Holiday Mishaps // Jenlisa

5: You Look Like Olaf

Jennie

After half an hour she began to realize perhaps how ridiculous she had been. When her mom died, she had left the following week, without many words to the girls about it. Jennie had turned off, thrown up every wall she had and shut them the hell out. It hadn't been fair on the girls, for a year it was basically radio silence on her part except for the occasional text or video call, she had removed those closest to her in her life as she did with every last thing around her.

When something went wrong, Jennie fled entirely falling into the trope of an angry foster kid, from a young age having been labelled a 'runner'. It was a term thrown around in her youth, one she despised making her sound flighty and terrified. Then again maybe that was exactly what the girl was, however, life had dealt her a shit hand and many truly awful homes and 'guardians'. Jennie had earned the right to be a runner, it was in her blood, ever fuelling her self preservation, gnawing at every crevice of her being.

Fists clenching she tucked them into her pants. Fuck it was cold, and this day was fairly warm for a winter day. Leaving in just a thermal shirt and flannel was a dick move in this climate; she needed to get the hell back, but her feet wouldn't let her. Continuing on the same path to nowhere as her skin reddened, lips chapped. Yes, this was definitely not the weather to be out in, but she knew she was wrong and as the ice bit at her fingertips, she thought that maybe just this was the punishment she deserved.

She could do better though, and she would. Jennie owed the girls that, an apology even if small; especially to Jisoo. Jennie originally was the only one who knew what Jisoo's dad did—how he cheated and how Jisoo was crumbling under the weight of what the hell to do. She was the only one who knew and yet she left her, days after finding out, acting like nothing had happened, filtering out her texts when the girl needed her most. Jennie had become everything she didn't want to be, falling into the habits of her mother. Flighty and unreliable.

A car slowed by her, fingers tightening hard around her keys.

"I know I'm from Thailand and all but isn't it far too cold to be roaming around in a shirt?"

Fuck. Jennie stilled, face turning to meet Lisa's as her hands balled in her pockets. "You been following me, Maeve Wiley? I don't know what it's like where you're from but here that's kinda creepy."

Lisa got out of the car, moving to open the other door. "Get the hell in, Jennie, you're freezing."

She felt her body moving, even if she didn't feel like she was doing it herself, the blonde shutting the door behind her before returning to the other side. With the heat of the car, she felt her skin burning, realising now just how cold it had been.

Shrugging off her coat, Lisa moved to wrap it around her shoulders, the smell of the girl invading her senses until it was all she could focus on.

"Let's grab you a coffee before we head back, there are hand warmers in the dash compartment."

***

Though she wasn't sure when they arrived or how long had passed, she felt the cheap cardboard cups of Benny's being pushed into her hands.

"Drink."

She didn't have to meet her gaze to know that it was a command, so she raised the liquid to her lips, wincing at the burning liquid hit chapped skin.

"You could have killed yourself out there you know?" Jennie sipped on something with considerably less cream than her usual. "You're wearing nothing, it's freaking freezing and you were wandering off to the middle of nowhere. What the hell, Jennie?"