Lost in the fire

Chapter 1

"Wait, what?" Lisa Manoban shook her head full of brown curls at her phone, sure she must have heard her best friend, Jisoo, wrong.

"I said, Haein won a trip for four to an all-inclusive resort in Cabo, and we want you and his best friend from college to go with us."

Ah, so that was the catch. Jisoo was always trying to set her up with one of Haein's friends. It didn't even make sense anyway since Jisoo and Haein lived on the opposite end of the country so it wasn't like the four of them could go on double dates if she ever ended up hitting it off with anyone. Something that never happened anyway.

"So, what's he like?" Lisa asked as she held in a sigh.

"Who?"

Lisa rolled her eyes. Were they really going to play this game? "Haein's friend from college."

Jisoo laughed as if this was all some big joke. "Well, first of all, he is a she."

Lisa breathed a sigh of relief. "And you're completely cool with Haein having a female bestie?"

"Obviously. I'm a strong, confident woman who knows my man only wants me. Plus, she's super gay."

"So, this is a setup," Lisa said with a groan.

"It's not. I promise. It was all Haein's idea to invite you two. He was actually insistent that it has to be you two who come along. You know I'm the one behind all of the matchmaking endeavors."

This was true. It not being a setup actually piqued Lisa's interest. She put Jisoo on speakerphone, then pulled up her Facebook app, prepared to do some stalking. "So, what's her name?"

"It's Roseanne Park. She actually—"

No. Absolutely not. This had to be some strange coincidence, right? There was no way Haein's friend Roseanne was the same Roseanne Park she knew. Except, the Roseanne Park she knew did go to school in California. Stanford to be exact. Lisa could never forget how her biggest rival, the absolute bane of her existence, attended a college with an acceptance rate of just four percent.

"Wait. Remind me once again where Haein went to college."

Jisoo laughed. "My sexy nerd went to Stanford."

Shit. Lisa sat her phone down on her kitchen table and crossed her arms over her chest. "Like you can talk. We didn't exactly slum it by going to UPenn."

She felt an anger that she hadn't felt in years as she remembered finding out that even though she was going to a school that was one of the top ten in the nation, Roseanne Park was going somewhere ranked even higher.

"I'm not going, by the way."

"Wait, what?" Jisoo asked, sounding exasperated that Lisa would turn down a free trip to Cabo.

"I know Roseanne," Lisa said, offering no other explanation.

"I wondered if there was any chance you would when I realized you guys only live about a half hour apart."

"We do?" Lisa laughed incredulously. This had to be some sick joke. "I had no idea. She went to my rival high school."

"In Maryland? Wow. What a small world. Maybe it's fate."

"Trust me, it's not fate," Lisa said through gritted teeth. "She's awful."

"Please don't tell me this is about some high school rivalry you can't let go of."

Lisa opened her mouth to argue, but closed it when she realized that's exactly what this was about. Jisoo wouldn't understand though. She never played sports. She didn't get it.