Twenty-three years earlier
 

Jessica hurried down the hall, not bothering to stop at her locker to dump off the books she didn’t need.  She smiled and waved at Hara, another cheerleader, but didn’t stop to chat.  She knew Kwon Yuri rode her bike to and from school, so she hurried out the side door where the bike racks were.  For some reason, the tall, dark-haired girl intrigued her.  She often felt her eyes on her, often caught her staring.  There was just something about the way Kwon Yuri looked at her.  It was mysterious.  It was also a little frightening.  She didn’t know Yuri.   Not really.  They’d had a class together in their freshman year but they rarely spoke.  Now their sophomore year had all but passed and they’d only said a handful of “hellos” to each other.  They had only one class together this year, American History, and they sat at opposite sides of the room.  Even then, whenever she turned, she found Yuri watching her.  The other girl would look away, embarrassment showing on her face each time.

This confused  Jessica  more  than  frightened  her.  Kwon  Yuri  was  obviously
harmless.  But  the  look  in  her  eyes...well,  it  was  almost  like  how a boy would look at a girl.  That frightened her. Only a little.

There was a whirr of bikes and bodies as everyone raced away from school. She spotted Yuri in the middle of the pack, her long dark hair flowing out behind her as

she pedaled away.

“Crap,”  she  murmured.  It  was  Friday.  She wouldn’t have a chance to see Yuri again until Monday.  She spun around, wondering what her mother would say if she suddenly started riding her bike to school each day.

She would think she’d flipped out, of course. The cool kids didn’t ride
their bikes to school. The cool kids either drove themselves or, better yet, rode with a cute guy. She walked back inside, slower now. She was a cheerleader. She was officially one of the cool kids.  She couldn’t ditch her new car for a bike.  She’d waited too long to be able to drive to go back to bikes.
 

 “Hey, Jessica. Wanna go swimming?”
 

Jessica  stopped  at  her  locker,  her  fingers  moving  automatically  over  the  combination  lock, turning it at precisely the correct spot.

“Where?”
 

“HyoMin’s house.”  Hara leaned against the locker next to hers. “Siwon will be there,” she said, her sing-song voice teasing Jessica. Everyone knew Siwon had the hots for her.
 

“Boys?”
 

“Yeah. HyoMin’s mom said she was finally old enough to have unsupervised parties with boys.”

She rolled her eyes dramatically.
 

“As if we weren’t old enough last year.”
 

Jessica  took  two  books  out  of  her  backpack,  then  slammed  her  l