Taylor Swift's song “I Knew You Were Trouble” was painfully rocking my ears as I watched them nibble against each other’s lips. They were torridly kissing, with their tongues battling for victory.

Was the song made to warn me? Did Taylor know the girl was about to hurt me? How? Did she steal her diary? Or was it only me who looked at everything blindly? I should have known the first time I saw Taeyeon. I should have known the first time Sunny cautioned me.

Being my pathetic self, I took steps back, for I knew confronting her would only mean the recipe for heartbreak. The earth weighed in my chest, thanks to the excruciating torture her actions inflicted on me. For one moment, I actually thought my heart was built out of glass only for her to break. I silently gasped, taking in oxygen for my lungs to keep me physically alive. Because for that matter, I knew my emotional self already went to cut herself on the wrist.

I shouldn't cry. Who was she for me to shed tears for anyway? She’s nothing to me, how badly I wished. Regrettably, it was the other way around.

My heels gyrated to leave, not wanting to interrupt their precious business. As my foot took a step forward, “Tiffany?” I heard Jessica call behind me. It felt like her voice was strangling me, heartbreakingly choking me. I pretended not to hear. I continued strolling forward until I was constrained by her arms wrapped all over my waist. “Stay, I want you on my bed right now,” she determinedly whispered in my ear.

“Are you being serious right now?” I laughed in disbelief. “We're not on the same boat then,” I firmly added before jerking her arms off me. Disregarding my statement, she abruptly stole my hand and spun me. At first, I was in utter shock, but the next, I managed to display composure. The hatred burning up my windpipe went off track when I saw her beautiful eyes. However, they were shades of red. “Are you alright?” I choppily wondered as my hands voluntarily cupped the side of her face.

I should be mad at her, but why can't I act like one? I am supposed to be so angry, but why am I even worrying about her? , Tiffany.

“I’m alright,” she responded, her face smiling menacingly. My sight darted to the blonde who was five feet away, resting her lower back against the counter. “Who is she?” I hesitated asking, but I felt the need to.

“I don’t know,” she perplexedly shrugged. Like, who the hell was she kidding? They were snacking at each other’s faces only to tell me she didn’t know her?

Snap. I fretfully stared at my stinging palm, confused as to what had gotten inside my head for me to slap her. I looked up my fringe to examine her. She was facing one side, a hand holding onto her flushed cheek. That was when I heard her sardonically chuckle, “Seriously?” Her head twisted forty-five degrees to gaze back at me.

Both my tongue and throat turned into knots. I stiffened in place, watching her take steps to invade the space between us. A blink of an eye later, she leaned in and landed her lips on mine. With that, I lost all the poise I had collected.

I love her, so I should be accepting the kiss wholeheartedly. But that kiss—it wasn't our normal kiss. It tasted different, and it didn't taste like her. It was bitter.

I pushed her rudely, causing her leg to strut backward for support. “Oh please, don't ever kiss me with those nasty lips.” My lips shivered in disgust.

A hint of dread was visible on her features. She was caught off guard. The blonde must have heard my speech, because she sauntered near us and fell into a step beside Jessica, throwing an arm over her shoulder.

“Who is she?” I asked again, demanding an answer.

She shrugged for the second time around before giving the blonde a look of inquiry and asking, “Who are you?”

“I’m Hyoyeon. Nice to meet you.” The lass struggled to sound polite, which did nothing but boost the displeasure I was feeling.

“Oh, that’s a nice name.” The smile she used to melt my heart, she was giving it to her.

Were they intentionally riling up my extent? “Are you kidding me? You’re kissing someone you don’t even know the name of?”

“It’s a party. You have to chill.” Hyoyeon cut through.

Completely disregarding her, Jessica answered. “Yes, like how I was kissing you before. I have a thing for kissing strangers, I guess.”

Her little talks never failed to shatter my hopes, to mince me. That was what I was to her? A stranger she felt the urge to kiss because she had a thing? No matter how hard I tried to convince myself that it was all unreal, reality kept smacking me back to sanity. “What are we?"

Blondie cocked a questioning eyebrow towards her, a smile creeping out her lips.

“Excuse us,” Jessica dismissed, sneaking off the girl’s grip. She walked away gesturing a hand at me, wanting me to follow her lead. We left the girl in place. It wasn’t that far, just to the corner of the room.

Was she planning to give me the explanation I deserved? I optimistically anticipated, but she broke my hopes down when she said, “Will you stop being such a killjoy?”

My eyebrows furrowed disbelievingly. Begrudgingly, I snatched a portion of her blouse, about the shoulder section. I harshly tugged on it and yelled, “What the hell is wrong with you?” as if shaking her would change the situation. My eyes were damp. I was drowned in a cocktail of negative emotions, specifically heartache and annoyance.

I hated how she was deviously smiling at me, as if there wasn’t anything unwanted going on. “Nothing. What’s wrong with you?”

“What am I to you, Jessica?” I wished she wouldn’t say terrible words because one more blow, I would most certainly break down.

“You’re nothing to me. Oh wait, let me correct that. You mean something to me—my future cousin-in-law.” Using her fingers, she graciously elevated my chin so our eyes would meet. Yet again, she spoke to mash me. “You’re nothing to me, Tiffany. I wanted , and it was obvious how easily I could get inside your pants. I didn’t know you were going to take everything so personally and act clingy.”

I could see tears forming at each corner of my eyes. Everything she said struck me straight to the heart. “Why say hurtful things now after weeks of sweet advances? Was all that pretend?” I aimed to sound smugly, but every word sounded as if I was pleading.

“Pretend? I was just conditioning you for . Stop being such a baby. You’re just a—toy.” No sane person would ever brand herself like that. I hoped she was just lying to push me away.

“If you think I’ll buy that, then you have to think again,” I mimicked her contemptuous smirk, even if it caused the insides of me to severely bleed.

Hearing that, the malevolent register on her face fell and was altered by a scrunch. “You’re so pathetic. You even fell in love with me.”

I never knew hearing words like that from a person who didn't even know me for long could hurt so much. The annoying part was I could do nothing but pretend I wasn't affected at all. I burst into a mocking cackle to piss her off, of course. “The toy fell in love with the —interesting.” I gathered all my courage to plaster a malicious beam. Thank goodness I didn’t fail.

She glared at me as if she wanted to rip my throat out. Unpredictably, she nodded her head and returned the smile. “You know what's more interesting? I can have any girl I want on my bed.”

"Sure." That was my turn to frown. My fists clenched, wanting to beat her up. But no, I simply planned on turning my back and leaving her on the spot, leaving the memories we shared, leaving everything we had behind.

Out of the blue, Jason’s voice passed through the ear-splitting noise. “What’s going on?” He asked, shooting Jessica and me a strange look.

“Nothing.” We said in unison before we both groaned in disgust that we actually said the word in perfect synchrony.

“Whoa,” the guy threw his hands up in the air, “No need to be so serious, ladies.”

Jessica angrily squinted at me while I averted my gaze in effect. We were just there, threatening each other using our fatal stares.

Jason must have perceived the awkwardness so he spoke. “Let’s go back to the table, Tiffany.”

“What are you and Jessica talking about a while ago?” Bewildered Jason asked as he was in front of me, with the circular table getting in between. “Are you friends now? I mean, real friends.”

We are actually back to strangers now.

“We’re not even talking that much,” I couldn’t tell him what was going on.

“She just has that icy atmosphere all over her, but believe me, she’s an amazing person.” Krystal butted in.

“I just know she’s lucky she has relatives as kind as you two. Also, old money is a plus.” I commented, gulping the drink Jason bought for me. A casual conversation like this sure could help get my miseries away, but I wish we weren’t talking about the cause of my dilemma.

“I’d rather be poor, than be in her position,” Krystal seemed totally upset about the idea.

My eyes narrowed in curiosity. “Why would you say that?”

Krystal flinched, as if she had said something she shouldn’t have. She looked at Jason apologetically, but the guy shot him an assuring smile. “She knows,” he reassured.

“I don’t get what you two are talking about.” I simply shrugged.

“We’re friends, right?” The girl gave me a fist to bump.

I did to guarantee her. “We are.”

“Alright, then we can share a secret. Jessica is gay, but her mom disapproves due to concerns about her position as the heiress. It’s unfair to suppress Jessica’s true self. Like, come on. Who in the right mind forces a gay girl to get a boyfriend? Insane.”

That was it. The answer I was waiting for came to me in one paragraph. She didn’t love Nick, and she was with him out of obligation. I was at a loss for words. I could only shake my head up and down.

“She told us she already has a boyfriend, but here’s the catch. I saw her in complete PDA mode with a blondie over there.” Jason declared, amused at how many twists the girl’s life had.

“I heard her mom and my dad talking about a hickey on her neck earlier. She must have been rolling around the bed with that blondie.” She uninterestedly stated, making my jaw fall consequently. “Wait, she didn’t even tell me about her. Now I’m annoyed.”

.

My clammy hands went to rub