In a very gloomy afternoon, a little girl was seen on a park, seated with her head over her knees as she sobbed. She was wearing a pink princess-style dress as if being a flower girl on a wedding. She was like a pink princess in distress. She was having a bad time at her new house since her parents are insisting of transferring to another country after her father was bankrupt in America. She loves America and does not want to transfer to a strange country where she barely knew the language.

 A pair of hands hugged her from the back.

“Hey, stop crying, you are too beautiful to shed tears you know”, a shorter girl in her age said.

The little girl jumped up having a stranger hugged her from behind is new to her. She quickly got up and straightened her dress; she patted her back part as if there is a lot of dirt when in fact, there is none. She was embarrassed at the same time shocked.

“W-wh-who a-ar-are y-yo-u?” She asked the stranger in her perfect Californian English.

She looked up to the said stranger and titled her head a little to the side.

The shorter girl was smiling like a dork at her.

“Why are you smiling like that? Is there something on my face?” The little girl asked.

“Oh~ No~ but, I don’t want to see you cry that is why I’m smiling so that you can smile too”.

She doesn’t know why, but she felt happy hearing the stranger said those things to her.

They stared at each other’s eyes for a while until a voice of another kid disturbed their time.

“Shorty! Come back here! It’s your turn now.” A tanned taller girl shouted from behind the bush.

“YAH! I’m not short! You are just tall! STOP CALLING ME SHORTY YOU GIANT!” the short girl shouted back fiercely at her friend.

“WHATEVER! JUST COME BACK HERE OR ELSE WE WILL LOSE AND WE HAVE TO GIVE THEM OUR ALLOWANCE FOR THE WHOLE MONTH!” the tanned little girl shouted back.

The pink princess could not utter a word since everything went too fast.

One time she was crying her heart out since she was disappointed about their transfer, then the next time some  cute little girl came and hugged her from the back.

She stared at the shorter girl dumbfounded and she doesn’t know what to do; she stopped sobbing and plainly examined the cute and dorky girl in front of her.

“She’s cute, and dorky. I wonder what her name is”, she asked herself. 

“Uh-, I have to go princess! Stop crying or else you will become an ugly monster!” The dorky little girl said then she sped off to her friends to play. 

“Wait-“, before she could say anything, the stranger was now with her friends laughing and running wildly not wanting to lose.

“I didn’t even have asked her name”, she said to no one in particular.

“I’m Tiffany, I hope we become friends, Shorty”, she mumbled.

Tiffany walked away smiling, going home for the first time after their transfer. She was still disappointed but someone had given her the reason to agree with her parents since she made a new friend though she still doesn’t know the dorky little girl’s name.

The next day, Tiffany woke up extra early than usual. She washed up and ate her breakfast as she hummed her favorite song. Her parents looked at her curious what might have happened that made Tiffany so much happy.

“Mom, Dad! I’m going out. Don’t look for me; I’ll be home this afternoon. Bye~” Tiffany shouted since she was already outside running towards the gate.

She went to the park hoping to find the short little girl who she met there yesterday, to her dismay; no one was on the park since it is still early in the morning. She released a loud sigh before turning towards the bench and sat there with closed eyes while swaying her legs back and forth as if waiting for someone.

“HEY! How are you?” a familiar voice was heard by Tiffany.

“You are the girl from yesterday!” Tiffany squealed in excitement upon seeing the cute little girl.

“Uhm. Yes in fact, I am. Are you okay now?” The dorky girl asked once again.

“YES! Thank you.  I’m new here, I came from America”, Tiffany answered.

“Oh! Let’s be friends then, since I’m pretty sure you still have no friends here. I’ll introduce you to my friends if they come and I will give you a tour in this neighborhood. Oh, wait! Are you from this village? Maybe you should at least go out more often so that we can play and become best friends. Oh. I already have a best friend; you can be my special friend if you want or if it’s not okay for you, you can become my second best friend or whatever you want to be, the important thing is you will become my friend. Okay?” The little girl chanted without breaks.

Tiffany can’t understand what the other girl is talking since she talked too fast as if casting a spell or something. But one thing that Tiffany could understand was “special friend” she doesn’t know what the other was talking about it but it sure made Tiffany’s heart flutter.

“Hey, is it okay for you?” The shorter girl asked.

“Huh? What?” Tiffany asked curiously.

“Aish! You didn’t understand what I had just said? Aigoo~” The little dorky girl sighed.

All Tiffany had done was stare blankly at the little girl in front of her. There was something about this girl that made her world stop for a second and staring is not enough but it is perfectly fine for her and she would do it again and again if she can.

A pair of hands is now waving ecstatically in front of Tiffany; she spaced out thinking about this little girl. She looked away and blushed. She don’t want this girl see her blush because she's too shy.

“Hey, are you okay? Please don’t cry” the little girl pleaded.

“Uh, I won’t. So, what are you saying?” Tiffany asked still not looking into the girl’s eyes.

“Ahm, do you want to be my friend?” the little girl asked once again.

Tiffany showed her warm eye-smile and a pair of hands then encircled around her waist. Her eyes bulged but she did not back away, she was enjoying the feeling of having those little arms around her waist and she doesn’t want to end it. Sadly, the little girl had let go but she took her hand by surprised, jumping up and down happily.

“I’ll take that as a yes. Since it is still early why not we meet here this afternoon to play? I’ll introduce you to my best friend”, the little girl asked still jumping up and down. 

All Tiffany could do is nod and show her eye-smile once again. She likes being called her friend.

“Okay. I have to go now. See you later”, the little girl was about to run home when Tiffany stopped her.

“Wait-, ahm,” Tiffany was hesitant to ask.

“What? Oh, I forgot to ask, what’s your name?” the little girl asked Tiffany.

“Huh? Oh. My name is Tiffany. Tiffany Hwang”, Tiffany introduced herself extending one arm to the later.

“Your name sounds cool. By the way, I’m Kim Tae-“, the girl was about to say her name when someone shouted from afar.

“HEY SHORTY! Your mom is looking for you, you better go back home immediately!” A skinny and very tall girl said.

“Oh. Okay. Thanks for informing me Sooyoung.”, the dorky little girl said to her friend.

“Ahm.” was all Tiffany could utter.

“Oh. Sorry but I have to go, umma is looking for me”, the little girl said and sprinted away from Tiffany.

“Her name is, Kim Tae-? She hasn’t finished introducing her name and she went away”, Tiffany said sadly to herself.

Tiffany walked back to their house and was shocked when she noticed that their things we’re all packed back into the boxes they unpacked just the other day. She ran towards her parent’s room barging in without knocking on the door.

“Why are all our things back in the boxes?” Tiffany asked in English

“Honey, we are moving back to America. Your father got a contract from the Jungs and we will be back in America in no time. We booked our flight right away and we only have 5 hours until our flight, isn’t it what you wanted?” Her mother asked.

“NO! I want to stay here” Tiffany said loudly.

“I’m sorry honey, but all the things are already planned out”, her father said to her.

“I can’t believe you. I hate you!” Tiffany stomped her feet out of her parents room.

She went straight to her room and cried. She strongly opposed about transferring to Korea in the first place but her parents insisted. Now that she had had a new friend, they will say that they will be going back to America just like nothing happened. Tiffany was not angry because she will be back to America but she doesn’t like the idea of not being with her new dorky friend. She wants to be Kim Tae-‘s friend.

After a few minutes of pouring out her tears, she stood up from her bed and grabbed something from the drawer of her bedside table. She ran out of the house ignoring her parents’ calling. She ran towards the park and looked for a certain short and dorky girl who she wanted to see before she goes back to America.

She ran and ran until she can’t go on. She can’t spot a particular girl she started to cry but soon she heard a familiar voice from behind. She turned around.. 

Poster Credit to SPOTLIGHT POSTERS