READY FOR LOVE | JENLISA

Chapter 53

Lisa

After nearly a semester of anatomy lab, the lingering stench of formaldehyde doesn't bother me as much anymore. It has become a familiar scent as I step into the small classroom and walk over to my table, with my girlfriend's back to me.

Rosé looks up and catches me walking in, with a knowing smirk on her face. Jennie probably filled her in earlier this morning about our new official relationship status. Slowly, quietly, I sneak up behind Jennie, leaning over her shoulder to smack an unexpected kiss on her cheek. She jumps, mildly startled.

Twisting at the waist, she looks back to see my grinning face, a grin breaking out across her own.

"Hi, girlfriend." I murmur, leaning down to plant a proper kiss on her mouth.

"Hi." she responds, a cute little blush spreading across her cheeks. I don't know if I'll ever get over how adorably shy she gets after I show her affection. I shrug off my backpack and jacket before taking my seat, reaching over and grabbing the leg of Jennie's chair. Dragging her closer to me, I drape my arm over the back of her chair and place another kiss to the side of her head, causing her to giggle and shake her head, amused at my likely overkill of affection. But I can't help it. It's like everything inside of me itches to be near her and to touch her.

"Alright, you two love birds are so cute I want to throw up in my mouth." Rosé sarcastically jokes.

Jennie's cheeks burn red in embarrassment as she shrinks lower in her chair, and I can't stop beaming. I glance at Rosé and she gives me a secret smile, letting me know that she's happy for her best friend, and amused by Jennie's agony.

For the first time, I glance across our table to find rat boy madder than a hornet. I can practically see the blood boiling beneath his pale ass skin, the murderous glare in his beady little eyes. His jaw is clinched tight and his nostrils are flared. He looks like he's going to implode in T minus ten seconds.

I have to admit, with pure satisfaction, it kind of makes me happy to see him so pissed off and jealous. I'd be even happier if I knew that it didn't upset Jennie so much, though.

Honestly, after he stormed out of class yesterday like a child, I didn't think he'd show up to lab today. I thought he'd be locked up in his room, pouting like a baby. Especially since it's review day in this class for the final. I thought he'd think he was too good, too smart, to even show up and review any of the material. But I guess he's still trying to keep tabs on Jennie.

Irene walks into the classroom, winded, while carrying stacks of papers. She sets them on her desk and walks over to the computer, booting it up while smoothing out her red hair that's fallen out of her haphazard bun. I can tell the week leading up to finals is really taking its toll on her, having to juggle being a grad student and TA.

While watching Irene, I accidentally catch a pair of envious green eyes. Somi scowls at me, or Jennie rather, with her arms tightly folded over her chest. I can tell that she's analysing every little thing, scrutinising. Wondering where she went wrong in her conquest to get us to end up together. Wondering what makes Jennie so special or what game I'm trying to play.

"Alright, everyone." Irene cuts in, gaining everyone's attention. Somi's eyes reluctantly peel away from my direction. "As you all know, the final for this lab section is next week on Wednesday at 8:00 a.m." Irene announces, causing a couple of students to groan at the reminder. "I know that it's way earlier than our normal time..." she cuts in, "... but just think, at least you're getting it over right at the start of the day." she finishes, trying to be optimistic. "For today..." she continues, grabbing her stack of papers and passing them out, "I've made some review sheets for you to study over and a mock final for you to try out. Turn it in by the end of the class period and I'll give you a few bonus points. Now I know that your professor has come up with the brilliant idea of having you take the finals in pairs." she says cynically, letting us all know that she's not too keen on the idea. "So work with your partner on the mock final and figure out how you want to execute the real thing by either divvying up the sections or studying it all each and coming together. Whatever you want. Rats are in the back corner if you want to grab one to study, and let me know if you have any questions."

Wordlessly, Jennie and Rosé stand up and get in line to go grab a rat, leaving me at the table with rat boy.

Alone. Thanks guys.

I feel the tension coming off him in waves, and I'm pretty sure that if he clinches his jaw any further some of his teeth are going to start cracking. Not wanting to focus my attention on him any longer and get into trouble for punching him in the face for looking at me for way too long, I grab my phone out of my pocket and stare at it, pretending to be unbothered. I scroll through some of my socials to distract myself from the hostile and awkward tension, until I hear a small collision and a loud, surprised gasp.

I immediately look up to find Jennie stood frozen, her eyes wide and jaw slack. Taking a closer look, I see something spilled all over her light pink sweater. A girl from Somi's table is standing in front of her, holding a tray that the cadaver rats are usually set in, and I look down to see a rat at Jennie's feet.

"Oops." the girl, one of Somi's minions, says insincerely, giving her best grimace.

The legs of my chair screech loudly against the tile as I get up and immediately go over to assess the situation.

"Seriously!?" Rosé spits at the girl, her eyes narrowing and growing hard behind her glasses. "Don't you watch where you're going?"

I come up behind Jennie, wrapping my arm around her and protectively tucking her into my side, getting a large whiff of formaldehyde. Looking down at her, I realise that the formaldehyde had spilled down her sweater from the rat which Somi's minion must have dropped on her.

"What's going on here?" Irene jumps up from her chair and walks over, her eyes flicking between the four of us.

"It was an accident." Somi's minion insists, her overly sweet tone telling me that she's lying. I glance over at Somi, finding a smirk on her face, letting me know that this was no accident at all.

"She ran right into Jennie and spilled the tray all over her." Rosé informs Irene, annoyed, gesturing to Jennie's soiled sweater. Jennie grabs the front of her sweater, trying her best to pull the wet fabric away from her skin, grimacing.

"Jennie, you need to go change right away." Irene instructs, her voice surprisingly calm. "Do you have any extra clothes?"

A flash of worry passes in Jennie's eyes. "No."

She immediately looks to Rosé who gives her an apologetic look, letting her know that she doesn't have any extra clothes with her, either. Instantly, I whip off my hoodie and offer it to her.

"Jennie, go change in the restroom and be sure to wash your skin off thoroughly." Irene instructs. "It should be fine, but if your skin starts to get red or irritated let me know immediately."

"Come on, baby." I say, gently grabbing her arm and leading her out of the lab. She carefully steps over the dead rat at her feet and follows me down the hall to the nearest restroom, still clutching the front of her sweater, preventing it from touching anymore of her skin.