CHAPTER XII

KEEP THEM A SECRET

Tiffany woke up feeling fresh like a new born baby. She stretched her arms and jumped out of her bed. She glanced at the clock and realized she woke up far too early. The black haired American girl then took a deep breath and headed to the kitchen to make breakfast with a huge smile on her face.

“Oh, Tiffany!” Taeyeon was at the door ready to leave. “Are you feeling better already?”

“Oh, hello, Taeyeon!” Tiffany flashed her eye smile. “Yes; I’m feeling a lot better, thank you.”

“Are you heading for school?”

“O-Oh; yeah…” The shorter girl was amazed at how fast Tiffany recovered.

“Are you going to school today?” Taeyeon asked worriedly.

“Oh, yes; definitely!” The crescent eyed girl squealed. “I’m healthy as a horde right now!”

“Healthy as a horse.” The slanted eyed girl corrected her and giggled. “You seem to be in a very good mood…”

“Yeah,” Tiffany’s eyes were shining. “I had a wonderful dream yesterday…”

“Oh?” Taeyeon was curious.

“Yeah.” She said. “I dreamed that my late mom visited me yesterday, and took care of me the whole day…”

“O-Oh…” The shorter girl was surprised as she did not know that Tiffany’s mother had passed away. “R-Really?”

“Yes!” The black haired American girl giggled. “She was still the same mom I always remembered…”

“Kind and gentle and sweet…” She hugged herself.

“… And beautiful…” Tiffany could feel tears were filling her eyes as she was reminded of her late mother again, and she stopped talking altogether.

“Tiffany?” Taeyeon was still worried about her. “Are you okay?”

“Hmm?” The crescent eyed girl turned to her roommate. “Yeah… Yeah; I’m fine.”

“I’m great!” She quickly smiled.

“Anyway; aren’t you supposed to go to school?”

“O-Oh, yeah…” The shorter girl realized if she stayed any longer she would be late for school.

“I guess I’ll be going now…” Taeyeon turned around and opened the front door. “Bye, Tiffany.”

“Bye, Taeyeon!” The black haired American girl said excitedly. “Fighting!”

Taeyeon smiled and closed the door behind her. Tiffany quickly turned around and pranced to the kitchen.

As she ate her chocolate cereal, the crescent eyed girl pulled out her cell phone from her pocket and turned it on. She had her cell turned off the whole day yesterday, and now she wanted to check if there was any message. After two minutes she could see a few unread messages on her phone; a couple from Chloe and Lily, a couple from Yuri, and from Taeyeon. The black haired girl pouted when she noticed that there were no messages from a certain blonde girl.

I guess she didn’t even realize I was absent yesterday, huh? She put her phone down and sighed.

Yujin stepped into the living room and found the crescent eyed girl sitting on the couch staring at her phone; pouting. The short haired girl sat next to her and stared at her.

“Hey, Tiffany,” She said. “Feeling better already?”

The black haired American girl did not answer.

“Tiffany?” She called again.

“What?” The crescent eyed girl suddenly turned to her; she looked annoyed.

“E-Eh…” Yujin stuttered. “N-Nothing…”

Tiffany then realized she was being rude to her dorm mate. She brushed her hair to the side and sighed.

“I’m sorry, Yujin…” She said apologetically. “… I was thinking about something…”

“That’s okay…” The short haired girl said as she hugged the couch pillow.

“So, are you feeling better now?” She asked again. “I checked up on you last night but you were already asleep.”

“Oh, yeah.” Tiffany forced a smile. “I’m feeling a lot better.”

“Are you going to school today?” Yujin looked worried.

“Yeah, I can’t afford to miss my Korean class.” The crescent eyed girl said; although the real reason she wanted to go to school was because she wanted to see Jessica again. She didn’t see the blue eyed girl for a day, and somehow she was already missing her badly. She could even picture those bright blue eyes right now.

“Tiffany?” Yujin called her again.

“Hm?” Those blue eyes faded away. “What’s that, Yujin?”

“Um…” The short haired girl hesitated. “… Are you sure you’re okay for school?”

“Yeah. Yeah.” Tiffany nodded. “I’m fine.”

“If you say so…” Yujin looked puzzled. “Just don’t overdo it, okay?”

“Yes.” The crescent eyed girl smiled. “Thank you.”

“So, were you expecting something?” Yujin asked again after a while as she noticed Tiffany was back staring down her phone again.

“Hmm?” The black haired American girl turned to her.

“Were. You. Expecting. Something?” Yujin repeated her question.

“No…” Tiffany turned to her cell phone again. “Why?”

“Well, you keep staring at it…” The short girl pointed to her phone. “… And you’re in a foul mood this morning.”

“O-Oh!” The crescent eyed girl blushed. “It’s nothing. Really!”

“If you say so,” Yujin giggled. “Are you waiting for a certain boy to check up on you?”

“What?” Tiffany was almost shouting. “N-No! It’s not like that!”

The short haired girl laughed and rushed to the bathroom.

“I’ll be using the bathroom first.” She turned and winked at the black haired American girl. “I’m sure he’ll call you, Tiffany; don’t worry.”

And she quickly dodged the couch pillow Tiffany threw at her. “It’s not a boy!”

And she was telling the truth; she was not waiting for a boy indeed.

The black haired American girl was sitting in her desk, staring at the empty seat beside her. The class was still relatively empty, with only a couple of girls and a boy sitting at their respective seats. Tiffany was not very close with them, so she only smiled and nodded when they asked her if she was already fit for school.

“Good morning, Los Angeles.” That was the lovely voice she had wanted to hear all day yesterday.

But Tiffany decided to ignore her instead, crossing her arms and pouting as she remembered that the blonde girl didn’t even bother to text her or check up on her yesterday.

The blue eyed girl stared at her friend for a moment, puzzled with her attitude.

“Someone’s a bit grumpy today…” Jessica adjusted her side frame and glanced at her.

“Really?” Tiffany looked upset. “How very observant of you, San Francisco.”

“Okay…” The blonde girl decided to leave the violent girl alone for a while.

She’s probably on her period, Jessica thought as she pulled out a novel from her bag and flipped through the pages.

Tiffany glanced at the blonde girl and sighed, She didn’t even ask me how I’m feeling today…

“Tiffany!” Chloe greeted her with a wide smile as she walked into the classroom. “Are you feeling alright now?”

“I’m fine now, Chloe.” Tiffany returned the smile. “Thank you.”

There; that wasn’t so hard now, was it? To ask a friend that was absent the other day how they’re feeling right now? The crescent eyed girl glanced once again to Jessica.

“Oh; and where were you yesterday, Sica?” The Texan turned to the other American girl. “Were you sick too?”

“O-Oh, yeah…” The blonde girl looked surprised by the question. “… I wasn’t feeling well.”

“But I’m okay now.” Jessica quickly added when she realized Tiffany was now staring at her with a curious look.

“So you were absent yesterday too?” The crescent eyed girl looked equally surprised; she suddenly felt bad for getting upset with her.

“Y-Yeah…” She quickly turned her gaze to her novel and pretended to continue reading.

“But some students claim they saw you yesterday near the teachers’ room…” Chloe wondered.

“Really?” Tiffany found the rumor intriguing.

“O-Oh, yeah…” Jessica stuttered as she adjusted her glasses. “I-I was already at school but I realized that I wasn’t feeling well…”

“S-So then I decided to ask miss Park if I could take the day off…”

“Oh!” The short haired girl said. “That explains it then!”

Tiffany, however, was less convinced by her explanation. She started to wonder if her stuttering blonde friend was hiding something. She then remembered that she thought she heard Taeyeon called her name last night.

“Did you drop by my dorm yesterday?” The black haired American girl asked suspiciously.

“N-No…” Jessica stuttered again. “… I was sick yesterday…”

The crescent eyed girl stared at the suspicious looking Jessica. Somehow she doubted what she said. But before she could investigate further; their teacher entered the room and started his morning lesson. Tiffany then decided to put a pin on the matter and wait until lunch break to question her blonde friend again.

Lunch break came and the four girls were holding their food trays and heading to an empty table at the cafeteria; with Tiffany kept staring suspiciously at the blonde girl. Once they all sat down and were about to enjoy their meals; trouble in the form of Richard Wong and his boys came.

“Jessica, Tiffany!” Richard grinned. “I missed you pretty girls yesterday.”

“What do you want, Richard?” Chloe sighed.

“I just wanted to make sure that my lovely Jessica is alright.” He chuckled.

“She’s fine, Richie.” Lily was annoyed. “Now let us eat.”

“I said don’t call me that!” The Chinese boy hissed.

“Easy, Richard.” Dean, the muscle of the group, grabbed his shoulder and calmed him down.

“Someday someone will give this girl a lesson.” Richard glared at the tanned girl.

“Was that a threat?” Chloe clenched her fists.

“No, of course not!” Richard smirked. “I was just saying the possibility.”

“So, Tiffany…” Alex grinned and leaned closer to the crescent eyed girl. “… You should’ve told me you weren’t feeling so well…”

“I could’ve visited you and nursed you back to health, you know…”

Tiffany felt uncomfortable at the gesture and leaned away. “There’s no need for that.”

“Oh, but I wanted to.” The skinny boy winked. “I was worried about you.”

“Thanks; but no thanks.” The black haired American girl was annoyed and glared at him.

“Oh, don’t look at me like that,” He chuckled. “I was really worried about you.”

Alex reached his hand to touch Tiffany’s forehead, but the girl saw that gesture and quickly slapped his hand away.

“Don’t touch me, you stupid jerk!” She shouted out loud.

Jessica quickly stood up and glared at the boy, who was now laughing while rubbing his hand.

“Oooh; feisty!” He laughed. “I think I like you more now.”

Richard and Dean joined and laughed, while the students were starting to stare at their direction.

“Let’s go, Alex.” Richard said with his annoying smirk. “Pretty girls are scary when they’re hungry.”

“Yeah, let them eat first.” Dean added. “They’ll warm up to us eventually.”

“Okay, okay…” Alex chuckled while raising both his hands in defeat.

Jessica sat back down but she kept her glare at Alex, and Tiffany was about to let out a sigh of relief that the boys were going away, but she was shocked soon as Alex reached out to her and pinched her cheek.

“You’re cute.” He chuckled again.

A loud smack could be heard filling the cafeteria as Tiffany’s palm slapped Alex right in the face.

“Don’t you dare touch me again, you sick bastard!” She yelled at him with disgust, but her eyes were teary.

Alex rubbed his red cheek and hissed. “My, my…”

“… Does your stupid mother teach you to speak like that?”

And in a split of a second, the boy found himself lying on the ground. He felt incredible pain on his right jaw, and he glanced at the blonde girl who had hit him in the face so hard that he fell down.

“Don’t you dare say anything about her mother!” She bumped her bottom frame up and threw her icy glare to the boy. “She was a thousand times better than your mother could ever be!”

Dean quickly helped Alex to stand up, while Richard was too shocked to do anything as he just stared at Jessica with his mouth opened.

“I’ll remember this, Jessica Jung.” Alex said as he rubbed his aching jaw.

“Come on, Richard!” Dean shouted to his friend. “Let’s go!”

The three boys then rushed towards the exit, leaving with shame on their faces. The whole cafeteria then erupted in joy as they saw the three boys disappeared. Some students even bothered to stand up from their seats, and clap their hands. Some were voicing their amazement to the blonde girl;

“Good job, Jess!” “That’ll teach them!” “Yay, Jessica!” “Oh, my God!”

They were whistling and cheering at Jessica, who was blushing now, and decided to sit down.

“That…” Chloe seemed to be loss at words. “… That was awesome!”

“Oh, my God!” Lily squealed. “Did you see his face?”

“You got a mean hook there, Sica!”

But the blue eyed girl had her eyes on Tiffany instead, who was sitting quietly and trembling in her seat.

“Are you okay, Tiff?” She asked her crescent eyed friend.

“H-He…” Tiffany’s face was red now. “… He touched me…”

And the black haired American girl finally cried. Chloe and Lily then realized that Tiffany was actually scared when Alex touched her, and it was only her reflexes that made her slap the good for nothing boy.

“Oh, don’t cry!” The blonde girl said as she tried to cheer her up. “Don’t cry, honey.”

She then put her arms around the sobbing girl and pulled her closer.

“Where did he touch you?” Jessica whispered softly as she reached out her hand to Tiffany’s left cheek. “There; let me wipe his dirty hand off of you…”

The crescent eyed girl buried her face against Jessica’s neck.

“Hush, hush now, Tiff…” The blue eyed girl rocked her body gently and her cheek. “His gone now; they’re gone now…”

“Yeah, Tiffany; they’re gone now.” Chloe tried to cheer her up. “Don’t cry, okay?”

Lily gently placed a glass of water in her hand. “Here; drink this.”

The black haired American girl did what she was told and calmed down a bit. She slowly pulled away from her blonde friend and stared at her.

“Thank you…” She said as she tried to smile.

“You’re welcome.” Jessica smiled her sweetest. “He deserved it; he’s an .”

“Yeah, he’s an …” Tiffany finally managed to giggle.

Chloe gave her a tissue and Tiffany scooted her chair to be closer to Jessica, and then they continued to eat their lunch; although they were still upset about the incident.

“How could he do that?” Chloe said as they were walking to their class after the break was over. "Just because his father is some Chinese diplomat he thinks he can do anything."

“I’m going to tell miss Park on them.”

“No, you don’t have to…” Tiffany surprisingly said. “… I think he’d learned his lesson now.”

“And I’m okay now; really.”

“What; really?” Lily was amazed by her kindness. “Aww, you’re such a nice kid!”

“Well he better learn from his mistake or miss deadly-hook here will use her left cross next time,” Chloe proudly said. “And then he won’t get away with just a sore jaw!”

The crescent eyed girl giggled and stared at her hand, which was locked with Jessica’s since they left the cafeteria. Somehow she felt very safe and calm holding hands with the blonde girl, and she leaned her body closer to her. “Where did you learn to punch like that?”

“Oh, didn’t you know?” Chloe answered for her. “His father was a former boxing champion!”

“Oh, really?” The crescent eyed girl giggled.

“He was not a champion or anything!” The blonde girl adjusted her glasses to try and hide her embarrassment.

“Oooh; such a humble comment from the girl with beast hook…” Lily , and they all laughed; except for Jessica, who was blushing even more.

“Stop it, you guys.” She sighed.

“Yeah, stop it, Lily; or you’re going to be her next prey!” Chloe laughed and the two quickly ran away, leaving Tiffany who quickly covered and pretended innocence.

Tiffany was waiting for her teacher to come in her seat when she saw Richard and his goons walked in. She glared at Alex, who glanced at her and Jessica, before sitting in his seat, holding his now bruised and swelled jaw.

The crescent eyed girl re-lived the incident at lunch, and she felt her anger rises up once again. Tiffany tried to calm down, and her mind took her to the image of her knight and shining armor; Jessica the Ice Princess. She giggled when she thought of the nickname and glanced at the blonde girl sitting next to her. She then remembered how the blue eyed beauty defended her late mother for her; and suddenly she realized that Jessica somehow knew that her mother was gone. She tried to remember precisely what the blonde said;

“Don’t you dare say anything about her mother!” She said,

“She WAS a thousand times better than your mother could ever be!”

That last line made her curious. How did she know?

She tried to figure out if she had told someone about her mother; but she was sure that she had not told a single person, except for Taeyeon, whom she just told in the morning.

Unless… Her heart started to beat faster.

Unless she was at the dorm yesterday…

Tiffany then tried to recall the dream she had yesterday about her mother. It felt too real to be just a dream; her touches, her hugs, her cooking, everything. And yesterday she heard Taeyeon calling Jessica just before she went to sleep. And her mother’s hair was curiously blonde. And she was wearing glasses.

And that’s when Tiffany finally realized the reason Jessica knew about her late mother; because she was the one who took care of her yesterday.

Oh. My. God. Her face was suddenly red. I mistook her for my mother! And she played along!

And then she remembered how she begged “her mother” to help her wipe her body and change her clothes. So that’s why she was acting a bit strange!

That’s why she looked shy when she was wiping my body!

Wiping my body… She wiped my body… She wiped my body!

She saw everything!

And Tiffany suddenly squealed and buried her face in her hands in embarrassment. The teacher and some students noticed her, but then continued with the lesson. Jessica stared at the black haired American girl with a big question mark on her face.

“Are you okay, Tiff?” The blue eyed girl leaned to her side and whispered.

“M-Mister Wagner!” She suddenly stood up from her chair and shouted to her bald teacher. “Can I go to the restroom?”

“O-Okay, Stephanie…” The teacher was quite surprised by her sudden and loud request.

Some students looked back and stared as the crescent eyed girl rushed outside. Some were giggling, but Richard and his friends stayed quiet. Chloe and Lily stared at Jessica, who looked surprised as well, and the three of them shrugged to each other.

“Oh-my-God-oh-my-God-oh-my-God…” Tiffany kept pacing around in the restroom while covering her blushing face. “Oh, my God!”

Oh, my God! She saw me !

She saw everything!

And she wiped me!

She wiped my body!

Oh, my God! Calm down, Tiffany! You’re both girls!

But it’s embarrassing!

Calm down; she didn’t even say anything!

She then took a deep breath and held on to the sink and stared at the mirror. There was probably steam coming out from her head now. She didn’t even mention anything…

She even pretended to be sick… She pretended she didn’t go to my dorm and took care of me…

Tiffany calmed down a little. “But why would she lie about nursing me?” She said to herself.

Oh, my God! Did I do something while she was there? Did she saw something weird?

She instinctively stared down to her body and pouted. “Is there something wrong with my body?”

“Did she see something she didn’t like?”

Oh, my God! Snap out of it, Tiffany! Did you hear what you just said?

The bell rang and it was time to change lessons, but Tiffany had not returned from her bathroom trip. Jessica stared at her empty seat and adjusted her glasses. What if something wrong happened to her?

With that thought the blonde girl quickly stood up and ran outside.

“Jessica, where are you going?” Lily shouted. “Class is about to start!”

But the blue eyed girl had something more important in her mind. She bit her lower lip and rushed through the corridors, searching for her crescent eyed friend.

I’m not letting anything happen to her… She thought to herself. … Not this time…

Jessica was about to lose hope when she had searched almost every square of the school to find her. She had been running non-stop for the last ten minutes, and she was running out of breath now. But she then thought of one place that should be empty in this time of day; the P.E area. She took a deep breath and hoped that she was not too late for anything.

“Found you!” The blonde girl said as she tried to catch her breath. She had found her friend sitting in one corner of the green-concrete-floored-sports-field.

Tiffany turned around and was surprised to see Jessica standing there. “W-What are you doing here?”

“I was looking for a silly girl who left class to go to the restroom but hasn’t come back.” The blue eyed girl said as she sat on the ground beside her.

Jessica petted her hair. “I thought something happened to you.”

“O-Oh…” Tiffany realized how much Jessica was worried about her and could not even look her in the eye. “… Sorry…”

“So…” The blonde sighed. “… Why are you hiding here?”

“I-I…” The black haired girl did not know what to say.

“I ran non-stop for ten minutes, Los Angeles. I know; I count.” Jessica stared at her. “I think I deserve an explanation.”

Tiffany stared at her feet, still not knowing what to say.

“You can tell me anything, you know.” The blue eyed girl added.

“I-I know…”

“So tell me.”

The crescent eyed girl looked confused and turned away.

Jessica let out a deep sigh and stood up. “I thought I was your friend, Stephanie.”

And Tiffany eyes were filled with tears the moment she heard that sentence. She quickly turned around and grabbed the blonde’s hand to keep her from walking away.

“I’m sorry!” She stared at her sadly. “I’m sorry; please don’t hate me!”

Jessica smiled and sat back down. She the crescent eyed girl’s hair and giggled. “Nice to see you’re scared of losing me…”

“Stop that!” Tiffany suddenly said and glared at her blue eyed friend. “Stop teasing me!”

“O-Okay…” The blonde was shocked since it was the first time Tiffany glared at her. “Sorry…”

Both girls sighed and stared at their feet, not knowing what to say anymore.

“Why did you lie to me about going to my dorm?” Tiffany finally gathered the courage to ask.

“W-What?” Jessica was very surprised. “How did you know?”

“Does it matter?” The crescent eyed girl stared at her, waiting for her answer.

Jessica took a deep breath and decided to tell her the truth, “I-I was scared…”

And Tiffany thought the sky was falling down on her. She was scared? Was she scared because she saw my body? What scared her?

“… That you would be disappointed…” Her words scared Tiffany even more.

Disappointed? Why would I be disappointed? Did I do something to her? Did she do something?

“… If you knew that your mother was actually me…”

Oh, my God; she hates me! Tiffany was about to cry, but then she realized what the blonde was saying. “O-oh…”

“Oh, thank God…” Tiffany let out a sigh of relief. “I thought you were going to say something bad…”

“Something bad like what?” Jessica was puzzled.

“Nothing…” The crescent eyed girl blushed. “Never mind…”

“So you’re okay with me pretending to be your mother and all?” The blonde asked.

“Well…” Tiffany thought about it for a while. “… Of course.”

“You were taking care of me, and you were trying to make me happy by pretending to be my late mother.”

“I should’ve thanked you for that.” She realized she had not offered her any gratitude.

“So, thank you, Jess.” Tiffany flashed her eye smile. “For taking care of me when I was sick yesterday.”

“You’re welcome.” Jessica returned the smile with her own best, and they both giggled.  

“Now tell me.” Jessica asked again after a while. “Why did you run from class?”

“O-Oh, it was nothing, Jessie; don’t worry…” Tiffany suddenly blushed.

“If it was nothing then why did you run away?” The blonde insisted.

“It was nothing!” The crescent eyed girl quickly said as she felt her face was burning. “I-It was nothing!”

“Spill it, Los Angeles!” Jessica leaned towards her.

“N-No!” Tiffany looked away. “I said it was nothing!”

“Oh, don’t you dare lie to me, Tiff!” And she pushed the black haired girl to the ground and sat on her. She quickly reached for her belly and started to tickle her mercilessly. She noticed yesterday that that was the crescent eyed girl’s weakness.

Tiffany tried to break free, but her body was too weak against the attack. She wiggled around; laughing and kicking until she was out of breath.

“Okay! O-Okay!” She pleaded for mercy as tears were filling her eyes again. “I-I was… Stop!”

“J-Jessie, stop!”

“I was embarrassed because you saw me !” She finally yelled.

“W-What?” Jessica suddenly stopped and stared at her teary dark brown eyes.

“Y-Yeah…” The black haired girl looked away. “So… Um…”

“W-Why were you embarrassed?” The blonde suddenly blushed. “We… We’re both girls!”

“I-I don’t know!” They were now yelling at each other.

“And we’re friends!” The blue eyed girl tried to find any reason to make the event less embarrassing.

“O-Oh! So it’s okay for you to see other girls and wipe their bodies?” Tiffany was suddenly upset, although she didn’t understand why.

“N-No!” Jessica glared at her. “I-I have never seen anybody before except for Soojung!”

“When?”

“What?”

“When did you see Krystal ?” Tiffany looked upset.

“We take baths together sometimes!”

“You what?” Tiffany glared at her. “Ugh!”

“W-What?” Jessica tried to defend herself. “We’re sisters! What’s wrong with you?”

“W-What’s wrong with you?” Tiffany shouted. “Don’t you get embarrassed with being in front of another person?”

“N-No!” Jessica blushed. “W-Why would I be embarrassed with my own sister?”

“How about in front of me?” The crescent eyed girl was about to cry.

“I-I…” The blonde realized she could not answer that question. “I don’t know…”

“I’m sorry…” She sighed. “… I wasn’t thinking how you’d feel…”

“Never mind…” The crescent eyed girl whispered as she fought her tears.

“No; I really am sorry, Tiffany.” Her blue eyes softened.

Both of them stared at each other for a while.

“It’s okay…” Tiffany finally said. “I was the one who asked you anyway…”

“And you did it to help me get better soon…”

“Y-Yeah…” Jessica whispered. “I-It’s not like I have other thoughts in mind…”

“Y-yeah…” Tiffany looked away as she felt her face was burning.

“Um… Jessie?” The crescent eyed girl felt that their position was too awkward for her. “Could you get off of me now?”

“O-Oh. I’m sorry…” Jessica realized that she was sitting on top of her body all this time, and quickly stood up.

“Here.” The blonde said as she reached for Tiffany’s hand and pulled her up.

“Thanks.” The black haired girl smiled.

“So…” Jessica didn’t know what else to say.

“So…” Tiffany felt the same way.

“Um… Could you keep it a secret, Jess?” She finally asked.

“O-Oh. Of course.” The blonde said shyly.

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

“Okay.” Tiffany smiled and took Jessica’s hand in hers. “Let’s head back to class now; it’s almost time to go home.”

And they headed for their class hand in hand. But Jessica still had doubts in her mind.

“So, Tiff…” She whispered. “Which one should I keep a secret?”

“About me pretending to be your mother, or about me seeing you and wiped your body?”

“Oh, my God, Jessie!” Tiffany’s face was burning once again, and she pinched the blonde’s arm as hard as she could.

“Owwie!” Jessica whined. “I was only asking!”

“Keep. Them. Both. A. Secret.” Tiffany narrowed her eyes and put a finger on her lips.

“Gotcha.” The blue eyed girl nodded innocently.

Tiffany had just got out of the bathroom and was now sitting with her dorm mates in the living room, watching some late night drama. Since the couch could only accommodate three people, the crescent eyed girl sat on the carpet alongside Taeyeon.

“Glad you’re feeling better already, Tiffany.” Ri-in said when it was commercial break. “You had me worried with that high fever yesterday.”

“Yes, thank you.” Tiffany smiled, playing with her cell phone.

“But you’re quite amazing, Tiffany.” Jihye joined in. “You got better in just one day.”

“Yeah, I had a lot of rest and sleep yesterday.” The American girl said.

“But still; you’re awesome.” The Chinese girl added. “I would’ve stayed in bed for three days with that kind of fever.”

“Yeah, and she was alone the whole day.” Yujin noticed. “Imagine how she had to get out of bed and cook lunch and dinner all by herself.”

“Y-Yeah,” Tiffany suddenly remembered that it was Jessica who cooked for her meals. “I guess I’m used to it…”

“Oh, so you can cook?” Jihye asked.

“U-Um…” The crescent eyed girl realized that she could not cook a decent meal. “N-No, I mean…”

“I went downstairs to the cafeteria…”

“You went downstairs in that condition?” Ri-in was surprised.

“Oh, my God; you poor girl…” Yujin looked apologetic.

“Y-Yeah, I was hungry and all…” Tiffany laughed awkwardly.

Taeyeon had been listening the whole time and decided to help her American roommate.

“Well, the important thing is she’s feeling better now…” She said calmly.

“Yeah…” The three girls agreed.

Tiffany glanced at her roommate and mouthed thank you, which Taeyeon caught, and she returned it with a simple nod.

I guess Taeyeon knew Jessie was the one who took care of me yesterday… She thought as she stared at the shorter girl.

The drama started again and the girls turned their full attention to the TV, while the crescent eyed girl played with her phone once more.

Once the drama ended and the girls went back to their rooms to sleep, Tiffany sat on the couch and took a deep breath. She was about to start something difficult. The black haired girl decided it was time to take “her mother’s” advice and started texting;

Dad, how are you? I’m doing great here, I gained a lot of good friends, and they really help me settle in.

I’m not forgetting school; so don’t worry. My trainings are going great too.

I just wanted to let you know that I’m happy.

I love you, dad.

And after re-reading her text a couple of times, she took another deep breath and decided to press send. She watched anxiously as message turned from sent into delivered. The crescent eyed girl then hoped that her father would somehow reply to her.

But after a few minutes of staring at her inbox waiting for a message to come, Tiffany decided that her father was probably busy at this time of day in Los Angeles to reply. She sighed and pressed back a couple of times, and stopped when her cell showed her wallpaper; it was the photo she and her blonde friend took at the amusement park when it snowed the first time. She stared at the picture of them sitting so close to each other that their faces touched, smiling to the camera. Tiffany felt a warm sensation in her chest and smiled. She then closed the flip and decided to head for bed.

The phone in her hand rang and she smiled as she checked the mail. She knew it was not her father that sent the text, as someone else had always managed to text her when she was about to go to sleep.

Good night, Tiff :) The message said.

Good night, Jessie :) Was her quick reply.

And as she reached her shared bedroom door she felt an urge to write another reply, so she quickly took out her phone again;

Sweet dreams :)

She giggled as she read her own text and waited for a while before another ring could be heard;

You too, Tiff :)

And she smiled and crawled into her bed; somehow feeling satisfied and happy.