can i ask you a question?

8

We have a group project with a very short deadline. We only have a limited amount of time to work on it, and because not everyone has the same time availability, we decided to pick one day after school to work on it and finish it. We're in the back of the class, talking about where we're going after school. Jisoo claims that it is noisy in their house because her nephews are there. Of course, I won't offer my place; I don't get along with some of the people in our group, so I'd rather lay on the railway track than invite them. Since our group began talking, my gaze has been fixed on Lisa. She's just listening, but you can tell she's sleepy.

"Let's do it at Lisa's," I said, drawing everyone's attention to me, including Lisa. Her eyes were filled with terror, as if I had said the worst thing to her. I don't see why she wouldn't offer her home. "If there are no valid reasons, then that's it," I declared.

"No, we can do it at my house; my mother is home, but she will only prepare food for us; it's quiet too," Rosie says, attempting to save Lisa from the situation. I keep my gaze fixed on Lisa, and she does the same to me.

"Uh... my house is quite far away," she admits.

"That wasn't a good enough reason; let's go." I get out of my seat, giving her no time to say anything else. When we're on our way out, Rosie stays close to me and keeps whispering how it's not a good idea and will make Lisa extremely uncomfortable. I simply don't care at this point. In any case, I don't believe there is anything to hide.

Jisoo, Lisa, and some of our groupmates rode their bikes ahead, while the rest of us hailed a cab to Lisa's house. When we arrived, the place was very decent; it was neither too small nor too large. When we entered, we were greeted kindly by a man in his late 50s. I'm assuming this is Lisa's father. He communicates well with us and also cracks jokes with some of our group members. The majority of them are laughing, while I simply smile at his antics. I turn to see Rosie smiling a little, expecting her to laugh at such silly jokes.

"Well, I'll leave you alone, I'll just be outside to smoke," he said, holding a cigarette, "tell me if you guys need anything, alright?" he says. He appears to be humorous and kind. "Lisa, will you take out some food for your friends?" he asks, smiling as he walks away. Lisa wasn't smiling or anything; she just wasn't showing any emotions. She did, however, go into the kitchen to get some food and drinks. Rosie sat down next to me again as we settled in.

"Please don't entertain her father so much," she says clearly enough for us to understand.

"He seems nice," one of our group members remarks.

"Well, because you're a stranger, he wanted you to think good of him," Rosie said softly, so only a few of us heard, including Jisoo and I. I was about to ask more about it when Lisa returned with the drinks and food. Lisa appears tense, as if she is trying not to mess things up.

"Can we use that table? We'll just divide the workload." Lisa nodded, so I pulled Jisoo and Rosie along with me. I've already divided our parts, but I wanted to ask Rosie a few more questions about it.

"Talk," I urged her.

"Look, as I've said, I'm not in a position to say anything, but since you've already pushed every possible button, I'll just say it: Lisa's dad is a narcissistic guy. Of course, you'll only see his good side because, well, we're not like Lisa who has spent her entire life living with such people. I've spent one holiday with Lisa, her dad, and her brother, and nothing goes well. Imagine living with not just not one, but two self-centered individuals, one of whom is Lisa's brother. Don't get me wrong, he never physically harms Lisa, but he does frequently manipulate her mind. He's the guy who turns happy events into disasters by spreading toxicity and negativity. His specialty is gaslighting too. Oh, and you haven't met her much worse brother, so please, for Lisa's sake, if we can just work on this and get it over with." Rosie rambles on as if she's just venting.

"Should we go?" Jisoo inquires.

"could have suggested a different location beforehand. So let's just get this over with," Rosie says, pulling us both back to where everyone is. When we returned, we saw Lisa's father walk in and approach her.

"Dear, could you please give me a couple of bucks? I'm out of cigarettes," he says.

"I need to buy food for this week, I just took out the majority," Lisa said, referring to the food she had just taken out for us. Her father chuckled, causing me to look up at him.

"Always the same excuse, you're just like your mother," he says, not raising his voice but with the same weight of an insult.

"Jisoo, can you do this part, while Rosie can start with this one?" I speak up to divert attention away from Lisa and her dad's conversation. I'm not sure how I'd react in that situation, especially knowing that people heard someone say that to you, so I tried to divert people's attention away from Lisa so she doesn't feel like we're all just listening to them talk. Lisa sits on the other side of the table, sighing but also looking for the task assigned to her without saying anything about what just happened.

I am aware that depending on the environment, people can change into very different personas. Lisa has been nothing but friendly and nice to everyone at school. She talks so much and makes so many jokes that you'd never guess this is a part of her life. Lisa at school is not the same person she is at home. It's heartbreaking to see, and I deeply regret pushing this.