“Wait. She said that?!” Jessica asked with a full blown grin on her face. Tiffany had just told her about what had happened in the library. The two girls are currently in Jessica’s room. Tiffany sitting on the small lovesac Jessica has pushed in the corner and Jessica sitting crossed legged on the edge of her bed with a small pillow tucked in between her legs. 

Tiffany frowned at Jessica’s excited attitude. This is not the type of response she wants from the latter, though, she’s not surprised that Jessica’s thrilled to hear about someone else's misery. “What happened while I was gone, Jess? I asked you to keep on eye on her, not to make her act like you.”

“Woah,” Jessica held up a hand, “ I just told her to grow a set and apparently she heard it loud and clear.” Jessica defended herself. She was a bit proud of the awkward girl, but she would never voice it. This was just the first of many battles that Taeyeon had to fight in order to get the others to realize that they shouldn’t mess with her. 

Tiffany lets out a frustrated sigh as she runs a hand through her long locks. She can’t believe her best friend sometimes. “ I just… Forget it. I’m out of here.” She was so not going to put up with Jessica’s attitude, and she sure as hell wasn’t going to put up with Taeyeon. Tiffany’s just going to have to talk to the source of the problem. 

“Wait.” Jessica quickly got off her bed once she saw her best friend get off her lovesac and walk to the door. “Tiffany.” The confused girl was able to grab the latter by the arm. “Hold up.”

Tiffany turns to look at Jessica dead in the eye. She’s annoyed and angry that Jessica has influenced Taeyeon in such a short amount of time. Taeyeon’s not supposed to be acting like Jessica. This, this Taeyeon that she witnessed earlier that day was not the same Taeyeon she fell for. 

“Are you seriously mad at me?” Jessica asks in disbelief.

“You shouldn’t have told her anything.”

Jessica lets out a dry laugh. “She was being pushed around Tiffany. I just told her to push back a bit harder.”

“You could have defended her.” Tiffany counters.

“And do you think she’s going to learn from that if I did it each time? Do you seriously think that every time she gets pushed around a bit someone’s going to stand up for her each time?”

“I–” 

Jessica cuts her off, “You won’t always be around, Tiff. She needs to learn how to deal with people smartly. Look at what happened with Loud Mouth Danny? She got b-stabbed!”

Tiffany doesn’t notice Jessica’s hesitance in her last words. She’s too busy fighting her most inner emotions. “I know…” Tiffany sighs defeatedly. “I… I just…..”

“You got to let her do this for herself, Tiff. You’re not always going to be able to be there for her.” 

Tiffany bites her bottom lip as a tear slowly escapes her watery eyes. She knows Jessica’s right. She just wishes she could do more for the other girl. She doesn’t want Taeyeon to be like the rest, like them. She doesn't want to lose Taeyeon.

Jessica sadly smiles and pulls Tiffany into a hug. She knows it hurts the other girl to know that she can’t do much for the girl she loves, but the awkward turtle has to get through this herself. Taeyeon can’t expect for someone to stand up for her each time, she has to do it herself.

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You guys are awesome :)

Next up: Tiffany watches from the sidelines, and we get to see a different Taeyeon.