So far, Lisa's second day at school is going by without incident. In math, she moves to the back, next to Jisoo. There's actually an empty seat there, which Lisa assumes is because nobody wants to be the table partner of someone failing the class— a thought she keeps to herself. She hangs out with Chaeyoung and Jisoo again at lunch, and the three start to get into an easy rhythm of friendship.
Even during P.E., when she and Chaeyoung lose in badminton to Jennie and one of her friends, their opponents thankfully make no snide remark. English is spent doing individual analysis, and now that Lisa has her own book, she hardly has to interact with Jennie.
Her day is going so well, until she walks into the library for sixth period.
Jisoo and Yoongi are already at "the best seats in the entire room": the former leaning back in her chair with her feet propped up and a pleased grin on her face, the latter with his head face down on the table.
"Look!" Jisoo nods her head toward one of the nearby bookshelves, in front of which Jennie is standing with a confused frown. "She's already noticed that Pachinko is missing."
The book in question mysteriously becomes heavier in Lisa's backpack.
"I can't look," moans Yoongi into the table, voice muffled. "We're going to die."
They watch in silence as Jennie looks over the shelf again, then heads to the librarian's table. Lisa strains to eavesdrop and hears Jennie say, "Excuse me, ma'am, but do you know what happened to the copies of Pachinko, by Min Jin Lee? There were three yesterday, and they're all gone now. Were they possibly misplaced?"
The librarian shakes her head. "No, they were all checked out."
Jennie thanks her, looking disappointed, then starts to head back to her table. As she passes by, Jisoo whips out her copy of the book and says extremely loudly, "Hey guys, isn't this book great? Pachinko is such a fun game!"
Which just tells Lisa that she hasn't even looked into the book, because Lisa's read a few chapters and she could instantly tell that Yoongi was right: it's not just a manual for pachinko. Still, at the mention of the title, Jennie's head swivels slowly, terrifyingly, towards the three.
(In the back of her mind, Lisa remembers Jisoo saying something like, "How could Jennie find out we're the ones who checked it out? We'll be fine!" and kind of regrets all her life decisions.)
Yoongi lifts his head just in time to see Jennie approaching their table in a manner reminiscent of circling sharks, and he instantly puts it back down again. "Please don't recognize me."
"Why do you have this?" hisses Jennie dangerously, snatching the book out of Jisoo's grasp. "Did you check out all three copies just to screw with me?"
"Excuse me," Jisoo feigns indignation, "this novel is a literary masterpiece which I simply wanted to read. Not everything is about you, Jennie. Now give that back before I report you for theft."
Jennie hands it over reluctantly. "And the other two copies, then?"
"Well, the book is so amazing that I just had to recommend it to Lisa and Yoongi here."
Lisa shrinks back in her chair as Jennie notices them for the first time. Her scowl deepens when Yoongi sits up and coughs uncomfortably. "You! No wonder you asked me what I was reading; I can't believe I fell for that."
"Who's the idiot now?" smirks Jisoo.
Jennie's fist clenches, as if she's debating between grabbing the book back from Jisoo or punching her in the face, then relaxes as she takes a breath and regains her composure. Her expression is frigid when she says, "You think you're so clever, don't you, Jisoo Kim? Talking about idiots when you have the worst grade in our year. There's nothing special about you."
"In your opinion," spits Jisoo. "Pretty little model whose mother bought her career."
"I don't need modeling to stand out," retorts Jennie, brushing off the accusation. "Meanwhile, you don't excel in any classes, at least not in the positive way. Your soccer abilities are mediocre at best, and you'll likely be kicked off the team next semester for not meeting academic requirements. I could threaten to speed up the process, but I think I'd prefer to watch your pathetic attempts to pull that grade up. Admit it, Jisoo, you're a failure in every sense of the word and—"
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...
