90 Days | Jenlisa

Chapter 3 - Birthday

*Lisa's POV*

Today is March 27. My birthday. The day I have eagerly waited for six years -- my nineteenth birthday.

I got to my senior year a couple of weeks back. As of my junior year, it ended more tragically than I expected. After pissing Jennie off, I knew life at school would be awful, but it was shitty than I expected. Since it was almost time for exams, Jennie focused more on that. Other than her usual acts of bullying, like, tripping me, pushing me off the stairs, taking away my stuff, and making me do her, or more likely, her friend's chores, Jennie refrained from doing something else. Honestly, that was making me uneasy because the more time she would take, the more I would suffer.

Though Jennie was quiet, her friends and others were as eager as before to top the place in bullying me. One time, Jongin made me eat a sandwich on the floor. I didn't mind it; one thing my Appa taught me was never to waste food. Also, I have known the pain of hunger, so if there's something that I value the most in my life, it's food. But the humiliation was skin-ripping. Literally, the whole high school was there in the cafeteria that day. Most of them enjoyed the little show Jongin put on, and the remaining didn't care. Jennie was there too, with her friends. They all looked at us like I was a clown in a circus, except Jennie. She was eating peacefully as if nothing except her and her friends existed. The way she showed no care had me thinking, what's going on in her head?

Then, one day, Jihyo made me unclog a toilet with my bare hand. I refused and tried my best to get out of the situation, even begging, but they didn't back off. I smelled like shit the whole day. Another time, it was a girl in my class, I don't know her name, but her father is the Commissioner General of Police, which I clearly remember because she mentioned it to threaten me. She had me locked in the boy's locker room twice a week. The stare those boys would give was annoying. They were practically undressing me with their eyes. Also, my Math book went missing thrice. I missed my P.E clothes one more time, and my bicycle was miraculously punctured every other day.

Work has been hard lately as well. Due to special classes and exam preparations, I couldn't make it to the shift on time for many days. But I knew Mr. Lee couldn't fire me. One of his other part-timers quit recently to prepare for college, and he was having difficulty finding someone new. So, instead of actually firing me, he would fire me with words, sometimes even in front of the customers.

But the real trouble came on the first day of the exam. I knew I could expect something truly troublesome with Jennie, but I didn't expect her to try and have me expelled. Long story short, I was accused of cheating. But thank God, I was saved. There's this one girl in our class, Park Chaeyoung. She doesn't talk too much, but she's friends with everyone. She is really lovely and kind at heart. She is one of the few who haven't bullied me. She usually doesn't pay much attention to what happens around her and has obviously never spoken up for me. So, I don't know what triggered her that day, but she did, and as a result, I was saved from much humiliation and dismissal. I am truly indebted to her, and I even went to thank her, but she said it's not her I should be thankful. God knows what she meant, but for me, she was like a knight in school uniform. Unlike others, she spoke up. Not that everyone in my school bullies me. There were some students who looked at me with sympathy, but I hated that most. People who let the wrong happen are equally guilty as the ones who do wrong. If they think what's happening to me is not correct, which obviously is, then why don't they say anything? Everyone knows money rules our school, and those who look at me with sympathy are as powerful as the rest, but they are choosing silence. So, what can a financially deprived person like me do in such a situation where money and power have the upper hand? Moreover, I don't have anyone to stand by me.

But everything is going to change today. I will no longer be the outcast Lisa or the Lisa with no one to look out for. Because Today is the day I have anticipated the most, the day I will get to meet my parents. Right now, I am on the bus. My father lives a bit far from my school. It's around an hour's bus ride. Since it was already evening, the bus was packed, but I managed to get a seat around the back. The weather also seems nice Today. I could barely contain my excitement. Finally, I will get to see them again and tell them how much I missed them. They will surely be proud to know that I have grown so big and am doing well. I close my eyes, inhaling the slightly cold air imagining how it will feel to be in my parent's arms for the first time. I want to hug them tightly and get their kisses until I can't take it anymore. I have missed out on nineteen years, and I don't want to miss any more. But there's still one person who I miss a lot. The one who wanted me happy more than anything. The one who wanted this moment to happen more than me. My Appa.