My alarm clock went off, buzzing and blaring in my ears the next morning after the encounter with Jessica near the restroom. Facing the wall, I slightly stretched an arm out to turn the strident sound off. To my unpleasant surprise, the previous noise was altered by a screeching sound—like wood being scratched against the marble floor. My eyebrows furrowed while my body shifted into a sitting position, planning to discern where that was coming from.

As soon as my physique went around, “Good morning,” the culprit awkwardly greeted, seeing my crumpled guise.

A humorless laugh unwarily escaped my mouth in disbelief. “What the hell are you doing in my room? How did you get in? And—what are those?!” I literally yelled as I was pointing at the basket of roses she was dragging inside. When I scanned the premises, it was half filled with flowers placed in wooden baskets. There were like thirty of them already. My eyes widened in flabbergast.

She gave her action a halt only to send me a blank stare. “You’re really asking me how I got in? I can get inside any girl’s pants, and you’re surprised that I so easily got in a normal dorm room? Come on, Tiffany.” She rolled her eyes, as if convinced I was insulting her.

Before my sleepy could even say anything, she continued talking.

“You’re being such a grump right now. Any girl to receive this many gorgeous flowers will be partying in joy. Wait, is that because you’re not actually a girl? Not a straight one for that matter. Is that why you’re a grump?” She cheekily flashed a smile before crouching back down to continue what she was doing.

That made me jump out of bed against my will. “I totally agree that any sane girl would be partying in joy if they received this many flowers. But that’s only if they were genuinely bought for her. If you haven’t realized yet, I can clearly see that label pasted on each basket.” I explained, staring at the stickers that read, “To lovely Yuri.”

It wasn’t a big deal to me, honestly. I was just mad because she disturbed my sleep. Wait, my alarm clock disturbed my sleep. But still, the screeching sound of wooden baskets being hauled around wasn’t a very pleasant thing to wake up to. “Don’t you think I deserve a little bit of an explanation?” I put one hand on my hip and made ticking sounds using my tongue.

The queen lesbian rolled her eyes, giving up at last. “Fine.” She stood herself erect and paid me every bit of attention. “But don’t tease me about this guy again or the whole university finds out your secret. You get me?”

Oh God, this girl had a hobby of blackmailing me. I didn’t respond verbally, but my silence indicated some sort of approval so she continued. “That stupid Judo Club president sent me all these flowers. Just looking at these disgusts me and makes me sick to my stomach. Anyway, to cut the long story short, I thought you might like them, so I brought them all here.”

Initially, my mouth was left agape, considering I actually noticed a hint of sincerity on her face while saying the last sentence. Subsequently, my throat turned knots in nausea, considering for one second I thought she had a crush on me. I secretly shrunk in place.

I mean, she’s the queen. Why be interested in a loser like me? , Tiffany, quit imagining things.

“Alright, I give up.” I threw my hands in the air to show my surrender. “I’ll be taking my bath now. I don’t want to be late for class. Just leave as soon as you’re done with—whatever you call that weirdness you’re doing.” I hopelessly sighed before I strolled to my closet to choose my potential outfit for the day.

“Thirty four, thirty five, thirty six—” she pointed at the baskets to not lose count. “Alright, that’s pretty much all of it. Go take a shower. I’ll just remove the tags, and then I’m done.”

Being in a hurry and unable to think of a single word to say, I didn’t respond to her. I swiftly jumped in the shower and took my bath. I couldn’t help but get lost in my own contemplations while shampooing my hair and cleaning my body with soap.

It’s kind of weird that having Yuri around makes me not think about Jessica anymore. Or maybe I’m wrong. Because right now, I’m thinking about Jessica, yet Yuri is just on the other side of this bathroom door.

I irritably groaned at myself and brushed the subject off.

Approximately twenty minutes later, I emerged from the shower. Not seeing Yuri in my room was more than expected. But just like old people say, don’t get your hopes up. “Pretty hot wet look you got there, huh.” Yuri naughtily teased, seeing me wrapped in a robe with my hair faintly dripping. She was also pretentiously checking me out.

“Shut up.” I only laughed at her compliment. “You’re still not done?”

“I’m just about to leave. I took off all the signs by my name and changed them to yours. How generous, huh? And yes, you’re very much welcome.” She placed one hand on her chest and the other hand behind her. She bowed as if she was very pleased to serve royalty or something.

That kind of had me feeling giddy, but I didn’t let her notice.

Getting to think of it, being friends with this girl never even crossed my mind. My first impression of her was so negative to the extent that I feared being friends with her would put me in my grave. But look at us now, we were in the same room, and she was acting very friendly. I guessed it was true not to judge a book by its cover.

“Even if you already said I’m welcome, I’ll still say thank you.” I shot her a sincere smile.

“Don’t be cheesy. See you in class.” She bid her short-term farewell.

I was about to walk her out of my room when we heard light knocks coming from the door. I continued sauntering to get the door while Yuri sat on my bed to stay out of the way. As soon as I cracked it open, I felt my insides turn upside down. “Hey,” was the first word to come out of my mouth, and nothing else followed.

“Do you need time to get dressed first?” The girl at the door gracefully asked, even though she pretty much had the same facial expression as I did. No, she actually appeared to be anxious and awkward.

“I think so too,” I uneasily stammered before I closed the door. It wasn’t more than a jiffy that I realized how ill-mannered of a person I was for shutting the door in front of her face. I leaned against it and tried to collect all the air I missed breathing in as I was too nervous to inhale.

When my sight wandered, “Right, you’re still here,” I mumbled, realizing Yuri had not gotten the chance to leave the area.

She gave out an emotionless stance as if reminding me how much of an idiot I was. It didn’t serve much of a help either. “So what’s happening exactly?” Clueless, she asked. Thank God she was intelligent enough to whisper.

“Oh—extremely stunning Jessica is at the door. What the do I do?” I frantically whispered back, giving Yuri and the door alternatin