“Jessi!”

“Tiffany?” Jessica screamed out the girl’s name as she ran towards her. “Are you okay?”

“Okay?” Tiffany asked as she removed Jessica from her and looked her in the eyes. “What do you mean okay?”

“Well, that thing that was behind the bushes,” Jessica started. “It seemed like something that would hurt you, and… I… left you at that exact time when it was about to come out.”

“Oh. That’s what you meant,” Tiffany replied as she sighed with relief. “That was nothing. It was just some girl.”

“A girl?” Jessica muttered at the strange occurrence. “Why would another girl be in my dream? And why would a random girl be in a deserted island? Where is she?”

“The girl? She’s swimming somewhere along the shorelines. Why?”

“Well, I’ll have time to meet her later. Do you want to go find other food in the forest?”

“Oh. We already have.”

“We?”

“Yes. The girl and I went in the forest already.”

“You spent time together?”

“Yes. And we’re such good friends now.”

“You… have a new friend? You made one in that short span of time?”

“Well… she was quite friendly.”

Jessica was smiling when she hugged Tiffany, but that smile slowly turned upside down. There was a hint of jealousy in the frown that was manipulating on her face. She couldn’t believe that someone who was in her world, who she expected to be with her alone, is now making friends with someone else.

“What’s wrong?” Tiffany asked Jessica, concerned at the sad expression on her lover’s face.

“Nothing… e… everything’s fine,” Jessica answered as she forced a smile.

“Then, do you want to go exploring?” Tiffany suggested.

“Yeah… sure… whatever,” Jessica agreed as she failed to maintain her smile.

Tiffany can’t help but notice that something was bothering Jessica. It made her feel the same way. It bothered her that something was causing inconvenience to Jessica. She grimaced for a few seconds, but she forced herself to smile for the other girl’s sake.

“Let’s go then!” Tiffany yelled out as she took Jessica’s hand and headed into the forest.

Different from the previous time the two went into the island’s forests, Tiffany lead Jessica as they navigated through the thick plant life that the dense forest supports. Along the way, Tiffany removed an axe from a tree trunk which was stuck on it. It took much effort for Tiffany to do so, especially since Jessica was not in her usual self and her usual mood. Tiffany slashed through the bushes and leaves with the surprisingly light tool. As they went deeper in the forest, the plant and animal life became more diverse and varied as compared to the dull greens of the forest which were near the shore. There were flowers with assorted colors; from bright red ones to dark blue ones. There were numerous trees and all of them were extremely tall. There were birds that sung beautiful tunes, birds that displayed beautiful colors, and birds that were just marvelous. There were also small creatures like lizards and bugs which crawled on the huge rocks, the tall trees, and the rich soil. Usually, when Tiffany’s eyes spot something like these, she would shriek and run away as far as possible from it. But as she held Jessica’s hand, she stayed firm and her feet didn’t try to flee. With Jessica beside her, she couldn’t help but admire the beauty of the things in the forest and when she looks at the other girl, she feels the same.

“Should we stay here and rest for a bit?” Tiffany asked as she wipes the sweat on her forehead with her forearm.

“Hm? Um. Yeah. Sure,” Jessica replied bluntly as she let go of Tiffany’s hand and sat down on a tree stump which was in front of her.

The girl was obviously no in her right state of mind. As she sat down, was slightly open and her eyes were staring deeply into oblivion. A lot of things had happened to her recently, especially these past few hours. A girl who carved an unfavorable past in her mind was back, and she was forced to spend time with her. In her dreams, she was losing control over the events and was losing power over what she wanted to happen. A girl she loved more than herself, someone she wanted to only be with her was starting to make a new friend. And a girl, her one true friend by the name of Taeyeon, was starting to hate her for such simple actions. All these reasons messed with her mind and she couldn’t control what she wanted to think of anymore. Memories and thoughts just started piling up in her head and she couldn’t help but reminisce these.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It was ten in the morning, usually the time when Jessica wakes up. Surprisingly, Jessica wasn’t tardy that particular day. It was already the time of the year when the students started to get to know each other. Yet, Jessica hasn’t made a single friend. Since she transferred schools, she had never tried to socialize with other people. It was probably because no one wanted to socialize with her either. The girl brought this icy-cold aura every time someone tried to look at her or approach her. Thus, seventeen year-old girl was all alone in the harsh community known as high school life. It was the third week of the school year and Jessica was still sitting at the back row of the classroom. No one had dared to sit beside her until a new student arrived.

“Class, before we continue on with our lesson, let me introduce to you a new student,” the teacher tells the classroom. “Come in,” the teacher motioned to the student who was standing at the doorway.

Jessica never usually cared for these kinds of announcements, but something made her look at the girl who was standing in front of the room.

“Class, this is Taeyeon Kim, a new student. She will be your classmate until the end of the year. Would you like to say anything else, Miss Kim?”
“I… hope you take care of me well, at least until I get used to the school. It would be also helpful if you could show me around the school and I hope we make good friends,” the girl told the class as she bowed as a sign of gratitude and respect.

“Okay Miss Kim. Please take a seat. Anywhere would be fine.”

Jessica was still staring at the girl at this point. It seems as if staring intently at people and objects was her pastime. Well, there was a reason for her to stare at this girl. She had bright round eyes which brought a gleeful feeling to anyone who looks into them. Her brown hair was short, which brought more cuteness since she was already quite short in height. Her skin tone was white, literally like snow. It seemed that if she leaned on a white wall, no one would notice her there. Her smile brought of a dorky feeling, but it was also cute. All in all, Jessica thought that she was cute and she concluded that the girl was very friendly. She wasn’t girlfriend material for her, but she thought that the girl would make a good friend. Then, unexpectedly, the girl started heading for Jessica’s row. Jessica’s eyes widened in shock and she was taken aback when the new student sat beside her. She looked at the girl in a weird manner, thinking that it was strange for someone to sit beside her.

“Hi, I’m Taeyeon!” The girl told Jessica as she offered her hand.

“H… Hi… Jessica here,” Jessica replied as she reluctantly shook the girl’s hand.

“I hope we can be friends.”

“I hope so too.”

Finally, after some time, Jessica had made a new friend. The two girls spent the rest of the day together. During recess, Jessica toured Taeyeon around the school, which was quite an easy task since the school wasn’t quite as big as normal schools. They chatted during breaks and helped each other during lessons. Taeyeon was quite a good influence since Jessica actually took down notes for her other class, which was a first for her. Then, finally, the bell signaling the end of school sounded. Everyone rushed out of their classrooms and immediately headed to their respective homes. Jessica and Taeyeon on the other hand, stayed behind. They sat at a bench outside the school and talked for a few more minutes.

“I really appreciate that you helped me on my first day,” Taeyeon told Jessica.

“No problem. I appreciate that you actually had the courage to be my friend,” Jessica answered.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, since I’ve been here, no one had ever wanted to become my friend.”

“Why is that?”

“I don’t know. I guess I’m not the approachable type.”

“Well, I think you’re very friendly,” Taeyeon replied as she comforted her new friend.

“Thanks.”

“Well, how long have you been here?”

“Two years.”

“You’ve been here for two years and you haven’t made a single friend?”

“Yeah. Sort of.”

“What school did you come from? Why’d you suddenly come here?”

“Well…” Jessica hesitated. “There are two reasons.”

“The first is?”

“My mom needed to transfer venues for her work and since no one would take care of me back to my old home, we decided that I’d come with her.”

“The second?”

“I’ve… never told this to anyone…” Jessica started. “But since you’re my only friend…”

“Yes. Go on.”

Suddenly, Jessica burst in tears. The memory she wanted to forget was abruptly brought back by someone no one would expect; her one friend.

“What’s the matter? Did I do anything wrong?” Taeyeon asked as she placed her hand on Jessica’s back.

“It… it’s just too embarrassing… and… painful…”

“Oh. I’m sorry I asked,” Taeyeon apologized. “You don’t have to tell me.”

“But… I want to tell you,” Jessica replied.

“No, you really don’t have to,” Taeyeon insisted. “I’m really sorry for bringing it up, whatever it was.”

“I…” Jessica tried to speak once more, but her tears just kept on coming.

“It’s okay, you can stop crying,” Taeyeon comforted as she hugged Jessica and placed the girl’s head on her shoulder. “It’s all in the past. Just… forget about it. It’s going to be okay.”

It was quite a marvelous scene: two girls who barely know each other, who met just a couple of hours ago, are now sitting on a lonely bench, under the slowly darkening skies, with one consoling the other who is in need of comfort. The only thing missing was something dramatic, rain, for example. And yes, after a few more seconds, it rained. Drop by drop, water fell from the sky onto the girls’ heads, onto the cold hard pavement. Then, it started to rain harder. The droplets became larger and in no time, the two girls were soaked.

“We better get you home,” Taeyeon offered Jessica.

“No, I don’t want to cause you any more trouble. I’m fine,” Jessica declined.

“It’s okay. I just live around the neighborhood so getting home won’t be a problem for me,” Taeyeon insisted. “Besides, it seems like you’re not carrying anything to protect yourself from the rain.”

“Well, do you?” Jessica asked as she wipes the tears and the raindrops off her face

“Of course!” Taeyeon answered as she took a small umbrella from her backpack and unraveled it. “Let’s go!”

“Taeyeon,” Jessica muttered as the two shared the umbrella. “Thank you.”

“No problem. It’s just an umbre–.”

“No,” Jessica interrupted. “Thank you for being here for me, for being my friend.”

Taeyeon didn’t say a word afterwards and just smiled at the other girl. Then, they started walking on the wet ground towards Jessica’s house. Soon enough, the silent stroll to Jessica’s shelter finally ended. Jessica was at finally at her house’s front gate and was already about to enter.

“Should I come with you to the front door?” Taeyeon offered.

“No thanks. You’ve done a lot for me already. I’ll just run.”

“So, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah. Goodbye,” Jessica bid goodbye as she entered the gate and the two finally part ways.

Jessica had already closed the gate behind her and Taeyeon had already turned around to go home when Jessica suddenly shouted.

“Taeyeon!” Jessica yelled out as she ran towards the gate.

“Huh?” Taeyeon wondered as she turned around.

Suddenly, the short-haired girl was met with an embrace. Jessica was hugging her again and, through the raindrops on her face, was tearing up.

“Th… thank you… Taeyeon,” Jessica uttered as she hugged the other girl tightly. “Th… thank you… I really needed you… at this point… in my life. Th… thank you for being here… for me…”

Once again, Taeyeon didn’t reply with words, but just hugged the girl back. And yet again, another sweet scene was beheld. Taeyeon let go of her umbrella and hugged the girl tightly. Jessica needed it, and Taeyeon knew that she needed it too. And at last, their day together ended that way.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“My one true friend,” Jessica thought to herself. “I never told her about Yuri and me, but she understood me. She comforted me when I needed it most.”

“What’s the matter?” Tiffany asked the girl as she sat down on the damp ground beside Jessica.

“Hm?” Jessica uttered as she looked at the other girl.

“Is there something wrong?” Tiffany repeated. “It really seems like something’s on your mind.”

“Oh. It’s nothing,” Jessica replied as she forced a smile once more. “I’m just tired.”

“Here.” Tiffany hands Jessica a towel which was in her pocket. “Wipe your sweat. You can’t be getting sick.”

“Thanks,” Jessica thanked as she looked at Tiffany and smiled; a heartfelt one this time.

“You need help?” Tiffany asked seeing that Jessica was having difficulty.

“Yeah. I could use a little bit,” Jessica answered. “Could you dab this on my back? I can’t reach it on my own.”

Tiffany smiled as she saw that Jessica’s mood was starting to liven up. Tiffany took the small towel from the other girl’s hands and she kneels down behind her. She lifts Jessica’s shirt up and places the towel on her back. Then, she slowly wipes the sweat off her skin. The thick piece of cloth absorbed quite a lot of perspiration from Jessica’s back, but the girl was still covered with sweat.

“I think it’s the shirt,” Tiffany told Jessica as she removed her hand and the towel from the girl’s back.

“What?”

“You’re sweating because of your clothes,” Tiffany repeated. “They’re too thick and it’s too hot.”

“Do you think so?”

“That’s why I changed clothes.”

“Oh yeah. I didn’t notice it at all,” Jessica muttered as she looked at Tiffany’s clothes. She was wearing very short cargo pants and was sporting a sleeveless, white top. “Where did you get them?”

“That girl I was talking about,” Tiffany started. “She had an extra set of comfortable clothes and she offered it to me.”

“You took it?!” Jessica yelled out in jealousy.

“What are you angry about? I couldn’t just stay in my ragged, torn, and wet clothes for the rest of the time you weren’t here.”

“You’re right… I’m sorry… I… I think the heat’s just messing with my mood.”

“Well, are you wearing anything else inside?”

“Nope. Just my underwear.”

“Can you… take your shirt off? For now?”

“What?” Jessica screamed as she shot up from her seat. “I can’t possibly…”

“What’s there to be embarrassed about? You’ve done this several times before. Besides, we’re both girls here. Come on. Take it off. At least until we head back to the shore. You’ll get sick if you keep on sweating like that.”

“Well… can you help me… take it off?” Jessica finally agreed after some hesitation.

“I… would be glad to,” Tiffany replied as she smiles at other girl.

Tiffany lets Jessica sit back down on the tree stump and she kneels down in front of the seated girl. Then, she grabs the ends of the girl’s shirt with her hands and started pulling upwards.

“Wait,” Jessica stopped Tiffany. “I can’t do this.”