CHAPTER 101    NEW YEAR WITH A BANG

 

A/N: This is not a dream sequence. 

 

 

 

Jessica’s P.O.V.

 

 

I approached Tiffany who is standing at the terrace located on the 2^nd floor of their house which is just outside the recreation room.

 

“Hey………” I gently nudged the spacing out Tiffany while smiling sweetly at her. She looked at me and smiled lightly. She gave me soft kiss on my cheeks then looks at the sky again.

 

Tiffany loved looking at the starry skyline of the night. There were times that she would point and enumerate the visible constellations. She said, her favorite constellation is Orion.. because it’s the one that she could easily spot and recognize.

 

“At deep thought huh?” I asked and stared at the night sky along with Tiffany. It was silent for a while between us.

 

“Stars…” She said with a smile.

 

“Yeah… lot of them tonight.” I said softly.

 

“Where’s Eunjung Unnie?” She asked then sipped lemon flavored beer right straight from the bottle. I don’t know how much she drank already.

 

“She’s already drunk. And I don’t think you’d be awake to welcome the New Year if you continued on drinking.” I scolded her in a gentle manner while smiling at her. She opened up another bottle and handed it to me.

 

“Its okay Babe.. I could still stand straight.” She chuckled. I punched her arm lightly. We could hear the sound of exploding firecrackers at the background. We both looked up at the sky again.

 

 

“Isn’t it strange?... The universe we live in? All those stars.. *chuckles*… even the closest Earth-like planet discovered is about 20 lightyears away… and its considered to be the closest, huh. The fastest probe would reach it in 350000 years, even if humans could build a ship 5000 times the speed of the fastest probe.. it would still take 75 years to reach that planet.” She drank small amout beer again and continued. I just listened at her while staring at the stars.

 

Tiffany stumbled upon a video on youtube about NASA’s search for Earth-like planets and it caught her attention.

 

“And what’s with NASA looking for new planet for refuge? What if there are already inhabitants of that planet? What if those inhabitants are far more advanced than us human? Our ships would be exploding even before our ship could enter their atmosphere. Jeez. Such weirdos. We have a fear that aliens might conquer us but as of what’s happening… we are the aliens that want to conquer the universe.” I looked at her at the mid of her speech. She’s still staring at the sky with a solemn expression. Her voice is husky yet soft and gentle. Her last sentence is familiar though.

 

“Do we humans think highly of ourselves so much that we think only our planet has the ability to nurture life?” She added and I finally pinpoint the familiarity.

 

“Hah! You’re quoting Elements of Space!” I . She laughed and I laughed along with her.

 

“It will be a new year… in an hour.” I said as I s my arm on her waist. She wrapped her arms around my shoulder.

 

“How time flies. Last year.. I was standing at this same spot at the same time… staring at the sky… I was alone… like the past few New Year’s eve.” She said in nostalgia.

 

“What were you feeling back then?” I asked. ‘When I’m still not in your life.’

 

“Happy..” She smiled lightly.

 

‘Happy?’  O.o

 

“But,,, I’m so much happier now.. because I’m with you.” She gave a short deep kiss on my lips. I tasted the lemon flavored beer.

 

“Lets go inside?” I asked but more of a statement. She nodded.

 

 

 

 

Half an hour before midnight, we had our New Year’s Eve dinner. Tiffany, who’s a shikskin wasn’t eating at all.

 

“Whats wrong Babe?” I asked her.

 

“Maybe I had too much of tasting these foods while I’m cooking a while ago. The beer could be a reason too.” She explained.

 

“Your phone rang a while ago. Who sent you a message?” I asked while chewing. She sighed.

 

“It was from Coach. She greeted Happy New Year. “ Tiff said flatly. I scoffed.

 

“And she said ‘have a safe celebration. New year celebration always brings trouble.’ “Tiff added with a smirk.

 

Midnight came. We lit up some colorful fireworks and lit up sky lanterns in the front yard. It was fun.

 

“We should go inside now.” Tiff’s dad said after the fireworks subsided.

 

“Yeah… I’m sleepy.” Tiff’s Mom answered. All of them walked inside the house except for me and Tiffany who was tying her shoe lace before I turned my back on her and took a few steps towards the house. I stopped when Tiffany still wasn’t by my side. I turned around.

 

“Come on Babe…” I reached out my hand to her. She wasn’t responding she was just staring at me. My smile slowly turned into worried expression when she began to catch her breath. I watched as she slowly moved her right hand to her right side just beneath her .

 

My heart raced. I have a very bad feeling.

 

“Babe………” I called her. My voice started to crack. She was already catching her breath when she examined her right hand.

 

“Babe……..” She mouthed. My eyes widen when I noticed pool of red liquid beside her right foot and her white sneakers became red.

 

I myself started to catch my breath. My heart hurts so much and it feels like burning. Tiff slowly walked towards me. I could see that she’s struggling to keep herself standing.

 

After the initial shock, I finally able to move and run to her with my arms opened. She dropped on her knees before I could reach her. She was staring blankly at the ground. I was rooted frozen on the ground.

 

I couldn’t move. I feel numbness and so much pain at the same time.

 

“Jessi……… I love you…” She whispered as she stared at me with her loving smile. Then she dropped on the ground unmoving.

 

“Tiff……”

 

“Tiffany……”

 

“Babe……”

 

There was no answer. My whole body shook. I was trembling so badly. I couldn’t breath.

 

“Help… help us… help Tiffany..” I pleaded with raspy voice. Words struggled to get out of my mouth as I stood in horror looking at Tiffany. Her head was facing on the side. I could see her face. Her opened eyes stared blankly at the bracelet that I gave her last Christmas.

 

“Tiffany…..” My small agonizing steps paid off and I was able to kneel beside Tiffany’s unmoving body. I don’t want to say lifeless because I know she’s alive.

 

“Help! Help us!” I screamed on the top of my lungs as I scrambled to flip my girlfriend and wrap my arms around her.

 

“Jessica, what ha---- oh my God! Stephanie!” I heard Taeyeon Unnie. Next thing I know, She’s kneeling infront of me.

 

“What was that….. oh !” Then its Eunjung Unnie.

 

“She’s shot! She was shot!” I was frantic.

 

“By whom? A stray bullet? She was shot on purpose? Answer me!” Taeyeon Unnie was trembling in anger and I was trembling in shock because of what happened to Tiff. I embraced Tiffany more tightly.

 

“Let her go Jessica. I will check her vital signs.” Said Eunjung Unnie. I reluctantly obeyed.

 

My parents, Tiff’s parents and Sunny Unnie were also at the scene already. Mommy Sheryl was histerical.  Mom kneeled and hugged me. I cried so hard.

 

“She’s still alive but is very weak. We need to bring her to the hospital immediately. Mr Hwang, get that small diameter pipe tube. Now! Taeyeon, help me carry Stephanie. Mr. Jung, start the car now!”

 

“Pipe tube? Pipe tube for what?!” Tiff’s dad asked frantically.

 

“I’ll stab her on the ribs with that and straight to her lung so it could help her breath.”

 

We were all silenced with what Eunjung Unnie said.

 

“Just do as I say damn it! Hold on Stephanie.” She started lifting Tiffany’s body from the ground. It was the last thing I saw before everything went blank.

 

 

 

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