“So you done deciding your 10 things?” Tiffany placed two coffee cups on the table before sitting down.

 

Taeyeon had lent her her mum’s black pencil skirt, coupled with an orange blouse and black cardigan. Tiffany had her wavy brown hair swept over one shoulder and Taeyeon just could not stop staring at those collarbones.

 

I should win an award for how well I’ve dressed her tbvh.

 

“Well, no.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“It’s difficult.”

 

Tiffany frowned before snatching the notebook out of Taeyeon’s hands and immediately scanning what was written.

 

“Okay…at least you’ve got three things you want to try conquer.” Tiffany smiled, handing back the notebook.

 

“Those points are good! Doable.” She winked before getting up and sauntering towards the barista.

 

Taeyeon sat confused and very lost. Where was Tiffany going? She looked down at what she had written.

 

• Order something from a cashier without caring about how long I’m holding up the line or if I have the right amount of change ready beforehand.

 

• Embarrass self in public and be okay with it/ be able to forget about it afterwards.

 

• Make friends.

 

She didn’t laugh at what I wrote. She said they’re doable. I think this could actually work.

 

Taeyeon smiled to herself, a little hopeful due to Tiffany’s reaction to her list.

 

“Sorry, could you repeat that?”

 

Taeyeon looked up to see Tiffany talking with the barista. She was quite cute. Small, shorter than herself which made her happy, blonde hair with two small pom pom buns that complimented her face. Taeyeon wasn’t sat too far away from the counter, so she could hear very clearly what they were talking about.

 

“Yea, sorry I’m a little short. But seeing as you’ve already made those 12 cups, why don’t I just take them off your hands instead of you having to throw them away? :)”

 

Taeyeon’s eyes widened at what Tiffany just said and she sprinted towards the counter, purse in hand.

 

“Joking! She’s joking haha! Sorry, what was the total?”

 

“£51.64”

 

“ooooookay haha” Taeyeon glared at the girl with the stupid eyesmile and took out her card, praying to all the Gods she had enough money on it.

 

“Sorry, your card has been declined.”

 

Taeyeon’s face dropped.

 

. . What the do I do.

 

Taeyeon stood fumbling in her purse, trying to find all the spare change and cash she had. She felt all eyes on her and the people in the line getting annoyed at the wait. Her stress levels were reaching maximum and she just wanted to dig a hole and die in it.

 

Sighing, she regretfully looked up at the cashier before bowing 90 degrees, “I’m very sorry. We do not have the money to pay for these drinks.”

 

Tiffany watched as Taeyeon hunched over with her head hung low and fingers twitching around her earphones. She felt sorry looking at the girl and decided it was time to end her suffering.

 

“Here’s her ID and phone number. We’ll be back to pay the bill tomorrow if that’s alright? Apologies, but we’re very antisocial so we don’t have any friends we can call right now to lend us some money and her mother is currently unavailable too.” Tiffany smiled at the cashier, hoping she would accept that offer and not call the cops.

 

The barista looked once over Taeyeon and sighed before accepting the deal, “Yes that’s fine. I’ll need you to come fill out some details first, though.”

 

Once the details were filled out, Taeyeon immediately put her earphones in, blasting up Linkin Park’s Given Up to full volume and slumped over to her seat. 

 

~ I don't know what to take

Thought I was focused, but I'm scared

I'm not prepared

I hyperventilate

Looking for help somehow, somewhere

And no one cares

I'm my own worst enemy…

 

I've given up

I'm sick of feeling

Is there nothing you can say?

Take this all away

I'm suffocating!

Tell me what the is wrong with me ~

 

“Tae?” Tiffany pulled out one earphone to get the girl’s attention. The small figure sat with arms crossed and a clenched jaw. Visibly pissed.

 

“I can’t believe you did that.” She scoffed, averting her eyes to stare out the window at a pair of cats looking like they were about to fight each other.

 

“I did it for a reason.” Tiffany nudged.

 

“I don’t care. That was out of line.”

 

“I’m sorry, but at least now you know how to deal with something like this if it ever happens in the future!” she tried to persuade the angry girl.

 

“I wanted to die. Everyone was staring at me, it was only a second before they started yelling at us to hurry up.”

 

“Tae that’s sooo not true. There were only two people waiting in line and they were both kids??” Tiffany gawked, finding it amusing how a university student, a scholarship winner, was afraid of a couple of kids half her size.

 

“Kids can be scary too! Once when I was a kid waiting in line to order, this other kid told me to hurry up before he pushed me forward and I headbutted the counter! The plastic charity box broke and I had a 2 pence stuck to my forehead!”

 

Tiffany threw her head back laughing at Taeyeon’s traumatic childhood.

 

“It’s not funny! I had Queen Elizabeth’s face on my forehead for two whole days after it happened!”

 

“Wow I’ve heard stories, but I didn’t think someone could love the queen that much,” the older woman shrieked with laugher, smacking the table and drawing attention to the two of them. This made Taeyeon start to get nervous again, but Tiffany saw this and forced herself to calm down, reaching for the worried girl’s hand.

 

“Tae, anxiety is just your brain coming up with fake news. People don’t actually think bad things about you. Seriously, no one gives two s about what you do – whether you stutter when you speak or turn up late at a meeting. No one’s perfect and you can’t please everyone. Nobody cares about what you do and I just need to prove that to you.” Tiffany rubbed Taeyeon’s knuckles before promptly standing up and adjusting her attire before heading over to the counter to fetch the drinks she’s left waiting for the past 6 minutes.

 

Carefully picking up the 8 drinks (one tray in each hand), she began walking back to their table. But three steps away, she abruptly stopped walking and turned her head to make sure she drew enough attention to herself and everyone was watching.

 

Taeyeon looked up from her phone and took out an earphone, “Tiffany? What’s wrong?”

 

The girl in question winked at Taeyeon before suddenly snapping her head back and falling flat on her arse, throwing the two trays in the air and allowing all 8 cups to rain down on her.

 

It was like a stop-motion scene. From the standing, to the wink and smile, to the falling backwards. It was…ing shocking.

 

“OH MY GOD TIFFANY ARE YOU OKAY?!!” The shorter girl shrieked and ran to her aid, quickly trying to lift her up off the ground, but the older girl refused.

 

“Yes Taeyeon, I am quite alright, thanks for asking.”

 

Taeyeon stood speechless and unsure of how to react. She just stared as Tiffany wiped some cappuccino from her hair before on her finger,

 

“mmhmm! Delicious! ;)” She held up a thumbs up at the barista who nervously chuckled and waved back.

 

Finally, after what felt like a millennium, Tiffany stood up and with the most composure as possible, walked to the bathroom with a puppy Taeyeon rushing behind.

 

 

 

“God Tiffany, what were you thinking??” Taeyeon exasperated, wetting the towel and dabbing it onto the other girl’s hair.

 

“I’m trying to show you how you can embarrass yourself in public and be okay with it. You did write that down, didn’t you?” Tiffany looked over her shoulder at the smaller girl with a look in her eyes that said ‘You best not say that was all for nothing or I will cutthroat you’.

 

“Yes… but this is not what I had in mind when you said you were going to help me get over my social anxiety. I thought we were just going to sit in my studio and you’d give me tips on how to talk to people.” She spoke.

 

“Understanding is good, but application is better.” Tiffany winked,

 

“You need to experience these awkward situations in real life and witness how to deal with them effectively.”

 

“Whatever. But don’t you dare do that with the other 4 drinks. I’m paying over £50 for them.” Taeyeon growled.

 

“Yea yea, doing it once already should be enough…but I’m glad.”

 

“Glad about what?”

 

“You screamed my name really loudly; everyone was looking at you when you rushed over to me and you didn’t care about what they thought.”

 

“Yea well, you’re my friend. Of course I care about your wellbeing,” Taeyeon shrugged but Tiffany swear she saw a hint of a blush.

 

 “I think this is all we can get out. Ugh I feel so sticky.” She grimaced, examining her hot chocolate-stained hair in the mirror.

 

“I’m sorry,” the younger girl said with a solemn look on her face.

 

“Aish, don’t be! It was my choice to spill these drinks on me.”

 

“Huh? I was talking to my debit card. It’s gonna hurt taking out £50 later.”

 

Tiffany smacked the oblivious girl’s shoulder, fixed her hair and strutted out of the bathroom, hand on her hip and with the confidence of Miss Universe.

 

Back at their table, Tiffany glanced again at the notebook and sat pondering for a few minutes before nodding assuredly to herself. Make Friends…shouldn’t be too hard. Making friends is easy!

 

“Tae, see that barista over there?”

 

Taeyeon looked up, still on the straw of her caramel Frappuccino. She turned back to the girl sat opposite and nodded.

 

“Ask for her number.”

 

Okay. In her defence, Tiffany should’ve known not to say something so outrageous so abruptly to someone with a load of social anxiety. So t-e-c-h-n-i-cally…it’s not Taeyeon’s fault that Tiffany is currently drenched in a mouthful of spat out caramel frappucchino.

 

“I-”

 

“Don’t.”

 

“But I-”

 

“Just please stop talking.”

 

With eyes still shut, the girl with Frappuccino dripping down her cheek silently grabbed a napkin and lightly dabbed her face dry. The guilty (but is she really guilty though?) girl sat with lips pursed, waiting for Tiffany to allow her to speak again.

 

“Barista. Number. Go. Make friends.”

 

“I-”

 

“Ah! Shh. No talking. Just go. Be confident. There’s no one in line right now so you don’t have to worry about anyone interrupting you.”

 

“How can I just go up and make friends with someone I don’t even know??” Taeyeon blurted out.

 

“Easy. Smile. Make conversation.” Tiffany made a ‘smile’ gesture with her hands.

 

“That’s difficult. I don’t know what to talk about.”

 

“Weather? Sports? News? What she did the other day? What she’s doing tonight..” Tiffany wiggled her brows.

 

“You want me to hit on the barista.” Taeyeon deadpanned.

 

“Yep! Flirting can sometimes require very few words…” She pulled out a hand mirror and fixed up her makeup.

 

“Explain.” Taeyeon leaned back in her seat with a huff, tired of this girl talking in binary.

 

“Watch.” She snapped the mirror closed and began her demonstration.