The following week I head to school with a lot of my mind; I should’ve studied more for that Chemistry test, maybe I should’ve chosen a thicker jacket, maybe I should’ve brought a hairbrush with me or maybe I should just stop thinking and start running.

My alarm clock didn’t ring this morning, and when I awoke from my deep slumber I realized that it was already a quarter to eight… and that meant that it was only half an hour until school would start and the gates would close. So I literally ran out of my room and messily started getting dressed, cursing the fact that I seriously slept through my alarm clock. I admit it does happen, but it’s only about five or ten minutes, not an hour.

After I run out the door fully dressed I check the clock on my phone and see that it’s about five minutes left until class starts, and I’m barely half way there. It should take about fifteen minutes to walk, but of course my stupid sleeping habits had to get in the way.

Although how much I wanted to blame somebody for suggesting we’d sneak out, I really can’t use that as an excuse anyway. How is “oh, my weirdo of a best friend alias girlfriend felt like going outside to have a snowball fight and make out” going to work if I have to explain myself? I sigh by that as I slightly run towards school, my bag hitting against my back on the way.

When I think back of it, it was pretty fun though.

**

Tiffany called me up somewhere about eleven pm, interestingly enough, and when I first thought something was up I realized it was just her being bored at home. “I can’t sleep Jess,” she said through the phone. I hummed while I was placing the now clean dishes in the slightly worn out cupboard, and thought for a while that I should get around to fixing it, but I pushed the thought behind when Tiffany started speaking again.

“You want to go out?” she asked me eagerly, and as I had just placed the last plate inside the cabinet, I simply shook my head before replying. “It’s a little too late to go out,” I said whilst closing the door, the hook belonging to it nearly falling off when I did. “Besides it is Sunday, we’ve got school tomorrow,” I reminded her as I went towards the counter on the other side by the window and sat there, my feet dangling in the air. I remembered looking out at the falling snow contrasting towards the dark sky. Tiffany sighed on the other line.

“Please? We don’t have to stay out for long…” she started persuadably, and I tried to ignore it as good as I could with a careless expression, even if she couldn’t see me. “And I haven’t seen you since you visited me,” Tiffany reminds me with slight sadness, and I feel a little bit guilty for not going to see her, the thought nagging me in my head, even if it had been nagging me for most parts of the days that passed. I would’ve gone, but either she’d be too tired or I would be too busy with school. Exams were coming up soon; I had to study.

“But… it’s cold outside,” I said halfheartedly, not really knowing why I shouldn’t meet up with her. It’s not like it was a good idea, but it wasn’t not a bad one either. Besides what was the worst thing that could’ve happened?

We met up by the football field that night, about twelve o’clock after Tiffany’s parents had gone to bed, and she for some miraculous reason managed to get out the door without them noticing. I waited there for about fifteen minutes, and was about to call her until a bundle of pink walked through the gate and towards the snowless parts of the field.

“See, I managed to get out without them noticing!” Tiffany said with a triumph smile on her face when she finally stood in front of me, on top of the ice covered wooden stands. Her hair was let loose, along with that silly hat we bought in the market on her head. “And you doubted me,” she then tsked and I lightly nudged her on the shoulder. “Congratulations, what do you want your prize to be?” I replied sarcastically towards her, albeit I did smile just a little. Tiffany simply grinned in reply, her eyes disappearing in that infamous eye-smile of hers. “Kiss?” she asked me and even if she probably didn’t intend to at the time, along with that hat, I found the sight a little too adorable just to say no.

I rolled my eyes in an attempt to seem indifferent, but leaned in any way to give her a quick peck, not giving her the satisfaction of even responding before I pulled back. “H Are you happy now, Princess?” I asked and she slightly pouted, probably wanting more, but before she could even get closer though I stepped backwards, until I felt my back hit a wall separating the seats and the ground. With a smug smile Tiffany steps closer, and closer, until I close my eyes and brace the hit until…

Nothing happened, except for a sudden “whoa!” and the sound of something falling with a thud. And as I opened my one eye I suddenly saw Tiffany lying on the wooden stand, her face planted towards the icy surface. I opened both of my eyes and walked towards her, worried for a split second, but still couldn’t stop the tears of laughter when I noticed the funny position. “Oh my God Tiff seriously?” I said whilst laughing hard, barely managing to help her to stand on two feet as I dusted off her clothes. The position she landed in was quite “graceful”; her legs spread in an odd way with her arms in a funny position. She almost looked like a starfish, to be quite honest. I’d expect for her to be mad or something by my laughing fit, but instead I saw only one thing in her eyes; revenge.

“You sure it’s so funny now?” she said with another smug smile, and as I felt the cold seep through me, and without even noticing a huge ball of snow was heading my way, and I found myself just dodging it before running down the stands and towards the snow covered field, Tiffany being right behind me. And we played in the snow for God knows how long, until our bodies were covered in melting snowflakes and we became a bit tired.

 Soon enough we ended up taking a break behind the wooden stands, where there wasn’t too much snow and it kept us sheltered from the bitter wind. We sat there for a while just talking and such; until suddenly we kissed once, and twice, until I couldn’t even remember how long or how many times we had our lips connected. It was those types of kisses that left you breathless, but in a good way, that made me feel as if I was as light as air yet warmer than ever, despite the brutal wind. Somewhere along the lines, Tiffany found a sharpie pen in her pocket, and started writing those lame, cheesy hearts with our initials and of course the saying 4ever. It was just enough to appear unserious and jokingly, but there was still a bit truth to it at the same time. We laughed over how lame it was, but even so I still felt oddly enough very happy inside.

I remember that the clock was about three in the morning when I finally came home. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I am so late.

With the building in sight I start to run just a little faster, and I manage to slip in just in time before they close the gates and I head towards the classroom, slumping down by a vacant seat before finally taking a breath of relief. “You ran a marathon or something?” I hear a familiar voice ask and to my surprise, I see a relatively refreshed, normal looking Tiffany sitting beside me. Her eyelashes were painted with simple mascara and pink lip gloss, her hair tied up in a ponytail. She smiles towards me as usual, and I sit there perplexed for a moment, but I snap out of it.

“Guess whose fault it is,” I grumble before turning around to face her fully, but a small, very faint smile creeps on my lips. Tiffany simply chuckles before kicking me slightly on the leg, and as I turn to her again she smiles before lightly kissing me on the cheek. I feel some heat on the tip of my ears by all the sudden looks, but don’t say anything and simply smile before turning around to face the teacher when he enters the room.

“Ugh, I can’t believe that they’re seriously together… isn’t it like totally weird that two girls are dating?” I hear Suzy, one of Hyuna’s friends, ask somebody behind me. I try not to listen and ignore it, but for some reason their words drown out any other sound around me as I sit there. “I think it’s almost weirder that thing over there has a friend, nevertheless a girlfriend,” another voice, Jiyeon, replies and I bite my bottom lip as I sit there, the pencil in my hand nearly snapping into two pieces. They don’t seem to think about the volume they are speaking in, nor do they care that perhaps somebody can hear them.

“It’s kind of cute though, the loser found somebody who could tolerate her lame ,” a very, very familiar voice chirps in and that’s when I feel my hairs raise, and my blood stop for a moment. The grip on my pencil tightens by the voice, my eyes still casted forward as I try to pay attention. Hyuna and two of her other clones don’t seem to care about that I’m here though, almost as if I’m a ghost they don’t notice. “I still seriously believe she paid her or something,” she continues on with that same pitched, dragged out voice of hers and I can just imagine her sitting there in her red heels, sitting back as if she was the queen of the world.

I try to concentrate, but I find myself too lost in the words of what she said. The time ticks by and they finally stop talking, but it doesn’t help. Not at all, actually, and as the familiar, almost dull pain slowly starts to creep up on me I look down at the paper, gripping onto my pencil so hard my knuckles nearly turn white. I feel as if I’m about to explode until a hand suddenly lands upon mine, and by the touch alone I slowly feel my tense mood ease down, my eyes looking towards the source. Tiffany looks concerned, mouthing an “are you alright?” towards me, and while trying not to send a glare behind me, I simply nod before turning away to focus on the lecture.

It’s not like those girls change anyway.

When lunch comes around Tiffany and I decide for once to go to the cafeteria, despite her endless protests.  “I’m not hungry Jess,” she nearly whines and I nearly drag her towards the said area, not really listening to her as we walk. We pass by many students on the way, probably somewhat amused by the sudden commotion of the school’s former-mute loser and the sunshine that is dating her, as they fondly liked to call us, even if it sounded quite stupid in my ears.

“I don’t care, you have to eat something,” I protest until we finally reach the cafeteria, and I place us in line. “And before you say anything, I am literally going to feed you like a baby if you don’t eat… and you know it,” I warn her slightly, and as expected it shuts her up as we stand there, and I smile smugly by that. Guess Tiffany is not the only one who can be in charge.

We stand there in line for a while, until we finally get at least something on Tiffany’s tray. It’s not much though, just a bowl of rice, some vegetables and a bottle of water. However, it’s better than nothing. We’re heading towards a vacant table some spot away, but before we can even sit down properly, a sudden guest passes by our table, heels clicking as she walks.

“See, it’s the loser and her puppy,” I hear Hyuna snicker as they pass us and sit down on a couple of tables away from us. I try to ignore it again, not really wanting to hear any harsh words at the moment, and instead I find myself looking over at Tiffany. “So… are you going to eat or not?” I ask carefully, and Tiffany simply looks at me before looking down at the rice. The spoon in her hand stabs through the food, but she doesn’t take a bite. I gave her a spoon instead of chopsticks, knowing she still didn’t know how to use them properly. It takes some persuading, but in the end she finally starts eating a little.

 I simply sit there and talk to her occasionally, trying to ignore her sudden thinner body. She isn’t sickly thin, but she has lost some weight compared to before when we first met. And if she isn’t getting the right types of food after all, I want to make sure she at least eats something. I try to ignore the girls talking and gossiping, and focus more on being with Tiffany. It’s one of those rare occasions she comes to school, and I don’t really want something like that conversation they had earlier ruin my day.

“Yuck, why do they always overcook everything?” Tiffany says with a pretty disgusted facial expression as she pokes on the food before taking another bite, swallowing slowly. I smile a little by her expressions as I sit there, shrugging. “I don’t know, but I have this theory that the lunch lady really dislikes us for some reason, and does it on purpose,” I say more to amuse her than anything else, and Tiffany looks at me with a funny look. Then she laughs a little before taking a sip of water.

I feel myself turn thirsty as well, and notice that her water bottle is almost empty, I start to get up. Tiffany looks at me confused, but I only smile. “I’m just gonna go get more water, okay?” I say and then she nods with a smile, some rice grains stuck on her lips and I try not to laugh before walking away towards the line again. I buy two bottles of water, plus one with strawberry milk thinking Tiffany would like something sweet and of course pink.

Smiling by the thought I turn around to walk back, but on my way I suddenly hear something that really sets me off. “Why isn’t Tiffany much around anyway?” the girl whom I assume is Sulli asks. “I mean she’s in my Japanese class but she’s like… never there anymore,” she adds and the rest of the table looks at her for a while. They seem to discuss something that I want to stop paying attention to, but before I can fully pass them though I hear something that I honestly would have preferred not to.

“Who knows? Maybe she’s out there doing the “you know what”. From what I heard she doesn’t have enough money, and needs to get it in some way. Plus I heard most of the guys wanted to screw her anyway, and she does seem a little loose… Did you see her with Nichkhun? She was so close she might as well dropped on her knees or something,” Hyuna adds to the table, earning quite surprised looks by some of those girls, and even a gasp. I feel the sudden rage inside from earlier rise up again, and it seems like I’m not the only one noticing.

“Oh look, speaking of the Devil, there’s her girlfriend,” Hyuna says with a mocking tone, her eyes nearly sneering at me as I stand there and simply watch her. I have never really liked Hyuna, never after the way she treats everybody like they were worthless compared to her. But I never wanted her anything bad, I just hoped she’d change one day and that she would stop pestering me… but she didn’t.

And that comment about Tiffany was probably the last drop, and as I look at her with a glare, she simply seems unfazed, but I see that uncertainty in her eyes, albeit buried deep inside. I step up a bit closer towards her. “What did you say?” I ask and speak towards her for the first time, my eyes casting a cold stare at her as she seems surprised. However, that same sneer appears as she starts speaking through her bright red lipstick. “Oh, the loser can talk?” she replies instead, and I feel the grip on my water bottle tighten.

“What did you say?” I repeated this time, taking a deep breath later as I try to compose myself. By now I can feel various eyes on us as I stand in front of her, even Tiffany turning around to look at us. I can feel her stare, but I don’t turn around, not yet. “Say about what; your little girlfriend?” Hyuna asks with a mocking type of voice you use towards a kid, straightening up her back as she throws some of her hair over her shoulder. Arrogant as usual, if I may say. “Nothing in particular, what does it have to do with you anyway?”

I look at her for the longest time, wondering why she would have the nerve to say something like that in front of me. Whatever thoughts I had about her being better than me, tougher than me just vanished as I really looked at her now. “How do you have the nerve to talk about someone like that?” I ask her back, my voice growing stronger, louder as I step even closer. “How do you have the nerve to spread around stupid, absurd rumors and make somebody feel down? Do you think it is funny Hyuna? That everyone is beneath your feet? That you’re better than everyone else?”

Not only does Hyuna and her squad look at me surprised, by now I suppose most of the whole cafeteria were watching. It’s probably the longest thing I’ve ever said to anyone during my years here, except for when I’m talking with Tiffany of course. I don’t wait for her to answer though.

“Honestly I don’t care about the things you say about me, that I am a loser who can’t seem to talk, or that I am cold because I think I’m better than anyone. It’s hurtful, but what you said now about Tiffany is just plain brutal and it’s not even true. I’ll admit I never liked you, but not even I thought you’d stoop so low.”

My voice stops there, firmly, as time passes and they all just simply stare at me in some sort of awe. Hyuna’s eyes are widened, mouth slightly opened and for once I don’t feel terrified, I actually feel pretty superior, almost as if I’m the one in control of the situation. For once I finally got to say something I didn’t even know I was holding in for so long.

“What did you say?” she asks more shocked than offended, but soon returns to that arrogant façade of hers again. I scoff by the sudden change, but don’t think more of it because it’s Hyuna after all. “Hyuna, you’re downright an arrogant , for a lack of better terms,” I say and earn even more shocked gasps over the whole room. Normally I would feel bad, maybe thinking I’d took it too far, but this time I just feel relief for some odd reason.

I don’t even feel sorry.

I don’t say anything more than that, and I turn to walk back towards Tiffany again, not wanting to hear anything more about it. But that was until I suddenly heard Hyuna behind me, grumbling about something until I feel my legs stumble and fall.  My body landed on the ground with a loud thud, knocking along some things on a table as I lie there on the cold floor. The items in my hand flew out of my grasp and scattered away somewhere. It was silent again until I heard Hyuna speak from above me.

“I think somebody here has forgotten who the one in charge is,” she shares as she now stands in front of me with her red heels. I look up at her with a cold glare, before getting up and dusting myself off, not wanting to show her the pain of the fall. I could feel Tiffany’s slightly worrying gaze, and I could confirm it as I gave her a quick glance that she obviously didn’t seem to like it. Quickly I grab the two bottles of water and strawberry milk, ready to go without any further complications. Whatever Hyuna wanted out of this wasn’t worth it, no matter what.

“So the loser gives up as usual… going back to your little of a girlfriend?” she asks in a disgusted tone, and as I stand with my back against her. I hear her heels click and the movement of somebody sitting down, and I take a deep breath before finally feeling myself lose it. And with that I take the bottle, twist the cap and turn around with firm steps until pink, full liquid is running down Hyuna’s long hair and down her scalp, all the way to her pristine ironed school uniform… and some even landing on her heels.

I hear her shriek as the substance runs down on her, and huge commotion suddenly emits from every corner of the cafeteria. Some laugh, some cheer and some are just too shocked to even react. A slight triumph smirk lands on my face as I watch her in that pink mess, until the last drop of milk is on her, although I don’t really know why I’m doing it. It is strawberry milk wasted, but I don’t feel so robbed to be quite honest.

“What is up with all the noise?” I hear a booming voice ask, making its way through the crowd and everybody stops. Then I see the principle standing there after a while, eyes scanning us as he suddenly notices the pink substance running down on Hyuna.

“Miss, what do you think you are doing?” he asks again in that voice, albeit with much more authority as he stands there. My feet are planted to the ground, not knowing what to do as he suddenly seems to step closer. “This kind of behavior is not accepted, the minute I-“

I didn’t get to hear anything else before a cool, yet snug hand took mine and dragged me away, causing my legs to move faster as I’m pulled away from the scene and out the cafeteria. In a daze I follow, wondering if what just happened actually happened. Did I just do that?

Tiffany urges me to run faster, and I do until we somehow manage to find a hiding place inside a cramped storage room. Closing the door and instantly locking it, we stand there in the darkness for a while until I find a light switch, dead silence between us. If it were possible, I think I could have cut through the tension between us.

Why does it feel so tense here anyway?

“You shouldn’t have done that,” Tiffany says after a moment of silence. We stand on each side of the small storage room, about one meter apart from each other. I look up at her a little confused by her sudden seriousness, her reaction seemingly not too pleased. I stand there for a long while, not understanding her unamused expression at all. “Did you even hear what she said?” my voice states before I can think, but I don’t bite back the harsh tone, even if I wish I could’ve. Tiffany just looks back at me with that same displeased expression. “Of course I heard what she said, I’m not deaf,” she states in an oddly calm tone, but it’s not settling at all. “But you still shouldn’t have done that.”

I let out a scoff by this, before looking at her in disbelief. What in the world? Tiffany stands on the same spot though, simply looking at me. My mind spins around by this, until I oddly enough find myself chuckling with no trace of humor. I shake my head by that, not really understanding where Tiffany’s sympathy for Hyuna came from. I don’t know if she’s ever spoken to her, but if she did she probably would have known why.

“So you wanted me to just let her insult you and not do anything?” I ask back, still not really believing what I’m hearing. Tiffany just stands there in silence. I don’t let her start on something or cut me off. “Did you honestly think I would just let her say that about you and do nothing? Which for God’s sake I know isn’t true anyway. She just called you a , Tiffany, and she doesn’t even know you… What do you think she says about me every day then?”

The silence drags on, filled with even more tension than before. For a moment I thought that I only could’ve snapped earlier and that I’d be done, but for some reason I still can’t stop, probably the aftermath of whatever just happened still taking over me. My voice rises even higher by now.

 “One thing was the part with me, that’s fine. I can handle it. Doesn’t mean I enjoy it or like it, but it’s been going on for years so oddly enough yes, I’m used to it,” I say in almost one breath. Tiffany’s eyes widen a little by that, but again I start speaking before she can, clearly wanting to get this out. “But when she just said that about you, well…” by now my thoughts had to be sorted out, hoping I won’t say the wrong thing, even if I don’t know what the right thing to say to this is. A sigh escapes my lips.

“It made me mad, for obvious reasons, because I don’t want people to think badly of you. They already do so because you’re with me, but you don’t deserve that and you should know it. You honestly deserve better than me anyway, and you could have more people to be around and maybe I don’t know, dated a boy who is insanely popular or more liked than me…” it’s almost as if I feel tears stinging down from my eyes.

But nothing comes out, it’s just a hollow feeling inside which bugs me as I stare into Tiffany’s eyes, who are filled with something inside I just can’t quite place my finger on, but after a while I see it. There’s anger, but not that kind of one where she would explode, but something softer, if that is the right term.  “You are an idiot,” she replies slowly, and I look at her for the longest time but nothing happens. I don’t really understand where the statement comes from, but I don’t get the time to. And instead of a reply, I hear the shrill ringing of the school bell, indicating that lunch is over for now. The thick tension of silence between us doesn’t fade, and without another word she turns to unlock the door, opens it and leaves me there. And I stand there without stopping her, not a single word escaping through a sore throat and pressed lips.

I’m sorry I think to myself but don’t know why I’m apologizing. However, other than the voices in my head, nobody else can hear it.

The minutes pass until I finally have to show my face again, as class already started. Sadly enough the principle found me later and asked me to come to his office, and with no further ado he started talking about my inappropriate behavior towards Hyuna, stating that what I did was with no reason whatsoever. I wanted to bite back that it was for a reason, but I didn’t do it just yet, I didn’t have the energy to. Besides, whose side would he take?

The mute girl or the rich, popular queen bee that can get whatever she wants? Of course I was doomed to fail in that case.

I get detention for the remaining week, along with having to complete extra tasks as punishment for each subject. It’s only then that I start to react, telling him about how Hyuna usually behaves. Although this time I’m not as sharp anymore, the sting and mad demeanor already faded away earlier. By now it almost came out as a statement I could care less about, to be quite honest, I just had to say it. No matter what I want to say the principle won’t change his mind, already firm about this.

“I don’t care about what happened, what you did was unacceptable and will not be tolerated. I’ll let you off by not reporting this onto your behavior mark, if what you say about Ms. Kim is true, but you will still have to face consequences,” he told me before I was dismissed, and mentioned where I was supposed to meet up for detention.

Wow, I’ve always been the student who never got into trouble and now I suddenly have detention for the first time in my life? The girl who never speaks and now insulted Hyuna, the “queen” of this school?  I want to laugh by the sudden change of events for the day as I walk down the small distance from the principle’s desk and all the way down to the door. It’s been a huge rollercoaster ride today, to say the least.

**

Detention… That means coming home late every day for the next week, with more work up my ears, but for some reason I oddly enough don’t mind. Or, I would rather skip the extra work for obvious reasons, but a part of me I just felt good about telling Hyuna off, finally giving her a piece of my mind.

But the part of me for fighting with Tiffany won’t let me be, as the thought still nags me when I walk down the narrow hallway of the teacher’s offices and towards the main hall. As I step out of the said hall, there are many things I expect to happen. I suppose other random students will be asking questions like “wow why did you do that?” while some would be more shocked and so on. Or they would give me weird looks, maybe disgusted ones because who does she think she is?

What I don’t expect however, is the neutral expression of Tiffany standing there, firmly holding onto a way too familiar pink notebook in her hands. I stop on my tracks a couple of meters away, not really knowing what to think of the situation. Her eyes look into mine for the longest time, still not saying anything before suddenly lifting up the object in her hands.

Opening up towards a certain page, she lifts it up a little closer for me to read. With a sheet of paper the words “It doesn’t matter what people say, I love you anyway” written in Korean, I feel my overfilled mind come to a halt, along with my heart. I look at the somewhat clumsy, black signs on white paper, the words I love you nearly haunting me as I stand there bewildered, before looking up at Tiffany again, who is smiling a little nervously, her eyes bearing the same expression. “I didn’t write it wrong, did I?” she asks anxiously. “I wasn’t quite sure actually, I always confuse the letters… Does it make sense?” she continues asking and I just stand there rooted to the ground for the longest time.

I hope it was what you intended to write, I want to say but nothing comes out, my eyes rereading the saying over and over again. “Uh…” I manage to stutter out after a while, before catching my breath slowly, hoping my heart will stay in place. But I can’t deny that it skips a beat somewhere along the way, the sudden memories of today vanishing all at once.

With a sigh Tiffany places the book away in her school bag quickly, before straightening up to look at me again. “Jessie, I don’t know how much you know about my past back in my previous school,” she starts simply, taking a small step closer. I look at her still nervous eyes, the feeling of anger within her died out for a long time ago. Taking a deep breath, she suddenly continues.

“I was once one of those popular girls, who had a lot of friends, dated the perfect guy and yes, maybe I had a perfect life… But I didn’t like it… actually I despised it; the constant pressure of always having to be the best, always having to look proper and behaving a certain way. At first I didn’t mind, but I started to feel lonely. Even when I was in a crowded room with many people who were supposedly my “friends” I still felt so alone, lost… I didn’t feel like I could be myself.”

Tiffany looks away for a moment, her expression for a split second changing towards a sad one, a vulnerable side of her that I so desperately wanted to hug away, drive off but I couldn’t. I have to let her speak out anyway. “So when I moved here, the last thing on my mind was being liked by everyone, I just wanted to forget and move to another place, experience something different. I didn’t even plan on getting to know anyone, but when I saw you I just… thought you understood, no matter how lame that sounds,” she says softly towards the end, her eyes finally looking up towards mine. A ghost of a smile appears on her face but it vanishes instantly, and as I look at her for a while longer, I suddenly feel bad for acting the way I did earlier.

 There is still a certain distance between us that I want to disappear, that I want to be non-existent, but I can’t get myself to move, way too focused on Tiffany’s eyes now. “And if being with you means people won’t like me then so what. I’m done with caring about others who don’t care about me, and I care about you and you know that, right?” she asks with another smile, lasting a bit longer as she now stands close enough to cup my face and bring me closer, her warm hands on my cheeks.

“So stop beating yourself up because nothing is your fault. Popular or not, I still chose to be with you, now didn’t I?” she says, her smile is now a bit fuller, a bit brighter and I can feel the corners of my lips twitch upwards by that, until I’m mirroring the action as she looks at me. The next words she says however, really makes my heart stop for a bit, but not in an unpleasant way.

“I don’t feel lonely anymore, and you’re the reason why. And that is why, along with probably a million other things, I fell in love with you Jessie. Can’t you see it?” Tiffany says a bit more shyly now, but doesn’t retreat her hands or anything. We stay in the same position, in the middle of the hallway with what I assume are a hundred pairs of eyes looking at us, but the thought vanishes as soon as it came.

I’m at loss for words to be quite honest, the sudden confession being too surprising for me to handle, along with all the other events earlier. The fact that everything has just been a huge rollercoaster ride, a part of me wants to laugh while the other wants to cry, but right now there is one thing that overpowers most of the rest.

I know that when people say something as big as that, you’re supposed to respond, but I can’t find the words to speak. And instead of filling the silence with words, with her pale and fragile hands on my cheeks, my hands pull her closer to kiss her fully, letting my actions speak louder than words.

Again we might have brought a whole new round of shocked faces and some cheers, but all the sound around us gets drowned by the wild pounding of my heart and the feeling of Tiffany responding with the same emotion. And for once I don’t feel insecure anymore as we stand there without a fear… fearless.

And feeling fearless never felt so good before.