Mistake or fate? (JenLisa Adaptation)

Seventeen

Lisa trudged behind her social worker to a new and unfamiliar home and watched as she rang the doorbell.

The pair waited outside for a few moments before the door opened quietly.

"You must be Lisa." The blonde stated in a sweet tone, one that wasn't missed by the distraught blonde.

Regardless of how inviting the woman seemed, Lisa didn't budge or respond to the kindness.

The blonde picked up on the negative energy and said, "It appears you had a very rough evening. Why don't you come inside. My name is Ma-Ri ." She turned to invite the pair into the home.

Soo Jin turned to Lisa and watched the nineteen year old process the new and welcoming environment. Moments like this happened too frequently, but alas, she knew this was the last time Lisa would have to do this.

She nodded her head, and walked into the inviting home. It wasn't like Ms. Tremaine's, which while it was clean, it felt dirty from everything being coated in nicotine.

"There are five other girls living here. Two of which are here on very similar circumstances. This is a place built on second chances. I think you'll come to find that you will like this place. I know that it's overwhelming right now, but you'll come around."

The woman paused and continued, "There will be rules while you're under this roof. There is no sneaking out, no drugs, booze, or sex. You aren't allowed to have a cell phone. All calls and visitors must be monitored for the first two weeks. Daily, you'll have your set of chores that rotate between the girls to make sure the work is divided evenly. You will specifically be working to earn your GED and finding a job that allows you to earn enough of a living wage to provide for yourself and a home."

Lisa's eyes glazed over as she heard the woman go through the same old ground rules she'd heard one too many times. This wasn't supposed to happen. She was supposed to be going to Harvard and starting new. She knew what she did was following her heart, but she should have trusted her gut. She knew that Jennie was a bad idea and now instead of settling into a new home in Cambridge, she was adapting to what she considered purgatory.

"Your room is upstairs to the left. Tomorrow you'll need to be awake at eight in the morning. We'll need to go through some more things once you've had time to decompress and process everything."

Soo Jin said to Lisa, "I'm going to go now. You're going to be just fine. Just follow the rules and you'll be able to move on, finally."

Before the other woman was able to leave, Lisa finally spoke, "Can I at least get a call tonight?"

The two women stared at one another and Ma-Ri nodded, "You have two minutes." She handed Lisa her own cellphone

Lisa turned with her back to the pairs of eyes that followed her every move.

She typed in Rosé's number from memory, she held it to her ear and heard it ring far too many times until it went to voicemail.

Leave it to the brunette to not answer unknown numbers. She started to feel choked up again as she waited and dialed the number once again. She knew that Rosé was most likely at work, or doing something better with her time. More than anything, Lisa needed her right then. She closed her eyes and wished whatever higher being that existed out there to help her by having her friend answer her call.

"Hello?" She heard her friend say. Lisa could hear the bar background noise of music playing and men screaming as they cheered to what was most likely a baseball game on TV.

"Rosie. Listen I have like sixty seconds. I got expelled and I'm at a group home about twenty minutes away. I have no idea what's happened, but I just wanted you to know I was gone."