THE LIGHT OF LOVE | JENLISA

Chapter 6.

English was the last class of the day and the only one which Lisa shared with Jennie. The brunette was already there, sitting in the front. The Thai sat down in a chair at the back of the room, where she had a clear view of Jennie, hoping that she would be able to watch her undisturbed. The class wasn't particularly interesting and Lisa noticed that the brunette was clearly bored too. She wasn't very active, but when the teacher asked her questions, her observations were always on point. "She's really smart." Lisa concluded, not understanding why this thought made her feel so good. Then she noticed that several other students were also watching Jennie with growing interest. Were they planning something? Lisa immediately became wary.

"That's it for today. And don't forget that the group project assignment is due tomorrow." the teacher ended the class and just a few seconds later the room was almost empty. Lisa deliberately pretended to be doing something on her phone to wait for Jennie, but just when she wanted to talk to her, she saw that a group of students had exactly the same idea. Dahyun, Kai and Sehun approached Jennie, with friendly smiles. Almost too friendly, they made Lisa feel uneasy.

"Hey, you're Jennie right?" Kai asked. The brunette nodded, surprised, she clearly wasn't expecting people to approach her so directly. "Since you're new, maybe we could be friends?" he continued.

"We'd just like to get to know you." Sehun added.

"Yeah, tell us about yourself." Dahyun offered an encouraging smile. "Is it true what everybody says... you know, that you're crazy?"

Lisa froze. Her gut feeling was right, they just wanted to bully her, in a passive-aggressive way. Jennie realized it too. She grabbed her bag and moved around them, trying to avoid further confrontation.

"Come on, we only want to know the truth." Kai yelled after her with a mocking smile. Jennie suddenly stopped, turned back and looked back at the three students. The intensity of the gaze made their smiles disappear.

"You want the truth? Fine, I'll tell you the truth." she squinted her eyes. "Sehun, stop trying to date girls, there's nothing wrong with being gay so just accept it. Daehyun, your crush on your gym teacher is really sickening, you have daddy issues and you should see a psychologist. And Kai, watching porn for hours every day means that you're addicted and that you need to consider therapy."

The brunette left the classroom, leaving them completely stupefied. One glance at their stunned faces and mouths hanging open was enough for Lisa to realize that everything that Jennie said was spot on. She bluntly uncovered their deepest secrets... Lisa grinned with satisfaction, they painfully learned their lesson not to mess with the strange girl. She went out and began following Jennie, noticing that the brunette's walk seemed a bit wobbly. Jennie was visibly trying to find a secluded spot and when she finally found one, she sat on the floor with her back against the wall and her arms around her knees. When Lisa came closer, she frighteningly noticed that Jennie's body was shaking and her eyes were full of indescribable fear. Lisa panicked for second. Was it anxiety attack? What should she do? Call for help? She wasn't sure, so she just let her instinct take over.

"Shh, calm down, I'm here." she whispered, cupping Jennie's hands with hers. "Nothing's wrong is happening, I swear. Trust me. Just try to take slow deep breaths, I'll help you." she continued softly, grazing her thumbs against the back of Jennie's palms in a comforting manner. "Inhale... Exhale... Yeah, like that, you're doing great, you're doing really great." Lisa wasn't sure how she managed to make her voice sound so calm considering that she was a nervous mess inside.

After a minute or two the spasms running through brunette's body subsided in both frequency and intensity. Lisa took out a tissue and gently wiped out the droplets of sweat from Jennie's forehead.

"Thanks..." the brunette uttered faintly.

"You want me to take you to the doctor?"

"No, I'll be fine. I just have to go home."

"Are you sure?" Lisa realized with surprise by how worried her own voice sounded. She couldn't remember the last time she was so much concerned about something or someone.

"Yes, I just need to be on my own right now. And we still have to meet later for the assignment, remember? Jisoo and Rosé finished their part, we can't let them down."

"I can do it on my own if you don't feel well-"

"I'll be at your place at 6 pm." Jennie interrupted her, her voice much stronger already. "Sorry if I scared you." she smiled faintly while getting up. She thankfully squeezed Lisa's hand and slowly strolled away.

Lisa was left alone, still barely keeping it calm, unsure how to feel about the whole situation. But one thing was certain: having seen Jennie so helpless and vulnerable caused something new to be born in the deepest corner of Lisa's soul.

A sense of purpose.