Between Generations

Chapter 17

Lise was eating breakfast that Saturday morning in Marinette's kitchen when she noticed the blue-haired girl complimenting her mother on the flower she had put in her hair. She hugged her mother. Lise watched them intently, a pain forming in her chest for her parents.

A fond memory stirred in her mind, of a particular moment when she was eleven that perfectly summarized her parents' relationship with each other. When she was eleven, a normal family dinner had turned into a feud.

Lise and her parents had been eating in silence on a typical Tuesday, broken only by the occasional clinks of silverware on the plates, when all of a sudden, her father pointed the fork at her mother, his tall figure overshadowing her even while seated. "I bet you couldn't throw this fork at a target and hit bullseye."

Her mother had stopped eating, her usually calm face turned hard with determination. Lise's mouth broke open into a grin, averting her gaze between the two of them. She dropped her silverware, and reached for her tablet on the kitchen counter. Neither of her parents acknowledged the forbidden technology at the table.

Lise's mother launched her fork into the pasta, nearly cracking the plate. She stood up abruptly, pushing her chair back, and leaned close to her husband's eyes. Her height barely reached over the table, but her ferocity made up for that.

"Was that a dare?" she whispered. If Lise didn't know better, she would've thought that her mother was angry at her husband. However, a twinge of a smile tugged at her lips. Lise pressed record.

"Nah, just friendly banter. But if you can't do it, I will most certainly understand."

With lightning-quick reflexes that made Lise stumble with her tablet, her mother seized the fork from her husband's hand. "You're on."

Within minutes, Lise's parents had set up a cardboard circle in the apartment living room. The rings had been hastily drawn with permanent marker, a blue sequin marking the coveted bullseye. All of the forks had been scavenged from every possible corner of their apartment, and left in a scattered pile on the white carpet as if they were gathering grapes.

Lise hovered by the kitchen, still recording with her tablet, grinning the whole time. These moments were her favorite part about her family, and she wanted to remember them forever.

After two hours of relentless throwing and breaking drywalls and nicking fingers, Lise's mother succeeded, with five making the bullseye. Her husband had only made the outer rings of the pitiful cardboard target, now bent under the weight of the abused silverware.

Her parents had looked at the state of the living room and the unfortunate drywall that the landlady would definitely charge them for, and just laughed.

It was in that moment that Lise never wanted anything to change.

But at the same time, she somehow knew that things were going to change.

"Hey Lise? Do you want to work on some homework?"

Lise's memory faded as she realized where she was. "Huh? Oh. What homework?" Lise focused in on Marinette, who was dipping a piece of bread into a steaming mug of hot chocolate.

Marinette laughed, and held up the math textbook.

"Ohhh, right." Lise laughed nervously. She didn't even keep track of any homework in school. She didn't think it was worth the time, since she wasn't from this time.

Marinette's phone rang. She jumped out of her skin.

"Hey Alya, what's up? What? The bet between Alix and Kim? No I didn't forget!"