The weekend came and as promised Tiffany went over to Yuri’s house. She stood in front of the apartment complex and rang the bell. A woman answered the door. She was wearing what looked like medical scrubs.

“You must be Tiffany,” the woman said and smiled. Tiffany nodded her head. “Come in. Yuri’s waiting in her bedroom.” Tiffany nodded again and followed the older woman inside. “I’m glad you came over to visit my daughter. It’s been so long since she’s had anyone over. I was beginning to worry about that girl.”

“Really,” asked Tiffany surprised. She thought to herself that Yuri was actually telling the truth. She had all the popularity in the world but it didn’t matter because in the end she was still by herself. Tiffany never minded the isolation from people, she welcomed it. However, something inside her felt somber to think that happened to a girl like Yuri. It was quite unfortunate.

“Yes, but that doesn’t matter now you are here,” answered Yuri’s mom. She reached Yuri’s door and knocked. “Yuri, you have a visitor!” Fumbling could be heard behind the door. Yuri’s mom chuckled. “I’ll leave you two be. I need to get ready for the night shift. Have fun.”  She smiled once again and left Tiffany at the door.

Yuri opened the door after picking up the clothes she tripped over. “Hey! You made it,” Yuri exclaimed.

“I told you that I would come. I try not to break my schedules,” Tiffany said.

“Come in, have a seat,” Yuri said as she ushered Tiffany inside.

Shock was an understatement as Tiffany looked at Yuri’s room. It was completely covered pink. On Yuri’s bed there was a Mickey Mouse doll, a puppy plushie, and if she wasn’t mistaken an angry bird. This was a striking contrast to the Yuri that she perceived at school. Tiffany sat on the bed and took a second to compose herself.  “I never would have expected you to…be…so…so” Tiffany trialed.

“So girly,” Yuri finished. Tiffany nodded. “Well, by nature I am actually quite a gentle person. I like cute things, puppies, and cotton candy.”

“That’s so different from how you present yourself in school,” Tiffany said staring at Yuri.

“Well of course, you think people are going to pay attention to someone who likes those kinds of things,” Yuri asked.

Tiffany laughed and replied, “No. If it was me I wouldn’t have given you a second thought.”

“Yeah…,” Yuri said as she looked down. “That’s exactly why I don’t let people see this side of me…that is until you.”

“Why me,” Tiffany asked looking at Yuri.

“I told you before; you don’t treat me like the others do. You treat me like a person and not some special object. I really appreciate that,” Yuri said softly with a smile. “Here, let me take your bag. Make yourself at home.”

Yuri took Tiffany’s bag and brought it to her closet to put away. Tiffany got up and then looked at the various awards and medals Yuri got over the years. She was impressed by the many achievements that Yuri has accomplished over the years. It was like she was really good at everything. For a brief second it made Tiffany wish she had done something with her life, but the thought vanished instantly when she saw Yuri return.

“So…” Tiffany started nervously, “what do you want to do now?”

“How about we get some food from the kitchen? I got some frozen pizza we can eat,” Yuri suggested.

“That’s fine. Oh what did your mom mean when she said she had the late shift today,” asked Tiffany as she began to follow Yuri out of the room into the kitchen.

Yuri the oven so it would preheat and then went into the freezer. “Oh, my mom’s a nurse so she works 12 hour shifts. She has the night shift this weekend so she will leave in a few and be back in the morning, if you don’t mind it just being me and you tonight,” she said nonchalantly as she grabbed the pizza.

“N…n..no. It’s fine,” Tiffany said. For some reason she really began to get nervous. She never hung out with anyone outside of school or any other public settings besides her family. She didn’t know how she should act. While Yuri was preparing the pizza she stood there watching, occasionally talking back when Yuri would speak to her. She thought to herself, “How long can I keep this up. I never got like this when we are at school by ourselves. Why is it different now?” She heard the ding of the timer.

“Pizza’s ready. Please sit down at the table. I’ll bring it out for you,” Yuri said smiling.

The two sat at the table and ate their pizza making small talk. Yuri’s mom bid the two goodbye and they were all by themselves. Tiffany was becoming more self conscious as the minutes passed. Yuri started to take notice.

“Hey Fany…” Yuri said.

Looking up Tiffany responded, “Yes, what is it?”

“Are you okay being here,” asked Yuri.

“Yeah…I’m okay,” Tiffany said with a weak smile.

“You sure? You seem a bit…off,” Yuri said hesitantly.

“Oh no. I’m fine! Really,” exclaimed Tiffany as she enthusiastically ate a slice of pizza.

Yuri stared at her friend for a while and then sighed. She didn’t understand why Tiffany was getting so weird on her. She didn’t know if it was something she did to offend the girl or what. It made her sad to see that maybe this friendship won’t work out as she thought. They finished their pizza and Yuri cleared the dishes. She wanted to do something that would ease this tension up a bit.

“Okay, why don’t we play some video games now? I’ll go easy on you since you are a guest and all,” Yuri said with that cocky smile of hers.

Tiffany’s ears perked at the mention of games. “You better hope you don’t eat those words Yuri Kwon,” Tiffany said with her own voice of confidence.

“Bring it on,” Yuri exclaimed as she raced back to her room with Tiffany in tow.

“TAKE THAT YURI KWON! FLAWLESS VICTORY AND FATALITY,” Tiffany shouted and jumped up to do a victory dance.

“I can’t believe this! How the heck did you beat me this many times without getting hit once,” Yuri whined.

“That’s cause I got skills yo,” Tiffany said crossing her arms like in b-boy stance.

“Next time I’m gonna school you for sure,” Yuri said with a pout.

With an eye smile Tiffany said, “I’d like to see you try. Any day any time.”

Yuri smiled to herself. This was the first time that Tiffany was actually playful with her. She liked this new aura of confidence overflowing from Tiffany. The girl in front of her was shining and she felt herself wanting to be in that brightness even more. Maybe now was the time to see if they could get even closer.

 “It’s starting to get late. Did you want to watch the movie now,” Yuri asked.

“Yeah I need to settle myself after my awesome victories,” Tiffany taunted.

“Haha. Very funny. I know it’s old but did you want to watch the 5^th Element? I’m kind of in the mood for everything tonight,” Yuri suggested.

“That should be fine. That movie went pretty much every where as far as plot goes,” added Tiffany.

Yuri turned off her game system and took Tiffany’s hand to lead her to the living room. Tiffany blushed at the contact again. She couldn’t understand how Yuri could calmly take her hand and not think about it. She sat down on the couch very stiffly and she watched Yuri set up the movie. Yuri came back and lounged on the other end of the couch, one leg daggling over it while the other bent with her foot on the cushion propping up her arm.

Thirty minutes into the movie Yuri noticed that Tiffany was still stiff as a board. She reached over to Tiffany you jumped at the sudden contact. Yuri then pulled Tiffany towards her until the girl was settled in between her legs in front of her. Tiffany was still stiff sitting straight up in front of her.

Tiffany thought to herself, “What is she doing? Why is it she always has to get so touchy with me? It makes me really nervous. I don’t know what to do…”

Yuri then pulled back Tiffany’s shoulders so that the girl was now fully leaning her back on Yuri. “Relax,” she said as she began to Tiffany’s hair with her propped arm. Yuri went back to watching the movie while continuing to calm Tiffany. Another 15 minutes passed and Yuri could finally feel Tiffany calming down. She wrapped her free arm around Tiffany’s waist to hold her.

Tiffany once again was startled by Yuri’s actions. She’d never been in a situation like this before. Even though she was nervous, if felt nice at the same time. She felt wanted. It was as if nothing else mattered and that the two of them could just be themselves. This was something that Tiffany wanted to do for Yuri. She wanted Yuri to not have to consistently hide herself. It wasn’t fair to Yuri at all. So Tiffany decided not to be afraid and help fulfill Yuri of her silent needs. Releasing a breath, Tiffany snuggled into Yuri a little and placed her hand on top of Yuri’s and continued to watch the movie. Behind Tiffany, Yuri had the biggest smile on her face as she realized that Tiffany finally accepted her attention after all these months.