After Dark Games

The End, its in the stars

Yuri peeled off her drenched blazer and threw it to the floor. She watched as fat droplets fell to the ground from her hair. Outside, she heard nothing. Naturally the rain stopped the moment she found shelter.

"Tiffany's in her room, she wants to see you."

She looked at Jiyong's head appear and disappear from behind the dining room wall.

"Of course she does."

Yuri grabbed her blazer and stomped down the hall. She knocked on the closed door twice before opening it.

"If you want to punish me then do it quickly because it'll be the perfect ending for this horrible day."

Tiffany turned in her chair to Yuri. She had time to cool off and although she was still furious, she was rational.

"I could understand why Seunghyun didn't support me but you-why are you against my relationship with her?"

"She's a human! What are you going to do when she's sixty and you still look like you're seventeen?"

"We'll figure that out when we get there."

Yuri stuttered as she tried to think of more excuses but there wasn't anything else she could think of. She didn't know what else to fight back with.

"Why is she so special?" she asked, when what she was really asking was why is she better than me.

"She treats me like a human, which is something nobody has done in a while."

Yuri saw it now: all the hindrances she procured against their relationship were actually reasons for them to stay together.

*

Jessica pulled on a thick clump of weeds and dumped it into the growing pile. The sun was setting and the air was much more favorable for garden work than it was yesterday.

"Do you need some help?"

Tiffany crouched next to Jessica and grasped a fistful of plants.

"No, wait!" Jessica wrapped her gloved hands around Tiffany's to stop her from pulling, "that's a budding rose, see?" She turned the plant to show Tiffany the bud.

"Oh. It all looks the same."

Jessica picked out the weeds from Tiffany's handful, "Pull out these. Not these," she said, showing the bud again.

Tiffany dusted her hands on her knees.

"Maybe you should do it. By the time I'm finished, half of your rose garden will be gone."

Jessica smiled and went back to working while Tiffany sat on a stone that boarded the roses. They hadn't spoken since the incident with Yuri and Jessica wasn't sure how to approach the subject without angering Tiffany.

"Yuri was here," she tried, but it was obviously the wrong choice to start with.

Tiffany sounded composed but her narrowed eyes looked deadly. "What?" she spat.

Jessica quickly explained. "She didn't do anything. We just talked."

"About what?"

"Nothing really. She was acting kind of weird."

Tiffany thought back to her encounter with Yuri that afternoon. She would admit as well that there had been something off about the girl. Whatever it was though, it hardly mattered. The important thing was that their disagreement had been resolved.

"She's not going to bother you anymore; I'll make sure of it."

The words sounded too final for Jessica's comfort.