Park Chaeyoung loved school. She loved class, she loved learning and inexplicably to her best friends Kim Jisoo and Lalisa Manoban, she loved homework. What she didn't love was Gym. The one class that she dreaded. It had been bearable for the first two years when she and Jisoo had been in the same class, but because she was taking AP Biology and Calculus for her junior year and Jisoo was still stuck in Algebra 1, their Gym schedules clashed.
The last two weeks however, Chaeyoung had started to look forward to coming to Gym class, because after the horrendous first month of dodgeball, they were running track. Normally the concept of running anywhere that wasn't towards a class she was late for (which was yet to happen, but still) wasn't something that appealed to the young redhead, but as she'd discovered on the first day of track, two weeks ago, that running was quite enjoyable when it provided ample opportunity to run behind the brunette haired student you've been crushing on and therefore are able to check out her ass.
All she knew about the girl was that her name was Jennie and apart from Gym, they shared Biology. That and she was the most gorgeous girl Chaeyoung had ever seen. She had yet to talk to the brunette, despite both Jisoo and Lisa's encouragement to 'get the girl'. Having come out to her friends over the summer, even though she had known herself she was gay since her freshman year, she had been delighted when they'd been nothing but supportive. Even if Lisa's version of support was a glazed over look in her eyes and asking for details.
So lost in her own thoughts and the steady gaze Chaeyoung's eyes were holding on the butt of the object of her affection, she didn't notice the protruding rock that had made its way onto her path until she was already stumbling over it.
"Oooff," she grunted as she ended up on the ground, clutching her ankle, which now had a shooting pain going through it. The pain was swiftly forgotten as she felt a tender hand on her knee and looked up into a pair of beautiful eyes.
"Are you okay?" Jennie asked kindly, having turned to help when she heard someone fall behind her. She saw the blinking brown eyes looking back at her and got lost in them for a second, until a loud voice broke both of them from their trance.
"Ms. Park! You need to watch where you're going," Coach Lee, a middle aged woman who was shorter than most of the freshmen, bellowed above them, "Are you hurt?"
"Um...uh...my ankle," Chaeyoung said weakly.
"I can help her into the nurse," Jennie offered eagerly.
"Very well," the coach replied in a somewhat-bored tone and turned back to some other students.
She was the kind of teacher who didn't want anything to do with you unless you were naturally gifted at sports, something neither Chaeyoung nor Jennie were.
Jennie held her hand out from her still-kneeling position beside the blonde. Chaeyoung stared at it for a few seconds until she realized it was there to help her up and she put her own hand in it. Both girls felt a spark as soon as their hands joined, both trying to hide the delight they felt at feeling it, not sure how the other would react.
Jennie stood up; pulling the taller girl up on her way, who balanced her weight and found her ankle wasn't actually paining her anymore.
"It's okay now," Chaeyoung said, not wanting the other girl to have to accompany her anywhere if she was just being nice.
"Maybe you should get it checked out anyway? Or just...rest it for a while?" Jennie replied, wanting to prolong her time with the blonde. She felt a pull to the girl, more than just the physical attraction she had from when she first noticed her near the start of the year in Biology. She felt connected to her, "I could still help you in?"
"I'd like that," Chaeyoung responded shyly, then looked down and noticed their hands were still joined.
Jennie followed her eye-line and realised she hadn't let go when they had stood up. Not wanting to make the blonde uncomfortable, but not wanting her to think that she was uncomfortable with it either, she gave the hand in hers a comforting squeeze and let it go.
Chaeyoung instantly missed the contact, but shot the brunette a quick smile before indicating towards the locker rooms. They moved towards the building, neither knowing what to say.
"You're-"
"I've se-"
They both giggled as they stared speaking at the same time.
"You're in my Biology class," Jennie said when they'd both recovered.
"Yea, I've seen you in there. Are you doing many AP classes?" Chaeyoung asked, wanting to know more about the brunette.
"Oh, um, just Biology and English. You?"
"Biology and Calculus."
"Math. My worst subject."
Jennie held the door open to the locker rooms as they arrived and Chaeyoung walked in, smiling gratefully as she passed the brunette.
"If...I mean, I could help you? With math? One good turn deserves another and all..." Chaeyoung said as the door was closed, leaving them alone in the large changing room.
"You don't have to."
"Oh I want to!" the taller girl gushed, then lowered her head as she realised how eager she sounded. She sat on one of the benches in the middle of the room
"Really?"
Jennie was surprised anyone wanted to spend any time with her, she'd had no friends in her old school, and she'd figured that when her mother had gotten a promotion and the two of them had to move elsewhere for the start of her junior year, that her final two years of high school would mirror her first two: alone.
"If you want me to," Chaeyoung replied shyly.
"I won't say no to help... I tried every excuse available in my old school to get out of homework... Once I said that I have a solar powered calculator and it was cloudy outside. I think that's the day my teacher gave up on me,"
Jennie smiled sweetly at the taller girl as she spoke, feeling at ease around her.
"Oh, if it's homework you need help with, I'm your girl!" Chaeyoung said, standing up and going over to the locker her gym bag was in.
I wish you were my girl.
Shaking off the thought, Jennie copied the blonde's motions and went over to her own bag, rooting through it.
"I'd really appreciate the help then," she said as she pulled out her clothes.
Chaeyoung spun around and caught her eye, nodding.
"Cool. I'm, um, just gonna get changed. In the, uh, bathroom, okay?"
"Sure," Jennie replied, hoping the other girl didn't notice the blush rising in her cheeks at the thought of her taking her clothes off with just a thin wall between them.
Chaeyoung ducked into the bathroom stall and dropped her head back against the door, a flurry of thoughts and emotions going through her.
I talked to her! Actual words! I don't even think I sounded like a spaz. And we're gonna study together. Oh my god, oh my god. Is that like a study date? No, just two people studying together. The other person being the chick I have the biggest crush on. Wait, chick? Who am I, Lisa? Stop objectifying her. I mean she stopped to help me when I fell, most people would have just kept on going. Sweet and kind and funny.... made a math joke. Heh. I think she's my perfect girl.
She absentmindedly changed out of her gym clothes as she pondered all of this and resolved to find out more about the brunette. If there was anything she could do well it was research and learning. Doing up the last button on her shirt, she stuffed her gym clothes into her bag and turned to leave the small cubicle, a small smile playing on her face as she opened the door and saw Jennie sitting on the bench, fully changed out of her sports clothes, seemingly finding something very interesting about her shoes.
"Hey," Chaeyoung said, causing the brunette to look up with a grin, "You didn't have to wait."
"Oh, I didn't mind. Besides, you falling got me out of Gym class early. I definitely owe you for that."
"Well I'm glad my clumsiness could be of service."
Jennie giggled and reached for her bag, standing up.
"I was just gonna head to the library for the rest of class..." she said, moving towards the door, "Do you wanna...?"
"Oh for sure," Chaeyoung replied, falling in step with the shorter girl, "We could get a head start on the math stuff."
Or make out behind the 'gardening' section.
Jennie blushed at her thought and the image it had conjured, not noticing the taller girl's red face also, having had a very similar idea, replacing 'gardening' with 'history'.
A 'clunking' sound brought them both out of their thoughts as Jennie's water bottle fell from her bag and onto the floor. Both girls instinctively bent down to pick it up, their hands resting on top of one another on the bottle. They felt the familiar jolt of energy go through them and looked up into each other's eyes.
Chaeyoung licked her lips subconsciously as she took in all of Jennie's features, her pale skin and deep brown eyes. Before she even realized what she was doing, her lips were pressed against the brunette's. As soon as she felt the soft touch, she grasped the full extent of what she had done, of how impulsive she had been.
Pulling back, she didn't give the other girl a chance to react as she jumped up and grabbed her bag.
"I am so, so sorry."
With that, she ran out of the locker room, leaving Jennie in a mild state of shock. Bringing her fingers up to her lips, she felt a tingle still run through them.
"It's okay, Chaeyoung," she said in a whisper to the empty room, "It's definitely okay."