"Hey, did you hear about the new girl?"

 
Surprised, Jennie nearly choked on her fries when Chaeyoung suddenly appeared beside her. It wasn't uncommon for her to come and sit with her at the cafeteria. Although, a lot of people wondered how a sweet girl like her became friend with the coldest person of the school. After all, Chaeyoung was a very social girl. In fact, Jennie could swear she knew every student’s darkest secrets with how much she was telling her each day. And so, she never understood why Chaeyoung would bother. It wasn't like she cared… or maybe perhaps that was why. Chaeyoung must know that Jennie would never betray her trust.

 
"What?"

 
Her tone was bored. She was kind enough to always listen to her. Pretending to enjoy it would be too much to ask.

 
"Apparently, she's deaf."

 
"Okay." Jennie said simply.

 
"Can you imagine? Not being able to hear anything. Poor girl."

 
"Not like she'd miss anything if she was born like this."

 
Chaeyoung glared at Jennie. The latter grimaced. What did she say, again, that was so rude? It was the truth, anyway. If a person was born deaf, they would never be able to understand what it would feel like to hear.

 
"Yeah I know that. But, not being able to listen to music… This is tragic!"

 
Jennie shivered. She didn't allow herself to entertain the idea. Music was essential for her. Just putting on earphones and abandoning herself to the sound…

 
"Ok. I get it."

 
In the corner of her eyes, Jennie saw Lisa approaching the table. Sighing, she got up.

 
"Anyway, I'm gonna catch some fresh air before class starts again. Catch you later."

 
At that exact moment, Lisa arrived with her trademark smile, planting a kiss on top of Chaeyoung's head. Jennie frowned at this gesture.

 
"Leaving so soon, Jen?"
 

"Don't call me Jen. And I already saw enough of you."

 
"But it's the first time that I see you, today."
 

"That's what I'm saying."

 
Meeting the disapproving eyes of Chaeyoung, Jennie shrugged. She couldn't help it. In her opinion, Lisa was dumb. She didn't want someone like her for Chaeyoung, one of the rare person in the school she gave a damn about. Even though, she could admit that Lisa was probably a very gentle soul, she just felt protective of Chaeyoung. Therefore, without waiting another minute, Jennie sprinted for the exit of the cafeteria. She didn’t want to say another thing that would fuel Chaeyoung’s disappointment towards her.

 
There was a spot, outside the school, that Jennie liked to go to. Very few people went there, because it was difficult to access. You’d need to jump across a very high fence. But it never stopped Jennie to hang out here. Also, as she was very athletic, it was a nice little workout to seek peace. Peace from other people, because Jennie was a solitary girl. Except from Chaeyoung, she didn’t have any “friends”. But even then, she only had affection for the redheaded girl because she had been forced to interact with her on a daily basis, as they were roommates. Of course a girl as stubborn and positive as Chaeyoung would grow on her somehow.

 
Jennie smiled a little at that thought. She still remembered how Chaeyoung had bothered her through all their first year at college. But now, she was glad that Chaeyoung had insisted to get along with her. Somehow, the girl had made a way into her heart. She was like the annoying sibling she never had… or the family she never had.

 
Putting out her earphones from her pocket, Jennie advanced towards the bench she knew was not far from where she was. However, she just took three steps before pausing. Someone was already there. A girl she had never seen before. It was strange. Jennie had a good memory and the school didn’t have that much students to begin with. She was sure she would have remembered someone like her, with bright purple hair. Taking one step closer to take a better look, Jennie gasped. The stranger was very beautiful and seemed to be taking a nap, as her eyes were both closed. Jennie felt her cheeks grow hot. What was she doing, creeping on another girl like this? Hastily, she retreated. She would listen to her music elsewhere.

 
//

“Finally! I swear, my head is about to explode.”

 
Rolling her eyes, Jennie tightened her grip on the straps of her bag, wanting to be out of here as soon as possible. Or better yet, be as far away as possible from Lisa.

 
“That’s because you’re stupid.”

 
Lisa simply laughed out loud, already used to Jennie’s snarky remarks.

 
“Come on, Jen. You gotta admit that Mr. Yang is boring as .”

 
“Don’t call me Jen…”

 
Gritting her teeth, Jennie had been waiting Lisa at the entrance of her class. It wasn’t like she wanted to, but the two of them shared the same passion for basketball and they had training every Tuesday and Friday.

 
“Be nice, Jen.”

 
And, of course, Chaeyoung always came to see the two of them.

 
“Don’t worry, babe. She doesn’t mean it. She loves me. She’s just a big tsundere at heart.”

 
(Tsundere, a Japanese term for a character in anime who is initially cold - and sometimes even hostile - before gradually showing a warmer, friendlier side over time.)

 
It was really aggravating how much Jennie sometimes wanted to slap Lisa in the face. The girl was just so dense; she didn’t even know what even Chaeyoung saw in her.

 
“Can we just go? We’re already late as it is.”

 
Lisa let out her signature big goofy smile.

 
“Awww, Jen. Afraid to loose your position of captain of the team?”

 
Jennie huffed. She wouldn’t take the bait and stay silent, even if she was itching to come back at her.

 
“Stop teasing her. She’s going to make it harder for you on the court, you know?”

 
Chaeyoung chuckled, taking Lisa’s hand in hers.

 
“Which side are you on, babe?”

 
“If we’re talking basketball, then, not yours I’m afraid.”
 

“What? Not fair!”

 
Jennie shook her head. Perhaps, if she was honest for once, Lisa wasn’t such a bad choice for Chaeyoung. The girl sure was whipped for the redheaded. But she’d rather die before admitting it out loud…

 
//

 
Training was harsher than usual. Ms. Lee, their coach, thought it would be a good idea to mix the boy’s team with them to spice up their routine, for a test. As a girl, keeping up with the much more physical training of the boys was very draining. But, Jennie swore she would endure it. She was captain of her team. She couldn’t show Ms. Lee that she had chose the wrong person. And so, even if her muscles were screaming at her to stop, even if her lungs were burning and began to taste like blood, Jennie still ran, jumped and threw the ball like her life depended on it.

 
After forty minutes of intense exercises, Ms. Lee finally allowed them to go drink some water and rest a little bit. On shaky legs, Jennie went to where she had left her bottle of water. Some of the girls of her team had given up after fifteen minutes and were in a group talking and laughing between them. Jennie and Lisa had been the only one to stay on the court until Ms. Lee called for a break.

 
Instead of joining the group, Jennie sat down on the floor, not too far but not too close from them. Even though the girls respected her for her skills in basketball and were polite with her, it didn’t mean that they were friends either. She drank water like she had been wandering aimlessly in a desert for hours. She truly was exhausted. With tired eyes, Jennie watched Lisa run towards the bleachers where Chaeyoung had been watching them. Being as sweaty as her, Jennie couldn’t stop herself from comparing Lisa to a messy dog running towards its master, tails wagging and all. She smiled a little bit at that thought. The girl was really an idiot.

 
“What is so funny?”

 
Jennie was disturbed by one of the boy. Kai was his name, she remembered.

 
“Nothing.” she curtly replied.

 
Apparently, Kai didn’t sense the underlying dismissal in her voice as he sat beside her.

 
“You’re really great. I mean, you did manage to score a lot of points.”

 
Jennie didn’t say anything. She was a little bit flattered, but she remained stoic. They stayed silent another minute, drinking water from their bottle.

 
“Hey, look! It’s the new girl.” one of the girl from the team said.
 

Jennie looked up. Indeed, Ms. Lee seemed to be in discussion with someone. She recognized her immediately. It was the purple haired girl she had stumbled upon, earlier that day.

 
“She is writing on a notebook. So it’s true, she is deaf.”
 

She didn’t know why she felt sudden anger rising in her. But the way her teammate talked about the new girl bothered Jennie, for some reason. There was hidden mockery in their tone.

 
“Do you think she’d want to join?”

 
“As if we would accept a deaf girl in our team. She’d probably be too much of a burden on the court.”

 
The group of girls giggled at that. Without thinking much, Jennie got up furiously, startling Kai. She went to her teammates, animosity clearly visible in her eyes.

 
“Is there a problem, captain?”

 
Nayeon. Jennie never really cared about her. She thought the girl was vain and arrogant, and so, she usually ignored her. But at this moment, Jennie couldn’t understand why she had this sudden urge to acknowledge her and her useless gossiping. It went down before she had the chance to even realize she had planned to do it in the first place. Her fist collided with Nayeon’s face with a resounding crack in the gymnasium.

 
“Hey, what is going on here?”

 
Ms. Lee hurried to the scene. Blood was coming from Nayeon’s nose. Jennie felt her heart pumping in her head. She was seeing red.

 
“You okay, Nayeon? Talking behind the back of someone who can’t hear wasn’t too hard on you, huh?”

 
Nayeon got up, enraged.

 
“Who the hell cares? I was only stating a fact!”

 
Jennie grimaced. She looked at Ms. Lee, knowing full well she’d probably receive an even worse punishment if she punched Nayeon a second time. And then, her eyes landed on the person right behind Ms. Lee. It was the new girl. The expression on her face showed confusion over what was happening.

 
“Jennie. You can’t go and hit your teammates like this.”

 
The voice of Ms. Lee was like a cold shower for the two girls.

 
“And Nayeon, you need to be respectful of others.”

 
The new girl didn’t seem to understand what was going on and she took one tissue from her bag and handed it to Nayeon. Jennie frowned. She didn’t want the new girl to think of her as the bad guy in this story. She watched as Nayeon took it with a forced smile and she refrained from letting out a groan. Great. Just ing great.

 
“Jennie, you will clean up the gym with me at the end of the training.”

 
With an eye roll, Jennie didn’t contest. It was no use, even if she felt like it wasn’t fair. Nayeon should, at least, be punished as well.

 
//

 
“You sure? I don’t mind waiting a little bit more.”

 
Jennie shook her head. Chaeyoung was really a nice friend, but the gymnasium was a five minutes walk from their dorm. She could manage.

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