If there's anything Lisa loves in the world besides her parents, friends, and cat, it has to be dance.
Back in Thailand, she'd been part of a competitive dance team, one of the best in her province. Lisa loves the way the music flows through her body when she moves, bass thrumming with the pounding of her feet and of her heart; loves the way dance makes her feel more than alive. Leaving that community behind had been one of the hardest parts of moving to America. Even now, she still hasn't found a suitable studio to join, and she feels that lack every day that passes.
Why does this matter? Well, dance is the only reason Lisa's as fit as she is. P.E. is a class that hadn't even existed in Praphamontree, so she definitely doesn't feel mentally prepared for this period. The one upside is that she's already used to the arguably most uncomfortable part of the period, changing in the locker room, thanks to years of hastily switching costumes backstage.
After Chaeyoung shows Lisa how to set her lock combination (123, because she's uncreative like that), she takes out the school-provided P.E. clothing. What she finds are a pair of shorts and a t-shirt that are exceptionally hideous, garishly colored in—
"Pink?" Lisa sputters. "Hot pink? What do the boys think?"
"They don't care," says Chaeyoung, "because they don't have to deal with it. Our school colors are black and pink, so take a guess what color their uniforms are."
"Black," realizes Lisa, "but that's pretty sexist."
"It's also impractical, because black clothing for a class where we're out in the sun all day? The guys get really hot, and I don't mean that in the attractive way."
Lisa shakes her head one more time at the unappealing uniform, before quickly stripping out of her clothes and slipping into it. She winces at the way it hangs off her body, appearing several sizes too large despite being the smallest size. She turns to Chaeyoung, who looks no better, and feels slightly reassured. "Who in their right mind would design something like this?"
Chaeyoung laughs, "I don't know. It's rather unique, isn't it?"
"Unique?" She plucks at the hem of the shirt. "No, I've definitely seen this shape before— on a garbage bag!"
"Well then, you should feel right at home in it," comes a voice from behind her, followed by a smattering of giggles.
Lisa spins on her heel to see (surprise, surprise) Jennie leaning against a row of lockers, surrounded by her posse. "Yeah? Like you look any..."
The words die in her throat.
Unfortunately for Lisa, Jennie does look a lot better. She's done something with the shirt, trimming a few inches off the bottom and sleeves, folding in the waist at certain parts for a final product of a cute little crop top that looks like it came straight out of a fashion outlet. The same goes for the black shorts: what had previously been long enough to pass for basketball shorts is now transformed into girls' running shorts— very short shorts.
That's a lot of exposed skin on both parts, and Lisa feels her face burn, also not in the attractive way. Chaeyoung and Jisoo hadn't been exaggerating; Jennie is, for lack of a better phrase, hot as hell. It's fitting, because while the sexiness is definitely there, the rest is reminiscent of a creature from the pits of the underworld. Obviously, Lisa can't say any of this to Jennie, so instead she turns back to her locker with her lips pressed tightly together.
Jennie seems to take this as surrender, which it is, because she strides right into Lisa's personal space and slams her locker shut. "Listen up, Lalisa. Stay out of my way at this school and I won't bother you. Otherwise..." She lets the word speak for itself.
"I wasn't planning to get in anyone's way. You're the one in the way; I'm trying to open my locker here," snaps Lisa, flustered by the other girl's audacity and also by her proximity, because damn, that body. What could make someone like Jennie this angry? Biting her lip, she grasps at the first idea that comes to her, no matter how ridiculous this is: jealousy. "Is this about Jimin or something?"
"Jimin?" Fleeting confusion passes over Jennie's face. She gives Lisa a searching look, as if to say, You really have no idea what I'm talking about? "No, this isn't about Jimin."
Chaeyoung steps between her and Jennie, glaring down at the girl, who is a lot shorter when she's not wearing heels. "Leave her out of it. It's literally only her first day, can you back off?"
Jennie glances at Lisa, then back at Chaeyoung. Apparently deciding that they're telling the truth, Jennie steps to the side and watches Lisa put her clothes away. "Fine. But don't forget this conversation, new kid." With that, she makes her way out of the locker room, followed by a group of girls who all throw her and Chaeyoung dirty looks.
Lisa exhales slowly, "Okay, so let me guess. When you said Jisoo 'antagonizes' Jennie, you meant 'gives it her all to piss her off every single day', didn't you?"
Chaeyoung nods sheepishly. "She can be really stubborn. Once she puts her mind to something, she won't stop until she gets what she wants. And since what Jisoo wants is for Jennie to get what she has coming, which is never going to happen, she'll never stop. It's the same every time— some lame, petty prank that has no real consequence for Jennie and almost always a bad one for us."
"I see... And what's with the outfit?" Lisa makes a vague gesture with her hands that's supposed to represent Jennie's modified P.E. uniform. "Is that even allowed?"
"Nobody's thought of doing it before, so there are no rules against it," admits Chaeyoung. "Even if there were, it's not like the teachers would care. Jennie's their star pupil, well-behaved and popular."
Amazingly, that star pupil is actually well-behaved for the rest of the period, ignoring both of the friends. The current unit of P.E. is badminton, which Lisa finds she isn't too shabby at. She and Chaeyoung partner for doubles and win a few matches, only losing to a pair of guys from the tennis team.
With that over, English class should be the only remaining challenge. Lisa holds out hope that there'll be more empty seats than just the one next to Jennie until the last second, but she's let down as soon as she walks into the very full classroom. So once again, she ends up in the very front, next to her favorite person. Lisa's relieved when Jennie doesn't look up from where she's absentmindedly thumbing through her book.
Two rows back, Chaeyoung holds two fingers up in a peace sign, looking simultaneously sympathetic and entertained.
"Hello, Lisa," says their friendly teacher, a young woman who looks to be in her early thirties, "we just started a new unit, so there's not much to catch up on. I understand that you just moved here from Thailand?"
"Yes," Lisa confirms.
"In that case, the book may be a bit advanced, but lucky for you, your partner is very capable. Jennie?"
"Yeah, I'd love to help," says Jennie in a completely sincere tone, choosing not to acknowledge Lisa's skeptical stare.
The teacher smiles at her, pleased. "Alright! We don't have an extra book at the moment, so you two will have to share."
Jennie slides the book she'd been flipping through earlier towards Lisa, who scans the cover. Tess of the d'Urbervilles, it reads, A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented. The summary sounds pretty depressing, but oh well.
The teacher gives them half an hour to start reading the novel, most of which Lisa spends struggling to comprehend the large vocabulary words littered throughout each page. She may have studied English for years, but she's still no native speaker. But she isn't brave enough to ask her tablemate about them, recalling Jisoo's traumatic experience as well as her own. Besides, Jennie looks lost in her own world; after Lisa read the first page, she'd checked to see if the other girl had finished as well, but Jennie'd just waved a hand at her and murmured, "I've already read it, go on."
Sitting this close to her, with Jennie actually relaxed instead of all riled up and contemptuous, Lisa can kind of understand what made Jimin (and apparently a lot of guys in the school) go for her. The complentative expression she's wearing right now softens the hostile resting face she usually has, creating an air of, dare she say it, cuteness. There's just something unexpectedly alluring about the way someone can go from a mode of complete dominance to this quiet vulnerability.
It's a pity that none of these newfound realizations change her awful personality, as Lisa is reminded when Jennie catches her staring and scowls, "Eyes off, creep."
Lisa stares determinedly at her book for the rest of class.
YOU ARE READING
because the world can't hold us down
Fanfiction"Jennie's objectively attractive," Lisa acknowledges. "At least, until she opens her mouth and reveals all that ugly inside." "Nobody at this school cares about what's inside, Lisa," says Jisoo. "Jennie's got it all: good looks, brains, and the perf...
