LISA

I stare at my father's massive house, unable to decide whether or not to go inside.

Karen has decorated the outside with too many lights, mini Christmas trees, and what appear to be dancing reindeer. The blow-up Santa in the yard twists with the wind in a way that seems to mock me as I climb out of my car. Pieces of ripped-up airline tickets blow around the seat before I close the door.

I will have to call and make sure I can get a credit for the unused tickets, otherwise I just blew two grand. I probably should just go alone and escape this dreadful state for a while, but for some reason, going home to Thailand doesn't sound as appealing with Jennie not coming along. I'm grateful that my mum was okay with coming here instead. She actually seems excited to come to America.

As I ring my father's doorbell, I try to come up with an excuse as to why the hell I am here. But before I can conjure something, Jisoo appears.

"Hey," I say as she opens the door wider for me to come inside. "Hey?" she questions.

I dig my hands into my pockets, unsure what to say or do.

"Jennie isn't here," she says and walks toward the living room, indifferent to my presence.

"Yeah . . . I know. She's in Seattle," I say, following a few feet behind her.

"So . . ."

"I . . . um . . . well, I came to talk to you . . . or my dad, I mean Marco. Or your mum," I ramble on.

"Talk? About what?" She takes the bookmark from the book she's holding and begins to read. I want to snatch the book from her hands and toss it into the fire, but that won't get me anywhere.

"Jennie," I say quietly. My fingers fiddle with my lip ring as I wait for her to burst into laughter.

She looks at me and closes her book. "Let me get this straight . . . Jennie doesn't want anything to do with you, so you're here to talk to me? Or your father, or even my mother?"

"Yeah . . . I guess . . ." God, she's irritating. This is embarrassing enough. "Okay . . . and what exactly do you think I can do for you? I, personally,

don't think Jennie should ever speak to you again, and I honestly figured you would have moved on by now."

"Stop being a dick. I know I fucked up—but I love her, Jisoo. And I know she loves me. She's just hurt right now."

Jisoo takes a deep breath and rubs her chin with her fingers.

"I don't know, Lisa. What you did is pretty unforgivable. You humiliated her and she trusted you."

"I know . . . I know. Fuck, don't you think I know that?"

She sighs. "Well, seeing as you showed up here to ask for help, I'd say you get how messed up this whole situation is."

"So what do you think I should do? Not as her friend, but as my . . . you know, my father's stepdaughter?"

"You mean stepsister? Your stepsister." She smiles. I roll my eyes and she laughs. "Well, has she talked to you at all?" she asks.

"Yeah . . . I actually went to Seattle last night, and she let me stay with her," I tell her.

"She what?" She is clearly surprised.

"Yeah, she was drunk. I mean really drunk, and she practically made me fuck her." I notice her sour expression at my choice of words. "Sorry . . . she made me sleep with her. Well not made me, because I wanted to, I mean how could I say no . . . she's just . . ." Why am I even telling her this?

She waves her hands in the air. "Okay! Okay! I get it, jeez."

"So anyway, then this morning I said some shit that I shouldn't have said because she told me she kissed someone else."

"Jennie kissed someone?" she asks, disbelief clear in her voice.

"Yeah . . . some guy at a fucking nightclub." I groan. I don't want to think about that again.

"Wow. She really is pissed at you," she says. "I. Know."

"What did you say to her this morning?"

"I told her that I fucked Nancy yesterday," I admit. "Did you? You know . . . have sex with Nancy?" "No, God no." I shake my head.

What the hell is going on here that I am having some twisted heart-to- heart with Jisoo, of all people?

"Then why did you say that you did?"

"Because she angered me." I shrug. "She kissed someone else."

"Okay . . . so you said that you slept with Nancy, who you know Jen despises, just to hurt her?"

"Yeah . . ."

"Good idea." She rolls her eyes.

I wave her snarky movement away with a strong hand. "Do you think she loves me?" I ask, because I have to know.

Jisoo snaps her head up, suddenly serious. "I don't know . . ." She's a terrible liar.

"Tell me. You know her better than anyone, except me."

"She loves you. But because of how you betrayed her, she's convinced that you never loved her," Jisoo explains.

It breaks my heart all over again. And I can't believe I'm asking for her help, but I need it. "What can I do? Will you help me?"

"I don't know . . ." She looks up at me with uncertainty, but she must see my desperation. "I guess I can try to talk to her. Her birthday is tomorrow—you know that, right?"

"Yeah, of course I know that. Do you have plans with her?" I ask her.

She better not.

"No, she said she's going to stay at her mother's house." "Her mother's house? Why? When did you talk to her?"

"She texted me about two hours ago, and what else is she supposed to do? Stay at a motel by herself on her birthday?"

I choose to ignore her last question. If I'd just kept my cool this morning, she might have possibly let me stay another night with her.

Instead, she's still in Seattle with fucking Taehyung.

I hear footsteps coming down the stairs, and my father's body appears in the doorway a moment later. "I thought I heard your voice . . ."

"Yeah . . . I came to talk to Jisoo," I lie. Well, it's half the truth; I was going to talk to whoever I saw first.

I'm pathetic.

He looks surprised. "You did?"

"Yeah. Um, also, Mum is coming Tuesday morning," I tell him. "For Christmas."

"That's great to hear. I know she misses you," he tells me.

My first instinct is to think of a comeback, some remark about how shitty a father he is, but I simply don't feel like it.

"Well, I'll leave you two guys to talk," he says and walks back to the stairs. "Oh, and Lisa?" my father says when he's halfway up.

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad you're here."

"Okay," I state. I don't know what else to say. My dad gives me a tight smile and continues up the stairs.

This whole day is a fucking mess. My head hurts. "Well . . . I guess I'm going to go . . ." I say to Jisoo, and she nods.

"I'll do what I can," she promises as I walk to the door.

"Thanks." And when we both stand awkwardly in the doorway, I mumble, "You know I'm not going to like hug you or some shit, right?"

As I walk out the door, I hear her laugh and shut the door.