From Day One | JENSOO

Chapter 10

The almost fight, the almost breakup, the almost kiss, the almost makeup.

Jisoo never forced herself to go to school, she simply would rather spend her time there than in an empty house, but on the days when the sun blinded her and the heat seeped below the surface of her skin she didn't spend it inside four walls, school or not.

She had gotten in trouble twice for mindlessly walking the school grounds but the worst she got was a wag of the finger from the teacher who caught her. It was probably senioritis, her restlessness with staying in one place, but then Jinyoung had often said that Jisoo had a permanent case of Spring Fever. Whatever it was, Jisoo couldn't imagine wasting such bright days rotting in a classroom.

The grounds were mostly made up of endless mowed lawns and a few paved areas for roads and sidewalks. There wasn't anything of striking interest to visit but she had heard rumors that her old math teacher had a small garden not far from the classroom the woman taught in. She checked for school staff before walking to the appropriate building. The classroom had their broad windows open and she almost went by them but ducked in the last minute. It was calculus, a subject she hated with a passion. Sticking close to the wall she scurried by unnoticed and upon rounding the corner she realized that she had arrived at the garden.

It was a long rectangular grid that lined the wall and went as far as the end of the building. She recognized some of the flowers from common knowledge—roses, daisies—but then there were some that just looked flat out outrageous. A large patch of thick, fully bloomed white flowers caught her eye. They looked like roses but the petal formation didn't match and unlike roses, the flowers had a visible yellow stigma.

The sun hadn't reached the sky high enough for that part of the building and Jisoo enjoyed the cool shade immensely. She took a seat by the garden, running her fingers through the flowers, some of the petals so light they moved at the slightest touch. The teacher's monotone voice drifted through the air, dulling Jisoo's concentration.

The warmth still got to her even in the shade and feeling drowsy she lied down with her arms crossed behind her head. She watched the swirls of clouds float through the blue sky and felt her eyelids become heavy.

Sleeping was a stupid idea, but she wasn't thinking straight these days anyway.

*

Jennie calmly exited the girl's bathroom and walked down the silent hallway. Her sixth period teacher was a dinosaur so she was hoping he wouldn't notice her absence when she slipped into the auditorium.

She was disappointed to find all the lights off; that meant that it was empty. Maybe it would have been nice to sit in the darkness but that felt a bit too depressing for her so she flicked on the lone spotlight and took a seat at the edge of the stage.

Jisoo was probably roaming around somewhere so Jennie began dialing her number but her thumb hovered above the call button hesitantly. Things were going phenomenally well with Jisoo. They hadn't fought once yet and were catching up on the three years they missed.

Everything that connected them in the beginning was still there.

But when Jennie got down to it, therein was where the problem lay. They were getting along a bit too well. The line that separated friend and more was getting blurry.

She heard the back door open quietly and Jisoo's dark hair appeared in the space.

"I thought I'd find you here," Jisoo said, entering the room fully. She sat next to Jennie and they both had a moment of déjà vu.

"Here." Jisoo presented the flower she had clipped from the garden. "It made me think of you." Jennie took it by the stem carefully and raised an eyebrow at the straightforward statement.