Imperfectly Perfect [Chaelisa]

sixteen

Trigger warning for ableism/ableist slurs.

-

Chaeyoung and Lisa are curled up on the couch together, Vampire Diaries playing in the background, when Jules walks into the room and sends Lisa an odd look that Chaeyoung has trouble deciphering.

"Sandra and Ava are here," Jules says, not sounding too pleased about the idea. Chaeyoung isn't too happy either, because she's comfortable on the couch and she's watching her favourite show and she doesn't want to have to turn it off. "They're just talking to mom. She was saying they could've stayed here instead of a hotel, but I'm so glad they're not."

Almost immediately, Lisa detaches herself from Chaeyoung and moves to the other end of the couch, leaving the older girl confused. "Jules, don't be rude. They've never done anything to you. Did you tell them I'm in here?"

"Yeah," Jules heads towards the door. "I'm going to my room until they leave. See you later."

Once Jules leaves the room, Chaeyoung looks over to Lisa with flushed cheeks. "Can we cuddle again? I was really comfy and-"

"Sorry, Rosie," Lisa sends her a sad smile, "I can't cuddle you like that when they're here. They'll jump to conclusions and... I don't want that to happen."

"Oh," Chaeyoung looks down, disappointed. "Okay. I'll just... stay here then."

She turns back to the TV and tries to concentrate on the show, about to open her mouth and tell Lisa another fact about a certain part, when she's startled by loud screams coming from the doorway. Instinctively, Chaeyoung's hand shoot up and she covers her ears, closing her eyes in an attempt to filter out any visual stimuli, because the last thing she wants is to go into sensory overload. She doesn't expect Lisa to join in on the squealing as well, and she curls up in a ball on the couch in an attempt to make herself smaller.

She hums to herself and focuses on that, trying her best to tune out. She nearly has a heart attack when there's a hand on her shoulder and she looks up to see Lisa and two unfamiliar girls staring directly at her.

Immediately, Chaeyoung directs her gaze to her feet as Lisa speaks to her. "Chaeyoung, these are my two best friends from home, Ava and Sandra."

Chaeyoung swallows the lump in her throat and nods, not looking up. "Hello. I am Park Chaeyoung. I am Lisa's... um, friend."

One of the girls - Chaeyoung isn't sure which - clears her throat. "Oh, okay then. We were hoping for some catch up time with Lisa, so..."

Lisa mutters something to her friends and they laugh, and it makes Chaeyoung incredibly paranoid, because usually when people whisper, they're saying bad things about her. She feels even worse when Lisa and her two friends sit down on the couch and Lisa won't even let their legs touch.

Chaeyoung closes her eyes and tries to hold Lisa's hand, because holding her girlfriend's hand always makes her less nervous. She feels like she wants to cry when Lisa wrenches her hand away and mutters a sad not now.

"So... Chaeyol, was it?" One of the girls she identifies as Ava says. "How did you meet Lisa?"

Chaeyoung frowns, because she's asked two different questions and they're tangling together in her head. "I- um... can you slow down, please?"

Both Ava and Sandra giggle, but Chaeyoung knows it's not in a good way, and she wants to cry when Lisa acts like nothing happened.

Ava speaks again, her words all spaced out and slow like she's talking to a three year old. "Okay. How. Did. You. Meet. Lisa?"

"At school," Chaeyoung gets out, not liking the other girl's tone, because she knows it's bad. "I met her at school and she was my new friend."

Chaeyoung catches the other girl, Sandra, whisper something to her sister and Lisa that sounds a lot like, "they let her into a school?" and she doesn't understand why she's saying that, because everyone their age goes to school. It's the law.