Golden Girl | Chaelisa

2

Lisa wakes to pressure on her chest and stifling heat all around her. Her bones ache for the first few minutes of morning, once again reminding her that she shouldn't fall asleep in the garage.

It takes far too much effort to get up. Lisa moves like someone who has aged far beyond her years and not a teenager. There have been many times where she has gone to the mirror, expecting to be met with wrinkles and sullen eyes, and been surprised by the youth on her face.

Now is not one of those times.

Lisa startles herself into full consciousness as soon as she feels the unfamiliar scrape of tiny claws on her body. She nearly falls off her bed (a pile of blankets, scraped together and stolen from Jieun) and hits her head against a cold, hard floor.

In her blurry vision, Lisa can make out a small, grayish figure retreating into the shadows.

"Stupid fucking cat." Lisa grumbles in a tone that's rougher than gravel and far from her usual voice. She clears her throat, hearing a mocking meow float out from one of the room's corners. "Yeah, yeah. Meow, meow, me-"

"Lis? Are you arguing with the cat?" Jieun appears out of nowhere.

Lisa wishes that someone in this house would give her an ounce of privacy, but she's had this argument a thousand times before. If she wants privacy, she can go upstairs to her own room. Lisa hasn't done that in weeks. Months, maybe. Not since...

"Maybe." Lisa shrugs off her aunt's raised eyebrow in favor of rubbing the exhaustion from her eyes.

Her palms are still spotted green-yellow and pink with bruises, but the cracks are almost healed completely. Lisa blinks, inspecting her hands more carefully, seeing that the fresh cuts are now glazed over with new skin. She can probably play again today.

"Leo loves you." Jieun says, referring to the cat.

"Leo is a demon." Lisa responds. Her point is only confirmed by the hiss that mysteriously comes from somewhere in the garage.

Demon cat.

As if hearing her thoughts, the cat only hisses louder at Lisa, to the point that she decides to leave for fear of her safety. She wanders out into the kitchen, abandoning Jieun in the garage with her vicious pet.

It's not long after Lisa pours herself a hefty bowl of Lucky Charms when the doorbell rings. Lisa lifts her spoon, watching sugary milk teem out of the utensil, unbothered by the noise. None of her friends have the decency to use the bell, so the visitor is presumably Jien's.

Unfortunately, Lisa can still distantly hear Jieun cooing over her cat and (equally unfortunately) the guest rings the bell a second time.

Lisa reluctantly sets aside her precious cereal and stands, already on her way to murder whoever is ruining her nice, quiet morning. She opens the door, but a fist collides with her face before she can force out a greeting.

"Ow." Lisa's hand flies up to her forehead, both trying to shield and comfort herself. She recoils and whoever it is takes that as an invitation to step into her house. "What the fuck?"

"Shoot. I am so sorry. I rang your doorbell twice and I just thought it was broken or something, so I... I really didn't mean to hit you." The girl rambles on in a familiar, hurried voice that is actually quite soothing.

Despite her better judgement, Lisa drops her defenses and allows her hands to fall to her side. Pain radiates through her skull in one solid ache, but Lisa keeps herself still. She refuses to show how much it hurts, now that she knows her attacker is only Roseanne Park in bunny slippers.