YOU & ME | JENLISA

Chapter 94

Jennie

"Staring at her is weird you know." Rosé's small voice spoke from the floor. I tore my eyes away from the crowd and dropped them to her.

"I made a complete show of myself."

"Jen, she's Lisa." She replied calmly, emphasising Lisa's name. "The badass hoodlum from the trailer park. People are shit scared of her because of her reputation. She's in trouble with the cops, she causes fights, she takes drugs, and she rapes girls."

"She's none of that!!" I interrupted.

"Exactly. That's just what she wants people to see and in three weeks time, she's dancing around in those tight pants, leaning on you for withdrawal support and kissing you sweetly. I thinking we're past the stage of embarrassment."

Rosé zipped up her bag and stood up, stretching her out limbs. "The way I see it..." she began, pausing to choose her words carefully. "The app doesn't exist here, for one week she's not making money from fucking other girls. For this week, you can be her only girl."

I laughed bitterly. "I'm not doing that."

"Jen, you've been eye-fucking her for weeks."

"I haven't!!" I screeched, taking a sip of my water to hide the twitch of my laughter.

"You've totally been eye fucking her." She reiterated with an accompanying head nod. "Let's make a pact, in Europe we don't let fear hold us back. We take risks, we seek adventure and we do one thing every day that makes us smile."

"I love that." Already, I smiled wildly.

"Gather around!" That sharp whistle tone was most unpleasant at three in the morning after a ten hour flight. Principal Yang stood in front of everyone holding a stack of plastic cards in her hands. I blinked through the lobby lights, they were low and soothing. I half expected a dirt cheap hotel located in a rough area, but we got a five star hotel, overlooking the Eiffel tower.

"Here, I have a list of pre-assigned rooms, this is to stop any shenanigans from happening. They're not changeable so don't bother asking or taking it upon yourselves to do it. As we move through the different excursions, your roommate will also become your buddy. You must sit with them on the bus, go around attractions with them, and make sure they don't get left behind."

A mumble of tired complaints broke out all around me. I diverted my gaze towards Krystal, she stood out from the crowd by her fiery ginger hair. Principal Yang started listing off pairs, and handing key cards out one by one.

"Rosé and Sarah." She called.

"Seriously?" Sarah huffed, shooting Rosé a sour look that made lemons seem sweet.

"And here I was, really looking forward to finding your fake hair all over the carpet and seeing your reflection in the mirror a million times a minute." Rosé thrashed back sarcastically. She started loading her hands up with her bags. "Night Jen, wish me luck."

"Good luck." I laughed.

"Jennie and Lisa."

"What!?!" Lisa and I screeched simultaneously. Rosé sucked her lips in and picked up the pace collecting her bags.

"Wait, that's not possible. I'm meant to be rooming with my probation officer." Lisa dropped her bags and walked towards our principal. "You must've made a mistake."

Why didn't she want to share with me?

Rosé snorted and then covered her mouth.

"What did you do!!" I whispered.

"One thing that made me smile today." Rosé answered, winking at me with those twinkling steel-grey eyes.

"Lisa, it's three in the morning. It says here that you're sharing with Jennie, it's not changeable so pick up your bags, take your key and go to your room."

Lisa didn't move, her feet remained still on the squeaky clean marble floor. I felt like burrowing inside myself. People were staring, and whispering. She was embarrassing me and I didn't need any more attention brought to myself. Lisa looked at me, taking in the sight of my crumpled travel clothes and messy hair. My breath felt like it smelt bad and my skin felt icky. The hopelessness was evident on her face. My pulse hammered inside my neck, with blood rushing to the tips of my burning ears.

"So, I'm allowed to share with the sheriff's daughter!?!" Lisa questioned. At that, Rosé burst out laughing. She clamped her hand over her mouth and masked it with coughing.

"This was not the reaction I was expecting." Rosé whispered to me "What's her deal?" I closed my eyes, I couldn't watch. My face was on fire and my whole body flushed with heat. This wasn't the reaction I was expecting either. Maybe I made her hate me.

"Enough Lisa! There aren't enough bedrooms available. It's late, and we're all tired. I'll make your room a priority to sort out in the morning. Until then, here's your key. Good night."

Lisa looked miffed, I could see her nostrils moving with every breath that she made. Her eyebrows pulled downwards and the bridge of her nose crinkled. It made me feel terrible about myself, like I wasn't good enough. There were a tense few minutes of humiliation as Lisa stood quietly fighting an inner battle but eventually she snatched the key card and made her way to the elevator. My eyes fleeted towards Rosé, she wore a wide smile that stretched her entire face, proud of herself. "Why didn't she want to share with me?" I asked sadly.

"Go find out." She demanded in a hushed voice. I grabbed my bag and followed Lisa towards the elevator, to my surprise she had her finger pressed against the door open button and only released it when I stepped inside. It was incredibly awkward trapped in this tiny, enclosed space with her. I could feel the heat radiating from her entire body. Sheepishly, I lowered my gaze to the Victorian checker board pattern on the floor and left dent marks in my lip with my own teeth. I wasn't brave enough to look at her or confront my triggering moment earlier on the plane.

The elevator pinged with every floor it past, subconsciously I counted them. Mentally thinking of something to say to her but I couldn't think of anything.

"What the fuck was that!?" She finally spoke, her voice sounded deep and angry.

"You're asking me? You've just made a complete show of me out there! You're suddenly squeamish about sharing a room with me!? You've literally slept over at my house. What the fuck, Lisa!?"

"No Jennie, on the plane! What the fuck was that!?"

I swallowed. Oh the plane. I didn't want to talk about that.

"I have a right to say no." I told her, quietly.

"Are you fucking kidding me!?" She ran her fingers through her hair. "I can't talk to you right now."

I clamped my mouth closed, my words having dried up. The doors opened on the tenth floor and she walked out first. She slipped the plastic key card into the lock until a pleasant beep sounded and a light turned green then she pushed open the door and stepped in first. She slipped the key into a little electrical card holder and the room lights automatically switched on.

"Great, a double bed. Of course." She walked straight through the room and closed herself off on the balcony.

I sat on the edge of the bed. I was struggling with the idea of sharing a room with her too. It was awkward and uncomfortable. At this point, my blush was my permanent look and my heart had convinced itself the new tempo was normal. I could smell smoke drifting in from the balcony and I lay backwards on the bed and sighed.