For two weeks this process withheld. Yuri would wait for Tiffany in the morning and greet her. Tiffany will greet her back and brush her aside without a care in the world. It became their normal routine that is until one Friday when Yuri never showed up.

Opening the classroom door, Tiffany walked in to expect Yuri at her desk but she didn’t see the girl in front of it. For a brief moment she looked at the empty desk with confusion and then shrugged it off. It was weird though because when she sat down it felt cold for some reason. Yuri wasn’t there so the classmates didn’t pay much attention to Tiffany. It was back to how things were normally. In her mind, Tiffany wanted to give a sigh of relief but something elsewhere prevented that from happening. The teacher came in and began instructing the class but Yuri never came. When it was over, Tiffany gathered her things and took one glance at the empty desk behind her and left.

Monday, Tiffany walked inside when she noticed that there were a lot of flowers and cards on Yuri’s desk. In front of hers, she saw Yuri standing there as usual. She approached the girl and asked,” What happened to you?”

Taken aback by Tiffany initiating the conversation Yuri then replied, “I was a bit under the weather.”   

“Ah. I see,” Tiffany said as Yuri cleared the way for her to set her things on the desk.

Unlike before, Yuri remained standing at Tiffany’s desk. “You missed me didn’t you,” Yuri asked with a smile.

Raising an eyebrow Tiffany looked at Yuri and responded, “Not really. I just noticed you weren’t there Friday. That’s all.”

Yuri smiled. All of her work to get this girl to acknowledge her presence finally worked, albeit a small victory. For Yuri, it was like being that girl that longed for affection all over again, the girl that she has tried to hide from everyone for so long. She wanted Tiffany to be with her more. She wanted Tiffany’s attention. “What class do you have before lunch,” she asked.

“I have math class with Mr. Takahashi. Why,” said Tiffany.

“I’ll meet you in front of the classroom after it’s over. I want to have lunch with you,” Yuri smoothly said and returned to her seat.

Tiffany shrugged her shoulders and let the girl behind her be. She had no idea why Yuri would make that kind of request. Tiffany being Tiffany was indifferent on the matter so she decided to let Yuri go along with her whims as usual. So she continued the rest of her day until the lunch bell rang. Sure enough, when she left math class Yuri was standing there waiting on her. She observed a crowd of people a decent distance away, watching Yuri and talking. Yuri then approached her.

“Hey,” Yuri said.

“Hello again,” Tiffany said back casually.

“Are you ready to go,” the taller girl asked.

“Yeah,” replied Tiffany.

“Cool. I’ll buy you lunch. Come follow me and we’ll go outside,” said Yuri.

Tiffany was a bit hesitant but then ignored that feeling and went with Yuri. She didn’t like the fact that the girl was buying her lunch but that’s more money she can save for doing other things so she let it slide. Yuri bought them both a personal pan pizza and two cans of cola and led them outside to the benches. As they were walking in silence, Tiffany noticed again the stares that the two of them were getting.

“How can you stand that,” asked Tiffany as she continued to follow Yuri.

“Stand what,” Yuri responded.

“That,” said Tiffany as she pointed to the crowds of people looking at them.

Yuri looked back briefly and chuckled a little. She waved her hand at the crowd, which led many of them to smile and wave back. Yuri turned back to the direction they were walking in and answered, “You get used to it over time. I don’t think they try to mean any harm.”

Tiffany raised an eyebrow and asked, “Try?”

“Come,” Yuri said ignoring Tiffany’s last question.