Trials and Tribulations [Chaelisa]

Chapter 76

The instant the words left Chaeyoung’s lips she knew that they were a mistake and she cursed herself privately for being so brash and impulsive. ‘Shit,’ she thought, her stomach dropping out from underneath her unpleasantly at the look of sheer terror which had appeared on Lisa’s face, the realisation that everyone in the room was now looking in her direction finally dawning on the younger girl. ‘Shit, shit, shit….” The request had seemed like a good idea whilst it had remained inconspicuously on the tip of Chaeyoung’s tongue. She’d thought that it would be harmless and innocent, but it wasn’t. Instead, the invitation for Lisa to join her was more reckless, more explosive and more damaging than if she’d accidentally thrown a live grenade in to the crowd.

‘Fuck,’ Chaeyoung cursed again, her eyes never leaving Lisa who looked every inch a deer caught in the proverbial headlights, her eyes wide with fear and her cheeks burning bright red at the attention she was receiving. She looked uncomfortable and awkward as she stood shifting her weight nervously from one leg to the other, her eyes fixed firmly on the floor at her feet, her embarrassment obvious to everyone who stood patiently watching her, awaiting a response. ‘What the fuck were you thinking?’ Chaeyoung chastised herself, realising that she should have known better than to put Lisa on the spot but unsure what to do in order to rectify the situation without drawing even more attention to her girlfriend.

“Lisa?” Michael prompted, finally breaking the quiet which had fallen over the room and still continued to stretch on painfully all the while Chaeyoung’s question remained unanswered. Lisa lifted her chocolate eyes tentatively in his direction, unable to ignore his deep, baritone voice as it echoed over the microphone. She ran a hand through her hair nervously, her mortification at what was happening evident for everyone, including Chaeyoung, to see. Chaeyoung took a step closer to her own microphone at the sight of her girlfriend’s unease, desperately wishing that there were some way that she could take her words back and spare Lisa this humiliation. ‘Look at me Lili,’ Chaeyoung silently urged, well aware that her girlfriend was deliberately avoiding her gaze, her dark orbs leaving Michael after a few short seconds to dart selfconsciously around the room in search of an escape and instead meeting the expectant stares of her peers. Chaeyoung saw Jisoo nudge her friend in the side and Lisa turned her attention to the older girl, a look of surprise on her face at the unexpected contact.

“Lisa,” Jisoo said quietly out of the corner of her mouth, her eyes forward and focused on Chaeyoung who was watching the interaction interestedly. “Aren’t you going to say something?” she asked her best friend discreetly. “You can’t just leave Chaeyoung hanging like this…” Lisa studied Jisoo with a wretched expression on her face and she opened and closed her mouth as if she were about to say something but changed her mind at the last moment. “Jesus Lisa,” Jisoo breathed, her eyes flitting to her friend in realisation when she noticed the movement in her peripheral vision. “Please tell me that you can speak…” she entreated; her tone so low it was barely above a whisper.

“I…” Lisa forced out with difficulty and Jisoo turned her whole body round so that she was facing the younger girl and blocking her from Chaeyoung’s view.

“Shit,” Jisoo hissed between clenched teeth, casting a quick look over her shoulder at the browneyed girl and then back at Lisa. “Ok…” she said placing her hands on Lisa’s shoulders. “Just…breathe for a minute Lisa….” She advised. “It’ll come back in a second alright? It always does…just…take a minute to get yourself together.” Lisa glanced around the room, her brain astutely aware that she was very much the centre of attention and unable to ignore that fact for even one second. “Lisa, look at me,” Jisoo prompted quietly as she shook Lisa’s shoulders in her grasp, her best friends eyes snapping back to meet her own at the jolt. “Ignore them.”