Through Her Eyes (JenLisa)

Chasing Stars

Every day they planted a seed in a garden that would not grow.

From magazine clippings to kitchen utensils to guitar strings. The shoelace off a single converse, still missing its other. The trimming of a strand of Lisa's hair. Lisa was unsure what Jennie was intending to grow with that – another Lisa?

Jennie watched over her beloved seeds, watering them with fizzy soda and reading them stories from upside down textbooks. She wasn't discouraged when they didn't grow. Jennie would be perfectly happy with them however they were.

Lisa wasn't so patient. She desperately wished something in the garden would grow. A guitar tree, a Lisa tree, a scraggly weed, anything. It shouldn't have mattered; she didn't know what it would mean if something did grow. Jennie would have known the meaning behind it, Lisa was sure.

Once, Jennie had said she wanted to plant roses. They hadn't. Of all the seeds beneath the earth, none were for actual plants.

Staring at the bare patch of dirt, Lisa decided it was time to change that.

"What will grow?" Jennie wanted to know as they spread the tiny rose seeds through the earth. "Something shiny?"

Having read the directions on the seed packets very carefully, Lisa meticulously placed each seed half an inch below the surface, while Jennie scattered them about gleefully. They would all wash away with the sprinklers but Jennie looked happy, dirt on her cheek and eyes shining in the sun.

Lisa buried the last seed beneath the surface and flicked the dirt off Jennie's cheek. "You'll see," she teased.

Jennie blinked.

——-

Jennie was watching her.

It was creeping Lisa out a little, if she was honest.

Every time she turned around a corner there were wide, curious brown eyes waiting for her. Having Jennie stare at you was like having someone look through your soul. Lisa wasn't sure what Jennie was seeing but it was apparently very, very interesting.

Jennie watched her, completely unsubtly, from over the top of a book. She stared at Lisa while eating their meals, so intent that Jennie kept stabbing herself with her spoon. Jennie watched Lisa while they watched television and Jennie watched her when they played video games, resulting in many unsatisfying wins on Lisa's part.

While Jennie had always been focused on Lisa, interested like Lisa was actually interesting, this was different. Jennie was looking inside of her, at everything Lisa couldn't even see herself.

When Lisa caught Jennie staring at her as they lay on the roof to watch the stars, she finally returned the gaze.

"This is really kind of weird, just so you know," Lisa told her, staring into Jennie's eyes while Jennie was staring back. Jennie twitched an eyebrow. Lisa widened her eyes comically. Jennie imitated the motion.

Chuckling, Lisa looked away first. "What are you doing, anyway?"

"Watching," Jennie responded simply, leaning back on her elbows to watch the sky, but Lisa didn't miss the fact that Jennie was still focused solely on her.

She leaned back next to Jennie, covering Jennie's hand with hers on the slates of the roof. "Well, that explains it."

Jennie nodded like it actually did. She tilted her head back, exposing her neck and closing her eyes, absolutely blissful. Lisa turned towards her to better see Jennie's tongue flick against her lips, her eyelashes spread against her cheeks.

She didn't miss the fact that with Jennie's eyes closed, Lisa was now the one that was staring. Rather creepily, too, for how much she felt mesmerized by the angles of Jennie's face.