Hurricane Diarrhea #3

Taeyeon didn’t know what to do with herself yet again. Had she been struck by some of bad luck or something?

How was she supposed to do a quiz when the very person who had unclogged her toilet was just a few seats away from her, handing out the papers to them? Her cheeks burned, insides churned and mind crashed. She wanted nothing more than to run away. But she couldn’t. Tiffany’s eyes burned into hers as she took a paper from her.

“Thank you,” mumbled Taeyeon, her eyes not quite meeting Tiffany’s. She squirmed. The need to apologize for taking off so suddenly was urgent but she couldn’t quite say it now. This was neither the time or place to do it.

Amidst her chaotic thoughts, the lecturer’s voice boomed across the room. “You may begin.”

Oh gosh. The quiz. Taeyeon tried to focus on the first question but her mind kept straying towards Tiffany. So did her eyes.

Tiffany was very pleasant to look at. Nice long black hair, fair skin, average height, twinkling eyes, a beautiful smile, nicely painted nails of red…the list could go on and on. Her fashion was stylish too. Taeyeon wasn’t sure how anyone could make a pair of skinny jeans look quite as delish as Tiffany could.

Just then, Tiffany looked up and caught her staring. She ducked but it was too late.

.

~

“I’m gonna flunk that quiz. I just know it.”

“You’re not gonna flunk it, Taeyeon.”

“I’m sure I will.”

“Is it graded?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Then you have nothing to worry about.”

“But still…”

“I told you not to take the class. This is what you get for not heeding the advice of Kwon Yuri.”

Taeyeon rolled her eyes. “He didn’t spring a surprise quiz on the first lecture last semester. I asked around. Most of them said that it’s a manageable class.”

“Don’t compare the wisdom of my words to others. It’s insulting.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry, old wise Kwon. Forgive me, my foolishness.”

“You are forgiven, little shorty friend. I, the wise one, am a forgiving soul.”

“Are we there yet?”

“Patience, Taebiwan.”

“Running low.”

“ it up, Taeyeon.”

“You .”

“And you’re friends with me which means you too.”

“No, it doesn’t.”

“Yes, it does. Birds alike, flock together. Haven’t you heard?”

“Shut up, Kwon Yuri.”

“You’re not Seohyun. I don’t have to listen to you.”

“I’m so gonna ditch you right now.”

“Nooo, please don’t.”

“Then shut up.”

“Okay.”

For a while, they walked in silence. But it was barely a minute later when Yuri said, “You don’t really want me to shut up, do you?”

“Kwon. Yu. Ri!”

~

They arrived at the house party at last. The door was opened by a butler of sorts and Taeyeon was wowed by the modern design of both the exterior and interior of the house. The furniture was mostly clinical in colour and design, as were the built-in features on the walls. So although there weren’t any extravagantly expensive items on display, this was clearly the home of a fairly wealthy girl.

Or girls.

Turned out the expensive house belonged to three of them—Jessica, Krystal and Nicole Jung as seen in the pictures hanging on the walls in the hall. Only two of them were at the party though. Krystal and Nicole were everywhere, chatting, laughing and drinking while Jessica was nowhere to be found. But none of it mattered much to Taeyeon. House parties weren’t really her thing and she was more interested in going home to watch the anime with Sunny.

She walked around with Yuri who seemed intent on having some fun tonight and said hi to a number of people. However, in spite of her plan to leave after a couple of hours, Yoona and Sooyoung arrived and thereafter, things got crazy and her plan went awry.

~

“MORE MORE MORE MORE!”

Taeyeon flashed a goofy grin and lifted the mug of beer to her lips. Was it her fourth or fifth? She didn’t know. Yuri, Yoona and Sooyoung had dragged her into this drinking circle and they were taking turns to gulp mug after mug of beer. She’d been reluctant to join in at first but her reluctance had diminished with each mug she had downed and by now, she was completely happy to finish another mug to keep the circle going.

She emptied her mug, lifted it in triumph and let out a whoop of victory as the others cheered the Yuri on. In the meantime, loud music pulsed through her veins and pumped her up even more. A tiny little warning about not drinking too much beer crept into her mind but she brushed it aside. Nothing could stop her tonight. Nothing could stop the queen.

~

“Urgh…” she groaned, she wasn’t feeling too good.

Her hand twitched and she rubbed her cheek on whatever it was on. She was on something soft when she came to. Mmm, she was lying on a bed.

“Taeyeon?”

Someone was calling her. A nice husky voice. She wanted to hear more.

“Taeyeon, can you hear me?”

Taeyeon forced her eyes open and squinted at the blurry person hovering over her. This person smelt nice. A lot like Tiffany actually. Mmm, Tiffany. Taeyeon could distinctly remember what Tiffany smelled like in the hall earlier today. She smiled at the thought of Tiffany. Something about Tiffany.

Finally, her vision sharpened and everything came into focus. It took all of one split second for her eyes to communicate the data to her drunken mind and another split second for her brain to process and recognize the face before she yelped in shock and sat up on the bed.

“FF-Fwang!” she stuttered.

“It’s Hwang. Not Fwang.” Tiffany looked amused but Taeyeon thought she saw a flash of irritation in Tiffany as the girl said, “Why are you always calling me by my last name? My name’s Tiffany. Tee-ffer-nnee.”

“W-Why are you here?”

But before Tiffany could answer her, another girl appeared. Arms wrapped around Tiffany’s slim waist and a chin was propped up on Tiffany’s shoulder as the girl embraced her from behind.

“Hey girlfriend,” said the girl, in a gentle and soft voice.

Taeyeon’s urge to pout just then was so strong and she didn’t even know why. She watched as Tiffany smiled and patted the girl’s hands. “Hey Jess.”

“What’s this girl doing here?”

“I think she’s drunk.”

The girl called Jess sighed. “I wished Krys and Nic would stop holding these parties. It’s too noisy to sleep. I was sleeping so well until loud cheers woke me up.”

Tiffany’s laugh flittered across the room. “I don’t know how you can sleep so much. Anyway, I’ve fixed the showerhead you said was leaking. It should be fine now.”

“Thanks, Tiff. I’m going back to sleep. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

Taeyeon had remained silent all this while, listening to Tiffany’s conversation, pouting at how familiar Tiffany seemed to be with the girl whom she figured to be Jessica, the third girl in the pictures who had not appeared throughout the party. She definitely felt happier when Jessica left for bed and Tiffany’s attention was back on her. But she couldn’t smile sincerely at Tiffany anymore. Because despite all the haziness in her mind at the moment, one single fact rang through and hit her like a sledgehammer.

Tiffany and Jessica were girlfriends.

Suddenly, arising from nowhere, was a nasty jolt of pain that halted all thoughts. She clutched her tummy, her eyes wild. It was a sickeningly familiar feeling and despite not being completely sober, she knew exactly what that pain meant.

.

~