Subtle (2/2)
Title: Subtle
Pairing: Jessica/Tiffany
Rating: PG
Word count: approx. 5000 (total)
Monday
I sit by the window, overlooking the city below me. Jessi is still fast asleep. It was a bad idea to take her out clubbing last night.
Flashback
Jessica is on her fourth- maybe fifth- shot. I take it from her and ask, “Where do you live? I’ll take you home.”
“Huh?” Jessica slurs. How can a drunk be so adorable?!
I help her outside and half carry half drag her into my car. I turn towards Jessica.
“Where-” Okay…I guess she’s staying at my house for the night. There is no way on Earth am I taking her home in that condition. Now that I think about it: she probably lives with her parents for all I know. I’m way too young to die.
End Flashback
You would never expect her to weigh so much from her looks- must be the muscles. I get up and go downstairs to grab her something to drink. When I return with a glass of tea, Jessica is using the headboard to help prop her figure up. She still has her eyes closed.
“Jessi?”
Her eyes shoot open and she quickly turns her attention to me.
“T-Tiffany?!” Jessica uses the back of her hands to wipe the sleep from her eyes.
“We went clubbing last night, remember? I have some tea for you.”
She sits there for a moment and slightly nods her head.
“Sorry for bothering you.” Jessica lowers her head.
I think it’s pretty cute.
“You’re not a bother.”
“I can barely remember anything from last night.” She shakes her head with her hands covering her face.
How adorable! She mumbles something, but I disregard it because I am more curious about something else.
“Jessi, why do you always practice soccer outside when it rains?”
She looks up at me, but avoids my gaze. She mumble again.
“Because…you always look outside when it rains,” and a pink hue embraces her cheeks.
Tuesday
I feel bad for making Tiffany miss school yesterday. That means she has to stay after school to practice for an extra hour today.
I am packing my stuff when I come across the box that Tiffany had given me for my birthday. I open it.
‘I didn’t know what I should get for someone who most likely already has everything that she could possibly wish for. I guess this can be your WISH card. If you ever wish for something, tell me and I’ll be more than happy to grant you your wish.’
This is like a get-out-of-jail card to me! I skip towards Tiffany. She catches the ball and holds it between her side and her arm when she sees me.
“Hey, Jessi. What’s up?”
“Hi Tiff! I wish you could forgive me for making you miss school yesterday.” I show her the card.
She laughs at me.
“Forgive you?”
“You know…you have an extra hour of practice because you weren’t there yesterday?”
She laughs again.
“Jessi, I know I’ll never be able to make it to school the next day whenever I plan on going clubbing. As for why I am staying a little extra for practice today- I don’t have anything to do at home.”
I feel a little relieved and less guilt-ridden.
“So do I still get a wish?”
“Yep!”
I swear she has the most beautiful smile ever.
“Can you teach me how to play volleyball?” I really do think volleyball is intriguing. You would use your hand instead of using your feet, and you have to keep the ball in the air while in soccer, the ball is on the ground most of the time.
“I’d love to.” She comes closer to me and hands me the ball. “Okay, hold your hand like this. Try to hit it there.” She points to the left side behind the net. “Try not to hit it pass that line. It would be considered out-of-bounds.”
“That should be easy,” I say mindlessly.
Tiffany raises an eyebrow and smirks.
It should be easy, right? I hold the ball with my left hand and hit it with my right fist. I never realized how heavy a volleyball ball is.
Tiffany giggles as the ball hits the ground.
I frown. It didn’t even cross the net; it just flew way up into the air.
“Not as easy as you thought, huh?” Tiffany teases me and walks over to take a hold of a different ball. She hits it and sends it flying to the opposite side. The cool thing is: it lands right in the corner of the out-of-bounds area. She smiles triumphantly. “It’s all about control.”
She takes a hold of my right hand and guides it into a fist. I feel my ears burning and my stomach churning out one butterfly after the other. Tiffany then goes behind me and places her left hand under mine. I hope she doesn’t feel my breaths becoming slightly shallow. She places her right hand over mine and guides it in a slow, sweeping motion. At this point, I could literally hear my heart thumping in my chest.
“See?” She goes over to the benches and grabs a ball. “Now you try.”
I take the ball and sends it too far out. What? I am really nervous.
“It’s okay. Practice makes perfect.”
I weakly nod.
“Maybe we should rest a little.”
I nod again. I watch Tiffany as she walks to the benches and sits down. She looks at me for a second and then waves me over. My feet that were anchored to the ground two seconds ago- as if on command- lead me towards the brunette.
Tiffany Hwang, my body doesn’t seem to listen to me when I’m around you.
Wednesday
The what-do-I-really-feel-towards-Jessi questionnaire begins.
Flashback
“Why do you do these things for her?” Taeyeon asks me while reading Jessica’s birthday gift.
“Uhh-”
“You go out of your way to do these things. Why?”
“I’m attracted to her?”
Taeyeon laughs at me. “Why are you questioning me?”
I drop my body flat on the bed and sigh. “I don’t know, Tae Tae.”
“Ask yourself this one question: are you really only attracted to her?”
Once again, I don’t know how to answer Taeyeon. Why do I do these things for Jessica? I honestly don’t know. I simply get these weird feelings that keep pushing me to do them. When I don’t-I don’t know. It just-it just feels as if…
I committed a crime or something.
End Flashback
‘If you don’t know, then what do you feel when you’re around Jessica?’
Jessi. Jessica Jung Sooyeon.
When Taeyeon asks me anything that is related to Jessica, my brain refuses to function. Why? I can’t answer that because if I knew why, I wouldn’t be racking my brain for the answer right now. I can’t pinpoint what I feel when I’m around Jessica. I just get these feelings that are unexplainable.
Asking me how I feel when I’m around Jessica is like asking someone to describe the taste of water. You’ll get many answers, but none of them are exact. None of them are wrong, yet none of them are right.
Thursday
How tiring. I drop my lifeless body on to my bed. I’m so tired. Today’s practice was extra intense since the championships are coming up. I don’t see why we try so hard for. Our team is already ten times better than the team that we will be competing against. We win every single year. It’s almost effortless.
I close my eyes and stretch my left arm out, grabbing the nearest pillow to me. I feel something round and fluffy: a bear. I have a bear on my bed? When did I even get a bear?
I sit up and examine the bear. Funny. This bear is almost as big as me. I wonder how I never noticed it. There’s a tag on its ear.
From: Tiffany
To: Jessica
Happy Birthday! I am your Manito! Surprise!
Tiffany…ah! I remember. She had given this to me when we were in grade four. I guess our teacher had assigned Tiffany as my Manito.
I remember placing this in my closet. I guess the ahjumma probably placed it here while cleaning my room. Guess you’re sleeping with me tonight, Mr. Bear.
Friday
Rain. I guess it’s a good thing. You know what they say, “April showers bring May flowers.” I look towards the front and notice that Jessica’s not there. That’s not a surprise anymore.
I smile and glance out the window, knowing she will show up any minute now.
5 minutes…the field is still empty.
10 minutes…nothing.
20 minutes…where is she?
“Don’t forget that your senior project is due on Monday.”
Senior project…? What in the world is he talking about? Oh crap. I guess this is where not paying attention in class gets me.
“Everyone must hand in their final project on Monday. No excuses.”
Fanytastic. I wait until my classmates leave before I go up to my History teacher.
“Sir, uhm-”
“Ah, Tiffany! It’s nice that your mind is in class today. You didn’t go on a metal trip to somewhere far today, did you?”
I stare at him in surprise.
“Let me guess. You’re going to ask me about the senior project that’s due in three days…something you didn’t even know about until now. Am I correct?”
I nod in embarrassment.
He laughs and pulls out two packets.
“Here. You wouldn’t mind bringing the other one to Jessica, would you? You seem like the only person she really interacts with in this class.”
Maybe Jessi’s sick? What if she’s really, really, really, super-duper sick? Ack. I run out of class with the two packets in hand, not forgetting to thank Mr. Lee.
I hope she isn’t too sick.
Saturday
When I wake up, I immediately look at the clock. 12:01 am. Wow, I’ve been sleeping for fifteen hours. I try getting up, but my muscles ache so much. I just lie there, leaving my body sprawled out on the bed. I really don’t feel like moving.
“Jessi?”
“W-who’s there?” I ask and quickly sit up, forgetting that my body will totally hate me for doing so. The lights dims on and I see Tiffany by my bedroom door.
“Did I wake you?”
She seems really tired-wait! Why is she even here? OMG. What am I wearing? This is too embarrassing.
“Why are you here?” Oops. That came out more bluntly than I expected.
“I’m sorry for intruding. I came by to visit you because I thought you were really sick.”
She is worried about me?
“The ahjummas were getting ready to leave when I stopped by. So I thought I should stay until you wake up- you know, just in case something happens.”
I’m so glad that the lights are really dim right now. I hope she doesn’t see me blushing because I can feel my cheeks burning.
“Thank you….”
“I think I should leave now that you’re up.”
No, please don’t leave. Please stay and keep me company. Too bad I don’t actually have the courage to say that.
“Can you make me something to eat?” I lower my head in embarrassment. “That is if you don’t mind. I don’t know how to cook.” Smooth Jessica, smooth.
She looks at me and smiles in embarrassment as well.
“I can’t really cook either. I’ll just heat up some soup that the ahjummas made for you.”
Sunday
I didn’t give Jessi her packet. She was really sick and I didn’t think it was a good idea to give it to her. She probably wouldn’t have been able to complete the assignment anyways.
So here I am, writing my own paper while shortly after finishing Jessica’s.
One last period. Save and print. Done.
I’m so…tired.
Monday
“I’m pretty pleased everyone turned in their papers on time.”
I open my eyes. Paper?! What paper? I never heard of any paper. I never even turned in a paper. I look at the teacher curiously and he just stares back at me blankly.
“I’ll read the papers tonight and hand them back to you by tomorrow.”
I look back towards Tiffany, but she isn’t there. For once, her desk is empty. I wonder why she isn’t here.
Class is finally over and I walk towards the teacher. I bow.
“Sir, I’m sorry for not handing in my paper.”
“I have your paper right here.” He shows me a five-page paper with my name on it. If my eyes could literally fall out of their sockets, they would have.
“Miss Hwang handed this in to me this morning, saying that she was dropping it off for you since you left it over at her house. I excused her from class because she barely had the energy to keep her eyes opened while talking to me.”
Tiffany…why must she keep doing these things for me? My debt towards her must be a mile high.
“Thank you, Mr. Lee.”
“I’m not the one you should be thanking,” he replies knowingly.
Tuesday
There really isn’t any point in attending school after the senior projects are over. We don’t do anything in class anyways.
I lie on my bed, wondering if Jessica went to school today. I wonder-someone is ringing the doorbell. Taeyeon and the ahjummas have the code to the residence. I wonder who it is.
I walk downstairs and when I open the door, a figure throws her arms around me. Jessi…?
“Thank you!” When she let me go, she shows me two papers: one is hers and it has an A+ written on it. The other one is mine, which has an A- written on it.
She suddenly frowns. “You didn’t have to...”
Jessica’s topic was much easier to write about. It is on the evolution of love and how it affected people’s decisions. Mine is on the founding fathers of America. How fun.
“But you’re the one who helped me write the paper.” I feel my cheeks burning as I say those words. I hope she doesn’t get the meaning behind my words.
“Tiffany-”
“What’s that?” I point at the bag that lies on the ground, hoping to change the subject.
“That’s the cake I bought for us to celebrate!” She takes the cake in one hand and drags me with the other. I don’t even know where she’s dragging me. She suddenly stops. “Where’s the kitchen?”
This girl is really something.
‘Why did you do it?’
‘You go out of your way to do these things. Why?’
‘If you don’t know, then what do you feel when you’re around Jessica?’
Because the person I’m doing it for is Jessi.
Because the person I’m going out of my way for is Jessi.
I still can’t explain how I feel when I’m around her. But I do know one thing: I am simply drawn to Jessi.
Tuesday 9:00 pm
“Tiffany.”
She turns towards me as I call her name.
“Yes?”
I walk closer to her. I can see her staring at me curiously.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
I stop walking when there is barely any distance between our two bodies.
“For being you.”
Tiffany tenses up as I inch my face closer to hers.
“Jessi-” The words never made it pass her lips, because I, Jessica Jung Sooyeon, have finally found the courage to place a kiss on her cheek.
“Thank you for being Tiffany.”
The End
A/n:
I didn’t edit much from the previous version. I only added a few more dialogs and that’s about it. Thank you for reading! :)