Tiffany hung up. Her conversation left Jessica in a more confuddled state of mind than ever. Near-death experiences? Love? ?! Mistake? That last one hit Jessica the hardest. Did Tiffany perhaps…experiment…ually? Was it a one-time thing or was she actually into…girls? How much of a coincidence was it that the day she realized she was possibly gay would be the same day the person she was gay for possibly, perhaps, probably, maybe…admitted that she could be gay as well? What are the chances?

The world is weird. Queer-weird. Queer.

After lunch, Tiffany threw on another one of her horrendous shapeless sweaters and came out of ‘the hole’ with her two empty gigantic duffle bags and her bike in hand. Jessica felt a rush of disquiet unease as it wouldn’t be the first time the girl disappeared for hours, even days on end.

“Wait! Where are you going? You still have a concussion!”

“Just to pick up a few of Nayeong’s things. Clothes and whatnot. Don’t worry, I won’t be gone long. I’ll be fine.” Tiffany must have seen Jessica’s anxious expression for the younger girl seemed intent on reassuring her. It didn’t help much.

“I’ll be home for dinner, I promise. Ok? Now you should go. You’ll already be late, but you should still try to make it to part of practice,” Tiffany reassured Jessica once more. Just as the younger girl was about to close the front door, she turned to face Jessica fully.

“Thanks for staying behind to make sure I was ok princess. ‘Preciate it.”

“W-wait!!”

“I said I promised didn’t I? I don’t break promises, especially not to princesses with icy tempers.”

“It’s not that! I…I’m sorry, you know?”

Tiffany looked up at Jessica. The expression on her face was inscrutable. But Jessica had a feeling the girl knew exactly what she was apologizing for.

“…I know.”

“A-are you still angry with me?”

“No. Do you think you’re the first person to have said those things to me? I’m a big girl. I’ll get over it.”

“No! Please! I don’t…I don’t want you to just ‘get over it’. Please…I want…I want…”

“Look there’s nothing for you to worry about. I understand. It was in the heat of the moment, I won’t hold it against you. No bad blood between us princess. I promise.”

Why the