“Jessica?”

The woman inside the house continued screaming, and it made Tiffany become more afraid and uncomfortable than her curiosity with whom the house belonged to. And because the commotion in the house made her unexplainably made her heart beat quickly, Tiffany decided to leave.

It was very dark outside, and it was as cold as winter. In these streets, the poor girl was wearing clothes that had no ability of protecting her from the harsh and unkind night. But through these unforgiving conditions, Tiffany continued walking towards nowhere, following where her feet leads her to.

Tiffany used the faint moonlight to continue staring at the picture frame she still had in her hands. Her eyes were fixed intently on the little girl in the picture who seemed like someone she had encountered before. This familiar face brought even more confusion to her already complicated existence, and it only added to the physical exhaustion that she was already experiencing.

Finally, after walking a thousand, pointless, random steps, Tiffany’s legs started to grow weary once more. She started walking with a slower pace, a very slow one at that, and she started to hug her shoulders wanting to stop her body from shivering. Her lips trembled and her whole body yearned for warmth in the midst of the cold, cold night.

“J-j-j-jess-j-essic-c-c-c-a,” began to stutter. “I-I-I-I need you.”

The girl’s name was all she could utter as her body, as well as her heart, desired for warmth. As Tiffany took a few more steps, her eyes started to dim and her eyelids started to shut.

Tiffany’s hands finally lost strength and she dropped the frame that she was previously holding. Then, her whole body came after, falling to the cold, hard ground.

After all the emotional and physical abuse that she had undergone, she, once again, was unable to cope. Her body gave up on her again, but now, she was all alone in an unfamiliar place.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“I’m here again,” Jessica muttered, walking by the shores of the place she had now been familiar with. “I nearly forgot about her,” she continued, suddenly remembering Tiffany’s situation.

Jessica sighed as she pulled back her hair from her face.

“Tiffany!” Jessica screamed out once again, for the thousandth time. “It’s Jessica! I’m here!”

The scene had become something routinely. The two girls, Jessica and Tiffany, had been in this situation quite a couple of times before; being separated, meeting each other, getting separated once more, and now, with one looking for the other.

“Ahhh!” Jessica screamed, frustrated. “I’m tired of this! What did I ever do to deserve this?!”

Jessica screamed, shouted, and released all of her anger and frustration on the sand beneath her feet, kicking the tiny little grains of sand pointlessly.

Then, once again, she sits down on the soft earth and burst in tears.

The brief time of peace she had been awarded back in reality ended once more as all the problems she was currently encountering bothered her once more.

“What do I have to do to bring everything back to the way it was?!” Jessica asked out loud, screaming out to the heavens.

Suddenly, the thickets that separated the beach from the forest shook violently.

Apparently, someone heard Jessica’s screams, but unfortunately for her, it wasn’t who she expected it to be.

“She’s gone,” a voice from behind the bushes yelled out. “Don’t waste your time looking.”

Jessica heard the voice, and she turned her head to where it came from.

“Where are you?!” Jessica yelled back as she got back on her feet. “Show yourself!”

“If I were you, I’d forget about her,” the voice continued to utter.

Jessica walked closer to where the voice was coming from, continuing to scream and threaten.

“Show yourself!” Jessica ordered once more. “Who are you?!”

“You probably don’t know me right now,” the voice said, laughing. “But your girlfriend probably does.”

At this speech, Jessica’s eyes widened, realizing who the girl was.

“Show yourself!” Jessica yelled out again. “Once I see you, I’m going to kill you!”

“You’ve taken everything away from me,” the voice continued to say, not intimidated by Jessica’s threats. “And now, I’ve taken her from you."

After hearing this, Jessica froze. Her eyes widened. Her shoulders turned stiff.

“Wh-what are you talking about?” Jessica stuttered.

“You might’ve forgotten already, but I still remember everything clearly,” the girl answered.

Then, finally, the person who owned the voice stepped out of the thick shrubbery which concealed her from sight.

Although there was only the moonlight to illuminate the dark night, Jessica was able to make out a tall, slender figure that belonged to what seemed like a girl that was slightly older than she was. All she could see was a silhouette, but the thought of seeing the person who was causing a big part of all her troubles sent a shiver down her spine.

“You…” Jessica mindlessly uttered. “You’ve been causing all this?”

“It’s not right to say I caused all of this,” the girl answered. “But anything related to the girl you’re with? It’s all me,” the girl finished saying, grinning at the thought of what she had already accomplished.

With this being said, Jessica’s expression changed in a sudden. She clenched her fists and bit down on her lower lip.

Then, she took heavy steps towards the girl, not uttering a single word.

After stopping a few inches in front of the other girl, Jessica stared intently at the only thing the moon can shed light on the girl’s face: her eyes.

Jessica stared at the bright, crystal eyes of the other girl. They were staring right through her. They were gentle, but they looked at her, tough and unafraid.

“I may not know who you are,” Jessica started to speak. “But I’m not letting you get away with what you did to me, and what you did to Tiffany.”

“And what exactly are you going to do to?” The girl replied with a mocking tone.

Jessica unfolded her fists as she stepped closer to the other girl. Then, without warning, she swung her arm in the air, and her palm loudly hit the cheek of the girl.

As a result, the girl fell to the ground as she grabbed her face in pain. And with anger still lingering in her heart, Jessica wasn’t finished. She knelt down over the girl and started to swing her arms again, while the other girl tried to block the violent blows of Jessica.

“You think I’m just going to let you do all those things to me? I’m going to let you pay for this!” Jessica screamed out. “What did I ever do to you?!”

“You took everything from me!” The girl retaliated as she gathered her strength to push Jessica off of her. “And now I’m miserable and alone because of you!”

Within a few seconds, Jessica was now in the short end of the stick. The girl was now on top of her, aiming her hands towards the face of Jessica.

“I spent my whole life in loneliness because of you!” The girl screamed out in anger, losing her temper. “And now I’m going to break your face!”

The girl clenched her fist and raised it up in the air. Then, as she screamed, she aimed it towards Jessica.

Jessica found herself in jeopardy as her hands suddenly froze, her face vulnerable to the fists of the other girl. All she could do was close her eyes and brace herself for the pain.

“This is for all you’ve done to me!”

The girl threw her punch as hard as she could, but instead of landing on the fragile face of Jessica, her fist came in contact with the soft grains of sand on the ground.

She looked below her, and Jessica was gone.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Jessica! We’re late for school!”

“Ahhhhh!” Jessica screamed out loud.

Startled by the loud scream, Yuri fell off the bed where Jessica had slept.

Jessica bolted up and quickly opened her eyes. Then, her hands felt her face, afraid of what beating she could’ve received in dreamland.

“Where am I?” Jessica asked.

“You’re in your room,” Yuri answered as she climbed back up the bed.

“Weren’t we downstairs?”

“Well, you fell asleep and I brought you up here,” Yuri replied.

“You carried me?”

“It wasn’t easy, but yes. I did.”

“Y-You slept beside me?”

“No silly!” Yuri screamed back defensively. “I slept on the floor.”

“Oh. I see.”

“Wait,” Yuri started as her fingers approached Jessica’s lips. “What’s that on your face?”

But before Yuri’s hand touched her lips, Jessica jumped off the bed and checked in the mirror herself.

“Are these… from my dream?” Jessica thought.

Jessica felt the deep cut on her lip and she also noticed that her face had turned reddish as she examined herself in front of the mirror.

“And why is your face so red?” Yuri asked.

“Oh,” Jessica whispered as she thought of an excuse. “I’m a really… I sleepwalk sometimes.”

“Really? You do?” Yuri asked once more.

“Yes,” Jessica hesitantly answered. “And it’s really severe.”

Jessica walked back to the bed and sat beside Yuri.

“So, is that how you got… that?” Yuri said as she pointed to the marks and cuts on Jessica’s face.

“Yes,” Jessica answered again, laughing on the inside at the silly lies she had made up. “You might not have noticed it, but sometimes, when I sleepwalk, I even go downstairs.”

“So, you open the door when you sleepwalk? And you’re able to go down the stairs without seeing anything?”

“That’s the problem,” Jessica began as she gathered her made-up thoughts. “I fall down when I go down the stairs.”

“Are you serious?!” Yuri exclaimed in disbelief. “You poor little thing! Don’t you get hurt when you do?”

“Well, this is the worst that could happen,” Jessica answered, referring to her now imperfect face.

“But I’m curious about one thing though,” Yuri spoke. “How do you remember everything that happens when you sleepwalk?”

“Oh. That,” Jessica uttered, taken aback at the unexpected question. “You know… I…”

Jessica stuttered as she tried to think of an alibi, completely avoiding the other girl’s gaze.

“Girls! Breakfast is ready! You’re going to be late for school!” A voice from downstairs cried out.

For Jessica, the voice belonged to God as it saved her from revealing the truth about what had been happening to her and her dreams recently.

“Yes mom!” Jessica immediately answered back.

Jessica went over to her desk again and combed her hair quickly and headed to the bedroom door.

“Let’s go,” Jessica ushered.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Hmmm… what’s that?” Yuri asked as her nose picked up a wonderful smell. “It smells so good!”

The two girls stepped of the last steps of the staircase and immediately seated themselves at the table which had already been set.

“What are we having today, mom?” Jessica asked.

“We’re having waffles today,” her mom answered as she placed the last piece of waffle on an already filled plate.

Jessica’s mom brought the waffles to the table and seated herself across Jessica.

After the plate was placed on the table, Yuri took her fork and stabbed a waffle with it right away.

“Let’s pray first,” Mrs. Jung requested.

Jessica giggled at Yuri’s embarrassment as she tried to stop herself from laughing out loud.

The three girls prayed the prayer before meals and each of them took a piece of waffle and placed it on their plates.

“So, Mrs. Jung,” Yuri started. “Has Jessica seen a doctor for her sleepwalking problems?”

“Sleepwalking problems?” Mrs. Jung exclaimed, not knowing where the question came from.

At this moment, Jessica gave her mother a just go with it look, not wanting to have any misunderstandings between Yuri and her.

“Oh! Her sleepwalking problems,” her mother quickly caught on. “She’s already receiving therapy for it. And don’t worry about it. It only happens once in a few nights.”

Jessica can see the amusement on her mother’s face as she tried to restrain herself from bursting out in laughter.

“Oh. I see,” Yuri commented. “I hope she’ll get better.”

After devouring breakfast in mere minutes, the two girls headed back upstairs to Jessica’s bedroom to get ready for school.

Yuri sat on the Jessica’s bed as its owner looks for something to wear and for something her friend can wear.

Jessica tossed out a couple of clothes from her closet as they landed on the floor in front of Yuri’s feet. The girl picked up a pair of denim shorts and a loose, grey blouse as she examined its quality.

“Will that be okay for you?” Jessica asked as she picked out clothes from herself.

Yuri took some time to think and Jessica was able to find clothes for herself as she headed for the bathroom door.

“Well,” Yuri began. “Don’t you expect me to wear underwear?”

“Oh yeah. Sorry about that,” Jessica apologized as she went back to her closet.

Jessica opened a drawer from the closet and picked out a set of underwear.

“What’s,” Jessica hesitated. “Your size?”

“My size?” Yuri repeated, looking down at her chest. “Oh. My size.”

Then, Yuri turned her gaze towards Jessica’s face, then down to her upper body. She fixed her eyes on a certain part for a few seconds without Jessica realizing it.

“I think you have a bigger size,” Yuri said confidently, smiling.

“Oh,” Jessica said, embarrassed. “What do we do?”

“I can last the day without them,” Yuri answered.

After Yuri said those words, Jessica’s face turned red and she quickly went inside the bathroom to avoid any more awkwardness.

Jessica wiped the sweat that formed on her forehead and then took of her top afterwards. Then, she looked at the bathroom mirror to examine the cuts and bruises on her face. After checking, she sees that her face wasn’t red anymore, although the cut on her lip was still there.

Jessica turned her head away from the mirror, but something made her look back.

She turned her head back to her reflection, slowly, and then there they were.

 

Those crystal eyes.