(Krystal’s POV)

I was beginning to… slowly… accept the fact that my feelings will never be reciprocated. I’ve come to terms with the circumstances; she is my sister, we are blood, this feeling is wrong, we can never be together, it was impossible. I’ve tried avoiding it and suppressing it but it hasn’t been successful. Now I understood that the only thing to do was to let it be and let time heal my wounds, and hopefully I will be able to get over it eventually.

As I slowly slipped back into my old routine, everything else started to fall back into place. That is all except Jessie. Since the weekend, she’s been behaving very oddly. It was subtle but I could tell something was off. She was hiding something from me. I didn’t understand it; why is it that when I decide to let things go back to normal, she starts acting weird… I just can’t win, can I?

“Kryssie, I’m heading out first. I’m sorry. You’re going to have to go to school on your own!” she yelled while I was still getting ready in my room.

“Wait, Jessie! You’re not-“ I ran out of my room just to see the front door close.

What the hell was the about? I can’t believe she’s making me take the bus! Ugh!

---

(Jessica’s POV)

Since the weekend, something weird was happening to me… I don’t know why but I can’t seem to be myself around Kryssie. It was weird because she had stopped all her silly attempts to avoid me or to hurt me. In fact, it was as if she was back to the old Kryssie.

Is she over me… already? That was fast…! I guess it was just a silly little crush…

Isn’t that what you wanted, Jessica? For things to go back to normal? Aren’t you happy that your baby sister doesn’t have to hurt anymore?

Even so, every time she tried to be affectionate with me, I was afraid of returning that affection.

Am I leading her on? I don’t want to give her the wrong idea…

So now, I’ve found myself doing the avoiding… Not all the time, just… whenever I thought it wasn’t suspicious. I just wanted to help her move on.

“Jess? Did you hear what I said?!” Tiff’s voice pulled me back to reality.

“Hmmm? What?” I had totally zoned out in my thoughts.

“What’s the matter with you, Jess? You’ve been out of it the pass couple of days,” she said.

“I’m sorry. I just had some stuff on my mind,” I told her.

“Care to share it…?”

I started thinking about Kryssie again. “Do you think it’s difficult to like someone who can’t like you back and you have to see them all the time?”

---

(Tiffany’s POV)

Wait… What?! Is Jess talking about matters of the heart?! This is a BIG deal!

“Uhm… It’s absolutely agonizing!” I replied as I thought about how I felt about her.

“But do you think it’s more difficult than if you knew someone liked you but you can’t like them back and you care about them but you don’t want them to get the wrong idea…?”

Ohmigod! She’s really talking about matters of the heart… This is quite a complicated question…

“Okay, first off… You CAN’T like them back or you DON’T like them back?”

“What’s the difference? It’s all the same isn’t it…?

“Uhm… no! There’s no such thing as CAN’T like someone back if you actually DO…”

“But what if there are circumstances that prevent you…?”

“If you like someone, that’s all there is… Circumstances are just circumstances… you shouldn’t let them get in the way… If you really love someone, you’ll give up everything for them… At least that’s what I believe.”

“But let’s say that you can’t get over the circumstance…”

Her questions were very complicated. I don’t even know what’s going on anymore…

“I don’t think one is more difficult than the other… When it comes to love… nothing is that simple or black and white.”

She let out a huge sigh.

I was really curious about what she was talking about or what exactly it was that brought on this sudden side of her.

Is she in love? Wait…! Does she know that I like her? Was she talking about me? Someone who likes her… and she sees all the time? Isn’t that me? She can’t like me back? Why? Is it because we’re friends?

“Jess… I-“ I started when I was interrupted by a phone call for work. I really wanted to dig deeper but I was at work so work came first.

After that moment, she didn’t let on anymore about what she was feeling. I tried to press her for more information but she wouldn’t talk about it anymore. She just brushed it all off.

Just when I thought she was opening up, she shut me out again.

I was desperate. There’s only one person to turn to for help…

“Krystal, it’s Tiffany…” I called her.

“Oh, unni?! How are you? What’s up?” she answered the call in surprise.

“Sorry for calling out of the blue… I wanted to talk to you about something…”

“Sure, it’s not a problem. What’s going on?”

“I think it’s better to talk face to face. Can you meet me after school?”

“Uhm… sure… Is Jessie coming?”

“About that… no… and if you can not tell her you are meeting me, that would be ideal.”

“Uhm… okay… Where should I meet you?”

“I’ll come pick you up. What time are you done?”

“About 6.”

“Okay. I’ll see you then.”

“Okay. Bye, unni.”

---

(Krystal’s POV)

Is it just me or is everyone being weird today? What was that weird phone call about? Why doesn’t she want Jessie to know that I’m meeting her? What is she trying to keep from Jessie?

After I was done with school, I headed for the entrance to wait for Tiffany unni but when I got to the entrance, she was already there waiting for me.

“Hey Krystal! Get in…” she called from inside her car.

Why does this feel like a kidnapping?

I got into the car anyway… after all it was her and I’ve known her for a long time…

“What’s with all the secrecy, unni? Where are we going?” I asked.

“Shall we grab dinner? Where do you want to go?”

Well… since she asked…

“Unni… Let’s go for barbecue!”

“Whatever you want Krystal… You got it.”

Might as well take advantage of this…

“So unni, what did you want to talk about?” I asked as I stuffed my face with the delicious grilled beef.

Mmmm… I love beef!

“Have you noticed that your sister has been behaving a little odd?” she asked.

“Yeah, I guess a little…” I wasn’t really paying attention. I was more interested in curbing my hunger.

“Do you know what it’s about?”

“Not really… It could be anything… I was wondering myself…”

“I see…”

“Unni, why aren’t you eating? Did you ask me here just to talk about Jessie’s odd behavior? She’s like that from time to time…”

“Krystal… I need your help.”

Her serious tone caught my attention.

“What’s wrong, unni? I’ll definitely help if I can…”

She was like a sister to me. Whatever she needed, I would do my best to help.

“You’ve known me for a long time, right, Krystal? So you know what kind of person I am… So I hope you won’t be angry for what I am about to say…”

“Of course, unni! What is it?”

“I like your sister.”

WHAT?!

I started choking and coughing.

She handed me a glass of water and I took it to relieve the shock.

“Sorry… you what?!”

“I like Jess. I’ve liked her for awhile now…”

Ohmigod! How have I not noticed this? Actually, now that I think about it… it kind of made sense. It was quite obvious really. I can’t believe I hadn’t noticed it before and it was right under my nose.

“I don’t understand, unni… Why are you telling me?”

“I know this is crazy but… I think she might like me back. I don’t know for sure…”

“Uhm… how do you know?”

Jessie likes Tiffany unni? Is it possible?

Just hearing that made my heart ache.

“It’s hard to explain… she kind of opened up to me for a moment but then she closed up again… Krystal… I need your help!”

Please don’t ask me to help you get Jessie… Please don’t ask me to help you get Jessie… Please don’t ask me to help you get Jessie…

“I need you to help me win over your sister’s heart… If anyone can do it, you can…” she finished.

I didn’t know how to respond. What am I supposed to say? Does she really expect me to help her get together with the person I love most. Even if I didn’t love Jessie… was she expecting me to fix her up with my own sister? But then again… I liked Tiffany unni as a person. She was always really nice to me and she was a kind hearted person in general. She and Jessie got along great too since they first met. I really had no good reason not to help her.

“Please, Krystal… I know it’s totally weird and creepy for me to ask you for help but you know the way your sister is… she doesn’t open up to anyone when it comes to her feelings…”

It’s true… She knew Jessie as well as I did…

I took a moment to think about what she really wanted me to do. I wanted to be selfish and keep Jessie to myself, but I had already decided to let her go, so it was wrong for me to do so. And if what Tiffany unni said was true… Jessie might like her back… then I would want her to be happy.

“So…?” she asked with a mix of desperation and hope in her eyes.

“I guess… I’ll try…” I said reluctantly. I took every ounce of strength for me to do the right thing even if it was breaking my heart into pieces…

 

 

 

 

 

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