*Jessica POV*

I woke up earlier than usual. It was 6:35AM. I sat up feeling kind of low. I didn't feel like I'd rested well at all last night. 

Is she gone already? I wondered. I went to go see if she might still be here, but as always, she had left before I even woke up. Everything was neat and tidy. The blanket was folded and set on top of the box, and the couch was as if she hadn't even been here. The keys were sitting on top of the blanket. Why didn't she take it with her?

Because she's not coming back you idiot, I told myself. Of course! She was going back with father...or at least I hoped so. Was I even hoping that he would come back? Did I really not want her to stay with me?

You were making excuses to Tiffany yesterday, a small voice in my head told me. 

A slip of paper under the keys caught my eye, and I set aside the keys so I could take it.

Sorry for bothering you. Thanks for letting me stay this week.
Don't stay out so late and don't drink so much all the time. It's not safe and it's not good for your health. I won't always be there to take care of you...
:)

Krystal

I kept reading it over and over again. My heart felt heavy and my apartment suddenly seemed really quiet. Empty. I sat down on the couch and closed my eyes. I remembered last night when I kissed her. What if she had been awake when I did it? Would it have made a difference in our relationship right now? Or would she freak out...or maybe it wouldn't have changed anything at all.

She really thinks you hate her...

Isn't that what you wanted? 

I thought so...but now I wasn't so sure anymore.

I sighed and threw the cleaning towel onto the counter. The coffee shop seemed empty today. I guess everyone was studying for finals...including Krystal.

"Hey, Sica, you ok?" Sunny asked me. "You look like you've just been to a funeral."

I shot her a look. "That's not something you should say lightly."

She shrugged. "Well, it's true. You look sad."

I did? I turned around and leaned on the counter. "I'm fine."

"You and Yuri fight?" she asked.

"No. Everything's fine. I just didn't sleep last night." I hung the towel on a rack.

"Hmm, well, here comes your knight in shining armor."

I whipped around and sure enough Yuri was walking throught the door. "Hey, Sica," she smiled at me.

I forced a smile back. "Hey, Yuri. How are you?"

"I'm great, actually. So, did you get the papers?" Her voice became a bit more hushed while Sunny was cleaning equipment in the corner.

"Uh...what papers?" I gave her a confused look. I hadn't seen anything.

"You know, the envelope on the door!" Yuri said as if she expected me to remember. "I taped it to your door because you weren't home when I came back. I didn't have time to wait because I had a commitment to get to." She scratched her head. "Guess someone might have taken it..."

I shrugged. "Guess so." I looked at her with narrowed eyes. "What was it?"

"The papers?" she said. "Um...we can talk about it later. I don't think this is a good place." She stepped back. "Are you busy this week?"

I shook my head. "Just the usual."

"Oh, wait but your sister is still here." Yuri was about to continue with another suggestion. "How about...?"

"Actually, she's not. She's staying with Fany until she goes back home," I interrupted. " So, yeah, you can come over whenever."

Yuri smiled. "Alright. Great." She leaned over the counter to kiss me, but I moved away, pretending that I hadn't anticipated it. She frowned. "Um...I'll see you then."

"Yeah."

As soon as she left, Sunny joined me. "What's up, Sica? You didn't seem happy to see her at all." She put a hand on my shoulder. "Is everything alright between the two of you?"

"There's nothing wrong, Sunny," I said irritably. "I'm just tired."

"I saw that. You didn't let her kiss you."

"I don't want to be kissed in public...especially at work," I grumbled.

"But...you never said anything before," she seemed confused. "Look, if you wanna take off early, go ahead. I can tell the manager that you were feeling a bit sick."

I shook my head. "It's fine, Sunny. I told you that I'm just tired."

She blinked. "Well, ok," she said doubtfully. "If you're not feeling up to it, then you should take a break. Don't work yourself too hard."

A customer walked in and I went to go meet her. "What can I get for you?" I asked.

"Oh!" The girl had hair cut short like a guy, and she was dressed in what looked like guys' apparel. "Aren't you Krystal's sister?"

I blanked as soon as she mentioned Krystal. "Huh?"

"Um...Jessica, right? I know your friend, Tiffany," she continued.

"O-oh...right," I stammered.

"I'm Amber!" she stuck her hand out for me to shake. "Nice to finally meet the older Jung!" She flashed a toothy grin. "Anyway, your sister's really nice. SHe's really smart too. Did you know? She was helping her friend with a physics project, and she's only a junior in high school! I think she's like in the second part of physics right now." She raised her eyebrows. "Impressive, eh?"

"Y-eah," I agreed.

"you must be proud of her."

My breath caught in my throat. Proud? I hardly even knew my sister. I just nodded. My mind was everywhere, and I was having a hard time thinking. I should be proud of my sister....that's what any normal sibling would feel if he/she was hearing stuff like this.

"Yeah, so I'll just get a mocha," Amber said. "Medium, and easy on the whip cream."

I quickly grabbed a cup and marked it. I wrote Amber's name on it and handed it to Sunny. Amber gave me the cash and I gave her back a receipt. "Thanks," she said.

I thought she was going to leave but she stayed where she was. "You're in college?"

"yeah."

"What's it like?"

"It gets pretty busy. You have to arrange your time well so you don't get behind," I replied.

"Tough, huh?" she leaned on the counter. More customers were coming in. "Well, I better leave you to it. Nice meeting you."

The rest of the day was a long drag.

*Krystal POV*

We were sitting at the table and eating spaghetti Tiffany had made. Apparently, it was an American favorite she had learned from her parents. It was pretty good...decent in comparison to what I'd had to eat while I was living with my father. I just went and got bread.

"So how was your school today?" she asked. "I heard you have finals."

I nodded and chewed on the noodles. 

"What classes are you taking?" she asked.

I swallowed. "Calculus, Physics, History, Literature, and an elective class," I replied. "It's a creative writing class."

"Oh, wow. Physics and Calculus already?" Tiffany asked. "I only made it up to calculus in my last year of high school, and I never took Physics. I hated science."

We continued eating in silence. 

"So, are you interested in science?" Tiffany asked.

"I dunno," I said. "There's lots of things I'm interested in actually...like...writing or going out and rescuing animals."

"Well, which one do you think you'd rather spend your time doing?"

I shrugged. "Rescue the animals I guess. I like being outside, and well...I think it's nice to go out and take in an animal to help them get better so they can go back to their usual routine."

Tiffany smiled. "I think that's a wonderful idea."

"Childish too," I mumbled. 

"No, you just have a kind heart, Krystal."

I felt the heat rise to my cheeks at that compliment. "Th-thanks."

"how's the spaghetti?" She changed the subject.

"It's really good!" I said. "I've actually never really had spaghetti this good."

"Homemade food's always the best!" Tiffany winked at me.

"I'll be turning in early," Tiffany informed me. "I already put stuff on the sofa for you, alright, Krystal? Make sure you don't stay up too late. 12:30AM's the latest, or I'll come out and force you."

I nodded and she closed her room door.

It was 10:30PM. I had about two hours left. Luckily, I was almost done reviewing so I could make it before 12:30AM. I flipped through my book, and sat with my back against the chair. I sighed. I leaned my head on my hands, and looked down at my backpack. I could see Yuri's envelope sticking out from it. 

I took out the papers from the envelope to get a careful look at them. There was the brochure giving benefits for adopting a kid, and what requirements they expected before giving the child to potential foster homes. Then, there was Yuri's note, but I put that aside. No need to read it again. There was also the folded stack of stapled papers. I undid the folds and scanned the first page. It was an application. An application to get me into a home for girls...kind of like an orphanage, I guess, except it was supported by a church and some other children's services organization.

I couldn't believe this. Yuri was intending to help my sister by suggesting that I get put into a juvenile home. I wasn't some kind of troublemaker, or in need of any close watch! Who did she think I was? But then I remembered that my sister might have said stuff about me that wasn't so nice anyway. Maybe that's why Yuri was snappy at me the night she brought Jessica home. She thought I was trying to stir up trouble.

Honestly, I couldn't blame them for wanting to put me away. Jessica didn't want me with her anyway.

I just really hoped Dad would come home soon. I figured the reason why he didn't answer was because of the phone bill.

I put those papers away and shuffled it into my backpack. 

Now I was starting to worry. Since all these papers were for my sister, Yuri was definitly most likely going to say something about it. What was I going to do with them? They were sure to be mad if they found out I'd taken and read it. It wasn't my business to be reading it...but it didn't say anything on the envelope so I went and checked to see. 

Oh no...Maybe I shouldn't have let curiosity take over. It's just like they say, curiosity killed the cat, except my situation is already the worst. Two people were supposed to kill me. 

But on the bright side, I suppose it would buy more time in case they decided to do something to me. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have a chance. I would be going back home with dad soon.

I went back to studying, and finished at around 12AM. I flicked off the lights and curled up under the blanket on the couch. I checked my phone for anything. There were a few notifications. Most of them were from Luna, and one from the person I least expected. 

Jessica.

I read Luna's messages, mostly about how she's spazzing about the coming exams. I sent her a reassuring reply that she'd be fine and not to worry. Then, I came across my sister's message. I in a breath feeling nervous about what she had to say. Did she know I took the envelope? I mean she was literally right there when I opened it.

But it was blank.

Huh?

There was no message at all. Now, in horror movies, it would be like a scary moment and maybe a jumpscare would pop out and give us all a heart attack. Luckily, this was no horror movie and thank the heavens it wasn't. I can't deal with them. Anyway, she must have done it by accident. What was there for her to say to me anyway? She was probably glad I moved out.

I wonder what her reaction was to my note. I was being honest with her...well, I guess I can't control the way she'll interpret the message. At least I tried to show I cared, although she might actually take it the wrong way and think I was being sarastic. Dammit! Maybe I shouldn't have written that last sentence! I was literally kicking myself for that. Yuri could have done it for her...if she'd stayed that night...

Wow, way to go, me, I thought grumpily. You just blew up a real bomb! She's gonna get really offended!

I closed my phone and put it in a pocket of my backpack where my painkillers were. Just forget about it, I told myself. As long as I knew that I meant it sincerely from my heart, then it's fine.

Strangely, I only had a slight headache today. They seemed to be getting pretty bad, but today was different. Should I go to the school nurse?

No. If anything bad happened they would notify my father...or my sister if they couldn't reach him. He DID put her as an emergency contact. At the time, he didn't think there would ever be a need to contact her though. Yeah, better not.

It's probably because I'd been kind of feeling the stress from school, especially since this week was the end of school.

*Narrator POV*

Jessica lay in her bed. The light on her nighstand was on. 

Her phone was ringing. Actually it had been ringing for almost twenty minutes now, but she ignored it. She continued staring up into space at the ceiling.

I won't always be there to take care of you...she remembered the last line from her sister's note. Of course, she wouldn't. She couldn't. She was leaving this week. They would never see each other again...well maybe not forever, but for a while at least.

Jessica was puzzled. She would have gotten angry over it earlier, but for some reason, she couldn't get herself to feel bitter or mad. She felt sad and heavy, as if she'd lost something important to her.

The same way she felt when she figured out mom was never coming back, and dad had lied.

"Don't be stupid," she said to herself. "If I don't want her to go, then I can stop her." 

What am I saying?! she thought to herself. 

Jessica was so confused. Her mind was cloudy with emotions and memories, and her sister. She groaned and her side. "Just forget about it, Jess. She thinks you hate her. It's what you wanted, so be glad you finally got it."

Her phone was ringing again. She grumpily got her phone and shoved it into the drawer of her nightstand. "Can't a person get some shut-eye?" she grumbled irritably. She figured it was Yuri, who probably knew she deliberately avoided the kiss from earlier. 

So what? I thought, I don't have to let her kiss me all the time! Plus, it's embarrassing to know that people are watching!

She waited for the ringing to end before turning out the light. Gosh, it was annoying...

She suddenly thought about what Krystal might be doing at Tiffany's house. Would it hurt to ask how she's doing?

Jessica took out her phone and ignored the missed calls and messages. She didn't even check to see who it was. She pressed her sister's name and pondered what to write. 

Thanks, she typed. But she frowned and deleted them. There had to be a better way to show that she appreciated her help that drunken night.

She put down the hand that carried the phone and accidentally pressed one of the buttons on the touchscreen. She heard the sound of the outgoing message. "Oh snap!" She lifted it quickly and saw that she had sent a blank bubble. "Oh no..." She made a face and put her phone away. So much for that. She decided not to send a message and just go to sleep.

Would her sister reply to that blank message?

Jessica lay there waiting for about an hour, until sleep finally came upon her.