A/N: Hey everyone! Here's chapter 2 ^^

CH 2

 “Jessica?”

A quiet knock on the door pulled me out of memory lane and back to the present. I blinked a couple of times, coming to the realization that the constant banging on my door and chorus of my name had ceased. It was quiet for a while, save the knock and the call just now.

“Jessica, I know you’re awake. Don’t worry; you didn’t leave the door open. Sunny has the extra key from-well, you know. You don’t have to say anything or open the door just listen. I know you’re hurting, but please-” the voice suddenly began to plead.

“Please don’t do anything stupid. If you think you’re going to do something stupid, call me first or call one of the girls first. Please. We know you’re hurting, but we’re hurting too. We’re you’re friends. We love you, you know that right?”

The voice paused, as if waiting for some miracle that I would answer.

“I know that you like to keep to yourself with these kind of things, but this type of thing is not healthy. You’ve been in your room for four days straight. I know you haven’t left because everything is as you left it when-”

The voice stopped and I felt myself relax. If the voice had continued, I knew I wouldn’t be able to handle it.

“Jessica, just please don’t-just-”

A sigh then temporary silence.

“You’ll get through this. We will all get through this, okay? Just remember we are here for you. I’m here for you. I’m still you’re best friend no matter what. I want to help you move forward, but you need to want to if I’m going to help.”

I draped my arm over my eyes as I heard footsteps and the click as my front door closed.

“I’m not alone? We will all get through this?”

I rolled over and buried my face in my pillows. The soft, fluffy texture of the pillow became over bearing and I found myself unable to breath properly. This pillow, meant to give me comfort, now gave me nothing but pain. Bringing my hand to the pillow I felt my eyes begin to water.

“Yuri, how can we all get through this? How can I get over this, if you all are a constant reminder of my mistake?”

September 12 ___________________

“Jessi, why do you always sit here by yourself?”

“…”

“Jessi!”

“Yah, stop poking me you blob!”

“I told you to stop calling me blob!”

“I told you to stop calling me Jessi!”

“But I like it! It’s cute. And I’ve been calling you that for so long!”

Jessica let out a huff as she glared at the pouting girl next to her.

“I told you my name is Jessica. Not Jessi. How many times to I have to tell you? Get it right you blob. I’m twelve now, I’m not supposed to be cute!”

“But I still think it’s cute. And stop calling me blob! I’m not chunky anymore!”

“Fine. Get it right, you mushroom.”

“HEY!”

“Ah! What the heck you mushroom! Stop abusing me!”

“Then stop calling me that! I’m not a mushroom!”

“Could have fooled me.”

“YAH!”

Jessica winced as the girl let out another outburst, this time a decibel higher than before. She turned her head from the branches of the tree to rebuke the outburst, but found herself smirking at the pouting girl.

“Well what do you expect? With that haircut you look like a walking-talking mushroom.”

“No I don’t! Daddy says that I look cute with it!”

“He’s supposed to say that: he’s your dad and you’re his little baby. He’s not going to tell you straight up that you look like a fungus.”

“JESSI!”

“Aish!” Jessica let out an exasperated sigh. “You know, I came here because it’s much quieter than in the classroom. I wanted to sleep in peace. But because of you-” Jessica glared at the younger girl. “-it’s not possible. I can’t even close my eyes because you keep popping up everywhere.”

Jessica paused for a moment before poking the younger girls puffed out cheeks.

“You’re like my own personal mushroom. Everywhere I go, you pop up there. You never leave me alone and I can never seem to get rid of you. No matter what I do to try and get rid of you, you always come back.”

“Really Jessi, you’re so mean. No one else is this mean to me.”

“That’s because they haven’t had two years of you yet. Give them a few months and then they’ll treat you like the fungus you are.”

“YAH!”

Jessica let out a small chuckle as she readjusted herself underneath the shade of the tree.

School had started a few days ago, and it was taxing to the young girl. Sure she dealt with the pressure of school before, but that was before she transferred to SoShi Academy. SoShi Academy, the one of the most prestigious schools in her city. It had a grade school, middle school and a high school. Its goal was to create “well rounded students” and thus expected all of their students to excel in academics, athletics, and in the arts.

Jessica enjoyed having time for herself. She preferred to go at her own pace and meet her own standards as opposed to having someone else set the bar for her. Even her parents knew that (after years and years of trying to get her to be motivated to work as hard as the other kids) and thus put her in a regular public school near her house. Because of her mindset, Jessica never even considered SoShi as an option for school. Yet, here she was, wearing the uniform and on her second year in Soshi Academy. When the times became difficult (and they seem to more frequently because of her being in middle school), Jessica wondered why she would leave the comfort of her old school and attend a school that was so demanding to the point where she hardly got any sleep.

“Jessi, are you really going to sleep? Class is going to start soon. You know how mad Mr. Nora gets when you’re late to math.”

‘Ah, that’s the reason why.’

Jessica’s fateful meeting with Tiffany in the park happened two years ago and since then they two had been inseparable. Well, more like Tiffany attached her self to Jessica’s hip and followed her wherever she went. At first, Jessica hated all the attention Tiffany gave her and found her loud and overbearing personality to be too much for her to handle. But after awhile, Jessica found herself used to and almost dependent on Tiffany’s presence. The young girl, despite her need to involve herself in every aspect of Jessica’s life, brought a sense of peace to Jessica. She was the only true and genuine person she knew besides her family and thus Jessica found the need to be near Tiffany at all times. Of course she would never tell the bubbly girl that, and would deny it every time Tiffany would teasingly accuse Jessica of being just as clingy. So when Tiffany told Jessica that the older girl should transfer over to SoShi Academy with her, how could the older girl refuse? Because of Jessica’s average grades, the transfer process took a great amount of effort and work from the girl. There were many times in between that Jessica had opted to just give up. But every time she almost gave up, Tiffany would pop in to make sure that the older girl was working on getting into SoShi Academy. The bubbly girl would come into Jessica’s room sit and go on and on about how great it would be if they both were able to get into SoShi Academy and be in the same school. And after every visit, Jessica would find the will and the determination to get into the school. After months of hard work, Jessica found herself linked arm-in-arm (well, more like the other arm tightly gripped around her limp one) and walking (her being dragged) with (by) Tiffany into their new school.

“Jessi?”

Jessica turned her head and brought her gaze up to the younger girl’s face. It hadn’t changed much over the past two years. Her face had lost some of her baby fat, and her hair that once was long and flowing now sat atop her head in a bob hair cut. ‘A bubbly haircut for a bubbly girl’ Jessica thought to herself. Her eyes were the only things that had not changed. They were still wide, and full of life. Except instead of wonder and innocence, worry and anxiousness filled them. A light smile began to form on Jessica’s face, knowing that she could make the younger girl worry like this.

“You go on ahead. I want to catch at least five minutes of sleep before class or I’ll fall asleep. And Mr. Nora hates it more when I sleep in class then when I’m late.”

“But-”

“Tippany!!”

Tiffany confused as to who interrupted her, looked towards the direction of the voice. About ten yards away from the two, a girl dressed in the same year uniform as them was jumping up and down waving her hands in a fangirl-like motion.

“Ah! Taeyeon-ah!”

Immediately, the smile fell from Jessica’s face and her mood turned sour.

This was one of the reasons why Jessica wasn’t so keen on transferring over to SoShi. Jessica knew that she had little to no social skills, and that she often scared off other kids because of her cold personality. It all didn’t matter to her however as long as she had Tiffany. Tiffany on the other hand, was very social and liked to make new friends. Jessica had feared that once they two entered SoShi high, that the younger girl would gain a new group of friends and abandon her. However, during their first year of school, Tiffany did not hang out with anyone else besides Jessica and because of that, school was wonderful. However, since the beginning of the year, Tiffany had been getting quite popular and had started becoming friends with a few girls from their math class. One of them being the midget running towards them, called Kim Taeyeon.

“Pany, what are you doing out here? Math is going to start soon!”

“I know, Taeyeon. I was just trying to get Jessica to get off her lazy and go to class as well.” Tiffany explained as she gestured with her shoulder to the girl lying beneath the tree.

Sensing that the conversation was turning towards her, Jessica immediately crossed her arms and closed her eyes, not bothering to hide the annoyed look on her face.

“Oh? Jessica was here too? Jessica, hello!”

“…”

“Jessi, Taeyeon is trying to talk to you.”

“…”

“Jessi!”

“…hello Taeyeon.”

Tiffany shook her head before offering Taeyeon an apologetic look.

“Don’t mind Jessi. She’s just cranky because she can’t take her daily nap.”

“You’re napping again Jessica? Woah, you act more of an ahjumma than me! Right, Pany?” Taeyeon showed a cheeky grin before letting out her signature ahjumma laugh.

“No one is more of an ahjumma than you, Taeyeon-ah. Jessi just sleeps all the time so she’s more like a kindergartener. You think like an ahjumma, act like an ahjumma, and talk like an ahjumma. If you weren’t to short, you’d probably look like and ahjumma.”

Jessica turned her face towards the trunk of the tree as she felt form into a smirk.

‘Ha, take that Taeyeon. Tiffany is defending me and disagreeing with you. Merong!’

“What? Tiffany, why? You’re supposed to be on my side!”

Tiffany let out small laugh before patting the shorter girl on the head.

“Aw, don’t be mad, TaeTae. It’s just you’re the perfect person for an ahjumma. I wouldn’t want you to be any other way.”

‘TaeTae?’ Jessica wasn’t sure why, but after hearing Tiffany call Taeyeon that, her heart clenched, and she felt anger bubble from the pits of her stomach.

“Aw, Pany-ah! Okay if you say you want me to be an ahjumma, then I’ll be an ahjumma just for you.”

“Ahaha. Thanks TaeTae.”

Jessica wished she didn’t look over her shoulder to look at the other two. She wished she just stayed put and stared at the trunk of the tree, instead of looking back and finding the two in a warm embrace. She wished her eyes were studying the texture of the bark of the trunk, rather than the way Tiffany and Taeyeon embraced each other so tightly. She wished she didn’t look and felt annoyed instead of looking and feeling pure anger. Immediately she shut her eyes and tried to rest, but the sleepiness had long disappeared and all that replayed in her head was the image of the two embracing so lovingly.

“Well then this ahjumma is going to class. Start heading back soon as well Pany-ah; you don’t want to be late. I’ll save you a seat in the front.” Taeyeon said as she gave Tiffany a playful nudge and goofy smile.

“Bye Jessica! I’ll see you in class as well.” Taeyeon said loudly, hoping to receive a reaction from the other girl. However, she was only greeted with the cold shoulder. Feeling a bit disheartened from the cold response, Taeyeon gave Tiffany a small smile and a shrug as if to say ‘I tried’ before heading off to class.

Tiffany watched as Taeyeon’s figure became smaller and smaller into the distance before turning back to glare at the “sleeping” girl.

“Jessica, what was that about? TaeTae was only trying to be nice but you kept giving her the cold shoulder.”

‘I don’t care.’

“I mean really Jessi, TaeTae was just trying to be your friend! Can’t you at least be nice and respond to her? A small conversation with her wouldn’t kill you.”

“No one asked her to try and be nice to me. No one said she had to try and be my friend. I don’t get why you’re so angry with me for acting like I always do.”

“Well I’m sorry for wanting my new friend to be on talking terms with my best friend!” Tiffany let out a sigh before closing her eyes in frustration. “Well, I guess I should have expected this. I’m friends with the biggest and most anti-social Ice Princess in the history of friends.”

Suddenly the atmosphere became unusually cold.

Jessica, whose eyes were now tiny slits, silently glared at the younger girl.

“Well, I’m sorry Stephanie,” Jessica seethed. “Sorry for not being the friend you wanted. Sorry for not being able to talk easily to people. Sorry for not being friendly and welcoming like everyone else. Sorry I’ve been alone and practically friendless for most of my life. Sorry for being myself. But you know, no one asked you to care, or meddle in my social life. No one asked you to be my best friend. If you had such a problem with how I acted, I wonder why you’re still friends with me. You know what, you’re right: I am an anti-social Ice Princess. So maybe I should act the part and be completely friendless. You are now free to find a new best friend because I no longer need the title.”

With that said, Jessica stood up and started walking away from her tree, from her spot, from her best and only friend.

“Jessica Jung, where are you going?”

“Does it matter?”

“Come back here! We have to go to class!”

“I don’t want to. You go; don’t keep your precious TaeTae waiting. And don’t wait for me after school, Stephanie. I’m going home by myself.”

Jessica sent one last final glare at the girl before walking away.

“Jessica! Jessica Jung Sooyeon come back here! You’re going to get in trouble! Jessi-”

“Dang it, I shouldn’t have said that. She was only trying to help me get out of my shell. But I don’t need her help! I’m old enough to make my own decisions. I don’t need her to play mom and help me make friends. But-argh!”

Jessica let out a frustrated groan before ruffling her hair. She had decided to go to the roof to clear her head. Watching the clouds leisurely fly along with the gentle breeze always helped her when she found herself too heated. But for some reason, nothing seemed to comfort the young girl. Letting out an irritated groan she collapsed on the roof. Her arms were splayed out and her hair was a tangled mess from the wind and her hands. Her uniform button up was now un-tucked from her skirt and her pink blazer thrown carelessly to the side. In short she looked like a hot mess.

“Stupid Fany for arguing with me…stupid Taeyeon for trying to be friendly…stupid me for being angry for no reason. Stupid, stupid, stupid!”

“Dang, you seem to know a lot of stupid people. Either that or you’re just having a stupid day.”

Freezing at the sound of the foreign voice, Jessica slowly opened her eyes to find the intruder. Looking up she was greeted with a curtain of long black hair, partly covering a tanned face. The mouth was pulled into an amused smile, and the eyes were glistening with mischief.

“Hey there Jessica!”

“…”

“Why are you so quiet? You were awfully chatty before.”

“How long were you there for? How much did you hear?”

“Pretty much your entire rant. But please don’t stop on my account! Continue, continue. Let it all out. It’s unhealthy to keep all those bad feelings in.

“…”

“What? You won’t continue because you’re uncomfortable with me? Is it because I’m too gorgeous? I know it can be a bit overwhelming to people, but I promise, just because I’m so beautiful doesn’t mean that I don’t understand when others are having a bad day.”

“No, I just don’t feel like spewing out my emotional problems with the school’s most conceited character.”

“Ouch. You’re calling me conceited and you don’t even know who I-”

“Kwon Yuri. Basketball team’s ace. Class Vice-President. Most popular and most conceited person in SoShi Academy Middle School. You were neck to neck with Park Gyuri in the beginning of the year, but after you joined the dance team, your popularity spiked, thus leaving Gyuri in second place.”

“Oh? How do you know so much about me? Are you my secret fan club president, Jessica? Do you want my auto-”

“You sit next to me in history class. You and your fan club are always spewing those random facts about you.”

“Ah, so you were listening all those times? You obviously are interested in my and my achievements! Would you like to know more? You know, I am also on the-”

“I don’t care. Please leave; you are annoying.”

“Aww, Jessica don’t be like that! You’re telling me to leave even though you have never even given me a chance to talk? Every time I try to say something you always interrupt-”

“Don’t care. I want to sleep. Please leave while I’m still being nice.”

“This is you being nice? You know, you need to work on your people skills. If I didn’t know any better, I’d believe what everyone else says and say you are a complete and total Ice Princess-”

Jessica snarled as she heard her infamous nickname. She usually didn’t mind it, but for some reason today, the name brought nothing but animosity from her. Usually she would just brush it off and ignore the person. However, after hearing the name leave Yuri’s lips, she wanted nothing more than to punch the tanned girl in the face.

“I am an Ice Princess. So leave me alone.”

“-but I know better. I know you’re not really an Ice Princess. You’re just waiting for someone to come and break down your walls. Waiting for someone to come and try to be friends with you.”

“Your statement is incorrect. I like being alone; I don’t want friends. In fact, I think they’re useless because I don’t see the purpose of them. They are nothing but a waste of time, money, sanity and emotional investment.”

“You want to bet?”

Jessica stared into the tanned girl, with a confused look. What was with this chick? She seemed completely unfazed with Jessica’s cold personality and anti-social antics.

‘The only other person I know who’s like this is-

“I’m friends with the biggest and most anti-social Ice Princess in the history of friends!”

Immediately, Jessica closed her eyes and willed her face to form into an indifferent expression.

“Not interested. Go away.”

“Come on, Jessica. I bet you’re really not an Ice Princess; I bet you’re a big softie who’s really shy. But because you can’t get over your shyness, you pretend to be cold so you can justify being alone all the time.”

“Thank you for your useless and false analysis of me, Kwon Yuri. Now please leave me alone.”

“But what if I don’t feel like it? You don’t own the school, nor do you own the roof. You technically can’t tell me to leave because you don’t own the property you are lying down on. It belongs to the school and therefore is open to all SoShi Academy students. Last time I checked I am a SoShi student; therefore I can use the roof whenever I please. Sorry to burst your bubble Princess, but I don’t feel like leaving so I don’t have to.”

“Fine then. I’ll leave.” Jessica let out a groan before ing herself forward to sit up. She stayed still for a moment, letting the wind lightly ruffle her hair. After a moment she brought her hand up to the nape of her neck to try and work out the small kinks that had developed there.

“Where are you going, Jessica?”

The young girl looked up to glare at the tan girl, silently wishing for some sort of catastrophe to happen that would render the tan girl incapable of asking her nosy questions.

“Why does it matter?”

“Because where you are going, might be the next place I wish to exercise my right as a SoShi student.”

Jessica stiffened as she furrowed her brows in disbelief.

“You’re kidding right?”

“Who knows~”

“What can I do to make you leave me alone?”

Suddenly the mischievous glint in Yuri’s eyes turned into a sparkle, and a confident smirk endowed the tan girl’s face.

Jessica knew that she was slow sometimes and that she had delayed reactions in most situations. Yet she had learned to control it, and make it seem like she was normal. She could make her face seem like she understood the situation. She had fooled many a person with her act, yet she never thought it would backfire until now. She found herself standing in a basketball court, facing a stretching Yuri. There she stood, now dressed in basketball shorts and a white tank top with her hair pulled together in a high ponytail, all because she didn’t realize that she would have to play basketball against the school’s ace player.

“What bet?”

“The one where I said that you really are not an Ice Princess and that you really just want people to try and get to know you.”

“How?”

“Hang out with me for a week. The entire week you have to eat with me and hang out with me and with the people I see and talk with. During that week you have to try and be more open to people. If someone tries to have a conversation with you, you have to try and carry it out and not scare them off with your cold personality. Try to be warmer, so that people will approach you. If they want to try and be your friend, you have to meet them half way. I guarantee you that after that week, you won’t be such an Ice Princess anymore.”

“That only benefits you. I have to do all the work and change my way of life. A bet usually implies that if one person wins, then the reward will swing in their favor. The way I see it, the results of this bet both swing towards your direction.”

“Fine, fine. How about this: we will play a game. If you win, then I will leave you alone and accept the fact that you are a real Ice Princess. I’ll even throw in keys to the athlete’s lounge so you can go and sleep and be antisocial whenever you want. If I win, you have to spend the entire week with me, including before and after school, and the weekend.

“Fine let’s do it.”

“You’re not going to even ask what the game is?”

“I don’t care. The faster I beat you, the faster I will be left in peace.”

“Oh? You seem rather confidant that you’re going to win.”

“I told you. I don’t care what kind of game it is. If it means that I can get rid of you for good, then I’m willing to do anything.”

“Anything? Really now? Well then if you insist. The game we will be playing is-”

“HORSE.”

“You know, this isn’t really fair. You have the advantage of experience over me.”

Yuri gave Jessica a small smirk before continuing to stretch.

“You just noticed that now? Man, when they said you had a reaction as fast as a snail, they weren’t kidding.”

“Who told you that?”

“No one in particular. And about the game choice: not my fault. You’re the one who said that any game was good for you.”

Jessica silently cursed at the tanned girl as she brought her legs up to stretch them. How she was going to get out of this situation was all but a mystery to her now.

Giving her leg one last pull, Yuri picked up the basketball, her hands sliding over the bumpy surface of the ball.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” the tanned girl asked before passing the ball to an unprepared Jessica, who fumbled with the ball.

“Let’s play.”

A/N: Hi everyone. Thank you so much for reading subscribing and commenting it means a lot ^^ So here's chapter two I hope you all read and enjoy. And please keep commenting: it makes author happy ^^