“Wow, I told you she’s a rebel. I bet you the reason why she didn’t show up was because she was out doing drugs or something.” Yoona grabs her tray and follows Tiffany down the courtyard.

“Haha, probably. I don’t have a very nice perspective of her now. Do you think she’ll show up today?”

Using her index finger, Yoona swiped icing off of her slice of cake and the tip of her finger before replying, “I doubt it. You shouldn’t even bother waiting for her.”

Tiffany shakes her head. “I have to, though. Mrs. Shin will know whether I show up or not.”

“Hmn,” Yoona mumbles with her finger still in . “Then good luck with that.”

“Yeah,” Tiffany replies. “Hey, can’t you wait until we reach our seats?”

“Wait?”

“Yes, wait until we get there to start eating.”

“But I’m hungry.”

“You’re always hungry.”

Yoona ignores Tiffany’s comment as they continue to make their way down to their seats. A granite fountain with a sculpture of their school mascot, a knight, sits in the middle of their lunch area. Surrounding the fountain are stone benches with all cherry blossom trees planted between each bench, giving the area its needed amount of shade. The sun glistens in the ripples of the fountain water and the sound of chirping birds along with the occasional chatter of students sound from the location of where most of the ASB board sits.

“Hey,” Tiffany greets as she settles into her seat.

“Hi, Baby. How was class without your Prince Charming?” Taeyeon greets back.

Tiffany laughs. “You’re such a flirt.”

“You guys would make the cheesiest couple ever,” Sooyoung comments and swipes a slice of salmon from Yoona’s tray as she sits down next to her.

“I think they would make a hot couple,” a student next to Yoona remarks.

Tiffany sends a playful glare at the male student. “Shut up, Daesung.” The small group of students laughs at the small interaction between the two. The ASB president seems to never get along with the ASB secretary on the outside, but the group knows that their friendship goes back to their preschool days.

“Tiffany, our upcoming showcase for the music club has a sponsor offer!”

Tiffany turns to the ASB treasurer with an amused smile playing on her lips. “Seriously?”

“Yes! It’s amazing,” the treasurer answers. “We got EverySing to sponsor us!”

“That’s great, Hyuna. So how do they want to sponsor us?”

Hyuna takes her binder out of her bag and pulls out a contract and hands it to Tiffany. “They said that they will cover all of the expenses for the showcase if we have an ad for the app after every performance. The banner for the showcase also has to have the EverySing label on it, which they will provide for us.”

Tiffany scans over the contract and nods. “That sounds reasonable. Okay, make the deal. The showcase will be cost us a lot, so with this sponsor, we’ll be able to cover it. Can you bring this up to the principal and have her sign it after lunch?”

“Of course.”

“Thank you. I guess everything will go well after all.”

Taeyeon nudges Tiffany’s arm. “What’s wrong? Something hasn’t been going well?”

“It’s not that, Taetae. It’s just a minor problem.”

The shorter of the two leans in to Tiffany’s ear and whispers in a hushed voice, “Is it about the company?”

“No, maybe not. I don’t know, Tae.”

“Well, how was the meeting yesterday? You said you had one yesterday, didn’t you?” Tiffany nods and takes a bite out of her sandwich. “Did it go well?”

“It was mediocre, I suppose. I nearly fell asleep a few times, though.”

“Tiffany, I’m a bit worried about your health. You should be getting at least eight hours of sleep each night, but it’s as if you get eight hours of sleep each week.”

Tiffany closes her eyes and rests her head on Taeyeon’s shoulder. “Hmn, more like fourteen hours of sleep each week.”

“You’re supposed to be getting like 56 hours of sleep each week, Fany-ah.”

“I’m sorry, Taetae. I’ll sleep whenever I have the opportunity.”

Taeyeon rested a hand on Tiffany’s knee. “Promise?”

“Promise.”

**

“What?! You didn’t show up? Why? I mean, I did tell you to watch your back and all, but I didn’t think you’ll just ditch her.” Yuri reprimands, shocked at the news.

“Well, I had some business to take care of.”

“Krystal?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh. Watch Tiffany Hwang and Yoona gang up on you and start spreading rumors or something. I hope Krystal gets well soon.” Yuri says, her eyes sincere.

Jessica smiles. “Thanks, Yul. It means a lot.”

“It’s nothing. Just get some rest as well, all right?”

“Of course. I love sleeping.”

**

When the final bell rings, Tiffany walks back to the math building to wait for Jessica to show up. Even though she doubts Jessica will even show up, she has no other choice. When Tiffany opens the door, however, she sees a girl already sitting in there.

Jessica looks up and sees Tiffany walking toward her.

“Hwang Tiffany?”

“Yes.”

Jessica stands up and offers a handshake. “I’m sorry about yesterday. I didn’t mean to forget,” she says. “I just had some urgent business to take care of.”

Tiffany shakes her hand and smiles softly. “It’s all right. Nothing to it.” She sits down and an awkward silence encases them. Jessica is the first one to speak, breaking the silence.

“So you need help with statistics?”

“Yeah, apparently so.” Tiffany takes out her book and flips to the current chapter when her phone vibrates.

I need the files from the meeting. – Daddy

Sighing slightly, Tiffany searches through her phone to find the files to send to her father.

Jessica sits patiently as she waits for Tiffany to finish texting. After all, a girl this popular must have a lot of friends to text. She just hopes that Tiffany won’t be texting throughout the entire lesson.

Tiffany sets her phone down on the desk and looks up at Jessica. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine,” Jessica says and clears . “Now, can you do this problem?” She points at an equation and Tiffany follows her line of vision.

Tiffany reads the question and pauses for a moment to think. “I’ll work it out,” she says. Jessica nods and takes out her own notebook to scribble down the equation. She finishes before Tiffany does and notices that Tiffany was flipping back to the beginning of the chapter where the instructions were. She observes the student and realizes that Tiffany didn’t have a single clue on how to even start the equation. However, after observing for a while longer, Jessica sees that Tiffany catches on quickly by just looking at the examples. Although Tiffany seems to be solving the equation well, she pauses every once in a while to reply to text messages on her phone. In all honesty, Jessica was getting irritable.

A few more minutes pass and Tiffany finally places down her pencil. “Done,” she pauses. “I think.”

Jessica takes the sheet of paper into her hand and compares it with her own answer. To her surprise, the answers matched perfectly.

“Correct,” she says amusedly. Tiffany notices the tone in her voice. Jessica was skeptical that Tiffany would even finish the equation. But Tiffany pays no mind to it. After all, being labeled as a typical popular girl doesn't earn you much credit in the education area. Maybe the stereotype makes sense because she is usually seen sleeping in class, but if she had the strength to stay awake throughout the lesson, maybe she would have finished the equation just as quickly as Jessica did.

Tiffany nods and her phone vibrates again. “Sorry,” she says to Jessica before her thumb reaches to answer the call and she presses the phone against her cheek and ear. “Hwang Tiffany,” she answers. “Pardon? No, you cannot start it without me. I will be there as soon as possible,” Tiffany sighs.

Must be her friends, Jessica thinks as she listens to the irritated tone of Tiffany’s voice.

“I was told that it starts at 5 o’clock sharp; why are they early?” She runs a hand through her hair. “Fine. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Wait, she’s leaving me when I sacrificed my free time just to tutor her? For what? Her friends?!

She hangs up the call and slides her phone into her bag. “Jessica, I’m really, really sorry, but—”

“Save it,” Jessica glowers. “I won’t let you leave.”

Tiffany raises an eyebrow. “What?”

“I said, I won’t let you leave.”

Tiffany stares at Jessica incredulously for a moment before sliding her items into her bag. “I’m sorry, but I really don’t have an option right now.”

“Look, you can go hang out with your friends any other time you want, but I gave up my time just to tutor you and yet you don’t stay around to appreciate it?”

“I really do appreciate it, but this is urgent.”

“Hanging out with your friends is urgent?” Jessica retorts.

Tiffany exhales sharply and closes her eyes to calm herself down. Of course she would think that I’m hanging out with my friends. Everyone thinks that. Why would she be different from the rest? “I’m not hanging out with them like you think, but please understand that I’m not blowing you off. I really need to attend this.”

“Whatever. Leave then.”

Tiffany sighs and picks up her bag to walk out the door. Her hand rests on the doorknob and she pauses in her movements. “Thanks again for today, Jessica.”

Jessica doesn’t reply and Tiffany readjusts the bag on her shoulder.

“I mean it, okay? Ride home safely,” Tiffany says before walking out the door.

Jessica’s ears perk up at the unfamiliar choice of words. “Ride?”

Tiffany turns around with a soft smile. “Yes, ride. You ride your bike, don’t you? I see you sometimes.”

And with that, Jessica is left speechless. Who would notice her riding her bike of all things they can notice? Why would Tiffany even notice her, someone who she hasn’t ever talked to before? Still confused, Jessica returns the smile out of politeness. “Thank you. You too.”

TBC

----

A/N: Okay, I'm dead. I will fall asleep instantly right now. Because Sammy wanted to update earlier this week, I had to finish this today since I told you guys that we would update on Thursday.

Now I'm stuck with a crapload of homework and only an hour and a half to finish it. Hopefully it was worth it posting it up.

And sorry for any errors in this update (yeah, not really) since I didn't edit or whatever.

I'm falling asleep now omg. Comment or something. It'll wake me up.

About replies... I'm guessing that you're looking forward to Sammy's replies since she's nicer, but she went to sleep and so you're stuck with me. I won't be mean or sassy. I promise... somewhat.

Anyway, I'm about to fall asleep so:

Pyong, es.

<3

My replies (do you guys even know my name):

windyheartsnsd - This chapter is 1.7k, so hopefully that made up for the short chapter in the last update. And yes, you may call me Cayden... I mean, what else would you call me? Cayden is my name, so... Anyway, Sammy is asleep because she and I'm stuck doing replies, so I think she would want to say thanks for commenting and that we really appreciate your comments. We talk about it at school sometimes and we think you're an adorable reader, haha. Anyway, thanks.

Shea_luvSel - Yoonyul... huh. Something like that. Well your prediciton was partially correct. Thanks for commenting.

Summerlitez - Well I don't think that she can be saved from her life because she has to live it, but all right. I hope she can be saved too. Thanks for commenting.

monkeymadness - Twins? Lol, who are you referring to? You know, Sammy laughed when she read your comment. "Daddy Hwang has a boatload of cash" lol. You're entertaining. And does our writing seem good enough to be college level? Lolno. We're juniors in high school; 16. And yes, the tests killed us. I'm going to die right now too, so I'll end this reply. Loljk, I'm just ending it b/c I don't like talking to you. Loljk. Not really. Idk what I'm saying. Kbye.

JessFany293 - Thank you, thank you, and thank you. You're too kind.

snsdforeverandmore - Really? That was a good chapter? Are you okay in the head or..? Nawh I'm just kidding since Sammy's not here to do replies and I have to be "nice". I can't take this agony any longer.

ertME - I hope this chapter was okay. Thanks for commenting.