Chapter 8

School the next day was uncertain. I didn't know how I would act if I ran into Jennie. It was great thinking we were friends after a fun night together, but after sleeping on it, the old nervousness had come back to me. Did we actually have anything in common? We shared the same sense of humor and both liked tacos. As far as I knew, that was it. I didn’t think she would ignore me if we ran into each other in the hallway, but did she really want to be my friend?

It turned out Jennie was the least of my worries. I got to school at my regular time and parked in the student lot. Sorn and I had not talked during the entire ride over. I was still mad at her for the stunt she’d pulled last night, and she seemed to be mad at me too for some reason. She probably still thought I hadn’t shown enough gratitude for the “help” she’d given me. We were at a stalemate, neither of us willing to back down. I wasn’t too worried, though. Usually when we had a fight, we gave each other the silent treatment for a few days and then silently agreed to ignore what had happened. And honestly, I could sort of see where she was coming from. She thought she was helping me in her own crazy way, while I hoped she was coming to realize that I saw her actions as intrusive and rude. Either way, our mutual silent treatment left me feeling irritated as I locked the car and headed toward the school.

Walking through the front doors alone, my irritation turned to dread. Jisoo Kim, my archnemesis, was walking straight toward me. I steeled myself for the unpleasantness to come. She had hated me for years, and I still could not figure out why. I had racked my brain after every one of our encounters, where she usually belittled me and made less-than-subtle references to how stupid she thought I was, but I was still in the dark. I had even resorted to asking Chaeng to fish around and see if anyone else knew why Jisoo hated me. She had come back to me empty-handed.

So when Jisoo stopped right in front of me and asked with the most pleasant tone of voice she had ever spoken to me, “Lisa, can I please speak to you for a moment?” I was shocked.

“Sure, I guess we can talk,” I stammered out. As she led the way down the hall, I wondered if it was a good idea to go somewhere private with a person who enjoyed making fun of me. Maybe today was the day she snapped, and she was leading me to my death in a dark corner of the school. I really had to stop following people into dark corners of the school.

We ended up in a small classroom by the gym. I remembered taking a couple of written exams in the room when I took gym freshman year.

I became mildly alarmed when she closed the door behind us. Looking around, I saw that she was standing in front of the only way in or out of the room. If this was a murder plot, then it was going very well so far, at least for her. Me, not so much.

“So, I saw you talking to Jennie Kim yesterday,” she started. This was unexpected.

“Yeah,” I drew out slowly. That was all I was willing to say until I was a little clearer on what was going on.

Jisoo looked at her feet. She seemed to be having trouble getting out what she wanted to say. Finally, she took a breath and made up her mind. “I don’t think you know this, but Jennie is actually one of my really good friends. We grew up on the same street together, and I used to go over to her house so much that I practically lived there. She doesn’t have any brothers or sisters, so I sort of took over a sibling role.”

She paused and gathered her thoughts again. I’d had no idea she was close to Jennie. I hadn’t even known that they knew each other.

“Look, what I’m trying to say is, don’t even think about hurting her. Jennie is one of the best people I know and deserves to be with someone who recognizes how awesome she is. For some reason, she likes you. I don’t know what she sees in you, because you have always been really annoying and whiny, but I’m not the one who wants to date you. So don’t be a jerk to her and we’ll be fine,” she said, sending my world off its axis. My legs got really weak all of a sudden, and I had to sit in the nearest chair or I was going to end up on the floor. I was shocked. I was sure I had heard it all wrong, and that Jisoo Kim of all people hadn’t just announced that Jennie liked me. This had to be a joke. It was just like her to find the cruelest thing to say to hurt me.

“Why are you saying this?” I asked her. I couldn’t control the weak sound of my own voice. It got even worse when I felt the urge to cry. I put my hands over my eyes in an attempt to stifle any tears.

“What's the matter with you?" she said, exasperated. "I just told you that a beautiful girl likes you, and you're falling apart. You should be jumping around with joy. Actually, you should be celebrating the fact that anyone likes you despite all your deficiencies. I can't be the only one who can't stand you."

I couldn't help it. The pressure behind my eyes finally broke and I was crying. It was one of the worst things that could have happened. I was crying over a girl who was my tormentor’s best friend.

"Oh my god, you're crying now. This is pathetic. Why in the world are you crying?"

I didn't answer. I just kept my head down on the desk and let the tears flow. At least I wasn't sobbing. This was already embarrassing enough without big, ugly sobs and snot everywhere.

Just when I thought things couldn't get worse, they got worse. I felt an arm go around my shoulders. Then my back was being patted awkwardly. I cried harder when I figured out that Jisoo Kim was trying to console me. I really was pathetic.

"There, there," she muttered half-heartedly. It was obvious she didn't want to be sitting there with me. I didn't blame her. I wouldn't have wanted to be with me either, in the state I was in.

There were a few more seconds of awkward patting, murmured attempts at consolation, and my sniffling. Finally, Jisoo seemed to have had enough, because she pulled back and grabbed my shoulders to straighten me in the chair.

“Look, you better get yourself together. I have no idea why you’re crying, and frankly, I don’t really care that much. If you don’t like Jennie—and you’d be an idiot not to, because she is awesome—don’t worry about it. She’s a big girl and she can take rejection. But if you do like her, then woman up and