Krystal sniffed quietly. She ran her hand up her face and wiped away the tears while Amber sat across from her, eyes wide with shock.

    Amber was horrified. No, she was beyond that. She was horrified and confused and sad. And oh, my God. This is really happening. She's actually crying.

    Her eyes darted around the room, trying to detect an escape route as she dreaded the idea of having to deal with a crying teenage girl, but her heart ached for reasons still unkknown to her as soon as she saw Krystal's head hanging low. At that very moment, she knew she couldn't just leave. She knew she had to be gentle with Krystal even though gentleness or anything of kind gesture was the last thing the girl deserved from her, but no, she wouldn't let someone's day get any worse than this.

    She thought about apologizing but quickly refracted away from the thought upon remembering the way Krystal reacted the last time she said the 's' word. What caused the big stir-up puzzled Amber, but there was something else at hand. She wanted to ask Krystal something and it was undoubtedly the best question to ask anyone in the given situation. This way, she could fulfill her duty as a caring schoolmate and prove to Krystal that she wasn't some erted teenager. This way, she could successfully get her friendly message across and hopefully erase all negative impression Krystal had on her. Plus, it was what everyone would say to a crying girl.

    Mustering up her courage to man-up and speak to the sobbing girl, Amber swallowed what felt like a gigantic rock down before opening . It's now or never.

    "Um, do you want tissue?"

    Amber felt her voice shake as she spoke. It had even cracked a little at the end of the question. Saying that she was scared to talk to Krystal would be the understatement of the year and wow, was that a blow to her confidence. Talking to Krystal was no joke. It was like walking on eggshells, you never know when she'd crack and cut you up. 

    "I think I've got some with me," Amber continued as she put her hands into her pockets and felt for the plastic package she thought she had on with her. Soon after, her hands resurfaced on the desk with nothing in them. "Yep, so they're not with me. Um, okay, I could like, run across the hall and ask somebody for it, or I could, uh, I could get Luna to drop by with-"

    "Do you always talk so much?"

    Amber stopped her rambling and looked at Krystal who still had her head down, making it impossible for Amber to see her face. 

    Is she fine now? I mean, she sounds fine? But she sounded annoyed. Oh my god, what should I say? , what do I say? I should just hurl myself out the window and-

    Hold up. Did she just.

    Laugh?

    "I'm sorry," Krystal sobbed between her laughs, "I didn't mean it like that." She laughed again, this time bringing her head up and flipping her hair out of her face. She wiped away the remaining tears at the corner of her eyes with the back of her hand while Amber's pupil dilated twice its size as she stared at the bipolar sophomore. This is normal, right?

    "Oh, God. This is so messed up," Krystal said sniffing, "I'm sorry."

     Krystal looked up and instantly, her eyes were met with those of Amber's, who looked like she was stuck between wanting to give Krystal a hug or throw her off the fourth floor of the school building. Intense was the word Krystal found when she looked into Amber's eyes. She laughed again, breaking her eye-contact with the blonde. It was pretty much unavoidable as she would've melted from the intensity of Amber's eyes if she hadn't looked away.

    "Are you bipolar?"

    It was a simple "yes or no" question, but Krystal took her time thinking of her answer while Amber just sat there patiently with arched eyebrows and doe eyes.

    "I don't know, am I?" Krystal smiled teasingly at Amber.

    "Well, I'm not sure either, since I can't really tell what you're feeling right now."

    "Hmm," Krystal hummed, tapping her fingers lightly on the desk, "What do you think I'm feeling right now?"

    Seriously? I'm supposed to ask the questions and she's supposed to answer them.

    Amber squinted her eyes at Krystal, trying to figure out whatever that was going through her head at the moment. She was good with people, reading them was an easy task and she did it everyday with ease, but with Krystal, it was much more of a challenge. She just didn't seem to fit in any category Amber tried to put her in. Angst wasn't it and neither did she look like her teenage hormones were raging. You say sad, but she didn't look it. Maybe she's just bored. And with that, Amber put Krystal into the 'bored' category where she'd have to play along to amuse her if she wanted to get anywhere near the entrance to her brain. 

    "I'm feeling like, three hundred different vibes off you right now, so I can't quite put a finger on it," Amber replied. Well, it's true.

    "Fine, then pick one."

    "Pick one what?"

    "Pick one emotion you think you're getting off me," Krystal replied nonchalantly, her head turned towards the windows again.

    Amber needed to find a way to crack into Krystal's skull, and playing games would benefit her in no way. So, she took the arrow and shot it straight at the bullseye.

    "Sadness," Amber's voice was quiet as she said it. She made sure she applied the correct and optimum amount of mellowness into her word. She needed it to get through to Krystal and since she took the shot, what else could she do but made sure it went right in?

    "I think," Amber paused and leaned slightly forward, closing the distance between her and Krystal, "you're sad right now."

    Krystal slowly turned her head over to look at Amber. Her face was impossible to read. Her tears were all dried up now and the only evidence of her previous breakdown was the one memory left imprinted on Amber's mind. An imprint that Amber would later find impossible to forget.

    "You think I'm sad? Right now?" Krystal asked with as much emotion her face was showing.

    "Well, maybe not right now, but you were a few moments ago, which brings me back to the question. Are you bipolar or something?" Amber questioned back.

    "Or something," the latter replied then glanced back at the view beyond the windows.

    Aha, hit a nerve right there. Score one for Amber.

    "You wanna talk about it?" It felt like the right time to ask, so Amber did. She silently prayed that Krystal would try to open up a little as this little game of theirs where they each mistake one another for a person whom they are not, was starting to wear out the tomboy. Krystal fidgeted a little in her seat and though she was trying to do it inconspicuously, Amber had the eyes of a hawk. Something that obvious would never be left unnoticed by the blonde. The fact that Krystal was doing something that indicated she had a response towards the subject made Amber's heart sing. She was sure that Krystal would soon let her walls break and curtains fall. Amber smiled, satisfied with how things were going to play out.

    "No."

    Or so she thought. Dang it, she was so close. Amber imagined herself banging her head on the table and driving a stake through her heart. That cursed word.

    "Oh, come on. It's not like this is the first time I've seen you cry," Amber stated, trying to persuade the brown-haired girl to converse more about the personals, "Plus, you kinda owe it to me, don't you think? For being so, you know, bipolar and freaking the crap out of me."

    Krystal shot a cold stare at Amber. "I don't owe you anything."

    "But it's the least you could do, since I successfully prevented you from falling victim to the crime of last night," Amber said. She wasn't going to give up just yet. "Also, let's not forget the fact that you still have your Bio textbook with you because of me."

    Amber saw Krystal's expression soften a little and her eyebrows slowly arched into a frown.

    "My Bio book?" Krystal asked, "You were the one who picked it up?"

    "Dang right I was," Amber grinned as she leaned back into her chair, "You're welcome. For the second time of the day."

    "Thanks." Krystal muttered as she stared at the blonde who seemed happy now that Krystal was aware of all the good deed she had done in the sophomore's name.

    "Wait," Krystal put her hand up as she spoke, "You were the one who found my book?"

    "Yep."

    "And you were the one who returned it?"

    "Yep."

    "That note was from you?"

    "Yep."

    Krystal shook her head, breaking into a laugh. "Why does that not surprise me?"

    Amber frowned, puzzled at Krystal's statement. "What do you mean?"

    "That note," Krystal laughed, "it was so stupid."

    "What?"

    "It was dumb, really. And then now, you're telling me that you wrote it and I just," she paused to laugh again, "It's so like you."

    "What's so like me?"

    Krystal ran her fingers through her hair and said, "The note. You writing a note like that seems like something you'd do."

    "I still don't get it. What do you mean something I'd do?" Amber asked, still not able to grasp on the concept.

    "The note was lame. You are lame. The end."

    Aca-excuse me?

    "I," Amber started, "I wrote you a note." Nothing was going through her mind right now, other than the insult from the brown-haired girl. It seemed like insulting and ignoring Amber was Krystal's definite field of expertise.

    "Yes, yes you did." Krystal nodded.

    "And you called me lame."

    "That I did."

    "You little ungrateful-"

    "Hey, I'm not the only one dropping around, okay?" Krystal cut Amber off.

    What?

    "Yeah, if I'm not mistaken, you," Krystal pointed her long index finger at the blonde, "Amber Josephine Liu, almost lost your class schedule today."

    Amber was taken aback by how Krystal knew of this information. It only happened this morning, and she hadn't even had the chance to tell her friends about it, no thanks to Ms. Bipolar over there who kept creeping up into her mind. There was no reason for Krystal to know this either. Unless...

    "Yeah, I picked your up too, Amber," Krystal said as she bored her eyes into Amber's, "I also, left you a note."

    Note. Note? Aaah, "18 and still a moron."

    "Hah, of course you wrote that," Amber scoffed, finally getting the lay of the situation.

    "At least I didn't write you a poem about losing ."

    "It wasn't a poem."

    "Could've fooled me," Krystal scoffed back in reply.

    Wow, this was information. Amber couldn't believe how her day was going. Why does this feel like it was fated? I mean like, what are the chances? It was an idea and thought that Amber just couldn't shake off as soon as the truth dawned upon her. How she met with Krystal the night before, bumping into her at school, then picking up her book while the other picked up her class schedule. A drama. This feels like a freaking drama special. 

    "What?" Krystal shot at Amber.

    "What?"

    "Why are you staring at me like that?" Krystal asked her senior, who unconsciously had her attention focused onto the latter.

    "I'm just thinking."

    "About?"

    "About this," Amber sat up in her chair and made a series of hand gestures, "About how coincidental things have been for the both of us."

    Krystal dropped her head backwards, "Oh, Amber. I did not peg you for one of those people."

    "One of those people?"

    "Fate. People who put their life in the hands of fate."

    "There's nothing wrong with believing in fate," Amber argued, feeling slightly annoyed at how judgmental Krystal is being again, "And fyi, I'm not a believer. I just find all this amusing. Don't you?"

    "No, not really. I'm not one to be easily amused," Krystal replied monotonously.

    "You don't say," Amber rolled her eyes in front of Krystal and made sure the latter caught her doing it. Two can play this game.

    Amber let her eyes roam around the room, pretending to be doing something other than to stare at the sophomore. She didn't want Krystal getting any ideas from her excessive staring. The class was filled with silence again, without the two talking and bickering with one another. Amber didn't intend to let the awkwardness rise, so she began to speak.

    "So, like, we're cool?" She asked Krystal, gesturing at the both of them. She wanted to get things clear between the both of them. There was something unnerving about not being able to be on Krystal's good or okay side. Up until then, she hadn't realized just how much she wanted to be closer to Krystal, to know her better and to just, understand her. Maybe it was foreign to Amber, not being able to decipher someone on the spot. So foreign that it became something so intriguing, so addicting. Yes, warming up to Krystal was addicting, she wished she could do it all day, everyday. There was nothing more she wanted than to be the person who knows what's what. And at that moment she knew she only needed to know one thing-- Krystal Jung Soo Jung.

    "Hmm, I don't know. Are we?"

A/N aight, so there's that. my exam's finally over and done with. woots woots. but now i'm home sick with the flu and yeah. so, krystal and amber are finally warming up to one another haha baby steps. things like these shouldn't be rushed, or should they? hahaha till next time then. again, i apologize for any grammatical or spelling errors.