The girl entered the classroom like any other day of the week. Like nothing had happened yesterday. Like she hadn’t been thinking at all about the person she had told to treat her badly. She entered and looked like she had done nothing but went straight home after leaving her friends.

Jessica made her way towards her seat in the classroom when she arrived in the morning. Her eyes however couldn’t miss the unusual sight she saw in the seat that was in front of hers.

Taeyeon had arrived earlier than her.

And Taeyeon wasn’t chatting with her two friends. The girl was sitting alone by her seat, with her face buried in her arms that was resting on top of the desk.

Jessica turned away from the sight. If the girl wanted to sleep in school, she might as well sleep in school. It wasn’t Jessica’s problem. The girl wasn’t of her concern. She wasn’t anyone Jessica should mind about right now.

Jessica got seated where she should, and began getting out her books. Like usual. Like there was no problem at all.

She opened her notebook, looked at all her notes she had written in it. Laughter caught her ears, and she turned towards the two taller girls that were seated in the middle of the classroom. She could see that there were a few girls from another class there as well. Jessica furrowed her eyebrows and turned towards the girl in the seat in front of her.

They didn’t care about Taeyeon. They didn’t even seem to worry at all about their friend who seemed completely decked out. Jessica frowned and returned to read her notes.

What Taeyeon’s friends chose to do wasn’t of her concern. What kind of friends Taeyeon chose to have wasn’t of her concern either. The girl wasn’t of her concern.

---

The bell for lunch rang. The class got dismissed. And Jessica felt she really needed something to eat. She stretched in her seat before standing up, just about to follow her usual lunch company out of the classroom, but she realized something wasn’t right. Something wasn’t like it usual was.

Taeyeon hadn’t budged from her seat. Or from the position Jessica had seen the girl been in since she arrived.

She looked around the classroom. The two girls Taeyeon usually hung out with had already left. Jessica furrowed her eyebrows. Worst kind of friends you could choose.

She glanced one last time at the girl who seemed to be staying in the classroom before she went after the girls she would be eating with. She wondered if Taeyeon would eat, or if the girl would sleep away the lunch break as well.

Was the girl even sleeping?

“Did you know Taeyeon was the first one to arrive today? So unusual!” One of the girls Jessica was walking with said. Jessica blinked and turned towards the girls when she heard the subject was about the girl who had been left in the classroom.

“But all she did was sleep. If she was going to sleep, why didn’t she stay at home instead?”

Because she would get interrupted if she tried sleeping at home. Jessica thought, but didn’t say it out loud. She didn’t feel like explaining Taeyeon’s actions. Besides, she could be wrong. It wasn’t like she understood Taeyeon’s actions anyway.

The girls’ topic changed to the latest episode of the drama series they had watched. Jessica listened with half an ear. Her mind was more filled with reason as to why Taeyeon chose to even come to class if all she was going to do was sleep.

She could have chosen other places to sleep. Jessica thought. Maybe the girl wasn’t sleeping. Maybe the girl was listening, but hiding it by faking to sleep. But that would be unusual. Taeyeon had no patience to listen for that long.

Jessica didn’t know. And she didn’t understand. Jessica was just as confused about the girl’s actions as before.

If you stopped thinking so much about her, you wouldn’t have to waste time trying to understand her. Jessica told herself.

Jessica sighed inwardly. She turned towards the other girls she was with. Trying to focus on what they were saying instead, even though their topics didn’t interest her much, but she felt it was better than thinking about a girl who she couldn’t understand.

---

Jessica wasn’t sure if she should be surprised. Maybe amazed. Maybe concerned. No, definitely not concerned. She shouldn’t even bother about it. She shouldn’t even care. She should act like she hadn’t noticed it.

But it was really hard when the girl in the seat in front of her was in the same position she had seen her this morning. The exact same position. The girl hadn’t moved at all.

Jessica realized that no one had approached Taeyeon. None of the classmates, or the teacher. No one had gone to check if the girl who was sitting completely immobile by her seat was okay.

No one cared.

Jessica tightened the grip on her pen. She turned away from the girl in the seat opposite her. She wondered how the girl, who usually got her attention by causing a ruckus before, could still get her attention by doing nothing at all. She wondered how Taeyeon could be on her mind no matter what the girl did.

Jessica’s eyebrows furrowed in concern. She cared. Too much. And she didn’t like it. Because she wanted to believe that Taeyeon didn’t care about her at all, but a part of her told her that Taeyeon cared about her. The girl cared more than she showed. Way more than she showed.

And Jessica found herself wishing that Taeyeon could show it. Jessica found herself wishing she could understand the girl.

Jessica wished that Taeyeon wouldn’t act bad so she didn’t have to try so hard to not care about her.