Straight Circle

chapter thirty-seven

JENNIE

The last thing I expected to hear is that Lisa doesn't remember the time when she confessed her feelings to me. I couldn't believe it at first, but she seems clueless and confused. I guess her temporary memory loss prevents us from having an uncomfortable talk.

I never had a problem rejecting men because they were always coming out of nowhere with their speech where we are meant to be together. Lisa is different from them because we've been friends for years and I know that she's taking very seriously the words 'I love you'.

She loves me, and I didn't know that until last night. That's... kind of a problem. We're friends and that would be impossible for me to reciprocate her feelings. There's a ton of reasons why we can't be together. My whole career would be ruined, my parents would be mad, and my friends would be disappointed.

"JENNIE! WE NEED TO TALK," my mother shouts making me roll my eyes.

I bet she came here to scold me and I'm not really in the mood to hear her lecture me. Lisa bites her bottom lip and gives me a small smile.

"Um... Maybe I should go," she says, but I shake my head.

"No, no, no. Stay," I retort.

She sighs and runs her hand through her long golden hair, "She'll probably ask me inappropriate questions."

After living with her for years, I can tell that my mother likes to ask a ton of questions about something when she doesn't know anything about it. She didn't take it well when she learned about Lisa's sexuality and chances are that she will try to change her mind.

"It's going to be fine," I shrug.

She widens her eyes and looks at me as if I grew a third eye on my face.

"She will kill me," Lisa retorts right away.

I arch an eyebrow while she's starting to be nervous. She tends to bite her lips and rubs her arms when she is anxious about something. I think that it would be a shame if she doesn't want to meet my mother because they used to get along well.

"You're hanging too much with my brother. You're starting to talk like him," I sigh and grab her wrist making her frown at me. "C'mon let's go."

She groans, but I don't mind her cold behavior and drags her to the kitchen where my mother is standing near the kitchen island.

I let go my hand off Lisa and walk to my mother. She smiles when she sees me, but her smile fades away once her eyes glance over my shoulder.

"What is she doing here?"

Taehyung rolls his eyes and puts his glass full of orange juice on the table, "Mom, stop. You're being rude."

"She's not welcome here," my mother adds.

Lisa looks at me as if she was silently telling me 'I told you so'. I kind of expected that my mother would give her the cold shoulders, but I think that they can settle their differences if they talk.

"Guess I'll have to leave," Lisa smiles and starts to walk away.

I grab her left shoulder and force her to stop. She lets out a deep sigh and turns around with an annoyed expression. My mother stares at her with a disapproving look and then, crosses her arms.

It looks like a quarrel between a parent and their child. Those two need to talk instead of avoiding each other like the plague.

"This is not right, Lisa. Girls kissing girls? What kind of sorcery is that? Have you talked about it with your parents? There's a lot of doctors who can cure you. It's not too late to change your mind, my child. God is good. He can forgive you," she says.