THE LIGHT OF LOVE | JENLISA

Chapter 15.

It was way ahead of 7 am when Lisa arrived to school on Monday morning. Her backpack seemed unusually large and heavy that day as she walked across the corridor. Stopping near the lockers, she opened the backpack and took out a heavy block of sheets. She came up with this idea on Sunday morning, it was risky as hell, because it could either work very well or go horribly wrong. Lisa prayed inside for the former outcome. She swiftly moved from locker to locker, tucking one sheet of paper between each of them. Once finished with the lockers, she left some sheets in the library and in the bathrooms. She was done. In just a few hours the entire school should know the truth. The truth about Jennie Kim.

***

Jennie immediately realized that something was different the moment she stepped inside the school. She wasn't used to people staring at her, so she tucked her head down and tried to walk unnoticed along the corridor, but it didn't work. It seemed like everyone suddenly knew who she was. She bit her lip really hard, feeling the rising anxiety while trying to look casual. Damn, she could even hear people whispering her name! What was going on? She arrived at her locker and grabbed a piece of paper which was sticking out. Damn ads! She instinctively wanted to crumple it up and throw it away when all of a sudden she froze in shock. Her eyes clearly spotted her own name in bold letters written across the top of the page. Her heart racing madly, she began to read.

"Jennie Kim – my hero, my friend and my guardian angel.

Hi, I'm Lisa Manoban and I'm a senior. Most of you don't even know me and I apologize for this rather cringy attempt to draw your attention to my life, feel free to throw away this letter if you wish. But I hope you won't. And that maybe by reading it you can look at some stuff differently.

The day I met Jennie Kim my life turned upside down. I found her scary and fascinating and, to be perfectly honest, not very likable. In fact, on our second meeting I told her to go to hell and leave me alone.

I can't believe how lucky I am that she didn't.

Jennie may not be a very friendly person at first sight, she's very perceptive and seems to know your deepest secrets and vulnerabilities and calls you out about them. And let's face it, nobody likes to hear that. But let me ask you this: who would you rather have as your friend: someone who always says that you're doing the right thing, which makes you complacent, lazy and falsely contented with your life? Or someone who points out your weaknesses and makes you work hard on them? Sets up challenges for you? Pushes you to improve your life?

I once thought that it's the first one. Now I know for sure it's the second.

Your true friend will tell you the truth if your life is going the wrong path. And this is exactly what Jennie did with me. Even more, she made me see it, something not even my parents or closest friends were able to do."

The letter then explained how Lisa became a lazy student since her freshman year because of her parents' divorce and how Jennie selflessly helped her and convinced her that she should improve her grades and apply for medical college.

"And I promise you all that I'll get into that medical college. I know you'll probably think I'm insane and that it's impossible with so little time left but I don't care. I'll do it, I swear. And it's all thanks to Jennie who had faith in me, which made me believe in myself.

Lastly, and it's not easy for me to write because my hands are trembling every time I remember it, a week ago I was drugged and sexually assaulted in a club. And Jennie helped me, I don't know how she did it, but the bottom line is that she was there to save me. I can't even think of what could've happened if it wasn't for her. Maybe I even owe her my life.

Now you know the truth about Jennie Kim: the troubled girl who had suffered so much (most of you know about her tragic past) and yet still found enough strength in herself to be my hero, my friend and my guardian angel.

So there's the lesson I learned: don't be too quick to judge people. I'm sure that if you take a chance to get to know Jennie and really understand her, you'll realize how great of a friend she can be."

Hot and cold waves were repeatedly passing through Jennie's body while she was reading Lisa's letter. Once she finished, her body leaned against her locker to avoid falling down, her face pale, her breath highly irregular and her legs dangerously weak.

"Are you okay?"

"Here, drink some water." Two girls she didn't even know approached her, visibly concerned.

"Thanks, I'm a little better." Jennie uttered weakly after taking a sip.

"You're Jennie, right? No wonder you're so shocked, the letter is pretty intense."

"Yeah, but it's also so amazing. I wish someone wrote something so wonderful about me." the second girl said with dreamy eyes.

"What class do you have now?" the first girl asked.

"History." Jennie replied, her voice still weak.

"We'll take you there, don't worry." the two girls grabbed her by the arms from both sides and they walked together up the stairs, followed by curious stares coming from everyone in the corridor.

Once seated in class, Jennie calmed down a bit. The teacher still wasn't there, she had some time to clear her mind. She took several deep breaths and her composure was gradually coming back. But just when she wanted to dwell on the meaning of Lisa's letter, she noticed Wendy and Joy coming over. "Oh no, I'm not ready to deal with them right now." she thought in panic. But to her surprise their intentions were far from hostile.

"Hi Jennie. Listen... uhm... we're really sorry about before... you know the group project thing? We'd like to do it with you..." Joy stammered out.

"Of course only if you want to, we understand if you don't." Wendy added quickly.

"Sure, we can do it together." Jennie replied.

"You're not mad at us?" Joy asked, a hint of surprise in her voice.

"No, don't worry, we're cool." she was speaking the truth, she already forgot about the whole thing.

A relief passed across both girls' faces before they turned away and returned to their seats.