The Red Bow [Chaelisa]

13. Wherever you will go

December 5, 2014. – First year of college.

After the catastrophic episode of lunch, Lisa decided to stay in her room until the anger subsided before facing her father again. Chaeyoung had warned that she was going to do a movie marathon with her parents and she decided not to interrupt that family moment, so she hibernated in bed, staring at her so-called ceiling, doing what she liked to call several swims. It was after three in the afternoon when Jules knocked timidly on her door and entered with her eyes on the floor and her hands clasped in front of her body in a sign of nervousness.

Lisa quickly sat surprised by her sister’s attitude.

"Something happened?" She asked, really concerned.

The girl shook her head and remained standing in the same place.

"I thought maybe we could go for a walk on the beach …" she started and stopped taking courage. "I haven’t left the house in a while and I think you’re the only person I trust."

Lisa smiled happy to hear that.

"I’m happy to hear you trust me, Jules." she confessed, hugging her sister with longing. "Come on, I’m not going to let go of you for even a minute, okay?"

The girl agreed with a small smile and Lisa borrowed her mother’s car. Inside the red BMW X6, Jules remained totally silent and the older sister respected her moment by making only a few comments about places and people she hadn’t visited in a while.

On the beach, the two sisters walked along sea watching people playing volleyball, playing and tanning. Lisa watched, Jules just walked with her head down in the footsteps of her sister who took her to the most isolated part where only a group of friends were gathered in a circle on the sand singing and playing guitar.

"Here is a good place to rest, I really need to sunbathe." Lisa commented breaking the tense atmosphere that had settled between them since they left home. "Is it okay to sit on the sand?"

"I don’t think our mother will like the car seat full of sand." was her first comment and Lisa raised her eyebrows surprised to be sarcastic.

Jules sat in an Indian style and let her eyes get lost in the vastness of the sea. The weather was not so hot thanks to the winter, so there was no need to apply sunscreen.

"She doesn’t even use that car, Jules. It is an exaggeration to have more than five in the garage when they could sell or even give you one."

"Dad said he won’t give me a car until I’m normal again."

It caught Lisa completely off guard and only made her anger at her father increase.

"He said that?" The young girl nodded without looking at her. "Jules … You are not abnormal, and whoever says otherwise is an asshole." The girl looked surprised to hear her older sister call their father an asshole and Lisa smiled. "I love our father and you know it, but I can’t allow him to treat us like soldiers."

Silence filled both of them as if trapping them in their own bubble of thoughts. Lisa wanted to take Jules with her to New York, rent an apartment and live just the two of them while her sister finished high school. It would be her way of taking care of her being around when she needed to talk at times like this, without the pressure of a family that only cares about social status.

Then a glare from the sun caught her eye and her eyes fell on the silver object on Jules’s ring finger on her right hand. Suddenly, everything made sense. She felt anguish inside while looking at that ring, she wished she could be wearing one right now, without shame in showing people that she loved someone and that she was extremely happy about it.