Dear Diary,

This morning after I wrote in you, I went to econ. The class was short today. As soon as it was over I fell asleep for 8 hours!! Until I realized I had to go to the Walk for Humanity event. There was only an hour left but I made it. The day before I met Blondie whose actual name is Lizzy and she’s part of Walk for Humanity an organization aimed at raising awareness for poverty. I won a small blue stuffed elephant from some darts game. I gave it to her. She was confused but she seemed flattered. Haha. I’ll write in you soon.

-Nana

I close my journal and place it on my nightstand. I sit on my bed and let my head fall on to my pillow as I lay down. I look at the clock on my nightstand; it’s 9 o’clock. I’m not sleepy since I took a really long nap today. What should I do? I decide to walk to the university’s library. I love libraries and bookstores. It feels like I’m home when all those books surround me.

There aren’t many students out on campus at this hour. The last classes are about to begin, and trickles of students are heading off to their dorms or to party. I open the library doors and smile to myself. There are students studying quietly or finishing up papers in every corner.

I walk over to a bookshelf and browse around. I reach over to grab a book except I feel something or someone tugging at the same book on the other side of the shelf. I tug a bit harder except this person also won’t let go. As we continue our tug of war for a bit, the person finally pries the book out from my hands. We both look through the empty hole where the book was. I smirk.

“Blondie,” I whisper.

“Nana?” she says.

“Guess we have the same taste in books huh?”

She looks down sheepishly at the book in her hands.

“Do you still want this book?” she asks.

“Nah, I’ve read it before. It’s a good book, you should definitely read it,” I say.

She smiles at me appreciatively. “I’ll check it out then. We probably look like weirdos talking to each other through this shelf,” she laughs lightly.

“Or we’re just weirdos that are too cool to talk in a normal way,” I reply.

She laughs.

“So what are you doing here?” I ask.

“Just browsing around. I want to start reading a new book,” she explains. “What are you doing here?”

“Same reason as you. Plus I was kinda bored at home.”

“D-Do you want to go get a coffee or whatever?” she stammers nervously.

“Yeah, sure,” I reply.

We walk to the check out and she checks out the book.

“I thought you would be sleeping right now,” I say as we walk out of the library and onto the main campus.

“Yeah…I went to my dorm room except when I walked in,” she pauses.

“What?”

“My roommate and her boyfriend were having so I quickly left,” she says embarrassed.

I start to laugh. “Seriously? Oh my god, that’s hilarious.”

“Hey! It’s not funny,” she shouts.

I slowly stop laughing and smile at her.

“Come on, you have to have a sense of humour about these things,” I say.

“Do you have a roommate?” she asks.

I shake my head. “I live off campus in an apartment, it’s not far from here.”

“Why don’t you have a roommate?” she asks as we go inside the main building.

I shrug. “I don’t know. I guess I just like being alone.”

“Really? You don’t ever get lonely?” she asks surprised.

We sit down at a table for two in the café.

“Are you going to order?” I ask avoiding her question.

She wants to say something except she bites her tongue and says, “Yeah, are you?”

I nod.

“I’ll wait here, you order first,” she says.

“Or I can order for both of us, what do you want?” I ask.

She looks over at the menu, her face in full on concentration as she decides what to order.

“Just a small tea,” she replies.

“That’s all?”

She nods.

I stand up and walk over to the counter.

“It’s you again,” the guy behind the counter says.

“Well this is a small campus so here I am,” I say.

He smiles. “What can I do for ya?”

“Well you can start off by getting me a small tea and an iced coffee,” I reply.

“Coming right up.”

He makes the drinks and places them on the counter.

“That’ll be $4.00,” he says.

I hand him the money and grab the drinks.

“Have a nice day,” he says.

“Thanks you too,” I say.

I walk back to our table, sit down and pass the tea to Lizzy.

“Thanks,” she mutters.

She takes a sip of her drink. She puts it down on the table. Her hands are wrapped around the cup. She purses her lips and looks up at me.

“What?” I ask.

“N-Nothing,” she says quickly.

I narrow my eyes at her as I put the straw in my mouth and take a sip of my iced coffee.

“So, uh, are you going back to your dorm room or are you gonna sleep on a campus bench tonight?” I ask arching an eyebrow.

“Ha ha,” she fake laughs. She rolls her eyes before she answers. “I actually hadn’t thought about it.”

“Well, to save you from listening to your roommate having all night or freezing your off on a bench, you can stay at my place,” I offer.

“I wouldn’t want to impose. You like to be alone,” she replies.

“You wouldn’t impose. Just because I like to be alone doesn’t mean I don’t like company,” I clarify.

She blushes, her face turning into a shade of bright pink.

“Alright, I’ll take you up on your offer,” she says.

I smile. “Let’s go then.”

I unlock the door to my apartment and step inside. She follows.

“You have a nice place,” she compliments.

“Thanks. You don’t mind sleeping on the couch do you?” I ask.

“I don’t mind. It’s better than sleeping on a bench,” she jokes.

I chuckle, “You got that right.”

I bring her a blanket and extra pillow.

“Oh right, I need pajamas,” she remembers.

“I’ll bring you a pair.”

I go to my room and open my dresser drawer and take out a pair of pajamas. I head back to the living room to see her sitting on the couch on her phone.

“Here,” I say as I hand her the pajamas.

She puts her phone in her lap and takes the pajamas from me.

“Thank you for letting me stay here,” she says.

“No problem, make yourself comfortable.”

She stands up and goes to the bathroom to change. I sit on the couch and take out my phone. I turn on the screen. 1 New Message, it says. I open the message. It’s from Uee.

I need to talk to you ASAP.

I wonder what she wants to talk about. I begin to type a reply.

What’s up?

I put my phone on the coffee table. Lizzy returns from the bathroom in my pajamas. It’s a pair of shorts and a baggy t-shirt. She looks good.

“Wow,” I say accidentally. I quickly realize I just said that aloud and I clamp my mouth shut. .

“If you want I could pretend I didn’t hear that.” She winks.

, what have I gotten myself into?

“Um, yeah I just, you, um,” I stutter.

She laughs. “Don’t worry about it,” she says brushing it off.

My phone vibrates and I reach for it. I quickly look at the text.

I kissed Jooyeon…

My eyes widen as I read Uee’s text. Woah, I wasn’t expecting that.

“I have to call my friend. You’re okay here right?” I ask as I stand up.

“Yup, I’m great,” she responds.

“Good.”

I go to my room and dial Uee’s number. She picks up after the first ring.

“Nana! Oh my god, I don’t know what came over me!” she yells frantically into the receiver.

“Hey, calm down and tell me what happened,” I say.

“Well, we were studying at her apartment. We started joking around and stuff and she leaned in a bit closer to me. So, I kissed her,” she explains.

I smile at her story. “What was her reaction?”

“She smiled and laughed awkwardly and said we should probably continue to study.”

I could hear the worry and panic in her voice.

“Well at least she didn’t vomit or push you away. It could’ve been worse,” I inform.

She sighs, “I guess you’re right.”

“I’m always right,” I joke.

“But, seriously Nana, what does this mean?” she asks.

“Well, it could mean that she might like you but she just doesn’t want to admit it or she doesn’t like you but she decided not to be about the kiss,” I say.

Uee groans in frustration, “What should I do?”

“Confess your feelings.”

“What if it goes badly?”

“You never know until you try. You should tell her how you feel instead of wonder for the rest of your life what her response to your confession would’ve been.”

“I’ll think about it,” she says.

“It’ll be fine,” I reassure her.

“Thanks. Anyway, I have to go study, talk to you soon.”

“Bye Uee,” I say before hanging up.

I change into my pj’s and go into the living room to see Lizzy sound asleep on the couch. I put the blanket over her.

“Good night Blondie,” I whisper.

I turn off the lights and go to my bedroom.