Lilies

Chapter 2

Minji had an interesting habit. Whenever she became nervous, she began to stutter and stammer. It was like an underdeveloped form of Tourette's syndrome, enhanced in nerve-racking situations. Minji was beginning to shiver as the engineer operating the Ferris wheel yelled,

"And off we go!"

It was a warm night.

Haerin was trying not to laugh at her, staring at her and pleading with her eyes, "help me, help!"

She looked down instead, looked anywhere but at the girl, trying to make the atmosphere as un-awkward as possible. She stared out the window, and saw that out of the corner of her eye that the girl, too, was staring out of the window.

Minji let out a deep breath of air and Haerin and Danielle both turned to look at her. Her face was crimson. Haerin chuckled. How cute. Minji began to open her mouth to speak, stuttering.

"S-so, uh, w-what's, uh, y-your n-name?" She directed the question to Danielle.

Danielle smiled and locked eyes with her before responding. Minji looked down at the floor in embarrassment, unable to hold eye contact.

"I'm Danielle, and you two?"

"Uh, um, uh, I-I'm, uh, Mi-

"This is Minji, and I'm Haerin," Haerin cut in.

Danielle's eyes switched onto Haerin, and Haerin held her gaze for a few seconds, before Danielle decided that Haerin was more capable of having a conversation.

"So where are you two from?" asked Danielle.

Haerin did not want to bother with telling Danielle the story of her life, did not want to just yet.

"Minji and I grew up here."

Danielle nodded and smiled, wondering if Haerin would return the question, wondering if she would carry on the conversation. Instead, the girl simply returned to staring out the window. Danielle felt a tug of disappointment. Haerin had seemed interesting.

By this point, Minji gathered her air again, and tried to speak - yet again.

"W-where are you from, Da-Danielle?"

"I'm from out of town, just staying here for the summer," she replied. She smiled again at Minji, who began to blush furiously and looked away.

Danielle looked at Haerin, desperate for some form of conversation, and spoke.

"Is there anything to do around here?" asked Danielle.

"Yeah, there's plenty," Haerin replied.

She did not want to make eye contact for too long, was afraid of not being able to unlock herself from the gaze, and so she spoke while still staring at the floor. Danielle continued to stare at Haerin.

"Such as?" Haerin gave in and looked up. She has nice eyes.

"Well, there's the little shops along the street," she said, while looking at Danielle, "and there's the nature around here. Plenty of wildlife and hills and beautiful scenery." Danielle smiled as the Ferris wheel was beginning to descend.

"Haerin!" Minji gasped, "Haerin, I feel sick." Haerin turned to her. She looked very, very sick indeed.

"I think I need to go home," she gasped, "I'm going to leave, okay?" The Ferris wheel came to a halt.

"I'll take you home," said Haerin, and Danielle looked up in concern. She did not want the ride to end just yet.

"No, no, it's still early, I'll get a ride from a friend. You just enjoy yourself. I'll be okay," Minji said quickly, while running out as soon as the doors opened.