JENNIE
Lisa parks as close to the coffeehouse as she can manage, but the campus is crowded since everyone has returned from Christmas break. She curses the entire time she circles each parking lot, and I try not to laugh at her annoyance. It's quite adorable.
"Give me your bag," Lisa says when I get out of the car.
I hand it to her with a smile and thank her for the thoughtful gesture.
It's pretty heavy, manageable but heavy.
It feels strange being back on campus; so much has changed and happened since I was last here. The cold wind whips against my skin, and Lisa pulls a beanie over her head before zipping her jacket up all the way. We rush through the parking lot and down the street. I should have brought a thicker jacket, and gloves, and even a hat for myself. Lisa was right when she said I shouldn't wear the dress, but there is no way I am admitting that.
Lisa looks adorable with her bangs hidden under the beanie, and her cheeks and nose are red from the cold. Only Lisa would look even more attractive in this harsh weather.
"There she is." She points to Jisoo as we walk inside the coffee shop.
The familiarity of the small space calms my nerves, and I smile as soon as I see my closest friend sitting at a small table waiting for me.
Jisoo smiles when she spots us, and when we get near she greets us. "Good morning."
"Morning," I chirp back.
"I'll get in line," Lisa mumbles and heads to the counter.
I didn't expect her to stay, or get my coffee, but I'm glad she does. We don't have any classes together this semester, and I'll miss seeing her since I've gotten used to seeing her all day.
"Ready for the new semester?" Jisoo asks when I take a seat across from her. The chair squeaks against the tile floor, drawing attention to us, and I smile apologetically before taking a good look at Jisoo.
As I look around the coffee shop, I begin to realize I probably should've just worn jeans and a sweatshirt. I'm the only person in the place who's remotely dressed up.
"Yes, and no," I tell her, and she agrees.
"Same. How are things . . ."—she leans across the table to whisper —"you know, between you two?"
I look over and see Lisa has her back to us, but the barista's face is in a deep scowl. She rolls her eyes as she hands Lisa's debit card, and I wonder what she could have done to her to irritate her so much this early in the day.
"Good, actually. How are things with Yeri? It feels much longer than a week since we've seen each other."
"Good, she's preparing for New York."
"That is so amazing, I'd love to go to New York." I can't imagine what the city is like.
"Me, too." She smiles, and I want to tell her not to go, but I know that I can't. "I haven't made my mind up yet," she says, answering my thoughts. "I want to go and be close to her—we've lived so far for so long. But I love WCU and don't know if I want to be away from my mom and Marco to go to a huge city where I know absolutely no one, except her, of course."
I nod, and try to be encouraging despite myself. "You would do amazing there—you could go to NYU and the two of you could get an apartment," I say.
"Yeah, I just don't know yet."
"Know what?" Lisa interrupts, setting my coffee in front of me but not sitting down. "Never mind. I've got to go, my first class begins in five minutes on the opposite side of campus," she says, and I cringe at the thought of running late on the first day of new classes.
"Okay, I'll see you after yoga. It's my last class," I tell her, and she surprises me by leaning down and planting a kiss on my lips, then my forehead.
"I love you, be careful being bendy," she says, and I get the feeling that if her cheeks weren't red from the cold, they would be now; her eyes shift to the floor when she remembers Jisoo is sitting across from us. Public displays of affection are definitely not her thing.
"I will. I love you," I tell her, and she gives Jisoo an uncomfortable head nod before walking toward the door.
"That was . . . weird." Jisoo lifts her eyebrows and takes a drink of her coffee.
"Yeah, it was." I laugh and rest my chin on my hand and sigh happily. "We should get going to Religion," Jisoo says, and I grab my bag from the floor and follow er outside.
Luckily we don't have a long walk to our first class. I'm excited about World Religion. It should be very interesting and thought provoking, and having Jisoo there is an added bonus. When we enter the room, we aren't the first students to arrive, but the front row is completely empty. Jisoo and I sit down in the front center and take our books out. It feels good to be back in my element—academics has always been my thing, and I love that Jisoo feels the same.
We wait patiently as the room fills with students, most of whom are obnoxiously loud. The compactness of the classroom doesn't help with the noise, either.
At last, a tall man who looks too young to be a professor strides in and immediately launches into his lesson. "Good morning, everyone. As most of you know by now, my name is Professor Song. This is World Religion; you may get bored a few times, and I can promise you that you'll learn a heap of facts that you'll never actually use in the real world—but hey, what is college for?" He smiles and everyone laughs.
Well, this is different.
"So let's get started. There is no syllabus for this course. We will not be following a strict outline—that isn't my style . . . but you'll learn all that you need to know by the end date. Seventy-five percent of your grade will come from a journal that you'll be required to keep. And I know you're thinking: What does a journal have to do with religion? It doesn't per se . . . but in a way it does. In order to study and really understand any form of spirituality, you have to be open to the idea of anything and everything. Keeping a journal will help with that, and some of the things I'll have you write about will involve topics that people aren't comfortable with, topics that are very controversial and uncomfortable for some. But all the same, I have high hopes that everyone will leave this class with an open mind and maybe a little knowledge." He beams and unbuttons his jacket.
Jisoo and I both turn to look at each other at the same time. No syllabus? Jisoo mouths.
A journal? I reply silently.
Professor Song takes a seat at the large desk in the front of the room and pulls a bottle of water from his bag. "You can talk amongst yourselves until the end of class, or you can go ahead and go for today and we'll begin the real work tomorrow. Just sign the roster so I can see how many flakes we had that didn't show for the first day," he announces with a playful grin.
The class howls and cheers before departing quickly, Jisoo shrugs at me, and we both stand up after the room is empty. We're the last to sign the attendance roster.
"Well, I guess this is cool. I can call Yeri for a little while between classes," she says and packs her things.
THE REST OF THE DAY goes by quickly, and I'm eager to see Lisa. I've sent her a few text messages, but she has yet to respond. My feet are killing me as I make my way to the athletic building; I hadn't realized how far of a walk it would be. The smell of sweat invades my nostrils as soon as I open the main door, and I hurry to the locker room labeled with a stick figure in a dress. The walls are lined with thin red lockers, the metal showing through the chipped paint job.
"How do we know which locker to use?" I ask a short brunette wearing a bathing suit.
"Just pick one and use the lock you brought," she says. "Oh . . ." Of course, I didn't think to bring a lock.
Seeing my expression, she digs into her bag and hands me a small lock. "Here, I have an extra. The combination is on the back; I haven't removed the sticker."
I thank her as she walks out of the room. After I'm changed into a new pair of black yoga pants and a white T-shirt, I head out. As I walk down the hall to the yoga room, a group of lacrosse players pass by, several of them making a vulgar remark that I choose to ignore. All of them except one keeps moving.
"You trying out for cheer next year?" the boy asks, his deep brown, almost black eyes looking me up and down.
"Me? No, I'm just on my way to yoga class," I stammer. We are the only people in this hall.
"Oh, that's too bad. You would look phenomenal in a skirt."
"I have a girlfriend," I announce and try to move around him. He blocks me.
"Ooooh girlfriend i see. Actually, I have a girlfriend too . . . what does that matter?" He smiles and takes a step, cornering me.
He doesn't appear intimidating at all, but something about his cocky smile makes my skin crawl. "I need to get to class," I say.
"I can walk you . . . or you can skip and I could show you around." He puts his arm up on the wall next to my head, and I step backward with nowhere to go.
"Get the fuck away from her." Lisa's voice booms from behind me, and the creep turns his head to look at her.
She looks more intimidating than ever in long basketball shorts and a black T-shirt with the sleeves cut off to reveal her tattooed arms.
"I'm . . . sorry, man, I didn't know she had a girlfriend," he lies.
"Did you not hear me? I said get the fuck away from her." Lisa walks toward us, and the lacrosse player backs away quickly, but Lisa grabs hold of his shirt and slams him against the wall.
I don't stop her.
"Come near her again and I'll crack your skull against this wall. Do you understand me?" she growls.
"Ye-yes . . ." the guy stutters and rushes down the hall.
"Thank God," I say and wrap my arm around her neck. "Why are you here? I thought you didn't need any more PE classes?" I ask.
"I decided to take one. And good thing." She sighs and takes my hand into her.
"Which one?" I ask. I can't imagine Lisa being athletic at all.
"Yours."
I gasp. "You didn't."
"Oh, yes I did." Her anger seems to be dissolved as she smiles at my horrified expression.