By Chance
Title: By Chance
Pairing: JeTi
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 2,557
CollegeAU started after my first day of college and finished during winter break.
A medium length haired brunette rushes across the school campus carrying a more than necessary big backpack. In her left arm are two big textbooks while in her right hand is an iPhone that she uses to navigate with. She pants loudly as everyone around her coolly passes by with the same thought:
Freshmen.
Three minutes later, she finally makes it to her 9AM lecture. Unfortunately for her, the professor had already begun. She quickly finds a seat in the back and takes out her notebook and pen, ready to catch up.
Ten seconds passes by.
What the hell is he talking about, she thinks and quickly scribbles down every verb, noun, and article on the professor’s lips.
Remembering that she didn’t catch the first part of the lecture, she turns and taps the shoulder of the girl next to her. “Can I see your notes?”
“The professor isn’t even here ye-oh!”
She hopes everybody in the lecture hall was like the girl next to her. She was definitely going to pass the class with flying colors if they were. Nevertheless, she holds out her right hand and says, “Hi! I’m Tiffany!”
The girl accepts her handshake.
They are the softest hands she’s ever touched.
Tiffany throws all her books and backpack into the truck of her sedan. She takes out her lip balm and carefully applies it, smiling at herself in the mirror when she finishes. Putting on her Ray Bans, she starts the ignition.It wasn’t until she was turning into the highway did she realize….
“OH CRAP! I FORGOT TO ASK FOR HER NAME!”
The next day Tiffany walks to her 8AM class with a small purse and her pink laptop. She finds a seat six rows from the front. After opening the lecture’s power-point, she notices the seat next to her is taken.
Time to make some friends, she thinks.
She coolly turns and lets out a small scream instead.
“Oh my god, it’s you!”
The girl looks at her and smiles.
“Hi.”
Tiffany reacts a little too happily and begins to bombard the girl with a million questions about her name, major, where she came from, whether or not she’s dorming, and what classes she had-everything that comes to the top of Tiffany’s head.
“Jessica,” the girl replies and the professor begins to talk.
Tiffany opens the door to her 10AM discussion, cursing at herself for forgetting that she and Jessica had the same 9 o’clock chemistry class. Her eyes turn into tiny crescents when she spots a familiar blond at the end of the front row. She immediately sits next to her.
“Jessica! Dude! You’re in like all of my classes! We’re totally meant to be!”
Jessica only nods, but it doesn’t affect Tiffany; she simply continues to grin at the girl.
The class eagerly exits the room when the T.A. finishes his ten minute introduction to the course. Within those last three minutes, Tiffany finally realizes that Jessica probably doesn’t like her. She awkwardly walks next to Jessica, leaving a whole body of space between them. Taking in a deep breath she finally finds the courage to break the silence.
“When’s your next class?”
“It’s not until 3PM.”
Tiffany immediately takes the opportunity to ask the girl if she wanted to eat lunch together. She sits at a nearby bench and sulks after Jessica flatly declines her, claiming she needs to sleep.
“Maybe she thinks you’re creepy,” Sooyoung says when Tiffany grabs another ice cream bar from the mini-fridge. “I mean not many people find assertive girls attractive these days.”
Tiffany chokes and spits out what looks like chocolate tumbleweed on Sooyoung’s newly vacuumed floor.
“I am not hitting on her!” she screams but Sooyoung is too busy taking a picture of the evident on the floor to hear. Tiffany sighs and goes to Seohyun’s study desk to pick up a tissue to clean the mess. She doesn’t need someone else to add to her stress. “I just want to be her friend…”
“-with benefits,” Sooyoung grins cheekily as she dodges the thrown tissue. “Is she hot?”
“She has soft hands,” Tiffany replies, climbing into Seohyun’s bed.
“What does that mean?”
“It means yes!” she huffs before covering herself with Seohyun’s vanilla scented duvet.
“So I hear you need help getting a girl,” Wooyoung says. He sneaks a peak at Seohyun’s laptop screen while she points at the corner of the wall, telling Tiffany to repent. Quickly typing in the answer under his account, he adds, “I bet I could get her within a-“ The boy doesn’t finish as Tiffany’s cold fingers rest on his cheeks, ruthlessly pinching them. Seohyun pries her apart from Wooyoung, but unfortunately for him she catches glimpse of her math homework that she turned in hours ago.
“I can’t believe you would even try to copy Seohyun’s homework,” Tiffany mutters as they scrub Seohyun’s floor while the angry girl puts a password on her laptop. Tiffany wrinkles her nose when Wooyoung flicks some foam at her.
“They’re basically asking us to cheat when they assign online homework!” Wooyoung cries.
Tiffany rolls her eyes at him. “I bet your girl getting skills are as good as your math: lousy.” She waits for a retort but only snorts at his sleazy reply and grin.
“You’re forgetting I’m called Wooyoung.”
Is she wearing gray sweats?
Tiffany doesn’t think before texting back No -_- she’s wearing a floral dress with a black cardigan. She curled her hair today ;o gl finding her
Tiffany regrets it a few days later when she sees Jessica smiling at something Wooyoung said. Her fist is taut when she marches up to them.
Wooyoung sees her from the corners of his eyes and smirks. “Hey Tiffany! Jessica and I were just talking about you!”
Tiffany stops in the middle of her tracks and drops all thoughts of popping Wooyoung’s cheeks with needles. “Hey Woo. Hi Jess.” She doesn’t know why her face is suddenly heating up. “So you guys know each other?”
Jessica awkwardly laughs out of nowhere.
Weird, Tiffany thinks, but so cute!
Jessica nearly gives Tiffany a heart attack when Wooyoung leaves. “Let’s grab lunch together someday.”
“You told her what?!” The dining commons stares at Tiffany and the puddle of ice cream bars around her. “And you’re her what?!”
“I told her you heard she and I were close so you wanted my help to get her!” Wooyoung says, fending off Tiffany’s vicious punches.
“Big deal! Now pick up these up and run to my dorm before they charge me another swipe!” Sooyoung interferes. She shoves an ice cream sandwich in both Wooyoung and Tiffany’s mouth before pushing them towards the exit.
“How did you two even meet?” Tiffany asks as they stack Sooyoung’s refrigerator with the newly brought ice cream.
“I help her with math.”
It took Tiffany a few seconds to process what Wooyoung said. “What?!”
Tiffany decides to push their relationship further and leaves only half a foot between her and Jessica as they walk into a small restaurant. She doesn’t see Jessica side glancing at her shaking hands when she asks, “So did you rush a sorority?”
“I want to but I’m kind of scared of becoming a party animal though. Are you in one?”
“No, I’m not. But oh my god clubbing is hella fun! I commute! I’ll drive us!” Tiffany shoots, not noticing the stare Jessica is giving her.
Jessica finally pulls away and sips her drink. “Are you from NorCal?”
“No I’m from Diamond Bar; it’s near LA.” Tiffany continues to hold the grin she’s been giving since the beginning of the conversation.
“I am,” Jessica starts, “I don’t like it when people use ‘hella’ though.” She laughs when Tiffany’s grin finally disappears and a pout replaces it. “But you’re cute, so it’s fine.”
It’s near midterms when Tiffany sees Jessica at the library. Jessica tells her she’s waiting for Wooyoung to come help her. The two girls decide to take it back to Jessica’s dorm when Wooyoung texts Jessica he found out his chemistry midterm is tomorrow. Tiffany sent him several threat texts under the table to stay away, but Jessica never finds out.
Tiffany puts her hand on Jessica forehead when Jessica tells her she finds chemistry easier than math. “Are you even human?” she asks. Jessica playfully punches her and Tiffany finds her heart skipping beats.
Sooyoung opens the door to find a sulking Tiffany one morning. She notices the sluggishness in Tiffany’s footsteps when she lets her in. “Did you and your new girlfriend break up?”
“Worse,” she replies, climbing into Seohyun’s empty bed. “She has an essay to write.”
Sooyoung only chuckles when Tiffany runs to grab her phone.
“It’s Jessi!”
Finals come faster than expected. Tiffany manages to persuade Jessica to actually study chemistry with her. She thinks Jessica has feelings for Wooyoung when the latter suggests he comes as well. Jessica shrugs at the declined offer and Tiffany doesn’t celebrate either; she has a school quarter’s worth of laundry to do.
“Do you even pay attention in class?!” Jessica flicks Tiffany’s forehead a bit harshly, but Tiffany could only grin back at her.
They redo a section of the assigned homework before Tiffany feels her eyes drooping to the floor. She sets up a nest on the floor next to Jessica’s bed. Driving home when tired is hazardous she justifies. She covers herself with papers scribbled with math equations and looks up at Jessica’s sleep form. She notices something sticking out from Jessica’s tank. Ooh, Tiffany thinks, she got a new bra.
She wakes up in the middle of the night. Jessica’s roommate was talking about fingernails and Dragonball Z. Tiffany sees a phone lying on the table next to her lights up. Jessica mistakes Tiffany’s sudden waking for sleeping on an uncomfortable floor. She scoots over and tells Tiffany to climb in.
Tiffany’s heart switches to allegro.
Tiffany drives home the following morning. She packs a towel, her best smelling lotion and a week’s worth of clothes. They continue to lie in her trunk throughout the week. There was something about Jessica’s clothes that were more inviting, she thinks.
“If I didn’t know any better I would think you’re Sica’s roommate instead of Taeyeon,” Wooyoung tells her one day. “You move fast.” He throws a potato chip into his mouth. “I was never able to sleep with a girl in less than ten weeks.”
Tiffany kicks him out of the room before Jessica wakes up.
Tiffany snuggles up to Jessica again on the last night. Even though she had less than 20 hours of sleep within the five days, she had to admit, they were the best she’s ever slept. She and Jessica decide to sleep 12 hours before the final.
She wakes up in the middle of the night (again! She groans) when Taeyeon opens the door, barely getting home from the library. Taeyeon mumbles something about nerds and finally sleeping, but Tiffany doesn’t care.
Tiffany doesn’t know why she rolls over to watch Taeyeon, but her heart flutters when she hears a whine from behind her. The duvet rustles when an arm lazily drapes over her waist. She feels shivers down her spine when a hot breath of air hits her neck. “Why did you leave…”
So cute! Tiffany fangirls, but the mood is ruined when Taeyeon opens her mouth. “HELLO!”
“Are you okay?” Jessica asks her the next morning. Tiffany doesn’t hear though, she’s too busy staring at the protruding black underneath Jessica’s incredibly thin white tee. She takes a deep breath as Jessica pulls jeans over her proportionally slim legs. “Tiffany?”She shuts her eyes to steady her breath but she could still see the matching black panties resting low on Jessica’s small waist. She’s not sure if she could live long enough to even take her final exam.
Tiffany flinches when she feels a small hand on her shoulder. Jessica looks at her with worried eyes. “Seriously, are you okay? You were twitching last night too.” Tiffany’s loses balance but is caught by Jessica’s strong grip. “Tiff-“
“I’m normal I swear!” Tiffany screams, followed by an awkward moment of silence.
“Okay.”
Tiffany slams her forehead against the door when Jessica leaves first. “So so stupid!” She stops when a pillow hits her head.
“She likes stupid just leave already!”
Tiffany runs her hand through her brown locks as she downs a glass of apple martini. She looks around to see Seohyun pushing an opposing Sooyoung away. Tiffany does a double take when she sees Wooyoung kissing another man. Looking at Long Island iced tea in front of her, she reconsiders drinking it.
“I didn’t know you could order alcohol.” Tiffany turns at the voice and nearly falls out of her chair.
“Jessi! What are you doing here?!” Even in the crowded cheap bar, Jessica smells like vanilla cupcakes. She had on a tight strapless black dress. Tiffany’s eyes linger at the other girl’s naked wrist.
“Wooyoung brought me here. “ Jessica replies, sitting next to Tiffany. “Everyone is so…touchy; it scares me.”
Tiffany can make a hundred remarks about how ironic it was of Jessica to say that, but decides not to. She doesn’t want to open her stupid mouth again. Yet she leaves it ajar when she feels Jessica’s left hand on her lap. “Are you mad at me?”
A million thoughts run through Tiffany’s mind and out of the million, she chooses to blurt out, “What?!”
She notices Jessica opening her mouth to reply when some guy taps Jessica’s shoulder. Eyeing his wrist, Tiffany knows what his purpose is so she gives him the dirtiest look she can make.
“I noticed you aren’t wearing a wristband but I was wondering if could buy you and your friend a drink anyway.” He says, obviously not fazed by Tiffany’s death glare.
“Sorry, I don’t drink.”
“Oh. Well how about a dance then?” Wow this guy is persistent, Tiffany thinks. She makes eye contact with Jessica and quickly understands.
“Sorry, she’s with me.” Tiffany scoffs at the evident disappointment on his face as he walks away. She turns her attention back to Jessica and groans when said girl places her hand on Tiffany’s lap again.
“What wristband was he talking about?”
Tiffany figures Jessica doesn’t know she’s in a gay bar and sheepishly grins at her, “I don’t know. Let’s go dancing!”
At the end of the day, Tiffany learns that Jessica gets extra touchy when she dances. She smiles when Jessica scoots next to her in the dining booth instead of choosing the seat across. After ordering a late night meal, she decides to break the silence. “You have soft hands.”
Tiffany notices the searing silence.
“Thank you.”
Groaning, she slams her hands on the table and stands up as if making a dramatic speech. She looks at Jessica’s furrowed eyebrows and takes a deep breath. “I like to add.”
“And I like to multiply,” Jessica tells her, pulling her down. “Now sit! You’re making a scene!”
Ignoring the double meaTiffany roughly shakes her head and puts her hands on Jessica’s shoulder. “No! I mean-Jessica, we were in a gay bar.” She watches Jessica nod before continuing. "People who are straight are required to wear wristbands."
Tiffany finds herself relieved when Jessica straightens her back. “So that’s why he said that!”
Tiffany ignores the urge to slap some sense into Jessica’s head and slowly says, “I never wear a wristband.”
Jessica doesn’t reply.
Tiffany feels like dying again.
Tiffany’s cell phone buzzes the next day.
Do you still need Wooyoung’s help to ask me out?
Wristband story: When I first turned 18, my friend suggested we go to a gay club since most of them are 18+. She told me, "it's okay they'll just have you wear a wristband if you're straight." And when I finally went to one, the pink wristbands are pretty much the same deal as straight clubs: to show that you are of legal age to buy alcohol lulz. Hope you ignored it when you read this. My apologies.