Jumping to the Sky [1/?]
Title: Jumping to the Sky
Characters: Ria, Cindy, Leeteuk, Jaehyo, Kangin, Brittany (small appearance), Siwon, Na Eun
Pairing(s): (broken) TeukRia, (broken) Joondy, Jaecin, NaWon,
Genre: Angst, Romance, Friendship
Rating: PG-13
Length: ....
Summary: Cindy finds her boyfriend tangled in bed with one of her best friends, and finds herself lost in the world of romance. With a broken heart and a vow to never be hurt like this again, she teams up with Ria who, while always disasterous, always seems to be there to help whenever she's in trouble. With their friends Kangin, Yesung, and Jessica, they discover a whole new meaning of love, life, and friendship altogether.
A/N: I wrote more than this, but I didn't feel like the latter parts that I had written were suitable for an end to the chapter, so I cut it short and hopefully I can write the next chapter to be a little longer to make up for it. 5 pages a chapter (at least) is my new goal! Ria hwaiting!
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The city was cold. Snow had begun to fall as she clutched her jacket and shivered. With sympathetic eyes and a sigh, she reached out to hold her best friend's hand. It had been a long night, and neither she nor Cindy had expected to find their other best friend, Na Eun, tangled in the sheets with Joon. As tears fell down Cindy's milky cheeks, leaving traces of the emotional rain as they pitter-pattered to the ground. Ria squeezed her hand reassuringly, nudging her forward on the icy road they were forced to travel.
The lights were dizzying, and it only got colder as they walked along. Shoved side to side by rude passerbys, Ria would shout angrily and tried to protect the tiny crying girl by her side. It wasn't that she was strong herself, but things had to be separated by what was important and what was not, and at that moment, Cindy was important. “It's okay, just let him go. He's not worth our time.” Ria froze, not sure if Cindy was talking about Joon or the man who had almost knocked her into the road. “But...” She was silenced by a surprisingly strong look in Cindy's eyes, and suddenly the person she was used to seeing reappeared. The girl who could take anything life threw at her, and turn in into a masterpiece. She was the opposite of Ria, who always seemed to find herself surrounded by wreckage.
A blizzard appeared.
-One Year Earlier-
Ria stared blankly at the paper in front of her. It was 3am, and although her project was due in 6 hours, she hadn't written one word of it. Sure she could always wing it like she had so many times before, but for some reason her brain just wouldn't function properly. She found herself scribbling his name and erasing it. Over and over again, it was the same routine. Stupid love and stupid feelings.
She sighed and lazily picked up her phone. Of course there were no messages, Cindy had decided to actually sleep for once, and she didn't feel like calling Eunhyuk since he was busy watching porn and he scarred her for life with his moaning sounds the last time she called. She also thought of texting Leeteuk, but since she had recently saw him hugging all over random girls at school, she decided not to and threw her phone on the bed.
"Screw this." She muttered and focused on her paper. 2 hours later, she surprised herself with how well she could make up random crap on the spot to make herself seem smart. "I'll just ask Siwon to help me before school starts," she smirked as she closed her paper in her binder for school and placed it in her backpack. Of course it faded into a doomed expression as soon as she saw the clock, and she quickly dived into bed, praying that somehow she would be able to make up for hours of lost sleep within seconds.
However, life had other plans, when the birds started squawking so loudly it deafened her. She rolled her eyes and pounded the pillow with her fists as she whined. "Ugh, I'm gonna fail everything tomorrow." She frowned, tossing and turning as the thought of shooting every bird in the tree outside pulsed through her mind. But sleepiness soon outweighed noisiness, and with a pout, she hugged her pillow, softly drifting to sleep.
Meanwhile, across the street and down the block, Leeteuk sat on his bed staring at the ceiling. He had come home from school that day feeling depressed. No matter what he did in an attempt to make the girl he liked jealous seemed to work. Instead it just seemed to make her drift even further out of his reach, and that obviously bothered him.
He had tried to ignore the depression by finishing his homework as soon as he got home, but that went by too quickly and he found himself thinking about her yet again. So he tried eating away his problems but only ended up having a stomach ache. In the end, he was stuck lying in his bed, completely awake as thoughts of her kept his heart racing. Sure, he had been quite the playboy in the past, but, somehow, he had lost all interest in the other girls as soon as he realized his feelings for her.
"Aish... I'm going crazy..." He mumbled and rolled over on his stomach, squeezing the sheets in frustration as he tried to figure out what he could possibly do to get her attention. He'd tried everything that Heechul had mentioned, but nothing worked. Maybe he was asking the wrong person. Maybe he should call Siwon, he was dating her other best friend after all. He sighed at the thought, pulling his phone out from underneath his pillow to see the time. It was 5am, and there was no way that good guy would be awake this late.
Last time he checked, Siwon's bed time was 9pm, and he always slept by then. As for why, Leeteuk didn't have a clue. It wasn't like his parents made him, but he did. At least he did on school nights. So he got out his ipod, growing even more frustrated as cheesy love songs started playing. Why did all these songs seem to apply to his feelings for her? He shook his head and stared at his phone, the wallpaper being a picture of him, but that wasn't the reason it was the default.
If you looked closer, you could see Maria in the background. She was laughing, holding a pink flower to her nose, probably inhaling the sweet scent as she talked to her friends who were also in there, but he didn't bother to get their heads in. Her face was the only reason he even kept the picture, since he didn't particularly like how his face was angled in there. "What's wrong with me?" He frowned, pushing his bangs back and breathing in deeply as he stared at her number in his phone.
"She's probably asleep... Heechul said she keeps her phone on silent anyway... I just want to hear her voice..." He tried to talk himself out of it, surely he had some ounce of reason left in him, but then decided it was worth a shot. Her voicemail was good enough, and he really, really wanted to hear it. He ate a yawn as he pressed the green button, calling her, his heart beating at the speed of light.
After giving the nonexistant camera a "what is this I don't even.." look, she picked it up to see Leeteuk's name across the caller ID. She immediately felt awake as her heart started racing, and she quickly answered before she missed the call. "Hello?" There was a pause, as to why she had no idea, before he answered with a simple "Hi..." She blinked into the dim light, which was from the rising sun, and wondered why in the world he was calling her at this hour.
"Did I wake you up?" She could somehow imagine him smiling as he spoke, and felt herself smiling too. "No I was finishing my paper all night." She kind of laughed, wondering what his excuse for staying up so late would be, but he didn't say. Instead, he muttered an "Oh..." and they were left in silence for the next 15 minutes as they both tried to figure out what to say. She found herself leaning against the wall, eyes starting to close sleepily and stifling a yawn, when he suddenly started snoring on the other end of the line.
She grinned, forcing herself to not die laughing and rolled around on her bed in amusement. She almost wished she was there in person, to see his sleeping face, but then decided it was good she wasn't. She already liked him so much, and onesided crushes always hurt more. "Yah, why did you call me if you were just going to fall asleep immediately after hearing my voice?" She scoffed playfully, not expecting him to do anything, and turned off her now screaming alarm clock.
"Because I love you." He answered, and her eyes widened as she dropped the phone on her bed. 'Wait. Calm down. He's asleep. He's probably dreaming that I'm Lee Hyori or something. Yes. That's totally it.' She shook her head vehemently and lightly slapped herself until she finally calmed herself enough to hang up on him. He could never like her, people that she liked just didn't do that sort of thing. This was all just a misunderstanding, right? She stumbled into the shower, deciding that this needed to be a cold one.
Hours later, she sat in the middle of class, trying to avoid looking at Leeteuk, who kept staring as if he wanted her attention. She had failed to locate Siwon, and her heart was somewhere in between her left or right foot as she imagined what would happen when the teacher asked for her paper. She bit her lip, wondering how she should act, and proceeded to stare at her desk as if it were the most fascinating thing in the world. 'Please forget.' She squeezed her eyes shut, until she felt something poking her arm. Heechul grinned at her, reaching her a paper and winking. Mouthing a 'what?' as she took it from him, he pointed to Leeteuk and then to the paper. She had turned her eyes away from him when he started making heart symbols and kissy faces, and noticed Leeteuk facepalming. Was he blushing? There's no way. It must be hot in there.
When she read over it, it was the perfect composition that she lacked for the subject. Her smile was uncontrollable, and it made his heart practically die to see her so happy because of him. Sure, he'd end up with a failed grade, but this was totally worth it. There were the sounds of pencils scratching at paper, and even a few coughs as the teacher droned on about God knows what. Her eyelids felt heavy as she stared at her textbook, the work somehow being completed by her tired hands, and she yawned, leaning on the desk for comfort.
…............................
"Ia...ia....RIA." Her head shot up and she came face to face with Na Eun, who had her arms crossed and was clutching a packed lunch for two. "Class is over. You fell asleep. I'm surprised the teacher didn't catch you." Her friend stared at her, knowing something was definitely off, and made a face. "Did you even sleep last night??" Maria shook her head no, and sighed. "Isn't it lunch time?" Na Eun blinked a few times, and nodded, "Huh, oh, yeah. Why?" Maria smiled sleepily and stood up from her desk. "You should go find Siwon. You know he waits for you every day." Na Eun's cheeks pinkened at the mention of her boyfriend, and flailed, whacking her friend in an extremely girly way while laughing obnoxiously in embarrassment. Maria smiled, exchanging a few more words as they walked out of the classroom, then parted ways. Na Eun running off to the abandoned section of the school to meet her boyfriend, and Maria rushing to the roof, only to run into Leeteuk on the stairs.
"Oh... Hi..." He mumbled, looking down as she paused and half smiled. "Hi..." They stood there for a few moments, neither knowing what to say until he pointed up. "Going up there for lunch?" He smiled, his cute dimple suddenly appearing, and she blushed as she nodded a yes. He bit his lip, attempting to hide his uncontrollable grin, and lifted his backpack. "Can I join you?"
"O-of course. I mean... If you want to..." She smiled as he took her hand, not even realizing that he had done so and absent-mindedly intertwining their fingers, making sure she followed him. It seemed like he didn't want her out of his sight even for a moment, not that she had any problem with that. He led her to a corner on the empty roof where the wind wouldn't disturb them, and the sun was conveniently on the opposite side of the building, making the area shaded and comfortable.
He still had a huge grin on his face as they sat down, and it made her heart beat even faster to be so close to him. As he stared at her, he remembered the night before, and squirmed uncomfortably. He vaguely remembered being half asleep and saying that he loved her, but he wasn't really sure if that had been a dream or if reality. If it wasn't a dream, then did she hear him? And if so, what did she think when she heard it? “Ria...” Her eyelashes fluttered in surprise as his hand reached around her waist and he pulled her face towards his.
There was complete silence as their lips slowly and awkwardly met, both not really sure how this whole kissing thing worked. The sky was bluer than ever before, and while the place was usually gloomy looking, it seemed bright, and almost musical in the way that everything seemed to have it's own place where everything magically fit in. It was almost beautiful.
Almost.
-Present Day-
There was a loud sound as Ria slammed her book shut, and she sighed as she tossed it at Kangin's head, which happened to be directly behind her. “Ouch! Watch where you're throwing things!” He pouted and rubbed his head vigorously. “I am watching. I hit your head on purpose, pabo.” She stuck her tongue out at him and laughed, dodging a crumpled piece of paper he had thrown as Cindy walked in.
“You guys are so loud, I could hear you from the girl's bathroom.” She grinned and sat down, taking a piece of peach candy from Kangin's outstretched hand and devouring it like a candy obsessed beast. Her friends watched in amusement as she licked her lips happily and sang her own song about candy land and wonderful sugar flavors of love. Whatever that meant.
But their alone time would have to be short lived, and while they did arrive at their classroom rather early, they weren't the only people at their school who wouldn't be late for school. A boy walked in, and while he was tall and awkward, he managed to look like an ullzang. With a lingering glance at Cindy, he half smiled, taking the seat in front of her and scribbling in a notebook.
Cindy didn't know what it was about him that made her so nervous. She had settled on the belief that he was an alien from a different planet who had come for the sole purpose of testing her heart by making it palpitate, but when she had told Ria, her friend had only choked on her drink and practically beaten Kangin to death as she almost died of laughter.
Okay, maybe he wasn't an alien. But there was definitely something weird about him. Something different from any other guy she had come across at her school. Before she realized it, her pen had dropped out of her hand and rolled onto the floor beside his desk. As she reached to pick it up, her hand met his, and they shared a moment of silence. Their eyes staring into each other as both wondered what they could do to make this seem totally not awkward.
Unfortunately for them, that only made it even more awkward. Since neither of them could think of anything, they both just froze as they waited for the other to do something. Anything. "Um, I hate to interrupt you guys, but you're in the middle of the aisle and I can't get to my desk." Brittany, a friend of Ria's, smiled awkwardly, wondering if she had ruined a special moment for the two. But she ceased to worry as Cindy only looked relieved that someone had 'rescued' her from her odd situation.
They went off into their own little worlds once again, the girls chatting amongst themselves about the new boy bands and such, and the guys merely scoffed at how "gay" they thought they were, only to get hit with textbooks by Cindy and Ria. No one insulted their precious oppars. No one. Honestly, Jaehyo thought it was absolutely adorable how Cindy would blush and giggle about them. And it made her even more adorable to him when she would get angry. Her passion for what was important to her was what attracted him to her at first, and now he found himself smiling as he watched her rant to the majority of boys in their class about how stupid they were by saying things they knew absolutely nothing about.
He blushed as he noticed that Ria had totally caught him staring at them, and she grinned at him knowingly. With a wink and a thumbs up, she mouthed a 'go for it!' making his face turn even redder. He quickly looked away, burying his face into his book, only somewhat hearing Cindy ask her who she was smiling at. "No one. Can't I smile at the wall or is that illegal or something-" She was laughing by now as her friend interrogated her suspiciously. "You don't give walls thumbs ups and say stuff to them!"