Stay With Me

Chapter Five

"Mom!"

My mother looked surprised at my unusually warm greeting as she walked through the front door. She eyed me up, then glanced over my shoulder at Lisa who was standing up from her spot on the couch. "Hi. Who's your friend?"

I took a step closer to Lisa, placing one of my hands on her shoulder as I introduced her to my mom. "This is Lisa. Remember, I told you about her?" I glanced over at Lisa as I spoke and noticed her cheeks held a tint of red in them. She was blushing!

"Hi, it's nice to meet you," Lisa said to my mom politely and in return my mom smiled politely.

She was blushing! I almost physically shook my head to break myself away from that thought. I my heel, starting to follow after my mother as she went to the kitchen for her daily after work cup of coffee, but Lisa's hand on my arm prevented me from going. I looked back at her with a questioning look.

"I think I should go," Lisa said with a hint of disappointment in her voice.

She couldn't leave yet! "No, why? Please stay, you can stay. Really," I begged her.

Lisa shook her head sadly. "I don't think I'm very welcomed here..." I knew she meant that my mother wasn't the friendliest person to be around, and I didn't blame her, I knew my mom was a bit cold. But I didn't want Lisa to leave, especially not because of my mother.

"Then make yourself welcome." I took her by the hand and pulled her into the kitchen, quick to let go of her hand before my mother could notice even though she was turned around. "So," I said loud enough to catch my mother's attention. She glanced over her shoulder and caught sight of me leaning with my elbows on the counter and Lisa scooting herself onto a stool. "Lisa was over today, hanging out because Jennie was pretty busy today." I actually had no idea what Jennie's plans were for today besides ditching me and leaving me alone with a girl I'm having strange thoughts about.

She still had her back to us as she spoke to me. "Oh yeah? She staying over night?"

"No," Lisa answered almost too quickly, causing my mother and I both to look over at her. "No, I can't stay over tonight." Her cheeks were starting to go pink and I started to love the fact that she blushed so easily.

"I mean, it's fine with me if you decide to, but if you can't..." my mother's voice trailed off and something in her tone made me think that she really wasn't fine with Lisa staying over.

Did she know about Lisa's ual preference? Did she somehow find out? Was that why she was acting so cold and strange toward her? I knew my mother hated anything "unnatural" like that, but would she really be this rude and obvious about it?

Lisa looked at me with a slight look of nervousness in her eyes. I'd never seen her this flustered over anything before. "I'm busy tonight, is all. Maybe some other time, yeah?"

"Yeah," I mumbled as if answering her question. I pushed myself up from the counter and turned my body to face her, continuing to mumble under my breath so only she could hear me. "I'll walk you out to your car."

She mouthed a 'thank you' to me before she slid off the stool. "It was lovely to meet you, Mrs. Park. But it's time I get going."

My mom turned around with her coffee mug in both her hands and watched us scurry out of the kitchen. "See ya soon," she called after us.

On the way to the door, Lisa grabbed her coat and her purse, then I led her out onto the porch where she turned to me with a slightly embarrassed-looking frown. "I'm sorry."

I cracked a grin and placed my hands on her shoulders, steering her down the steps the porch and towards the driveway where her car sat. "You had every reason to be as nervous and freaked out as you were. I was feeling a bit nerve wracked for you." We stopped walking once we were at the driver's side of Lisa's car and she turned to me with a pout. I found myself bringing my hand up to cup one of her cheeks as I spoke. "Believe me, you did better than Jennie did when she first met my mother."

Lisa blinked up at me as she nuzzled her cheek into my touch. It was my turn to blush. I felt my cheeks burning as I realized how this might look to my mom if she was peeking out the window. "Fine," she said stubbornly. "I just hope she doesn't hate me."

I shook my head at this notion. "I'll try to convince her to see you the way I do."

A slow, wide grin made its way to Lisa's lips and she bit her lip to try to conceal it which made her look even more adorable and made this whole situation a lot tougher. "And how exactly do you see me, Rose?"

I blinked a few times at her question, not really sure how to answer. I didn't want to let it leak that I might have some weird girl crush on her. It was too soon for that crap, especially if I didn't even know what exactly it was that I was feeling. "You're... I see... You know, you... I..."

Lisa rolled her eyes at my stammering and laughed lightly, throwing her arms around my neck in a hug. "Well, thank you." Her voice was muffled because of the fact that her face was buried in my hair that lay sprawled over my shoulder. She lifted her head and hesitantly leaned in to give me a kiss on the cheek. Her lips were closer to the corner of my lips, rather than the middle of my cheek and her lips only stayed there for about two to three seconds, but when she pulled back and took her arms from around my neck, I felt that part of my cheek burning from her touch.

"Well," she huffed as she turned and opened her car door. "I guess I'll be seeing ya, Rose." She turned to face me and gave me a wide smile before she slipped into the drivers seat. I took a step back so she had space to pull out of the driveway, still in a slight daze from the touch of her lips on my skin.

I found myself smiling to myself as I made my way back into the house, closing the door behind me and leaning against the door momentarily before my mother's voice brought me back to reality. "Chaeyoung?"

"Coming," I muttered as I lifted myself from the door and made my way to the kitchen where my mother still sat. She was at the island, sitting on a stool with her coffee and some paperwork splayed out in front of her. "What's up?"

She placed her elbow on the table and rested her chin in her palm as she looked up at me. "I don't think I want you hanging around that one," she said matter-of-factly.

I quirked and eyebrow, not sure if I heard her correctly. "What?"

"By the way she was looking at you and blushing and everything, I think she likes you and I don't want you around someone like that."

Immediately, my head started swirling. My mom thought Lisa liked me? Was that a good thing or a bad thing? I didn't know, but suddenly my heart was swelling. I felt giddy and almost like I could giggle right then and there. I blinked a few times and started thinking back. Sure, she blushed a lot... Did she like me?

Then the other part of what my mom said sunk in and suddenly the giddy feeling left and was replaced by a feeling of defiant anger. "Excuse me? 'Someone like that'? Please, explain to me what you mean by that." I knew exactly what she meant.

"Rose," she sighed and shook her head as if I were making her parenting hard. "You know what I mean. I don't want her to be an influence on you."

"Nobody's influencing me, mom. She's a human being and she will be treated like one, if not by you, then by me."

I was about to turn on my heel and leave the kitchen with an attitude, but my mother cut me off from my big exit. "Chaeyoung Park!" She'd always call me by my first and last name when she was beyond pissed at me, so I knew I was in for it big time. But part of me didn't care. This argument meant a lot to me and I wasn't sure why, but I knew for a fact that I wasn't about to let my mother win this one. "Who do you think you are talking to me like that? I said I don't want you hanging around someone like her, she isn't the kind of person I want my daughter to be influenced by."

I gave my mother the iciest stare I could muster as I spoke in a soft tone, hoping it came across as chilling and full of emotion as I wanted it to be. "I don't want to be hanging around someone like you, mom. Lisa is a wonderful human being regardless of what gender she prefers. Just because she isn't like you, doesn't mean she's a danger." I left before my mother could argue. I heard her call my name, but my blood was boiling too hot for me to turn around and continue talking to her.

Right then and there I decided nothing was going to keep me from Lisa. I would let whatever kind of feelings I had for Lisa grow, not only to piss off my mom, but also to prove a point.

What point did I want to prove? That I wasn't so sure of...