“Hello?” Jessica answers, her voice coming out a little raspy from sleep. She yawned, shifting to a more comfortable position on her bed, waiting for the person at the other end to speak.

“Isn’t this spooky?”

She inhaled. “Isn’t what spooky?”

“That right now, you were thinking about me, and out of the blue your phone rings; and it’s me… How’s that for a spiritual connection?”

Jessica pulls the phone away from her ear, peering through heavy lids to read the name of the caller id before returning the device to her ear. “Um..do I know you?”

“... Why do you hurt me?” The voice huffed indignantly. Jessica could almost imagine the cute pout she was sure the younger girl was wearing right that moment. A small smile played at her lips.

“SooJungie..” she crooned, on the other side of the line the younger girl hummed in a way that reminded Jessica of a puppy asking for a good petting. Her little sister was good at that, asking her for things and getting her way with overdoses of her special aegyo. “SooJungie, mind telling me why you’re calling me this early in the morning?” she tried to sound stern, but her vocal cords seems to have other ideas and her words ends up coming out soft, almost pensive. She cleared .

“Okay, so I woke up when I heard sounds coming fro-”

“Please skip to the part that actually matters.”

“Unnie! Don’t you miss hearing my voice? Tsh..and here I was, thinking how sad it was that my favourite sister hasn’t heard from me-”Jessica interrupted.

“Jungie-yah, I’m your only sister,” she said, stressing the ‘only’ “and if you have nothing important to relay I’m hanging up.”

Soo Jung exhaled loudly at the other end, grumbling incoherently while adjusting the phone, the receiver creating a muffled scratchy noise at the action. “Fine. Mom and dad were just wondering how you’re doing. You didn’t call home last night and they got a little worried- actually a lot worried, but let’s not get into the details. Just know that I took care of it, and that you owe me. Do you know what time they woke me up since they couldn’t sleep for a few more minutes without hearing from you? They demanded..you hear me? Demanded that I call you and keep calling you until someone picks up.”

“I didn’t call?”she shifted position, draping her leg over the huge bolster beside her and..

Her eyelids shot open and she laid there silent for a few seconds, staring at the mess of long black hair passed out right beside her. Her free hand shot up to , muffling the loud gasp she was sure would worry the younger Jung, and in extension her parents. Pushing herself to a seating position she glanced over to the other bed where Tiffany and Taeyeon laid, peacefully asleep. Half of Taeyeon’s limbs was hanging off the bed while the other half of her body was pinned down by Tiffany, who had decided to utilize Taeyeon’s shoulder as her new pillow.

There was an empty pizza box on the study table along with a few books and notebooks piled up in one side. Four bags were haphazardly thrown to a corner of the room, like it was put there to make room for something..

That was right.. Study session turned sleepover.

Jessica made a mental reminder not to offer their room for another study session or sleepover ever again. Who knew playing an innocent game of Pictionary could turn deadly in a matter of minutes? It was a miracle no one had poked an eye out this time.

“Unnie? Are you still there?”

“Y-yeah. Sorry, Jungie-yah. I was having a study session last night and I completely forgot to call. Tell mom and dad that I’m alright and that they shouldn’t worry so much. I’m 18. I can take care of myself.”

“Why can’t you tell them that yourself? I’m not a messaging machine you know.” Soo Jung replied exasperatedly, though a couple of second later Jessica could hear her sister’s muffle voice calling to her parents and telling them that she was still alive and not dead in a ditch somewhere. Soo Jung and her cheeky humour.

There was a loud rustling sound, followed by more muffled words then her sister came back, rushing the rest of her call. “Unnie, I’m hanging up before mom gets here. I don’t think she’ll be returning my cell phone once she speaks to you. Don’t forget to call later. Love you, bye. No, mom I-” And the line got cut off.

With the dial tone tooting in her ear Jessica sighed deeply. She let the phone drop from her hands to the blanket and eased herself back on the bed. With her back to Yuri's she buried half her face into her pillow, the silent tears that had been burning at the edge of her eyes spilled down, soaking into the covers.

She woke up again a few hours later from the sunlight hitting her square on the face. She tried to block the annoying light with her blanket but that was stripped off of her. Wrestled actually, she wasn’t ready to let go of the one thing that kept the cool air from her exposed skin easily.

As soon as the cover was ripped out of her hands she curled into a fetal position, making use of the remaining body heat to fight off the cool morning air slowly engulfing her body. Until a set of slender fingers clamped onto her side, wriggling furiously. A small “eep!” slipped out of her lips, and as if that small sound triggered something she felt a couple more fingers jabbing at her side in addition to the first ten already dancing up and down her clothed torso.

“S-stop!” she managed to squeak out amidst her restrained giggles. She curled further into herself, elbow blindly jabbing away at the unrelenting, tormenting fingers. She gritted her molars together, refusing to give in. Then, half a minute later she could no longer stop herself from giggling hysterically as she tried to worm her way out.

“O-okay! I-m up!” she managed to stutter out amidst her giggling.

“So that’s the easiest way to wake you up.” she heard Tiffany say.

She peeled her eye lids back. Yuri’s grinning face was the first thing that greeted her. “Good morning Sica-yah!” the girl greeted energetically, frantically waving her hands right in front of Jessica’s face. With a glare she slapped the hands away.

Yawningshe raised both her arms in front of her to stretch her muscles, but the energetic Yuri had read her actions differently and, hands clamping around Jessica’s, she pulled her up, shocking Jessica from the sudden movement. The blood rushed out of her face and her vision turned pitch black. Yuri’s hold was the only thing keeping her from falling back into the mattress in a dead slump.All of that had only lasted for a few seconds, and when Yuri let go to move to sit at the edge, Jessica could manage her body movements on her own.When she shot Yuri a glare she was still wearing that winning grin that had started to grate at Jessica’s nerves.

“Wipe that grin off your face.” She growled, shifting her legs over to the edge of the bed. Tiffany and Taeyeon were already fixing up at the other side, Tiffany trying to cram the cardboard pizza box into their tiny trash can for reasons only she would understand. The girls were already changed into their morning attire. She turned her attention to Yuri sitting a feet beside her, cocking her head to the side when their eyes met. The girl still had that smile on her face. Jessica was tempted to slap her face with her pillow when something clicked in her mind.

“... What did you just call me?” imitating Yuri she tilted her head to the side, inwardly rejoicing as the grin faded from Yuri’s face and a pinkish hue rose to her cheeks.

“ah... Je-sica..yah?” she tried, grinning sheepishly.

Jessica shook her head, reaching to grab Yuri’s wrist before the jokester could make her escape. “It’s bad to lie Yuri-yah.” Jessica tutted, ignoring the sudden increase in volume of Tiffany and Taeyeon’s chatter as the two tried to mask their obvious eavesdropping by pretending to be involved in a debate over pink vs. purple skin of the hippos.

Yuri's eyes shifted over to the duo, telepathically crying for help. Tiffany and Taeyeon ignored her.

“Hah.. It’s a..” Yuri stuttered, eyes roaming all over the place. Jessica pinched the skin on her arm, twisting it a little.“Okay I called you Sica. I mean your name is too long! What if there was an emergency and you’re all the way at the other end of the corridor and I only have less than a second to warn you. If that happens then I won’t be able to forgive myself for not being able to warn you beforehand and-” Jessica slapped a hand over Yuri’s mouth, feeling more than hearing the girl sharply inhale.

“I only asked you what you called me, Yuri-yah. Not a report.” Pulling her hand away, she patted Yuri’s cheek twice before pushing off her bed and making her way to her closet, brushing past her gawking roommate and an equally mystified shorter friend. When she closed the door to the bathroom a wide grin broke through her nonchalant façade and stifled the giggles that were threatening to come out.

Breakfast was uneventful. Tiffany had gone off about the big game on Friday night, as was practically the whole student body. No joke. Everywhere Jessica turned all she heard was the hot topic of the Blue Knights and basketball and the schools colours. Even the cheerleaders were practicing their chants in their designated table that early in the morning. Jessica wasn’t the least bit interested, she had zero knowledge of the game or any of the players Tiffany had started to fangirl over. Fortunately she had perfected the pretending-to-look-interested-while-zoning-everything-out, nodding her head at random intervals accompanied with a short, believable hum, that Tiffany had continued her chattering to her hearts content. The only time Jessica was pulled out of her own world was when Tiffany had abruptly stood up after realizing that they were running a little late for their first class, biding Yuri and Jessica a quick goodbye while prying the spoon from a reluctant Taeyeon’s grasp.

Thinking it was a good idea to head off to her lecture room early Jessica slipped the unopened pack of her morning twinkie back into her bag. Just as she was going to say her good byes to Yuri the girl had stood from the chair and, wide grin in place, took Jessica’s bag and slung it over her own.

“I’ll walk you.” She offered energetically. Not even waiting for Jessica’s response she helped her up, guiding her towards the exit. Yuri’s hands fell to Jessica’s back, nudging her slightly when the brunet slowed her steps to glance back at her, waving off the confused look with a lopsided grin and another light nudge. When they passed through the double doors Jessica whirled around, grabbed Yuri by the wrist and jerked them down, effectively stop her from advancing further.

“What's wrong with you?" she growled out irritably. Her lips set into a tight line as she settled a hard glare at Yuri.

Yuri blinked at her, the charming yet aggravating smirk lowering. For a second the happy-go-lucky girl Jessica knew disappeared, replaced by an expressionless statue. It was like the light in her eyes had dimmed down, like one wrong move and it would snuff out. Jessica cleared up the tightness in , the action snapping Yuri out of whatever it was she was in.

Yuri shook her head, a smile back up her face. She nudged her head to the side slightly, staring to move towards that direction. She pulled at her wrist, slipping past Jessica’s weak grasp and promptly slipped her arm around the brunet’s to bring her close as she guided her towards the mass of students around the packed hallway.

“I’m trying to shake someone off. Don’t look back.” Yuri whispered, slightly jerking her arm when Jessica’s head started to turn. And just like that her irritation was back full force. She growled. Yuri smiled apologetically at her and lowered her head slightly while leaning towards Jessica's ears to whisper. “I’m sorry, Sica-yah, but please play along. I really don’t want to confront him yet.”

“Who?” Jessica hissed back, more annoyed than ever at the realization that since she hung around Yuri the girl has always managed to slide into her personal space without a care and that she was starting to actually get used to it. The energetic girl was seriously sapping away her energy and Jessica’s inner introversion screamed at her to put up a fight. At least a little bit. She tried to worm her arm out of Yuri’s grasp, but that only served to bring panic to Yuri and in desperation the girl slipped her fingers through Jessica's, intertwining their fingers and clamped on firmly. Realizing that it was a futile fight Jessica decided that that putting up with the girl was exhausting enough and abandoned the thought of freeing her arm.

She sighed and repeated her question. "Who?"

“Taecyeon.” Yuri replied. “The basketball team’s point guard.” She continued after seeing the Jessica’s brows scrunchin question, not that it helped. Jessica had no idea who this Taecyeon was, though she may have heard the name thrown around a couple of times she never really took interest and shrugged the name to one of the many discarded thoughts. She nodded her head anyway just to get the conversation going. “I feel like he’s coming on to me, and I don’t want to give him hope, but I don’t think I can turn him down if he asks either.”

“Why not?”

“Cause, it feels..bad. I’ll feel bad.”

Jessica snorted. “Yuri-yah.. I didn’t know you were such a wuss.” Yuri pouted, giving Jessica a little hip nudge in protest. Jessica shoved back. “Look, if you don’t like him, just say ‘sorry, but I’m not interested in dating right now’. It’ll be even worse if you agree and have to pretend every time you guys are with each other.”

“You have a point.” Yuri muttered. Then she shook her head, brows drawing together in concern. “But it’s not that easy. They have a game this Friday and if he asks before that and I turn him down he might not play as well.”

“Cause you turned him down? Who are you? Kwon Boa? You’re not that prominent of a figure to affect people deeply, Yuri-yah.”

“Hey! I’m y you know. Guys line up just to be with me.” Yuri boasted, turning up her nose haughtily, momentarily forgetting her dilemma. Jessica rolled her eyes. Just as quickly though, her facial expression turned solemn and she soughed deeply.“But seriously, I’ve known Taecyeon since I transferred..and I think he’s had a crush on me since then.”

“Oh really?” Jessica said dryly, unconvinced.

Yuri vigorously nodded her head. “I kinda saw him slipping a love letter under my notebook one time, and I’ve been receiving these anonymous letters for a long time. Pretty sure most of it came from him.” She said softly, just loud enough for Jessica to hear, which was quite a feat, considering the loud chatters of the students around the crowded hallway. “And he was acting a little fidgety the last time we talked. And I really, really don’t want to hurt his chances of getting the basketball scholarship the boys are crazy about. He needs to be at his best.”

“Okay.” Jessica murmured, glancing to the doorway of her classroom. They had arrived a lot faster than she’d like and she frowned at this thought. “So you’ve got yourself an admirer.” She continued, turning her back to the doorway, wanting to prolong her time with Yuri a little bit. She would have just gone all the way to her table and sleep if she left now, she reasoned. At least with Yuri there she could get an added drama with the girl’s lover boy dilemma, it beats idly waiting for the teacher to arrive.“And you want to avoid him at all cost without being too obvious about it.”

“At least until the game is over.” Yuri said, head bobbing up and down.

“Right.” Jessica sighed, pulling her arms back and motioning for her bag that Yuri had graciously carried all the way. “How can you be so considerate and be a jerk at the same time?”

“It’s a natural talent.” Yuri replied coolly, shrugging the bag off her shoulder. Jessica scowled at her. Receiving her bag she used that to hit Yuri’s side. Yuri, like a ball, just rebounded back to her position, her signature smirk back in place.

Jessica’s right eye twitched. “Whatever. I’m going.”

“Wait!” Yuri quickly slid in between Jessica and the door, blocking the side with her outstretched arms. “You’ll help me, right?”

Jessica tried to ignore it, but she had picked up on the uncertainty in her request. She felt a slight twinge in her chest, but quickly brushed it off as a random muscle spasm. “Really Yuri? Do you really have to ask me that?” she deadpanned, propping her free hand on her waist. “I’ll try to think of something, in the meantime, go to your class.”

There was a sparkle in Yuri’s eyes as she stepped forward, pulling Jessica into a bone crushing bear hug. Jessica squealed when she felt her feet lifting off the ground and her arms instinctively clutched at Yuri’s shirt. When Yuri set her back down she had wasted no time in raining slaps at a chuckling Yuri’s arm.

“Sica, you’re the best. Saranghae.” Yuri did a heart pose before scampering away, ignoring the stares she had garnered. Jessica just sighed as she shook her head. She had already gotten used to Yuri’s childish antics and, though she wouldn’t admit it to the girl, found them cute.

If only she took her environment into consideration.

Now how could you avoid someone without being blaringly obvious? Jessica thought as she her heels.

~~~

And here it is! Sorry if it sounds a little all over the place, I had this edited over twenty times. That and I'm a little scatterbrained right now. Recently I've only got money on my mind, and I don't mean the song.

By the way this is probably the shortest one, excluding the prologue, that I've written. Hope it's up to par...