*WARNING*

*MILD LANGUAGE*

*DON'T READ IF YOU CAN'T HANDLE BAD WORDS*

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For what felt like a few minutes, neither of them broke eye contact. Tiffany showed no interest in getting up from her seat, nor did Taeyeon show any interest in sitting down. Tiffany’s look of amusement seemed innocent enough, but Taeyeon knew that there were ill intentions behind that fake smirk.

 

“Are you gonna take a seat Kim or are you just gonna keep checking me out all day?”

 

Fighting to take control of her almost shaking knees, Taeyeon ignored the mocking jab and shook her head.

 

“Neither. I’m here to talk to you, Hwang,” she responded in an unamused tone while keeping her feet planted firmly on the ground, creating the very image of fierce defiance. Tiffany was slightly taken aback from her response, but maintained her composure.

 

“You better watch that attitude of yours, Kim. You didn’t forget about the dirt I dug up on you, did you?” Tiffany sneered. “I’m curious. How did you know I would be in detention? Have you been stalking me?”

 

“Let’s just call it a hunch and leave it at that.”

 

Tiffany grinned. “My my, Kim. Since when did you put on your big boy pants to find the nerve to talk to me like that? And here I thought we were friends.”

 

“You and I both know that you’re no friend of mine.”

 

The adrenaline that was pumping through her veins was giving her a massive rush. She didn’t know where all this courage was coming from, but she hoped it didn’t gas out anytime soon. She also hoped that Tiffany couldn’t hear the fast thumping of her heart; she couldn’t have Tiffany calling out her tough act.

 

“Okay then. Since I’m in such a good mood, I’ll let you speak. Go ahead, talk.”

 

That made Taeyeon blink a few times. Tiffany seemed very calm, despite her previous show of mockery and harassment. Nonetheless, Taeyeon didn’t want to miss the opportunity. She was already here so she might as well get what she came for.

 

“Umm, okay. I’m here because I want this to end. I don’t know what happened or why it happened, but whatever it was, I apologize for everything,” Taeyeon spoke with sincerity.  “I have done nothing wrong. Even if I did something wrong, let me help you and make things right.” Taeyeon tried to be as genuine as she could, hoping that her attempt at politeness might actually work with the crazy girl.  

 

Tiffany stuck her pinky into her ear and started to scratch the inside for wax, causing Taeyeon to give her a look of disgust.

 

“Oh, were you saying something?” She pulled out her pinky. “Not that it’s anything, but I tend to lose interest to bull.” Tiffany uttered rather blandly. She flicked away the crusty mess on her pinky and met Taeyeon’s repulsed gaze. “Rather than wasting my time, why don’t you just tell me what you want so we both save our time on bull?”

 

Taeyeon stared at Tiffany as the delinquent rested her cheek on her palm lazily, an untrustworthy grin plain on her face. “I-I want you to leave me alone,” Taeyeon stuttered unintentionally. She hoped Tiffany didn’t notice her hesitance, but knew all too well that she did.

 

“I-I want you to leave me alone,” Tiffany imitated her in a high pitched voice. “Damn, Kim. I knew you were a , but I didn’t know you were also such a little .”

 

At that moment, Taeyeon’s confidence began spiraling down the drain. Her heartbeat was speeding up again at an alarming rate while her hands began to grow rather sweaty. She tried to cover it by responding incredulously, “Are you serious?”

 

“Are you serious?” Tiffany mocked her again. Taeyeon shook her head in disbelief as she tried to wipe her jeans, hoping to dry her perspiring palms.

 

“You’re acting like a child!”

 

“And you’re acting like a little ,” Tiffany shot back smugly.

 

There just wasn’t any way to get through with this girl. No matter what she said, Tiffany just didn’t want to cooperate. Taeyeon was starting to believe that confronting the mushroom was a stupid and pointless idea.

 

“Why are you doing this to me?!” Taeyeon bravely took a step forward. “I barely even know you, yet you treat me like just because I bumped into you that one time? What’s your problem?!” Taeyeon yelled at the top of her lungs, hoping that screaming would let out her frustration - and also mask her fear - for the rebel.

 

“Because you’re gay,” Tiffany said flatly.

 

“What?” Taeyeon almost screamed at the strange logic. “How the hell is that an excuse? Why would you harass me because of the fact that I like girls?”

 

“Oh, so you admit you prefer the over the ?”

 

This girl was seriously pissing her off. What she wouldn’t give to beat Tiffany’s face in with a bat right now. Taeyeon’s thoughts were beginning to become violent again, so she tried to take deep slow breaths in the hopes of controlling her agitation.

 

“That’s not the point. I want to know why you’re targeting me so we can put this aside and move on with our lives. Come on now, there has to be a valid reason,” Taeyeon talked it out slowly with her hand outstretched.

 

“Hey, you asked. You’re a , I hate fags, therefore I hate you. Now,” Tiffany put her ear buds back in and placed her legs back on the desk, “I’m in a good mood right now, so if you want to keep your sanity intact, I suggest you leave unless you want everyone to know you’re on a one way trip to Gayville or some other secret you don’t want out.”

 

Taeyeon felt like dropping to her knees and crying right on the spot. She wished she was home right now so she could bawl into her pillow until she fell asleep. Instead, she gripped onto both sides of the desk behind her in order to keep her from collapsing from the stress.

 

Great idea, idiot. This is what happens when you try to talk sense to another, more dangerous idiot. She’ll probably post the video eventually, so you might as well come up with something.

 

Anything!

 

Taeyeon hesitated before courageously taking a few steps closer to Tiffany. “You keep calling me gay, but you’re not that feminine yourself Hwang. If I would take a guess, you look pretty gay too.” Taeyeon attempted to talk bad to the girl sitting down, but Tiffany showed no sign that she even heard the desperate girl. Tiffany looked bored as she listened to her music. It did, however, show in her eyes that if Taeyeon kept messing with her, she would take the liberty of beating Taeyeon senseless, and Taeyeon knew she might have to get ready for a fight.

 

“I know your stupid rock music is blaring out of those earphones, but I know you can hear me. You have no control over me Hwang! Do you hear me?!”

 

Tiffany continued to pay no attention to the bluffing midget.

 

“You know what? You can go yourself Hwang. I’m pretty sure you won’t do anything because I know deep down you’re just a scared little , just like me.” Taeyeon had no idea what she was doing or if this was an effective plan, but Tiffany finally looked up in annoyance.

 

“You just really want to piss me off, don’t you? I swear, it’s like you’re just asking for it Kim.”

 

“Do you even care about what you’re doing to people or at least doing to me?! What kind of girl are you? Do your parents just let you roam around and let you do as you please?”

 

Right when the last sentence left Taeyeon’s mouth, she knew she had struck a sensitive chord with Tiffany.  The once sarcastic bully who was listening to her music slowly took out her ear buds.

 

“What the ... did you just say?” Tiffany growled quietly.

 

“You heard me.” Taeyeon didn’t back down; the murderous glare Tiffany was giving her sent chills down her spine, but the sudden appearance of a response spurred her on. “Do your parents really not know about you and what you do?”

 

“Kim, I swear if you say one more motherfu-”

 

“It’s as if they purposely raised you to be a freak or a monster.”

 

The room was dead quiet. Taeyeon was expecting Tiffany to start yelling, but instead the girl was taking slow, deep breaths, widened eyes gazing straight towards the blonde. Tiffany stiffly got up and dragged her feet towards Taeyeon’s direction while keeping her eyes fixed straight ahead.

 

Tiffany’s stone face showed absolutely no emotion and it made Taeyeon remember the last incident at the shopping mall. Before Tiffany could walk into her, Taeyeon stepped back and cringed, waiting for the pain to come. Instead, Tiffany walked past Taeyeon as if she wasn’t there. She pulled out a nearby chair by the classroom door and stuck the chair under the doorknob, effectively blocking the entrance for anyone who tried to come in. Seconds passed as Tiffany kept breathing deeply while she stared at the chromium doorknob.

 

Taking one last deep breath, she whirled around, stuck her hand under a desk and forcefully threw the small table towards Taeyeon, narrowly missing her head. The desk crashed into the other desks and chairs in the back and Taeyeon stood there in shock, her brain desperately trying to reason how on earth Tiffany was able to throw a desk that far. By now Taeyeon’s heart rate was through the roof and she was on total alert for anything else that would try to hit her. Tiffany made her way towards the shaking girl ever so slowly, harshly shoving aside random chairs and desks that were blocking her way towards her target.

 

“Answer me this Kim,” Tiffany growled, “who the do you think you are?”

 

Taeyeon had already started scurrying backwards, almost losing her balance when she bumped into the desks behind her. She was at a loss for words. She just had to keep poking at the lion and now the lion was looking for blood. Maybe it wasn’t too late to apologize. “I-I’m sor-”

 

“Who the said you could speak?!” Tiffany lobbed a steel chair towards the frightened girl. Taeyeon managed to duck in time and thankfully the chair missed her entirely. Tiffany completely lost it and it looked like talking her way out of the ceaseless rage was slim to none. Since Tiffany had also blocked the only exit, Taeyeon saw no way of escaping.

 

“Do you think you’re funny?! Huh? Do you think you’re smart?” Tiffany shouted as she stopped in her tracks. “Huh?!”

 

Being a quick learner due to previous mistakes, Taeyeon held her tongue.

 

“Answer me, !”

 

Tiffany kicked the desk in front of her and it slid quite a distance away with questionable speed, sharply knocking against Taeyeon’s waist. It wasn’t too painful, but it shocked her to feel Tiffany’s impressive strength.

 

“Why don’t you make up your mind? Do you want me to talk or not?!” Taeyeon yelled out of fear and probably whatever crazy defiance she still had. She tried to keep walking back, but eventually her back was against the end of the classroom and she knew it was only a matter of time before the mushroom got close enough to eat her.

 

Tiffany was only three meters away from her prey, but to Taeyeon it felt like she only had to take one step and she would be breathing down Taeyeon’s neck.

 

“You think I’m a monster, Kim? Do you?” Tiffany asked in a deep tone.

 

Taeyeon nodded her head, hoping that a mute response wouldn’t make Tiffany go berserk again.

 

“You know, you’re not one to talk, Kim, especially with what you did to your grandma. You know, your dear sweet halmeoni?” Tiffany sneered. “I admit I’ve ruined people’s lives, but you? Wow. Your file really got into detail about your grandma.”

 

Taeyeon balled her hand into a fist, her entire frame shaking. “I thought I told you to shut your face about that?”

 

Tiffany barely shook her head. “You’re in no position to give me orders. You hear me?” she said with a menacing glare. She charged directly at Taeyeon and gripped Taeyeon’s slender shoulders firmly. Taeyeon yelped in surprise as she was forcefully thrown onto a chair. She tried to get back up, but Tiffany only pushed her back down. “Sit down, !”

 

Tears began to fall, but Taeyeon saw no reason to wipe them away.

 

“I didn’t do it.” Taeyeon’s voice cracked as she fruitlessly tried to fight back the tears.

 

Tiffany began to prowl around Taeyeon. “So you’re telling me you had no input whatsoever?”

 

“I didn’t do it.”

 

“In elementary school, too. I’m shocked that you got away with it, Kim.”

 

“I didn’t do it,” Taeyeon repeated, but this time with more anger in her voice.

 

“Tell me this, Kim. At age ten, how the hell did you get away with murder?” Tiffany questioned her smugly, deliberately ignoring the shorter girl.

 

“I said I didn’t do it!” Taeyeon tried to lunge at the mushroom, but Tiffany was one step faster and once again threw Taeyeon back into her seat.

 

“Did I say you could stand up ?! Huh? Now tell me, are you or are you not a murderer?!” Tiffany snarled.

 

“It wasn’t my fault…” Taeyeon could barely see through her tears. “It was an accident. I didn’t meant to-”

 

“You didn’t mean to kill the only family member that actually cared about you?”

 

“You don’t know a damn thing, Hwang!” Taeyeon yelled, fighting the urge lash to out at Tiffany again.

 

“Don’t I? Clearly Kim, I have the upper hand here. I know about you being a killer, I know about your parents being a complete disgrace, and…” Tiffany paused in order to get close to Taeyeon’s face, to savor the moment. “I know about what happened with Sunkyu.”

 

Taeyeon’s right fist shot out so quickly that it almost connected with Tiffany’s jaw, but her small fist was caught by Tiffany’s more experienced hand. “There’s no denying the truth, Kim. You can cry and scream all you want, but there’s no running away from the truth.” Tiffany forcefully pulled Taeyeon’s wrist backwards; the resulting momentum caused Taeyeon’s head to smash onto a steel chair and she grabbed her head in pain.

 

“Even after all that, you still think you have morals and principles? You think you’re just a normal girl like everyone else in this school, Kim?”  Tiffany shook her head. “No Kim. You’re a freak. A monster. Just like me.”

 

Taeyeon struggled to get up, trying to regain her balance. Her head felt a little woozy and it felt like the room was spinning.  Tiffany walked around aimlessly while staring at the floor.

 

“Knowing that you’re a freak, there’s still something I don’t get.” Tiffany stopped to glare at Taeyeon. “Why you?”

 

Taeyeon still felt wobbly so she leaned against the wall. “What are you talking about?” She asked while finally wiping away her tears.

 

“Why you? Answer me that, Kim.”

 

“You’re not making any sense.” Taeyeon responded coldly. She was straggling back into a corner while Tiffany moved forward.

 

“Out of everyone in the world, why does it have to be you?” Tiffany asked. Her breathing was getting faster and her hands were starting to shake. “You weren’t supposed to be chosen. Not you.”

 

“What the hell are you talking about, Hwang?!” Taeyeon was completely creeped out. Tiffany wasn’t making any sense and it was like she was in a messed up horror movie where Tiffany was a sadistic psychopath. Out of all the times Yuri had been right next to her, now was the one moment she truly wished her kkab friend was with her.

 

“Why is it everytime I close my eyes, you appear in front of me?! Everything was going great! I was finally cracking her shell and I was so close. But then someone was chosen, and there you were.”

 

“What do you mean chosen?” Taeyeon tried to make sense of the situation.

 

“It wasn’t supposed to be you.”

 

“Then let it be Jessica or some other random person. I don’t care! I don’t want to be chosen!” Taeyeon didn’t know what she was saying, but she hoped it would calm Tiffany down.

 

Tiffany shook her head again while keeping her hand in her pocket as if she was gripping onto something. “You’re a freak, Kim. A killer, a , and just plain stupid. No… I won’t accept it.”

 

“I have no idea what kind of bull you’re spouting, but I’m not gonna let you get away with spreading the details of my personal life.”

 

“Maybe it was just a fluke.” Tiffany ignored Taeyeon’s statement. She gripped her own hair and the pace of her breathing had escalated to a point where it sounded like she was hyperventilating. “It can’t be you. She wouldn’t.”

 

“If you think playing crazy is going to scare me, you’re wrong Hwang,” Taeyeon said, but truthfully, the many changes in Tiffany’s demeanor was really starting to frighten her. First she was calm, then angry, and now she was just plain crazy. If Taeyeon didn’t know it, she would’ve guessed Tiffany was schizophrenic.

 

“I’m wrong?!” Tiffany quickly strode towards the shorter girl and grabbed her shoulders again, the vise-like grip making Taeyeon wince in pain. “What’s wrong is that you’re not supposed to be the one!” Tiffany slammed Taeyeon onto the wall. “Why was it you?” Tiffany tried to push Taeyeon again, but Taeyeon tucked in her chin and head butted Tiffany’s chin, causing both of them to stagger backwards.

 

“Why would my mom choose you?!” Tiffany struggled to grab Taeyeon’s hair, but Taeyeon wouldn’t have it.

 

“Get off me!”

 

They tussled around on the cold ground, bumping into desks here and there; Tiffany was shaking Taeyeon as they rolled around.

 

“If it’s the last thing I’ll do, I’m going to make sure I ruin your life. You hear me? You had no right to have ruined mine!”

 

The whole situation wasn’t making any sense at all. Taeyeon believed Tiffany had finally lost it and that she was now dealing with a psychopath. The only thing she could do was try to subdue Tiffany and run back home as fast as she could.

 

By some odd feat, Taeyeon fought away Tiffany’s hands and got hold of her wrist.

 

“For the last time, I didn’t do anyth-”

 

Taeyeon couldn’t finish her sentence because as she tried to keep Tiffany at bay, the rebel lunged forward in an attempt to headbutt the midget, and she felt a soft warmth on her lips.

 

It felt like time stopped for moment.

 

Her whole body felt numb. This feeling was like no feeling she had ever experienced before and she wanted it to last forever. Tiffany’s eyes had glazed over and it looked like she was enjoying the strange sensation too. Taeyeon could’ve sworn she tasted strawberries, so she unconsciously moved her tongue forward, savoring the sweet flavor.

 

So this is what a first kiss feels like… I like it.

 

That was when Tiffany’s eyes grew to its full extent and in that moment, Taeyeon realized the reality of what she was doing and quickly threw her entire body backwards, breaking the kiss. She was in shock to recognize that she had evidently enjoyed what had now become a horror. It was like her nightmare all over again.

 

“You…” Tiffany said softly. She reached into her pocket again and was gripping onto something very tightly.

 

“Hwang, you were the one who tried to head me and-”

 

“You…” Tiffany was slowly rising to her feet and took her shaking hand out of her pocket.

 

Taeyeon tried to do the same. “It was an accident and you were the-”

 

“YOU !” Tiffany lunged towards Taeyeon’s throat, but Taeyeon quickly leaped to her right, causing Tiffany to crash into a few chairs.

 

This was Taeyeon’s chance. She quickly got to her feet and rushed towards the exit. She tried to pull away the chair blocking the door, but it barely even budged.

 

Tiffany was snarling like a rabid animal. She had thrown the chair that she ran into towards the wall and was sprinting towards the scared girl.

 

“I’m going to kill you, Kim!”

 

Taeyeon just prayed to the heavens and kicked the chair with all the strength her short leg possessed, and the chair magically flew to the side; Taeyeon didn’t waste a second and threw the door open, sprinting for her life.

 

Of all of the days she decided to put her wallet and cell phone in her backpack, why did it have to be today? If she didn’t get her backpack soon, there would be no way she could get on the subway home. If only she could remember her locker number. With what just happened, it was hard to remember anything at that moment.

 

Gah! All of these lockers look the same! Let’s see…. was it 6192 or 9162? Or was it 1962?

 

It seemed hopeless with all of the identical lockers. She ran around, randomly putting her combination into any locker that looked familiar until finally she found the locker she knew belonged to her.

 

Locker 8507… Yeah that’s close enough.

 

She yanked her locker open and was frantically stuffing her textbooks into her cheap light blue backpack while at the same time checking behind her to see if the mushroom was close by.

 

Oh God, please don’t let her catch me, don’t let her catch me! It was an accident! I didn’t mean to…

 

Just when Taeyeon had successfully managed to stuff the last book in her bag, the person she was dreading slid around the corner at the end of the hallway, running towards her so fast she could’ve won an Olympic gold medal.

 

She was dead. She berated herself for not leaving the books in her bag in order to escape more quickly when she had the chance, but what’s done is done.

 

“YAH! YOU’RE GONNA GET IT NOW KIM!!!”

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안녕! (annyeong)! Since school just started again, I'll be busy with school and I can't promise fast updates. I will try to work on a little bit every day and hope to update soon. I hope you enjoyed it! As always, comments and constructive criticisms are always welcomed. If you really enjoy the story so far, an up-vote would be most appreciated. Take care everyone!

 

BTW, does the ending of this chapter seem familiar? LOL :)