didn't know you were cold ('til you felt my fire) // JENLISA AU

Chapter 7

The test paper slid across Chaerin's desk in a smooth motion as she turned it to face Lisa, giving it a couple of delicate taps before drawing her hand back.

Lisa sat forward slightly, looking down at the red pen - fuck, a lot of red pen - flicking her eyes over the corrections and checkmarks until they darted up to the top of the page where a '55%' was scrawled in the same red ink, circled for effect. Her eyes shot further up to meet the guidance counsellor's.

"That's a pass, right?"

Chaerin's smile was small but genuine. "Yes Lisa, it's a pass."

"Hell yeah!" Lisa slumped back in her chair as she did a little victorious fist pump fuelled by relief. The counsellor let out a small sigh of a laugh and continued, a firm tone to her melodic voice.

"You still have five more remedial tests and the exam to improve your standings, but it's a good start." Chaerin picked the paper up and returned it to Lisa's workfolder as she spoke. "But I do advise that you should aim for higher grades, don't just lowball for a pass."

Lisa didn't have much of a reply, and settled for a shrug as she lounged back in her seat.

"This isn't affecting your other classes too much is it?" The counsellor asked, tucking Lisa's folder back into the filing cabinet alongside her desk. She leaned onto the desk with delicately folded arms, like she was brokering boardroom negations, instead of talking to burnt-out trencher teens all day. "You're not sacrificing too much time working this all out?"

Lisa gave a pouting frown, shaking her head. "No, Jennie's helping me."

"Jennie?" Chaerin sat up a bit in surprise, blinking. "The Kim girl? You hired her for help?"

"No, she..." Lisa was caught off guard by how the counsellor was caught off guard. She had been positive Jennie was just too proud to admit she was being forced to do this. "She volunteered?"

Chaerin just gave a surprised chuckle, shaking her head that way adults did as she sighed so heavily Lisa could see her shoulders move. "That girl is a saint."

Lisa sat back in the chair, tapping her knee while she thought. So Chaerin wasn't blackmailing Jennie into doing this? Jennie was actually being... nice? She chewed the corner of her lip, finger picking at a small scab on her thumb by the edge of her fingerless glove as she fidgeted. The silence in the office suddenly felt very heavy.

"Can I go now?" She asked, wincing at the sharp pain of the scab coming loose, pressing her finger down on it to soothe.

"Of course, and have a good evening." Chaerin dismissed her with a wave, though she was smiling. "Don't get into too much trouble."

*

Lisa walked down the hall to the auto/metal shop class where Ella was supposed to be waiting, hands in her pockets and a slight spring in her step. So far so good with her grades then, and any reason to celebrate was a good excuse. She was going to treat Ella with a slushie run today, and next week maybe she'd celebrate with Jennie about-

Her thoughts were cut short when a shoulder roughly knocked into her own, pushing her into the row of lockers. She turned and scowled the group of boys who passed by, laughing.

"Careful Jongin," one said scornfully, "I think you just got some trash on your shirt." The rest of the boys snickered.

"Hey, fuck you too." Lisa snapped after them. "Pinksy fuckfaces."

The group stopped, and the one called Jongin turned to look at her, disgust on his face. "Yeah?" He said, strolling up to her slowly. "You wanna say that to my actual face?"