PART 7: Mission Impossible

It was Saturday morning and we should’ve been in class but here we were sitting in a café a few blocks from school. Before you say anything, no we weren’t skipping classes, and no I am not a rebellious college student. Class was cancelled this morning and so here we are gracing the lonely shop with our chatty presence.

“So moving on to plan #10” Jessica looked up to me and made a popping sound with her lips. This girl still got plans up her sleeves? Last night I rejected every single of her extremely-inappropriate schemes and here she is coming up with a backup plan every single time.

“I hope it doesn’t involve me taking off my clothes or me harassing Taeyeon ually.” I warned my friend and she stopped midway and I raised my eyebrow. I guess it did involve those things again. I stirred my black coffee and waited for Jessica to finish saying out her 10^th plan.

“It’s the least extreme on my list, if that will make you feel any better.”

“Ok?” I urged her.

“Wear revealing clothes-“

“We’ve talked about this!” I screeched and she held out both her palms to signal me to shut up.

“I’m not done talking yet!”

I locked my eyes with her and stayed mum.

“Geez. Stop cutting me in every single thing I say.”

“Am I cutting you right now?”

“You just did!”

I grunted and Jessica threw a piece of tissue onto my head.

“You need to change your way of dressing and your way of putting on makeup.” She placed a hand on her chin and stared at me up and down.

“You look fine it’s just Taeyeon did state she’s into people her age. That’s probably because she thinks you’re immature, which I believe is a fact.”

My expression switched from neutral to dark at Jessica’s agreement. Whose side is she on exactly?

“I’m not immature!” I defended although mentally, I knew I was fighting a losing battle. I have every reason to be defined as an immature 20 year-old girl. And Jessica will start to list them in 3…2….1.

“Well let’s see. You watch cartoons. You cry when Simba’s dad died in the Lion King. You like pink.”

My eyes widened. “RUDE. Liking pink is immature? Oh my god!”

Jessica’s smile stretched even farther as she pointed a finger at me.

“Look. Just look. Look at you right now getting so annoyed by a tiny irrelevant insult. Do you think mature people would actually care at insults like this?”

My mouth clamped shut as my eyebrows knit frustrating at Jessica who absolutely won this bicker. My shoulders sagged tremendously and my lips turned into a pout. I whined and Jessica laughed loudly not aware of the people staring at our table.

“And plus you get excited when you see seashells and little fish. OH and you wear pajamas with microscopic hearts on it.” She resumed harassing me and digging up every single immature feature that is buried deep within me.  

I folded my arms together and jutted my lips out even more.

“Stop doing that. You look like an angry bird.” That earned a slap on her arm which only produced more laughter from her.

“And you think that’s mature of you to laugh like a seal in a public place?” I puffed and she wiped the tears that were leaving her eyes. What was so funny in the first place anyways? Did I become best friends with Jessica Jung to suffer years of undying teasing and never ending humiliation?

“I never said I was mature.” She managed to retort between huge fits of laughter and I just sipped my coffee in silence.

“Okay okay enough giggling and laughing like a seal. You should see yourself.” I eyed her and crinkled my nose.

“Your nostrils are flaring as big as a gorilla’s.” With the mention of that, Jessica stopped all actions and a serious look enveloped her.

“That’s not funny. That’s not funny at all.” She cupped her nose and her eyes peeked at our surroundings to see if anyone was watching her.

“Well back to our original purpose. I admit I am a…little immature.” My face heat up at the confession but I lifted up my Styrofoam cup to cover it.

“What should I do exactly?”

“Do you have any revealing clothes or anything that’s ?” I eyed Jessica’s face and I’m aware that she’s suppressing her laugh. That girl knows so well I don’t have any low cut shirts or s. Her asking me that question was definitely an action of mockery.

“You know I don’t have any!” I barked at her and a chuckle slipped past her lips.

“I know. Fine let’s go to my place right now. I’ll lend you some of mine.” She grabbed her leathered purse and snatched my arm. God bless my friend.

-

“Try this.” A piece of fabric was thrown blatantly into my face. I peeled it off my face and stared at the clothing dangling in front of my eyes. I couldn’t make out what it was. My hand twirled it into various positions but still failed to interpret which part of my body part it should cover.

“This reminds me of one of those napkins my grandma uses to blow her nose.” I commented and watched Jessica dug out a ton of other blouse, skirts, shorts, thongs…

“Why do you have G-strings in your closet?” I picked up an orange one with my thumb and index finger. They were something I would never ever buy.

“I thought they looked pretty nice.” She shrugged and put her head deeper into her closet.

“Try this.” Another one was thrown into me and I quickly denied it.

“No way!” I shrieked and rolled onto her bed. Every of her clothes that I’ve set eyes on were ones I’ll never ever wear nor let alone touch my skin. Our sense of fashion was like the north and the south pole.

“I’m actually trying to find that one blouse I know you’ll like.” She said then I screamed when I saw something inappropriate slide out of the closet along with a few dresses.

“Whoops! You weren’t supposed to see that!” She grabbed hold of it and shoved it deep into the back of her closet. I had my hand over my heart and a horrified look aimed at her face.

“What the did I JUST SEE?!” I fanned myself and covered my eyes with her pillows.

“A .”

“THAT IS DISGU- AHHHHH” I fell off the bed when she tossed the into my lap and laughed like a mad scientist. I wiped my leg to get the germs off and hurled the pillow I was holding at her direction.

She rolled on the floor and held onto her stomach.

“That was not FUNNY!” I chucked a second pillow at her and she threw it back at me.

“Stop it before I hold the and chase you around the house.” She warned and I moved to sit on her chair instead. I casted my eyes to the piece of plastic lying on the bed and grimaced.

“AHA! Found it.” She announced excitedly and came scurrying over to me.

“Put this on and say you’ll wear it because if you don’t, that is coming for you.” I ignored her threat and hang the cream colored blouse in front of me.

“It has a low cut but it’s not that low. I think it suits you since you can’t seem to put on anything more revealing than that. Now off you go.” She pushed my towards her bathroom and I just walked in without a word of complaint.

I slipped on Jessica’s piece of suggestion and stared at myself in the mirror. My eyes lowered down from my face and towards my neck then to my exposed cleavage. It wasn’t extreme I understood that because only the very top of my cleavage was on display but I felt and vulnerable. My neck and my shoulder were out in the open and I stood in front of the mirror for another few minutes trying to adapt to this. To be frank, I do look pretty nice. It’s a new side of me.

“Are you done?!” Jessica called from the outside and I inhaled before stepping out.

“I have a feeling it’s a little tight.” I made an attempt to get myself out of this but Jessica came up to me with a shook of her head.

“You look deliciously fine girl friend!” She nodded her head and had the expression of I’m-a-genius stuck on her face. This girl’s conceit is just unbelievable.

“Taeyeon’s gonna fall head over heels for you when she sees you!” I blushed at that.

“So here’s what you’re going to do.” She clapped her hands together and I shifted uncomfortably.

“When you see her, drop something and then lean down to pick it up to show her your chest.” Jessica jumped in her seat and she was the one that seemed more excited. The moment that idea sink into me, I felt sick in the stomach.

“You listening?” Jessica snapped her fingers in front of my eyes and I meekly nodded.

“There is no any other way to do this?”

“Ah-ah don’t try to find a way to get out of this.” She wagged a finger.

“You look great. I’m not lying. Don’t forget on Monday, put on dark red lipstick. Put on a confident stance and no immature acts. Do I make myself clear?” Jessica instructed and I didn’t know why I was even obeying to every single of her orders.

-

Jessica advised me to go to my art’s class early since it enhances the chance of me running into Taeyeon. It was easy for her to bark out instructions at the back of me but when you are the one who’s doing the real thing, it wasn’t as simple.

“Jessica I’m nervous.” I mumbled into the phone and chewed on my bottom lip. My hands pulled the jacket that was covering the blouse tighter around my body.

“Calm down. Everything’s gonna be fine.” She said in a relaxed tone and I rolled my eyes. Easy to say.

“Where are you?”

“Still in my car.” I answered and peered at the school. Every part of my body was jelly. I have never been so afraid to meet Taeyeon until now. Who knows what she thinks of me? Rewinding back to last Friday, my heart began to sting. I am seriously throwing my reputation out of the window just for Taeyeon.

“Urgh!” I hit my face onto the steering wheel as I thought back to how stupid I was to confess out of the blue.

“What’s wrong?” I forgot that Jessica was still on the call.

“It’s just so embarrassing with what happened between us last Friday. I don’t know how to face her anymore.” I half-whined into the phone. “Like what the was I thinking?”

“I know right. If you weren’t stupid then you wouldn’t be here today. But what’s been done is done. You can’t change it. You want her then you have to do it. I need to go now. Good luck.”

She hung up and left me alone to face my problem. I gingerly opened the door and stepped out of the car. Immediately, I wobbled and lost balance. I casted my eyes down to my heels and huffed. I don’t use heels often and wasn’t that good with them either. My mom was aware of that too and her face when I put these heels on were just priceless.

“I hope you don’t let me down.” I said through gritted teeth as I head for the glass door. I walked slowly into the place and gazed around. I clamped my lips tightly together and tried to walk without a sound and be invisible as much as possible. It was useless though since some people eyed me. It was seriously uncomfortable to be stared at like that so I fastened my pace and turned around the corner.

Just when I did, there she was walking directly at me. I stopped in my tracks and was just rooted at the ground. Her head wasn’t faced my way and she was talking with another person. My breath was held in my throat and my eyes stretched wide when she looked my way and our eyes met. Dammit she looked so good with spectacles on.

I threw all plans that Jessica told me out and rushed for the bathroom that was just a few steps away from my current position. I don’t give a damn about seducing or whatever but right now I just can’t do it. She saw me and I already felt embarrassment seeping into me.

I walked into one of the empty stalls and tried to calm my down. I’ve failed my mission to seduce Taeyeon.

“ the plans!” I hissed and called Jessica. It led to voice message and I just groaned in despair. I was panicking massively. This just goes to show how much I depend on my friend Jessica. My stomach clenched and unclenched numerous times before I decided to open the door to one of the stalls and peek outside.

No one was out there; at least that’s what I see from this angle. I stayed silent and listened for any sounds but detected none.

“Phew.” I opened the door wide and my hair almost turned from black to white.

“AHHHH!” I screeched. Since when did she come into the bathroom? Why did I not hear her? She looked tremendously taken aback at my outburst that she took a step back.

“It’s just me. I’m sorry if I scared you.” She held out her palms and her eyes swiftly found mine. I was still trying to recover from the shock and trying to find a place where I can bury myself and die from mere shame and utter humiliation.

“I saw you just now and wanted to talk to you…” She trailed off and adjusted her glasses. She had no makeup on today but damn she still looks undeniably gorgeous.

“About last Friday…”

I knew it. I knew she was going to talk about this. More reason for me to find a place and strangle myself with my stupidity. Why does she need to bring this up? Why can’t she just let things be?

I dropped my gaze down to the floor and waited for what she wanted to say.

“I’m truly sorry Tiffany. I sincerely hope you understand.” I really didn’t want to talk about this. Like absolutely. Her voice was something I would long to hear all day but right now I wish she would stay silent.

“I understand. It’s fine really. I wasn’t in my right mind when it happened. Let’s just forget about it.” I eyed the door and thought of making a run for it but with these heels, I knew better than to topple over air and be a clown in front of Taeyeon again.

“And I’m sorry if I sounded rude or mean. I was having a very stressful day.” Taeyeon bowed and that caught me off-guard. She was seven years older than me for ’s sake!

“Nonono.” I frantically stepped up trying to stop her from bowing down when my heels became unstable and I twisted my ankle, lurching forward. Not again. For ’s sake I was just thinking how my meeting with her this time didn’t involve any incidents but here it is.

“!” I cursed at myself as I witnessed the flicker of surprise flashed across her eyes before I crashed into her. I squeezed my eyes shut waiting for us to land on the floor but it never came. With a heart threatening to thump out of my chest, I peeked and realized Taeyeon didn’t fall because of the sink behind her.

My pupils dilated as the closeness of the two of us finally sank into my system. Both of my hands were clinging to her shoulder tightly and her palms were placed lightly on both sides of my waist. I bit the inside of my mouth as a chill went down my spine and adrenaline coursed through my veins. Our faces were so close I could’ve counted her lashes. So near I could feel her breath hitting my face. At least she was breathing. I was not. My breath got caught in my throat and my heart skipped numerous beats. I hope she can't feel my heart. I really do hope that.

We were propped in a weird position, with me leaning entirely on her, and her entirely on the sink. I swear my eyes were wide as golf balls and it only got wider when I noticed how her eyes darted to my chest and she turned her face away. I looked down also and never moved so fast in my life. I gasped and quickly took a few steps away from her before covering my chest with my jacket.

“I didn’t mean to!” She said and I could see the faint blush on her face. My face was crimson and it was hot as hell. I felt my neck and ears turn hot too.

“I’m-“ She started again.

“Don’t mention it!” I wailed and rushed out of the bathroom in order to cover my face with my hands. That was HELLA embarrassing. I cursed every curse word I can think of and rushed to class. For the rest of the period, I couldn’t concentrate. I was paranoid, looking to the door every single minute, afraid of seeing Taeyeon there. And when I escaped to the parking lot, my eyes searched for her car but I guess she left home early today.

When I got home, I guess I didn’t cool down yet.

“Tiffany? Darling are you okay?” My mom came to me and felt my cheek.

“You are red as a tomato and you’re really warm!”

“I’m ok mom! It was just hot outside.” I lied and rushed up to my room before landing face flat onto the mattress. I screamed and screeched into the mattress and hit it with my fist. It took me long. Long to recover from what happened. But after I did, I opened my drawer and brought out my pink diary.

This is definitely going into the book.

-

 Thank you for reading. Please notify me ASAP if there's any mistake because I don't reread what I write. :(

My heart hurts seeing Tiffany sad. She's innocent.

#tiffanystaystrong