Hurricane Diarrhea Outtake from #30

Yuri grinned to herself as she drove to Jessica’s place. Sending her home that day had been the greatest decision she’d ever made in her life. Okay, maybe looking for the washroom at that party was even greater. Or the fact that she even decided to go to that party in the first place. Anyway, it was a series of fantastic decisions that led to this moment—her impending date with Jessica.

Yahoo!

~

Jessica stretched and yawned just as her phone buzzed. It was Yuri. Darn it. She was early. Why was she early? The plan was to sleep till the last possible moment before getting up to get ready to go out. Darn it.

“Hey,” she mumbled into her phone.

“Hi! I’m here!”

“I’ll be down soon. Give me a minute, please.”

“Sure! I can wait! Take your time!”

Jessica groaned. Yuri’s hyperactivity was stressing her mind out. Stress! She needed to end the call as soon as possible. “Okay. See you.” She sighed with relief as she cut the call and closed her eyes for a moment. It was tempting to drift back to sleep but that would ruin her schedule and she’d regret it later. Instead, she forced her eyes open and got out of bed. Changed out of her pyjamas. Picked up her bag. Left her room.

“Where are you going?”

Jessica turned to her younger sister with a pout. “The mall.”

“For your pillow? But who’s driving?”

“Yuri.”

“Yuri?”

Sisters ask too many questions sometimes. Jessica smiled patiently. “Tiffany’s girlfriend’s friend.”

“Wow, is it a date?”

“No.”

“Aww.”

“What.”

“You need to date.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Just treat this as a date.”

“No.”

“Are you sure this Yuri is on the same page as you are?”

“I’ve given her nothing.”

“But you’re going out with her.”

Sisters talk too much. Too often. Jessica’s smile felt strained this time. “I’m just going to buy my pillow and come back. That’s all.”

“Okay, okay.” Jessica watched as her sister sighed. “Go, don’t keep your friend waiting.”

Jessica nodded and turned towards the door but she could’ve sworn she heard her sister muttering under her breath, “Just date already.”

Alright. Alright. Alright. “Krys, we’ll grab an ice cream after I buy my pillow. Don’t wait up.”

“Yes! It’s a date!”

Jessica smiled then, because her younger sister was the most adorable thing in the world.

~

Yuri propped her head on her hands, leaned back on her seat. Jessica was coming. Oh yeah. It’d been easy enough to get her number. She didn’t think it’d be that easy. All it took was a simple question: “Wanna go out with me?”

Jessica had replied with another question: “Will you be driving?”

She told Jessica that she would and Jessica told her straight up to meet her at four to go pillow shopping on Friday. After which, she’d gotten Jessica’s number and it was set. She had a date with the sleeping beauty—the entire exchange taking less than a minute to conclude. That’d been both the quickest and slowest date she’d ever gotten for herself. Haha, Jessica was special alright.

~

Jessica spotted Yuri smiling to herself when she bent to look into the window. What a strange girl. Why was she smiling with noone around? She wouldn’t be putting herself in danger by going pillow shopping with Yuri, would she?

Nah.

She opened the door and slipped into the car. “Let’s go.”

Yuri’s eyes flew open and she sat up straight right away. “Jessica!”

Jessica kept a poker face as she looked at Yuri. There was way too much energy in this girl to keep up with and she needed to keep calm. Yuri was the only driver available this week and she really needed her pillow by tonight. A flat, fluffed-out pillow was a big no-no if she wanted quality sleep. Oh no. She needed her pillow. No matter what.

“Let’s go.”

“Okay!”

Jessica winced. Maybe she could sleep like she did the past couple of times. That way, she wouldn’t be subjected to Yuri’s zeal. But she’d just taken her nap.

.

~

“How did you meet Tiffany?”

“Vocal class.”

“Woah, you girls can sing?”

“Why not.”

“Nice.”

“Nice?”

“I think it’s nice.”

“Okay.”

Yuri was sweating buckets. Jessica was not an easy date. Holy on a stick hitting the fan. The last couple of times they met, she hadn’t gotten to talk to Jessica since she was always sleeping. But now that she wasn’t, Yuri almost wished that she was. But she couldn’t give up. No. Not if she was Kwon Yuri. Kwon Yuri wasn’t the type who gave up easily. Kwon Yuri was the type who’d fight for what she wanted.

Perhaps…a change of tack…

“What kind of pillow are you looking for?”

“I need a pillow with neck support. And the kind that molds to the shape of my head.”

“What’s your budget for it?”

“Money is not an issue.”

“Really.”

“Uh huh.”

“Okay then. I know someone who works in the bedroom department. We can ask her for recommendations.”

“That’s great.”

Jessica smiled and Yuri couldn’t breathe for a while. The beauty of that smile was beyond words. The way the light bounced off Jessica’s perfect hair. The kindness in her eyes. The soft curl of her lips. Her pink lips. Pink lips. Lips so pink.

“Yuri.”

“Huh?”

“You’re driving.”

Oh . Yuri set her eyes back on the road in a hurry and knew in that moment that Jessica was the girl for her. Yeah.

~

Natural fill pillow. Synthetic fill pillow. Poly cluster fill pillow. Foam pillow. Memory foam pillow.

What?

Standard pillow. Queen pillow. King pillow. European pillow. Body pillow. Travel pillow.

What?!

Yuri almost regretted introducing her friend to Jessica. Pillow info overload. Her mind was blown.

“What kind of a sleeper are you? Back, side or stomach sleeper?”

Yuri knew that. “She’s a back sleeper!” Opps. Jessica was staring at her as though she were from outer space. Crap. Did she just make herself sound like a stalker? “Y-You were sleeping on your back when I saw you…” Okay. On hindsight, explaining myself makes me look worse. Shut up Kwon Yuri!

“She’s right. I’m a back sleeper.”

“Right, so you’ll want a medium support pillow that can support your head, neck and shoulders. In which case, you’ll be looking at the memory foam pillow.”

“That’s what I thought.”

“Then you’ll want this.”

Yuri came to a halt behind Jessica and peeped over her shoulder. Holy unicorns. The pillow in question had a huge price tag! Calling a plumber to unclog a toilet bowl wouldn’t even cost this much.

“The support that this one can give you is the top of its range. The price tag is hefty but quality never comes cheap. Not only does this pillow support you well, it also ranks high in keeping you cool. And look at the contour, it will support your neck perfectly.”

“I need to try it.”

“Of course, here, try it.”

Yuri watched as Jessica lay on the bed in the store and rested her head on the pillow. She closed her eyes, shifted her head a couple of times, then remained completely still. Yuri stood waiting with her friend, as Jessica lay on the bed with a gentle smile. She certainly looked as though she liked it. But another moment passed and Jessica still hadn’t moved an inch. What was going on?

Yuri’s friend nudged her. “Hey.”

“Mmm?”

“She sleeping?”

Yuri didn’t know. If it were anybody else, the answer would be no for sure but it was Jessica and she’d seen for herself, just how easily Jessica could fall asleep. But it’d only been a moment. Was it…possible?

“Jessica?” Yuri called softly but Jessica didn’t respond. “Jessica!” she whispered as loudly as she could, right into Jessica’s ear and the sleeping beauty woke with a start. Holy unicorn. She fell asleep?!

Jessica looked away quickly, a tint of red gracing her cheeks and sat up like a bolt. “I’ll get this one.”

“Do you want to try any other pillows?”

Yuri couldn’t help but grin as Jessica stuttered in her reply, “Er…n-no…this o-one will do.” She almost giggled but Jessica killed it with a glare that threatened to harm her if she did.

No .

~

“Thanks, Elly.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it. I hope your girlfriend gets her good night of sleep with this new pillow.”

“We’re just friends.”

The air around them lost all of its heat in that instant and Yuri tried to smile but it felt awkward.

“Er, yeah. Elly, we’re just friends. We only just got to know each other.”

“Oh, sorry then. You’re always with someone when I see you, ya know. I kinda assumed…”

“No problem. It’s not your fault. Anyway, thanks for your help.”

Yuri kept her smile up as Jessica thanked Elly and they walked out of the store together. Oh boy. Awkward. Very awkward. Very very awkward. Yuri was in a fix for once. But it was okay! Nothing could stop her. Not even Jessica.

“Yuri, can we grab some ice cream before going back?”

Yuri blinked. Huh? After that friendzoning episode she’d expected to be asked to send her home and that would’ve been the end of the whole thing. Ice cream? Jessica wanted to get ice cream? With her?

“Uh, sure.”

“Great. Can we put the pillow in your car first? It’s heavy.”

“Here, lemme carry it for you.” Yuri took the pillow box from Jessica and brought it to her car. She placed it in the boot and locked her car. Then, she turned to Jessica and grinned. “Ice cream?”

Jessica nodded and smiled and everything was wonderful. The sun shone extra bright, the flowers bloomed extra beautiful and the birds flew extra graceful.

They headed to the ice cream parlour and got their ice cream. They sat down to enjoy it and that’s when Yuri knew she had to try something or be relegated to the friendzone forever.

“Wanna watch a movie with me this weekend?”

Jessica stilled and Yuri sensed that something was wrong. How was this girl able to make the temperature around them drop so quickly? She didn’t even have to do anything. All it took was a stare. A cold, soul-chilling stare. Holy unicorn.

“Yuri, thanks for coming out with me today. But I hope you won’t misunderstand. This isn’t a date.”

“I know. But I’m asking you out on a date.”

“I’m not into movies.”

“It doesn’t have to be a movie.”

“It doesn’t matter what it is.”

“Are you saying you won’t date me?”

“I don’t date.”

“At all?”

“I don’t date.”

“Why not.”

“I have my reasons.”

“But—”

“I’m sorry. I’m out of time. Buying that pillow took longer than I thought it would. Can we go back now?”

“S-Sure.”

Jessica was quiet the entire time and Yuri concentrated on driving. They arrived at Jessica’s home and Yuri thought she’d ask again but Jessica mumbled a quick thanks and got out of the car so quickly that she didn’t even have the time to react.

“Jessica! Your pill—”

But Jessica had already disappeared into her home.

Whut now?

.

~