Jessica looked around at the falling leaves as she stepped out of her car and smiled. Coming to her hometown always reminded her of high school. Even though she loved her life in the city, it almost pained her to have to leave. Those were the days; she and her friends ruled the school. Somehow, she'd fallen out of contact with most of them. It was sad and she thought of them sometimes, but they were all living new lives.

She stopped into the Starbucks for a triple shot latte; god knows she needed it after dealing with her sister's teen angst all weekend. She recognized the cashier as her sister's girlfriend.

“Hey Sulli.” She greeted the young girl, who looked flattered to be so casually addressed by the stylish older woman. “How's my sis? Been up to any trouble lately?” She relied on Sulli for information, given that Krystal told her nothing.

“No, nothing worse than the usual.” Sulli laughed. “What can I get for you?”

“I'll have a grande quad shot half-caff extra foamy soy skinny vanilla latte,” she rattled off nonchalantly as Sully struggled to mark all the specifications on the cup. She slid her heavily-used gold rewards card. “Hey, if she's ever doing anything I need to know about, I want you to tell me, okay?” The young girl nodded back at her, unsure of what to say. “Thanks, Sulli. Good luck dealing with her.”

She stood at the end of the counter waiting for her drink, eying the body of a tan girl with black hair who was assisting the barista with her complicated order. She turned around and Jessica saw a very familiar face.

“Oh my god, Kwon Yuri?!” She walked up to the counter as she caught the woman's attention.

“Jessica!” Yuri broke her professional air and ran around the side of the counter, colliding into Jessica with a hug as both of them laughed.

“Oh my god, I haven't seen you since high school! You still work here?” Jessica asked, still clinging to her old friend.

“Not really, I'm a regional manager now, so I'm here for observation today.” Yuri tried her best to sound very important.

“Sounds boring.” Jessica laughed. “When are you off?”

“Whenever I finish the checklist, which I'm almost done with. If you have time to sit here for about twenty minutes we could go catch up.” Yuri smiled. She tried not to get her hopes up about reconnecting with her former friend she'd crushed on throughout middle and high school.

Jessica nodded and grabbed her latte, sitting and scrolling through Instagram on her iPhone while she waited for her friend.

“Hey, I'm done.” Yuri walked toward her. “Where do you wanna go?”

“Where do you live now? I don't wanna take you too far out of your way.” Jessica turned off her phone and stuck it in her vegan leather Guess bag, a rare occurrence.

“Well, I live out in the city. It's not too far--” Yuri started before Jessica excitedly interrupted her.

“Perfect! I do too.” She hopped up and grabbed Yuri's hand. “There's this great indie restaurant that serves local sustainably-grown organic vegetarian gourmet...” Sulli waved goodbye as the rambling woman dragged her boss out the door.

Recognizing the Prius Jessica's parents had given her for her sixteenth birthday, Yuri opened the door of Jessica's car to her. “Ever the gentlewoman.” Jessica smiled at her before getting in.

“Ohmygod. I have this playlist of songs we used to listen to when we were in high school.” Jessica plugged in her iPhone and Ocean Avenue came on, the flood of memories immediately initiating conversation between the two as she started driving.

“Oh man, I remember when Yoona performed this at the talent show her sophomore year! Remember her skater phase?” Yuri reminisced, making Jessica laugh with her. “Have you kept in touch with her?”

“No.” Jessica said somberly. “I really lost contact with everyone.” There was regret in her voice, but Yuri tried to keep the mood up.

“Oh my god, you wouldn't believe how she's changed. This says everything: she married Seohyun.”

“Seohyun...” Jessica took a minute to recall the girl. “Oh my god! The student body president?”

“Yep. And they just adopted a kid.” Yuri watched the look of incredulity on Jessica's face.

“Oh man, that's crazy. We'll have to get together with them sometime.” Jessica suggested and Yuri's heart skipped at the idea that Jessica was already seeing them as friends again. “The thought of Yoona being a parent scares me.” They both laughed. “She must really have changed.”

The two continued to talk nostalgia throughout dinner, but Jessica's mind was somewhere else, waiting to bring something up. She held her tongue until the last minute.

Yuri lingered in Jessica's car in front of her apartment after Jessica drove her home. She knew Jessica had something to say, and she waited for it to come out. “Yuri... am I just ancient history to you?”

“No. You know I hated history class, and I lo--” Yuri choked on her words. “Like you.” Jessica chuckled half-heartedly.

“You know what I mean, though.” She recalled the time, one late night at Jessica's house the summer after senior year, when Yuri confessed her feelings for Jessica and tried to kiss her. The blonde girl had pushed her away, and after that sleepover, they simply drifted apart.

“No. To be honest, I've never been able to get over you.” Yuri's words struck Jessica in the heart to hear she had hurt her friend so badly.

“Let's start over.” Jessica leaned over and pecked her lips. Yuri stared at her with her jaw dropped in complete shock. “Yuri, rejecting you was the biggest mistake I ever made. I felt the same way, but it was sudden and I was young and scared. I didn't know what to do about it and I didn't want to feel that way.” She sighed. “But now I do. Could you possibly forgive me?”

“Yes.” Yuri's face formed into an elated grin. “Yes, I could.” She pulled Jessica over and gave her a proper kiss. “Would you like to come into my apartment?”

“Still a one-track mind, huh Yul?” Jessica laughed at the girl's forwardness. “Well, I wish I could, but I have work tomorrow. And I can't have hair as a fashion mag editor.” She grinned. “But I'm off Friday through Sunday.”

“Then let's make up for lost time this weekend.” Yuri suggestively raised an eyebrow. “I'll be waiting.” She kissed Jessica's cheek and got out of the car.

So the high school experience finally results in something useful, huh? Jessica joked to herself, already counting the hours until Friday morning.