2009 . 1 . 30 – 10:27PM

“Jeez, the things I do for this girl.”

With each step, the thumping music coming out from the one of the open entrance doors increased as Amber made her way to her destination.  She could already see people leaving.  Some people, however, were just standing outside the entrance, hanging out and chatting away.  Amber assumed that the dance was pretty boring, regardless of how many people were in there.  Still, masquerade dances were pretty cool— you never see these types of dances nowadays.

Once Amber reached the entrance, she made her way inside— now realizing that the music changed a bit.  Slow songs…  Of course, slow songs were always played whenever dances were about to end.  She walked inside, passing by the people looking at her oddly because she wasn’t wearing any proper attire fit for that evening.  Her ears perked up realizing what song was playing, “Selfish” by N’SYNC.

Hm, Amber thought.  Talk about old school.

She didn’t walk any further, however, as she found the damsel in distress who texted her not too long ago.  Krystal was standing next to a seat that had her jacket and purse.  Her arms were crossed and it was clear from the side of her face that she wanted to leave.

“Feeling bored, miss?” Amber teased lightly as she walked up behind her.

Krystal jumped a little, but turned around— a smile developing on her face.  They stared at each other, both having a small smile plastered on their faces.  “Come on,” Amber said, taking a hand out, “Let’s get out of here.”  She beckoned her head towards the exit and Krystal obliged, taking her things with her.  She took the tomboy’s hand, which led Amber to give out a crooked, broad smile and they walked out hand in hand.

“Hey,” a tall, skinny boy called out to a girl near him.  The girl turned to him as a response.  “Have you seen Krystal?” he asked.

The girl searched around and scrunched her eye brows together, “That’s weird… I just saw her near the doors.  Sorry, Alex, I—”

“Joanne, I think Krystal left,” another girl piped in from behind her.

Joanne and Alex now switched their attention to the girls’ statement.  “Well, where would she go?  It’s late, I was gonna take her home,” Alex said with a disappointed expression.

“Yeah, Silvia, I don’t think Krystal would go home alone,” Joanne added.

“You guys looking for Krystal?”

The three of them turned to one of their other friends.  He scratched his head, “I saw her leave with that upper classman she hangs out with all the time during school and whatever.”

Joanne and Alex’s mouth fell slightly agape while Silvia panicked for the both of them a little.  “Krystal seemed pretty happy when he came.  They walked out hand in hand,” he added.

“Are you serious, Aiden?”  The boy by the name nodded.  Silvia took a glance at Joanne and Alex.  Clearly, their faces were both down.

Oh crap, Silvia thought.  Krystal is so dead.

“You should zipper up; it’s freezing out here,” Amber said, pointing to the younger girl’s jacket.

Krystal rolled her eyes as she chuckled, obeying the tomboy’s little order.  “So, how was the dance?” Amber asked.

“Boring.”  Ah, a blunt answer, Amber thought.  As expected from Krystal, she was pretty much used to it already.  She nodded as a response, however.  “Alex wasn’t helping?” Amber asked.

Krystal shook her head, “He made it worse.” 

Her reply caused Amber to laugh, “What did he do?  Or, even say?”

“Nothing!” she screamed, flailing an arm out of frustration, “That’s what makes it so horrible.  He barely said anything.  Alex just stared and stared… and stared in a very creepy way.  And our friends just let us be alone once I got there; ugh, I disliked it very much.”

Amber shook her head as she chuckled in the process.  Boys were always after Krystal.  Amber wasn’t sure if it was because she was sister’s with Girls’ Generation’s Jessica, or because she was just very pretty— or both.  Still, it was noticed after a while of hanging out with the younger Jung, that many people had jealous eyes on her.  Amber never let it get to her since, you know, she was a girl; misconceptions were common when you had her image.  Despite the fact that whether or not Krystal’s admirers approached her, they always got rejected because Krystal knew very well that they weren’t allowed to date.  But, Amber knew well enough that Krystal wouldn’t follow with those rules if she met the right guy— even Jessica told her that one night when they were hanging out.  Worry was seen on her face, but Jessica knew that Krystal could take care of herself when it came to situations like that.

“I guess your beauty made him super speechless,” the tomboy implied with sarcasm in her tone.  She laughed once she earned a playful punch from the younger friend next to her.

“Did he hit on you?”

“Oh God, don’t even get me started with that,” Krystal mumbled with a groan.  Amber smiled, “How did he hit on you?”

“I don’t even know, Amber,” she answered as she face-palmed.  “Like, it’s hard to explain, but it’s so sad.”  Krystal shook her head, “I’m gonna feel bad for the girlfriend he gets in the future if he won’t change.”

“Hey, don’t be so hard on the guy,” she muttered, poking Krystal in the arm.  The latter giggled.

“Anyways, are you hungry?” Amber asked.  She put her hands in her pocket and continued to look around the area they were in.  She searched for a small food eating area; anything that could fit both of their needs— preferably Western food.

“Now that I think about it, I am,” Krystal replied.  It just kicked in to her that she had skipped dinner back at her house since she was spazzing out about running late for the masquerade dance.  She folded her arms, feeling a breeze sweep in around them.  Of course, it’s still winter, and yes, of course, wearing a dress at night while it’s winter— even with a jacket on, is pretty bad.

“Uh… I should find a place soon, you look really cold…” Amber breathed out.  She rubbed her hands together and exhaled into them.  Krystal smiled without herself noticing, realizing how much Amber cared about her.

Eventually, though, Amber did find a place.  It wasn’t that big, but it did remind Amber of back home.  “Subway,” Krystal said out of nowhere as they walked into the store, “Eat fresh.”  They both laughed at the lame logo the food place sponsored.

As they lined up, the both of them looked at the menu.  “Okay, what do you want?” Amber asked.  She took out her wallet as they both moved up on line, “I’ll pay for it.”

“Huh?” Krystal blinked.

“I doubt that you have your wallet in there, Krys,” Amber answered with a smile, pointing at the purse Krystal was holding, “Besides, Jessica told me to treat you out.”

Krystal rolled her eyes after hearing Jessica’s name.  Despite the time they barely saw each other, Jessica always made sure that Krystal ate.  “Well, I can’t finish a foot long on my own, but I want the teriyaki chicken one,” she replied.

Amber smiled and scratched the back of her neck, “I can’t either.  Do you wanna just share it?  We’ll buy a foot long and split it in half; I actually wanted to the teriyaki chicken one, too.”

Krystal smiled back and agreed.  The line got shorter in no time and Amber placed the order.  Just as she said, she paid for the meal and once they got their food and drinks, they walked over to a nearby booth and sat across from each other.

“You know?”  Amber looked up at face Krystal after she heard her speak.  “Moments like these are priceless,” the younger girl said with a small smile.

“Yeah, you in a dress and me in street clothes equal people oddly looking at us, which equals, priceless?”

Krystal laughed, airing a feigned punch at the tomboy.  Amber laughed along.  She nodded with a hand up in defense.  “Yeah, yeah, you’re right.  Moments like these are priceless,” she admitted in defeat.

All of them are… always.

2009 . 02 . 02 – 8:12AM

“YOU! You have a lot of explaining to do!”

Krystal stopped walking as soon as she heard the voice of one of her close friends.  She turned around to find her power walking towards her in an unlady like manner.  Krystal walked inside the classroom and rushed to her seat, avoiding anymore eyes on them and to avoid getting hurt while standing up.  First period didn’t even start yet; everyone just came from homeroom, it’s cold, and it’s Monday morning— did Silvia really have to start something?

“Quiet down will you?  Jeez,” Krystal worded with a pleading and hushed tone.

Silvia frantically searched around and flailed an arm.  She sat down in a seat next to Krystal.  “What the hell happened at the dance?  Aiden saw you and that upper classman leave before it ended.  You should’ve seen Joanne’s face!” she screeched.

Krystal’s eyes widened with panic, “Oh crap.”

“Yeah, ‘oh crap’ is right,” Silvia retorted.  “You’re really not going out with him, are you?”

“No!” Krystal yelled immediately.  A couple of people in the room looked at her and she gave out an embarrassed smile, quickly apologizing in the process.  “Sh— he’s like… a brother to me.  Nothing more,” she stated.  She mentally high-fived herself for catching the mistake she almost made before it was said.

Silvia eyed her, “Good, because that’s what I told Joanne.”

Silence swept over the two of them and the clock was ticking slower than usual— or at least, it felt like it.  More students kept coming in from homeroom; some of them dreading that it was Monday, and some talking about the dance that happened last Friday night.

“Do you think Joanne has a chance?” Silvia asked getting up from the seat.  She realized that the person who owned the seat was standing behind her the entire time, quietly waiting for her to get up.  She apologized to her classmate and stood in front of Krystal’s table.

“Honestly,” Krystal began.  She gave out a dejected expression, “She doesn’t.”

“Why?”

“He’s… well, not… into younger… people?” Krystal slowly stuttered.  She mentally kicked herself for the lame excuse.  Of course Joanne doesn’t have a chance; Amber’s a girl!

Silvia pouted, “Then what’s he doing hanging around you?”

Krystal blinked and furrowed her eye brows together, “We’re not dating.”

“I know, but you still hang out with him.”

Before Krystal could reply, the teacher walked in and ordered everyone to take their assigned seats.  Silvia gave Krystal a “We’ll talk later.” face and moved to her assigned seat.

Their teacher began the lesson, and Krystal was starting to feel bored and sleepy about the history regarding the Civil War in America.  She placed her elbow on the table and balled her hand into a fist.  She then, lazily, leaned against her fist with her cheek smudged against it.   A yawn escaped and Krystal wiped the tear that was forming at the corner of her eye in time before it fell.  Time was flying by too slowly for her liking and this was one of the days where she wished that something made class go by faster— in any type of way.  She even wished for some type of random distraction to cut class time so that the next bell could ring.

As if God heard her mind-wishing, two upper classmen walked into the class room.  Krystal straightened herself as she noticed who the two were.  She could already tell who they were since she saw them often and she recognized them immediately.

“Um, excuse me, Mr. Park?” one of them spoke.  It was Jay, who was holding a pen and an envelope in one hand, and what looked like to be small un-folded cards in the other hand.

Mr. Park turned his head to the door, stopping himself from writing anything further on the chalkboard.  He placed the chalk back to its holder and patted his hands together, “Ah, yes, what can I do for you boys?”

Krystal’s eyes widened slightly, suppressing a laughter from coming out after hearing the question.  It wasn’t easy keeping a straight face since Jay smirked with a funny facial expression, eyeing the person next to him.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Jay apologized with a small smile.  He elbowed the person next to him in the stomach and Krystal watched them bend over a little from the gesture, giving out a small laugh.  Krystal shook her head.  Those two will always be dorks.

“We’re here to, um, give the people a chance to buy flowers for Valentine’s Day.”  The other person who spoke was, Amber.

“Buy?” Mr. Park questioned.

Amber cleared and she and Jay walked to him, “Yeah, they order flowers and the juniors have to walk around on Friday to deliver them to whomever they’re sending it to.”

“They’re a dollar each, guys,” Jay added, turning to the students in the room.  Some of them nodded, showing that they were paying attention to what was going on.

“Hm, okay then.  Period’s about to end in twenty minutes and we got most of the stuff in my book done; take your time, guys,” Mr. Park said with a small wave.  Jay and Amber thanked him as they watched him walk back to his teacher’s desk and sit down, now writing in, what seems to be his grade book.

“Alright, so I’ll take this half, and you take the other half,” Jay ordered to Amber in a small tone.  He gave her some of the small cards.

“You’re only making me take this side because Krystal’s there,” Amber whispered back, annoyance apparent in her tone.

Jay chuckled, “Hey, what makes you assume that I would think that?”  Amber rolled her eyes and responded with an answer that was indecipherable.  Jay gave out a mini shrug and the both of them went to the halves that they were designated to in the classroom.

After a while, Amber got to Krystal’s table, where she was seated in the middle of the side.  She gave out a grin, “Buy, or else I’ll kill you.”

Krystal pouted playfully, “Wow, straight to the point.  How amusing,” she laughed and shook her head, “But, sorry, Ambs.  I didn’t bring any money with me today.  Can I buy tomorrow?”

“No can do; today’s the last day.  That’s why we’re going around today.  People had a chance to buy last week but I guess no one really put their thought into it,” Amber replied.

“Aw.  That ,” Krystal said.  “When are you guys delivering it?” she questioned, now twirling her pen around her fingers.

“Friday, the 6^th,” the androgynous girl answered, “Valentine’s Day is on a Saturday, which is next week.  We wanted to do it on Friday the 13^th, but people were afraid of bad luck, so we decided to do it on this coming Friday,” Amber added with a laugh.

Krystal laughed back and she looked at the door.  “Hey, looks like Jay’s done.  You might wanna hurry up,” she said as she poked Amber in the stomach.

The tomboy made a face, “I’ll make his wait, haha.”  She stretched and started tapping her fingers on the table, “Anyways, I have a feeling that you’re gonna get a lot of flowers on Friday.”  Amber smiled and moved onto the next person near her.

“What makes you say that?”

“You have a lot of admirers and the juniors are in charge of this entire thing; I know who gets what from whom.”

“Great,” Krystal muttered.  She sat back in her seat as she watched Amber ask around regarding the flowers more.

Once Amber finished, she walked back to Krystal’s table, “Well, I’m sure that you’re gonna be surprised on Friday, regardless.”

Krystal weakly smiled, “Mhm.  You should go now, Jay’s getting impatient.”

As if on cue, “DUDE!  Let’s go!  We have to visit the other classrooms.”  Amber chuckled and nodded. 

“Alright, I’ll see you later, Krys,” she said, leaving her with a wave.

“Bye.”

The class started having their own conversations to themselves, realizing that they had five minutes left of the period.  Everyone started packing up and waited until the clock ticked to the designated time the bell would ring.

A classmate next to her passed her a note, “It’s from Silvia,” he said, beckoning his head towards her.  Silvia turned around in her seat, facing Krystal, who was in the back, a couple of rows behind.  Krystal took the note and gave her thanks and opened it up.

Are you sure that there is absolutely nothing going on between you guys?

Krystal sighed.  She looked up at Silvia and sighed, again.  She wrote back into the note and passed it back to her.  Silvia opened it up and read it.

Like I said, yes, I am sure.  There is absolutely NOTHING at ALL going on between us.  Now stop asking!