YOU & ME | JENLISA

Chapter 76

Jennie

"Woo!" Rosé and I cheered, hugging one another but Lisa didn't react, she just grunted 'fine' and asked if we could leave now. I said goodbye to my friends and went to collect my bag from my gym locker, Lisa followed me into the locker rooms, I'd say she must be feeling pretty brave with the lack of recording device but she tapped anxiously on the metal locker while I keyed in my combination so I figured she was just angsty about her file.

"Four zeros, really?" She arched a brow and I narrowed my eyes at her. Her smile fell when she laid her eyes on the flowers. They were a beautiful display of sweet-scented, pink and lilac carnations in a box vase, tied with a pink ribbon. "Jennie." she worded quietly, her voice raw with emotion again.

"You didn't need to do this you know? The deal was to meet her once and tell her that you're my girlfriend, not make her fall in love with you."

"Lisa, I wanted to. I can stop by your house on the way home." I grabbed my bag, slung it across my chest and closed my locker door.

"You've got my file?" She asked, impatiently.

"Yes." I tapped my bag.

"Good, don't bring that thing to school again." I bit back a smile at her panic. I'm pretty sure there was nothing in her file that whole school didn't already know.

For the most part our walk home was silent, things between Lisa and I always felt awkward. But that feeling of nervousness and excitement fed me with adrenaline. Awkward was good, it showed that we cared. I cared about what I say to her, she cared about what she says to me.

"So..." she kicked the pile of dry leaves that had fallen at our feet. "Are you and Rosé together or whatever?" I swished to face her so fast I almost gave myself whiplash. Her expression was so serious and mine was shell shocked. After a delayed few seconds, I burst out laughing.

"You're so random Lisa, what the fuck?" She shrugged one shoulder casually brushing off her comment as if it was nothing out of the ordinary.

"You have all these guys asking you out but you always seem to turn them down and I've never known you to have a boyfriend. Then there's Rosé, you guys are super touchy-feely."

"Ok... I am not with Rosé and I'm just not into the guys at school. How about you though, huh? How come you've never had a girlfriend?"

"Because everyone is terrified of me? Or because I would have to say goodbye to my girlfriend every night to go fuck some other woman? Or because I don't have time for a girlfriend? Or because I might be going to jail in a few months?"

"I'm sorry Lisa, I didn't think about that."

"Nah, it's okay. One day I will start somewhere afresh where nobody knows me. I don't have anything tying me to this place once my mom passes on." She turned the key into the door and pushed it open. The musty smell of dust and cigarette smoke blasted in my face. The same drugs lay out on the coffee table, untouched from the last time I was here. The sink had breakfast dishes in and the living room curtains were drawn.

"Mom?" Lisa called out. Her eyes fleeted towards the sink and she frowned. "Sorry, I didn't get round to doing the dishes this morning, I was running late and I wasn't expecting to bring company back with me."

"That's okay, you don't need to explain anything to me. I'm not judging."

She gave me a small smile and knocked on her mom's door before poking her head inside. "Mom, can we come in?"

She mumbled something sleepily but then she pushed the door open and she sat up, welcoming me with a warm smile. "Jen, you came back."

"I did and brought you some flowers." Her eyes lit up, sparkling in a shade of hazel that I didn't notice before. Lisa had her eyes - except her had more life left in them, they were brighter and twinkled more but both were still beautiful in their own ways.

"Jennie also made you a care package." she pulled out the small basket of goodies from her bag.

"Oh darling girl, you didn't need to do all of this." She gasped, wheezing out her breaths with a struggle. "Thank you so much."

"Can I sit?" I asked, taking the basket from Lisa's hand. Her mom scooted her legs to one side of her bed so I could sit on the edge. I took each item out of the basket and explained my reasons for buying each one. Her mom seemed really touched by the gesture and it really warmed my heart that I could light up a sick lady's day with something so simple.