Chapter 17.

"I love how you combed your hair today. Together with these earrings it gives you this mystical look." Lisa said, tilting her head to the side, her eyes zooming in on Jennie's face.

"I was hoping for a more serious conversation Lisa." the brunette nervously touched her hair.

"Yeah I know, I just wanted to say something nice to start."

"Oh. Sorry. I never know how to react to compliments. I always suspect there's some hidden motive behind them."

"Why?"

"I'm not really used to compliments, you know. Probably because I rarely hear them." Jennie said it in her usual, calm voice, but somehow in Lisa's ears it sounded really sad.

"Anyway, what you wrote in your letter really touched me, because... I'm glad you see good things in me and not the bad like most people."

"But?"

"How did you know there was a 'but'?" Jennie arched her eyebrows in surprise, impressed.

"The tone of your voice kind of hinted it."

Jennie nodded and then spoke with visible difficulty.

"Lisa, you can't tell me you aren't scared by what happened to me. Just think for a moment. When I black out, I completely lose control of myself. I become someone with... inhuman powers. And I can be dangerous because I can't control them... what if I involuntarily hurt others? And then after waking up I wouldn't even remember it. I am terrified... I'm so terrified of myself." Jennie paused and looked at Lisa. "So don't tell me you're not frightened too."

The blonde shook her head. "Frightened is such a strong word. I'm not afraid of you Jennie. I swear I'm not. I am... worried."

"What if I black out and hurt YOU?" The question was asked so faintly that Lisa could barely hear it.

"No, I don't believe you'd be capable of that."

Jennie scoffed. "But you can't be sure."

"So far I only saw you hurt one person and only because you defended me."

"Oh, come on!" Jennie lost her patience. "Imagine I get mad for whatever reason, black out and smash your cat against the wall! What would you say then, huh!?" Tears appeared in Jennie's eyes. "Face it Lisa, I'm unpredictable, violent and dangerous! Which makes me a monster! That's the truth! I'm thankful that you don't want to see it, but it's the truth and you can't change that!" Her entire body was shaking as she covered her face in her hands.

"Stop repeating this bullshit Jen." Lisa replied, not even knowing why she sounded so firm and calm. "The very fact that you're so concerned about hurting others shows that you're not a monster. And besides, I know it."

"How can you possibly know it?"

"I just do." Lisa replied, her voice still calm and confident.

"That's not an answer." The brunette shook her head.

"That's the only answer I can give you. I'm sorry but I can't explain it."

Jennie stared at her in disbelief and amazement. She couldn't believe that Lisa's faith in her couldn't be crushed. She threw all rational arguments at Lisa to convince her, to make her lose her spirit, to weaken her faith, but nothing worked.

And Jennie felt extremely grateful for that. Because deep down in her soul she actually hoped that Lisa wouldn't falter, that she'd keep defending her.

That she wouldn't lose faith in her, like so many people did before.

"You're..." she paused, "...incredible, Liz. You believe in me more than I do."

"That's exactly what you did for me, remember?" Lisa answered softly and their gazes locked. Brown, doe-like eyes against dark, feline ones. They stared at each other for over a minute, in complete silence, and it wasn't even remotely awkward. On the contrary, the union of their minds that occurred at that very moment was a soothing, comforting and even pleasant experience. They both realized that even if one of them stumbles on the difficult path of life, the other one will be there to help. Always. No questions asked.

"One more thing." Jennie broke the silence after the moment passed. "Why give the letter to everyone in school? You could've sent it just to me."

The question made Lisa suddenly uncomfortable. Her hand went up to flip her hair, but then she changed her mind and her hand fell down again.

"Some time ago you told me that you felt responsible for me. And I realized that I feel the same for you. Don't get me wrong, I'm not doing it out of gratitude or because I want to repay you for what you did for me... I truly felt that my purpose in life should be to protect you, make sure you're never unhappy anymore." The last words were uttered almost shyly, as if Lisa felt ashamed about her confession. "So by writing this letter I wanted to show everyone-"

"That they shouldn't hate me?"

"Uhm, I didn't mean to say 'hate' but yeah, that was the general idea..."

Jennie nodded, all of a sudden reluctant to look Lisa in the eyes.

"Thank you." the way she whispered the words made Lisa feel her idea with the letter was more than worthwhile. If the conversation had ended there, it would've been perfect. But Lisa was so excited that she decided to take one step more.

"I really want to help you Jen, change you like you changed me. Maybe if you learn how to be more friendly with people, make an effort to be nicer-" she suddenly paused because Jennie stiffened, an annoyed frown on her face. Lisa realized she went too far.

"Make an effort to be nicer?" Jennie repeated faintly. "You don't think I try?" she asked, her entire expression showing how badly hurt she was.

"That's not what I meant." Lisa wanted to back down but it was too late. Jennie's hurtful gaze was fixed at her, making Lisa's heart ache with guilt. "Jennie, listen to me. I know what it feels like, after my parents' divorce I lost the will to study, basically chose the path of least resistance, but you made me realize how wrong I was-" Lisa abruptly fell silent, seeing that her words only made things worse because Jennie's eyes flashed with anger.

"Out of all people, I never expected you to say that to me." She shook her head in undisguised disappointment, rose to her feet and started pacing around the room.

"How can you even think that it's comparable? Can't you see how wrong it is!? There's no symmetry between your situation and mine! Your parents separated and I know it must've been difficult for you, but not nearly as hard as it was for me! You still have your mom and dad, they're still there for you, they still love you! And my parents are dead and no one has ever loved me, ever! Imagine, Lisa, all my damn life without being loved by a single person! I dare you to imagine that!" Jennie was breathing heavily, her chest moving up and down. "And you have the audacity to say that I should make an effort to be nicer? I'm already doing all I can Lisa, okay!? Every fucking day I make an effort just to get out of bed, to go out in the world which so far has brought me nothing but pain and misery!"

Lisa was watching her with eyes wet with incoming tears.

"I'm sorry for everything I said, I was wrong, I'm sorry Jen, please-" her hand reached towards Jennie to comfort her, but the brunette reacted almost violently to the touch.

"No, don't touch me!" She snapped backwards and suddenly an invisible force threw the flower pot from the windowsill to the ground, breaking it into pieces. Lisa let out a quiet surprised scream.

"I'm losing control of me Lisa, I can feel it. Leave me and run-" Jennie managed to utter before her frightened eyes closed and her body arched back unnaturally. Lisa witnessed in panic as the chairs and desks around Jennie started shaking, as if a real earthquake was happening. Fear made Lisa's body tremble uncontrollably too, but she never even considered running away. She jumped to the brunette, grabbed her by the shoulders and looked at her expressionless face.

"Jen, resist it! Try to control yourself, please! I know you can do it! " The only effect was a picture falling down on the floor, the glass shattering. Lisa's fear spiked as she noticed that the shaking around Jennie was increasing in intensity. "Jennie, I know you can hear me, you don't have to be scared, I'm here and I'll always be there for you, I swear." Lisa pleaded. "I'll be the one to love you if you let me, just please come back to me, please..." Just when the first tears were about to spring from Lisa's eyes, everything stopped. Chairs and desks stopped moving, Jennie's body relaxed and she opened her eyes, blinking rapidly. Then she looked around, noticed the broken flower pot and shattered glass and winced in desperation, realizing that, once again, she experienced a blackout. They didn't have a chance to say anything to each other because the door to the room swung open and Mrs. Kang, the school's math teacher, came in with a more than disapproving look on her face.

"What are you two doing here, what was that strange noise?" she asked, then noticed Jennie's accelerated breath, droplets of sweat on her forehead and the broken flower pot.

"Girls, you're old enough to know that you shouldn't act like that here." she scolded them. "Now go back to your classes and I'll get someone to clean up this mess." she added as she left.

"What... what did she mean by that?" Jennie was still dazed and confused.

"Uhm... she might have thought that we were, you know, making out." Lisa explained and the brunette immediately rushed to grab her bag and hurried out. But before she did, Lisa saw how Jennie's entire face, from the neck to the hairline, blushed with intense, crimson red color.