Irene knows Seulgi keeps stealing glances at her. She doesn’t have to look to know. She can see from her peripheral vision. She hasn’t talked to Seulgi and avoided her like a plague. It shouldn’t be that way and she knows that. It’s just her emotions of anger and disappointment have eaten her. Her family was from Illinois and moved to Angels Creek seven years ago. It was difficult for her to be friends with the other kids because she was a quiet and timid kid back then. When they were in fourth grade, Seulgi was the one who initiated the talk because she was too shy to do the first move. From what she recalled, Seulgi wasn’t forceful in trying hard to be friends with her. She knew her boundaries and that’s what Irene liked about her. She also remembered when she forgot her art materials at home; Seulgi let her borrow hers on her first day of class. She thought Seulgi was innately a kind person. Slowly, she has taken a liking to Seulgi because of her kindness and thoughtfulness. Whenever there’s a queue or choosing something, Seulgi makes sure that Irene goes first before her. There were times that Irene couldn’t stand up for herself, so Seulgi was the one who stood up for her. It made her like Seulgi more, she tried her best that she should stand up for herself, she wanted to be as strong as Seulgi, so that, one day if Seulgi is the one who needs help, she will be there for her. Seulgi holds a special place in her heart; she was her best friend after all. They even promised that they would stick together and be there for each other even if they grow up and if life gets tough. Until one unforeseeable circumstance, Seulgi’s parents got divorced. Seulgi’s mother took custody of her and decided to leave the town. They promised each other that they would still communicate with each other through letters, sadly, they didn’t. Seulgi hasn’t replied to her letters after a few months, she didn’t know why, and now she's suddenly back in town. She wanted to ask her why she stopped communicating with her. She wanted to know the reason. She wanted to talk to her but she couldn't and she wouldn’t because she's still hurt about it.

After World History Class, Irene picks up her things to leave class immediately, so she doesn't have to talk to Seulgi in case the latter starts a conversation with her. She hates her, she hates her a lot for coming back and not feeling sorry about it. They promised that they’ll be together. Maybe, it was just another stupid broken promises made by kids. When she walks out of the classroom, a tall Asian girl who's wearing a black leather jacket and tight blue jeans approaches her. “Hi, crush, how is it going?” She walks beside Irene who’s startled by the greeting; she isn't pleased to see her.

“Oh, Giselle it's you,” Irene says nonchalantly as she continues to walk in the hallway where students are like a murder of crows.

“Irene, it's still early and you're this cranky?” Giselle doesn't get any nice reactions from Irene. “Did you get my message?”

“No, I'm not doing it.”

Giselle walks faster to block Irene from walking, she touches her shoulder. “Why not?”

“You know why,” Irene looks at Giselle's hands on her shoulder and put them down. Then she continues walking past her.

Giselle smiles and strides to catch up with her pace. “Okay, so let's change the topic. Are you sure you're not bi? Because I can feel the queer vibes in you.”

Irene stops walking and faces her locker to open it. She puts her History book inside, and when she closes her locker, she sees Giselle's smiling face waiting for her answer. “You won't stop, would you?”

“Nope!” She beams her cute smile which made Irene roll her eyes in annoyance.

“Straight, bi, queer, non-binary, whatever, I don't date anyone.”

“Irene, then, why are you a man-hater?”

Irene shoots her grimacing look. She has enough of Giselle’s crap talk and walks away from her. Sometimes Giselle’s imagination is just out of this world and she doesn’t think twice about what comes out of . Irene is quite surprised nobody has beaten her yet with that kind of attitude of hers. There’s an answer to why she’s not dating anyone. But the ordinary and reasonable answer would not satisfy Giselle; she knew that the latter wanted to hear what she thought it was.

“Giselle, tell me. What answer would you like to hear?”

“The truth, of course!”

“Then, I’ve already told you a couple of times.” Irene raises her left brow.

“Because you’re not interested in anyone yet?”

Irene’s silence is an answer but Giselle wouldn’t still buy it.

“Seriously, Irene, why don’t you date? Are you perhaps… aual?” Giselle could see Irene’s sour facial expression. Irene has enough of her foolishness, she doesn’t want to hear what comes next from ; she walks faster to stay away from her. Giselle is laughing, she knows Irene would react like that, she likes seeing her reaction that teasing her almost becomes a habit. “Irene, come on! I’m just kidding!”

Giselle knows Irene since junior high school but they weren’t classmates back then. They became classmates when they were in their first year of senior school. They aren't that close but Giselle likes to be friends with her. It's not like Irene doesn't like Giselle, the latter just has a hobby of annoying her. She keeps making fun of her, not in a bad way but in a playful way. Giselle is not a bad person; she’s just friendly especially to Irene. She was so persistent to be friends with her. She wanted to know more about Irene because she felt she’s like a mysterious boulder that cannot be pushed easily. It felt like a challenge to her because anything she did, felt like she couldn’t get through her barrier. Until one time, Giselle felt like coming out of the closet to Irene during their laboratory activity, they were lab partners back then. She didn’t know why she did that, maybe because she was keeping it for a long time and it just slipped her tongue. It’s not like it’s uncommon to be an LGBTQ in their town, there are a lot of queer people in the states. Although she only knows a few people in their community since they weren't as open as everyone like what she sees on social media. Or maybe, she just didn’t bother to notice them or they are not as expressive as she expected them to be. It seemed like their town is progressive and non-progressive at the same time. Not to mention, Irene's family is religious. When Giselle came out, she thought Irene would feel uncomfortable with her since she's a Catholic. She was surprised when Irene told her, “Good luck with your discovery.” It wasn't the answer that she expected and because of it, she developed a crush on her. But that was before. Irene made it clear a couple of times that she's straight and she doesn't want to date anyone. She's just goofing around when she sometimes calls Irene “crush”, but she doesn't have feelings for Irene anymore. Giselle is comfortable around her since Irene isn't as snob as what others think of her. Irene doesn't talk to anyone because that's just how she is. She is an introverted person. She even comes to Irene for love advice which ironically Irene gives sensible advice to her even though she hasn't dated anyone. She even joked, “Are you sure you're not dating anyone?” Irene would just reply, “Then don't ask me for it.” She finds it amusing to because of her reaction. Everyone doesn't know about this side of Irene. So, she felt delighted that she's one of a few who could get this close to her.

Irene receives a handful of love confessions but she always turns them down. Whenever she feels any advancement, she immediately blocks them off. Some insecure girls were spreading weird rumors about her. But that doesn’t stay long because who would have thought she would do such things; it’s just unbelievable. Aside from her silent personality, she's also careful of her image because she's a daughter of a policeman. She doesn't want to give her father a bad reputation. What would people say if a policeman's daughter is a delinquent teenager? – Even though it would be far-fetched but she doesn't want to be branded by that label.

Giselle strides her paces to catch up on Irene so she could talk to her. “So, are you going this Friday night at James’?”

Irene looks at Giselle who has a bright expression on her face expecting a yes answer. “Which James? There’s a lot of James in our school,” She quips.

“Touché,” Giselle says. “The Asian James. Speaking of Asian, I just noticed there’s a lot of Asians in our town. It makes me wonder what lures us in. It’s not even a great town,” Giselle rubs her chin.

Irene deadpans. “Whatever. I’m not going,” She proceeds to walk away from Giselle who is so persistent; she wouldn’t stop until she makes Irene come to the party.

“Whatta bummer, Irene come on! We’re teenagers, we gotta go out there and party our youth!” Giselle watches Irene leaving her behind, entering the classroom. From a distance, she sees her teacher who is walking towards their class. She immediately goes inside and sits next to Irene. She puts her sling bag below her chair and talks to Irene. “Irene, come on, just for once. Stop caring about your image or your dad’s image. You won’t be able to enjoy our youth if you keep worrying about many things in your life.” The teacher arrives in their room and begins the lecture. Giselle is still looking at Irene, waiting for her answer. She stares at Irene to give her a sincere look, she doesn’t even blink. Irene finds it annoying and horrifying at the same time. She notices Giselle’s eyes are turning red and she can feel the stinging feeling of not being able to blink; it’s agonizing to watch her. “For crying out loud, Giselle, stop that! I’ll think about it!” She whispers, glaring at her.

“Wooh, that took too long,” Giselle blinks a lot of times to comfort her stinging eyes. She knew Irene would eventually say yes if she is persistent enough. “My eyes hurt like a , hahaha,” She laughs; her eyes are red and teary, she blinks a couple more times and wipes her tears.

“I didn’t say I’ll come. I said I’ll think about it.”

“Well, I know you’ll come,” Giselle grins. She’s confident of it.