not the one being annoyed
Yuri sighed heavily, “Fine…”
“Okay good, so let’s talk about our dance” Tasha instantly sat up, internally feeling as the victor in this mini battle of patience
“No, what I meant was, fine you can stay here if you want” Yuri replied then locked her door and quickly laid next to Tasha on the bed, “just don’t make any noise okay?”
“You’re seriously taking a nap while I’m here on your bed?” Tasha asked with surprised as she looked at Yuri who has her back turned on her
“Yes! Now just let me get some rest and well talk later like I said earlier” Yuri said “and if you want to leave, lock the door on your way out”
“Don’t worry, like I said, I’m not leaving” Tasha said and lay back down again, turning her back on Yuri as well
“Well, I didn’t expect she would do this” Tasha thought as she lay silently next to the girl she apparently dislikes, “Is she really asleep?”
Tasha then slowly turned to Yuri, whose back was still facing her. Curious to see if Yuri was really asleep, Tasha placed her hand on Yuri’s shoulder and gently pulled her so that she would be lying on her back
“She really is asleep” Tasha uttered as she check on Yuri, “this would have been the perfect time to smack her but I won’t, I’ll let her rest for now” Tasha thought
Then Yuri, still fully asleep, slightly moved and was now facing Tasha
Tasha eyes widen and her cheeks blushed as she lay inches away from the short-haired girl but instead of looking away, Tasha looked further on, studying every detail of Yuri’s calm, sleeping face.
As if caught in a trance, Tasha slowly lifted her hand and gently traced Yuri’s facial features, starting from her cheek bones, then her eyes, down to the bridge of her nose and finally her lips. The feeling of Yuri’s soft lips against her fingertips drove Tasha into deep curiosity
“Her lips are so soft, almost feather-like. I wondered how many girls her lips have touched, and how they reacted when they felt her softness” Tasha wondered on as her fingertips grazed over Yuri’s lips
Still in deep sleep, Yuri groaned, placed her arm over Tasha and pulled her closer, almost hugging her. This effectively brought Tasha out of her thoughts but also made her face warm and almost as red as a tomato. Tasha stayed still as Yuri held her close
“Kaley…” Yuri softly spoke
This name didn’t escape Tasha’s ears, “…Who’s Kaley?” and with all that thinking, Tasha fell asleep unnoticeably and slowly melted into Yuri’s embrace.