Friday, February 8th

"Are you okay? You've been more quiet than usual." Ren asked Jessica as they arrived in the school's parking lot.

"I have?" She muttered. She was never very talkative in the car, but she hadn't noticed she could even talk less. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright. I don't mind, really. But, I think you got something on your mind?" He parked the car and took his seatbelt off to look at her properly.

"It's just, you're going to think it's stupid." She looked at her hands in her lap.

"Try me." He urged on. She sighed.

"This whole week, Nana and her friends ignored me. They basically pretended I didn't exist. Yesterday we were supposed to work in duos on this book review, the teacher paired me with Lizzy and she just begged the teacher to let her work as a trio with Nana and Raina. She made it seem like she had to work alone." She turned to Ren. "Worst part is, the teacher let her."

"You're great in English. I actually think it's better to work alone when you're good at something."

"That's not the point!"

"Then what is?" Ren snapped at her. She looked at him surprised.

"Look, Jess, I'm sorry. But, you need to stop being a wimp and stand up for yourself. You did it at the party, and with Jihoon, so you know you can. If they bother you and I'm around, yes, I'll help you. But, unless you yourself stick up for once, they're never going to stop getting to you." She sighed when he saw her hurt expression.

"I'll see you at lunch. Maybe you should think about what I said." Ren grabbed his bag and got out. He waited a while until Jessica got out and locked his car before walking inside, leaving her there. Jessica continued to repeat what he said throughout the morning. It dawned on her that she was indeed quite weak-minded. The bell for lunch rang and she got up to go to the cafeteria. She spent a while alone at her locker, not yet ready to face Ren after what he said. She was embarrassed and angry, because he was right. She knew she would snap at him if she went to meet him right away, which would only prove to him he was correct. She finally entered the cafeteria and looked over to the usual table where Ren and his friends would always sit. Her eyes widened and fell open at the sight. Nana wore her uniform like she was in a Britney Spears video and had completely leaned her body into Ren's. Despite Ren's hands being in his pockets and the bored, disinterested expression on his face, he made no effort to push her off or show her any sign that he didn't want her to do that. Jessica felt the anger burst throughout her body as she walked over.

"We both know that that little garbage bag and you aren't doing anything besides some lip-locking. I bet you must feel so frustrated to get some release. If you're with me, you can take it out on me any way you want to, whenever you want to." Ren chuckled at her. She tried to make her voice sound husky to be y, but he could only laugh at it.

"Step away from him." Nana looked behind her, chuckling at the sight of a fuming Jessica. She ignored her and turned back to Ren.

"Don't make me repeat myself." Jessica walked over and shoved Nana back as she put her bag on the table. Ren watched her with amusement.

"Since when do you talk back, trash?" Nana crossed her arms in front of her chest as Raina and Lizzy joined her side.

"Since the party. Now stay away from MY boyfriend." She stepped closer to Nana and the students around them grew quiet.

"We both know you're just a phase. He and I are a better fit and you know it." Nana said loudly.

"You and him?!" Jessica laughed. "Exactly how? How is it, you're the better fit? I get grades that boost the school's reputation. I don't need to starve myself to feel good about my body. The only thing you two have in common is rich daddies. You pay people to do your homework, and the only reason you got to sophomore year is because your daddy paid the teachers to give you the grades necessary to pass." After Jessica finished her rant, Ren and his friends realized the whole cafeteria was now dead silent, listening and watching the situation unfold.

"You little-"

"?" Jessica finished for her. "Trash bag? Garbage Can? Ugly troll? None of these insult me. It just shows how pathetic you are."

"Careful. I'm not afraid to physically hurt you." Nana threatened.

"What would you do? Shove me? There's no body of water for me to fall in to. I guess you could still push me, but you'll just shove me into Ren's arms. Face it. Ren doesn't like you. Accept it. The only other thought he ever had about you, besides how annoying you are, was how much of an easy lay you were." Nana only glared at her.

"I'll say it once again, just so I'm clear. Stay away from my boyfriend, ." Jessica stood right in front of her. The rest of the student body watched in both fear and curiosity. Nana scoffed at her after a while. She shook her head and turned around slowly. She left the cafeteria and Raina and Lizzy followed soon after. Many students finally released the breath they were holding as Ren pulled her backwards, into his arms.

"I know we're not having yet, but you look so damn hot right now." He whispered to her before he kissed her cheek. She blushed and looked down, finally feeling the remnants of adrenaline go through her.

 

Tuesday, February 12th

"Ooh la la~, Valentine is in two days~." Minhyun sang to annoy Ren as he was softly banging his head against his locker.

"Guess the month of long showers is getting to him." Jonghyun joked as he joined the two.

"Maybe one of us should give him a hand, literally." Minhyun added. Jonghyun laughed.

"You know, I'm so tired of my own hand, I might even let you." Ren turned around and leaned back against his locker.

"Eww." They replied.

"So, anything planned for you and Jess?" Jonghyun asked.

"I don't know. Maybe dinner and a movie at my place or something."

"How cliché and sweet." Minhyun mocked. Ren glared at him as Jessica joined them. Ren put his arm around her and the four left the school to go home.

 

Thursday, February 14th

The car drove up to the front door of Ren's mansion. His butler came out with an umbrella and held it over Jessica's head as he led her inside. He brought her to Ren's room and said he was still in the shower. She looked out the large window, watching it rain. She wore grey, skinny jeans with ripped details here and there, red Vans sneakers and a white V-neck sweater. She also wore a beanie, but as it was quite nice inside, she took it off. Ren already gave her enough red colouring on her cheeks.

"Damn, you look good." She heard from behind her. She turned around and found Ren with his hair tied back, a black sleeveless V-neck and black skinny jeans. He was on his socks as he walked towards her. He gave her a soft peck on the lips before turning around and walked to the other side of his bed.

"I don't think it's going to stop raining anytime soon. So, I decided to take our picnic inside." He smiled and sat down on the pillow.

"I wondered why there was a blanket in the middle of your bedroom." She smiled shyly at the sweet gesture and joined him on the other pillow.

"Salmon, bacon and cheese or chicken?" Jessica frowned at his question.

"I wasn't sure what you liked, so I made my chef make multiple sandwich choices."

"Oh, uhm, I guess bacon and cheese." She looked down blushing, thinking about how they would probably kiss later. He gave her the sandwich and took one for himself, leaving the salmon one.

"I'll be honest, I expected you'd rather take me out to dinner." She spoke softly as they ate their meal.

"I'm sorry. Had you rather done that?" He said in a serious tone.

"N-No. This is more... Intimate." She couldn't look at him. He smirked.

"Let's leave the intimacy for later." He winked at her. She blushed again. A while later they decided to watch a movie on his bed as it was still raining, and Ren complained he already showered. They were watching Pirates of the Caribbean, in which the ending became somewhat steamed with its kissing scene, causing Jessica to feel somewhat uncomfortable.

"You okay?" He asked when she shifted around a bit. She nodded. He glanced at the screen as the credits started rolling and smirked.

"Did that scene... Inspire you?" He trailed off. She cleared loudly, not looking at him. He grabbed her by her waist and positioned her to straddle him before holding the back of her neck and kissed her. She was taken aback at first, but managed to keep up somehow. After a while they both found a position they were comfortable with and continued the make-out session. She pulled away when she felt his hands go down.

"You alright?" Ren frowned.

"Yeah, just..." She looked away from him. Ren chuckled, feeling a bit ridiculous.

"I'm not trying to have with you. I've touched your before." Ren sighed annoyed.

"Sorry. You just-"

"I what?" He snapped at her.

"Every time we kiss like this, it feels like you just hope it ends in... That." She blushed.

"I hope it ends like that every time I spend time with you. But, until you let me know we can, we won't. I told you, I won't force you. I get it's scary for you, never having done it before. And, then your first boyfriend is someone who's used to doing it three times a week."

"Your compliments kind of throw me off guard recently. You're so blunt, saying how good or y I look all the time."

"Cause you do, and I just want you to know that. Why does that throw you off?"

"I don't know." She mumbled.

"Look, I'm not going to lie. It's going to hurt. But, I'm willing to take all the time you need, and be as gentle as I possibly can, to make sure your first time will be a good experience. I really like you, and I want to be worthy of your trust, completely." Jessica was speechless for a moment. Ren moved her off of him after a while and grabbed the TV remote.

"Maybe you should just go home." He sighed and flipped through the channels, trying to find something that interested him. She sat there, quietly.

"You can ask any of my servants to drive you home." He mumbled as he settled on a random music channel.

*Jesus Christ, just go home.* Ren thought as Jessica remained in her spot for several minutes. He glanced at her when she sighed. She grabbed him by his neck and kissed him. She straddled him as she did and he pulled away for a moment.

"What are you doing?" He looked at her with a questioning expression.

"I really like you. I don't want to lose you over being a little prude. It's the exact thing Nana keeps bringing up when she annoys me." She glanced at him every now and then as she spoke. "Sure, you tend to put my hand under your shirt and loosen some buttons of our uniforms, but you never gave me a reason not to trust you. I really don't know why this makes me so uncomfortable and I don't want it to."

"Well, best way to grow comfortable with it, is to just go for it. The more often