Taeyeon’s POV

Days have passed since my encounter with Tiffany.

During school, I’d see her walking in the hallways dodging the massive influx of people trying to get to their class. Other times, I would see her in different classrooms silently eating lunch with herself. I rarely saw her eating in the commons with a group of people. I wondered if she had any friends.

I never missed the chance to have any type of interaction with her no matter how minuscule the moment was. It usually ranged from us exchanging friendly glances and gestures to normal greetings such as: “Hello Tiffany!" followed by “Hello Taeyeon!" as her reply. After that, we would go on our separate ways and continue the routine the next day.

A few more days rolled on by and the routine of our actions continued again. After she passed by, I hit my head in frustration. "How I wished we were a bit closer." I distressed. "Ugh, this girl…"

Trying to ward off my stress, I walked into my first period class, late as usual. My teacher ignored my tardiness and continued teaching her lesson plans on writing skillful essays and such.

I took my seat next to a petite-sized, lightly tan-skinned girl. She was wearing a frilly type, long-sleeved, creamed colored shirt, slim black pants, and black flats. She had gorgeous, long, light brown hair and a face of a cute teddy bear. In fact, this girl was the epitome of a teddy bear. The teddy bear-like girl turned her head to face me and gave me a cheesy, smile that could have gone on for miles. This smile comforted the emptiness I felt of my failed attempts to talk with Tiffany and strengthen our friendship. I questioned whether if I could be friends with this girl too.

While staring at her, the girl in front of me broke my trance with her surprisingly boisterous voice, “Hey! You look lost and in need of assistance!"

I looked at her in bewilderment. Did she have the ability to read minds or were her instincts this spot on? She stuck her index finger out and whipped it near my face. My eyes targeted her finger then they made their way back to the awkward gaze that we shared. This girl is strange… Very strange…

"Ha! I fooled you there didn’t I?" the girl cackled. I stared at her in confusion as she continued her laughing fit. As she slowly ceased her chuckling she commenced talking again. “Well, I’m sorry about that. Ah, let me properly introduce myself." She placed her hand out in anticipation for my own. “My name is Sunny. I didn’t mean to be so awkward." I firmly grasped her palm and shook her hand without avoiding eye contact. and eyes started to smile widely at my action, making the conception of this girl being “very strange" sink in.

"Well what’s your name?" Sunny asked as she loosened her grip.

"My name is Taeyeon." I smiled while massaging my hand. “Dang, you have a nice, firm handshake."

"You can say the same thing about yourself Taeyeon!" she replied happily.

I chuckled at the comment. “So what did you mean by ‘looking lost’ and ‘in need of assistance’?" I asked for clarification. Sunny scratched her head and pouted her lips. I could tell she was thinking. Then her eyebrows started to fur up, telling me that she was a bit a too engrossed in her thoughts. “It’s just a simple question." I said bluntly. She huffed at my comment and placed her hand on my shoulder. Shocked by her sudden action, I looked her apprehensively. “What are you doing?" I questioned her motives.

She laughed again and responded, “Look, I don’t even know what I mean half the time, but this time I do." I glared at her, frazzled by her speech, but I let her continue. “You seem stressed out. You know what you need?" She reached for my shoulders and vigorously shook me back and forth. “You need to relax!" She bellowed, causing attention to us.

I felt every muscle in my body tense up at her words and the situation she put us in. I sighed at the fact that I did need to relax.  She continued speaking again, ceasing my violent convulsions.

"I, Sunny, invite you, Taeyeon, to come to this awesome, amazing, super-cool party that will be happening tonight at…" She removed her hands from my shoulders then repeatedly bashed her hands on her thighs, imitating a drum roll. Then she out-stretched her hands and shouted, “TADA. The Water Front! Doesn’t that sound exciting?"

I contemplated her sudden request. After a few moments of weighing out my pros and cons of going to the event I smiled at Sunny and nodded my head. The teddy-bear girl smiled back and pulled me into her embrace. The hug was welcoming and warm. Surprisingly, this girl was extremely warm. She didn’t have a fever, but her body temperature was strangely high. I guess this is what hugging a bear feels like. I couldn't help but silently laugh. She pulled herself of my body and got up out of her seat. Puzzled by her actions, I asked her, “Why are you getting up?"

Sunny pointed to the clock and mouthed, “Three… Two… One… Ding." Her timing matched the bell perfectly as I heard it ring, indicating that class was over. As she was about to leave, she turned around and looked at me. I returned her gaze as she told me, “Party is at 6 o’clock. I hope to see you there." Sunny smiled as turned around and frolicked out of the classroom as I gathered my things.

"Strange kid." I giggled.

As I left the classroom I saw pretty brunette girl walk by. A smile started to form on my face as proudly said, “Hello Tiffany!" She turned around and reciprocated my smile and replied back with, “Hello Taeyeon!"

We both walked away and went to our next class. As I made my way through the school I wondered if Tiffany got invited. Seeing how our friendship is now, I shrugged the thought off and got myself ready in anticipation for the party.

---

"So, may I go to the party?"

I prayed that my mom would say yes, but I had an inkling that she was going to say no. I clasped my hands together wishing for her to say yes. “Taeyeon…" she commenced in a serious tone.

Noticing the change in her voice, I knew the answer was no. “Dang it…" I sighed to myself in disappointment. “I knew it."

I glumly looked the ground and then eyed my mom expecting to see an annoyed expression on her face. To my surprise, my mom smiled at me and said, “As long as you have a ride back, then you can go."

My jaw dropped at her answer. I jumped on her and pulled her into my tight embrace. My mother, laughing at my sudden childish movements said, “All right, all right. Taeyeon get off…"

I ignored her and covered her face in quick kisses. “Okay Taeyeon… Taeyeon… TAEYEON!"

In shock, I obeyed her orders and gave her my best puppy dog eyes. My mother reached for her temples and massaged them gently. “Do you need a ride there Taeyeon?" I nodded my head innocently and my mother complied with my request.

As we got into the car, I clenched my fist and gave a smirk to the success of my actions that got me to the party. "Hell yeah."

"What was that Taeyeon?" my mom raised an eyebrow at me.

I suddenly coughed and shouted, “I mean I love you mom."

My mother gave me her trademark smirk - I can see who I got it from now - as she started the car. “That’s right. You love me, because I’m the best."

---

"Taeyeon!" I heard my name being called from the distance.

"What the hell…" I sighed. “Who was that?" My head turned in all directions trying to find the source of the voice.

"Taeyeon!" The figure shouted again, this time the call was louder and more annoying than the first.

Before I could shift my body, I felt a pair of familiar hands grasp my shoulders. I panicked at the sudden contact, and in reflex I raised my hand to hit the intruder. The person detached themselves from my body and quickly tended to their minor injury.

"Ouch Taeyeon…" the person ached as they tried to soothe their face. “I’m guessing your hand shake isn’t the only thing that’s hard…"

My eyes widened, almost falling out of their sockets in realizing who I hit. “Sunny?" I said in shock.

"The one and only!" she laughed while massaging her head.  “Ow…"

I quickly walked over to her and gently pulled her into a hug. “I’m sorry", I apologized. “I didn’t mean to hit you… I thought you were a stranger when you grabbed me…"

The lightly-tanned girl wrapped her arms around me and huffed, “It’s okay. I shouldn’t have been so creepy."

We both pulled away from each other’s embrace and faced the beautiful horizon in front of us. The caramel sun radiated its arms across the entire beach as the rich, dark-colored ocean hugged the earth-like sand, welcoming all beach goers. The cool air traced up against my warm body, raising small bumps on my skin. "Ah, goosebumps." I smiled.

I scouted the beach a bit more, amazed at the amount of people that came to the party. “They all look like little ants from up here." I pointed out. Sunny tilted her head at me, indicating confusion. I outstretched my arm, not realizing that I hit someone in process.

"Ow…" the person chuckled. I retracted my hand and looked over to the stranger that I hit, ready with an apology. My brown eyes met a familiar pair of brown ones that stared into mine. To my surprise, the familiar figure smiled back and said, “Hello Taeyeon. Nice to see you here."

I returned the smile and responded, “It’s nice to see you here too Tiffany."

We stared at each other in a comfortable silence. Something about her look intrigued me so I browsed her face. Damp from the ocean’s wind, her long, dirty brown hair created beach waves that embraced her apricot-colored face. Her facial features were long and graceful, especially her nose. Looking at her face as a whole, there was a strong, royal-like presence. She smiled back at me with her eyes. Surprisingly, that eye smile softened her features making her look somewhat innocent. My eyes traced the rest of her body to see what she was wearing. I silently laughed at the fairly large pink blanket shielding herself from the wind. She's too cute.

I could hear someone laughing in the background, which snapped me out of my trance. That laughter belonged to none other than Sunny. “Hey", she interrupted, “are you guys going to continue your little staring contest or join the party?"

Tiffany looked at Sunny with skeptical eyes. “I think Tiffany’s a bit tired." I answered. Both girls turned to face me, one expression thanking me, the other confused at my response. I continued, “I’ll just hang out with Tiffany for a bit then head down to the party. Is that okay?" Sunny nodded her head as she walked down the sand covered hill and entered the mosh-pit of crazed teenagers.

As I watched Sunny safely insert herself into the mob, I heard Tiffany exaggerate a very long sigh as she reached to massage the temples of her forehead. “Wow, you are tired." I said.

She nodded while yawning, “Yeah, I’m not a huge party person."

"Then why did you come?" I asked before I noticed how rude it sounded.

She laughed at my question. “Out of respect I guess."

"I’m guessing Sunny invited you?" I probed another question, hoping to accomplish a full conversation with her.

"No." she answered bluntly. “They always have parties here at the waterfront. Anybody can come no matter who you are. My friend Nichkhun invited me though. He begged me actually to go with him. He said there would be some hot boys here for me to look at." She giggled to herself and continued on. “I know he’s trying to be a good friend. He took me here to relieve some stress and to get over my ex-boyfriend."

I raised an eyebrow at her sudden confession. “You had a boyfriend? Why did he break-up with you? Doesn’t he know what he’s giving up? You seem like such a great person." I said astonished at the fact that such a beautiful girl like her would have her heart broken by a stupid guy.

Tiffany weakly smiled at my comments, not breaking eye contact with me. I could see some type of pain emanating from her face. I had this painful feeling in my gut, like someone decided to send a hard punch to my stomach telling that I should avoid those questions next time. I hit my head in frustration. I knew with my luck, just when things are going great I mess it up somehow.

"Thank you." I heard Tiffany say which broke me out of my trance. My eyes shifted to hers and she flashed me her warm smile again. “Thanks Taeyeon." she said again.

A comfortable silence consumed us again as we sat down on the pavement watching the waves push and pull against the sand. The sound of the winds and waves drowned out the music from the party and the teenagers started to gather around a bundle of large sticks. “A bonfire." I pointed out to Tiffany. “Should we head down?"

Tiffany groaned. “Nah. It wouldn’t make a difference if we were there or not."

I agreed with her by shaking my head. Then an idea popped into my mind. “Instead of going to the bonfire, why don’t we take a walk on the waterfront?" I suggested.

Tiffany smiled at my suggestion. "Anywhere is better than here." she nodded as she reached for my hand. I smiled back and willingly grabbed it to help her off the pavement. “Thank you again," she said gratefully.

We stood next to each other quietly stretching our bodies to rid of all the knots in our muscles. Lost in relaxation, Tiffany tapped me on the shoulder and said innocently, “Are we going?"

"Yes!" I exclaimed as I captured her soft hand into my own. “Let’s go!"