JENNIE
I'm so exhausted, just plain tired of dealing with fight after fight with Lisa. I'm not sure what to do now, where to go from here. I've been following her down the path we've been on for months now, and I'm not sure we're actually going anywhere. We're both just as lost as we were at the start.
"Jennie?" Jisoo's voice carries through the room and out to the balcony.
"Out here," I reply, thankful that I put on a pair of shorts and a sweatshirt. Lisa always teases me when I do that, but it's comfortable at times like this, not too hot but not too cold.
"Hey," she says, coming out and sitting in the chair next to mine.
"Hey." I glance over at her before staring back at the water.
"Are you okay?"
I take a moment to think over her question: Am I okay? No. Will I be? Yes.
"Yeah, this time I think I am." I bring my knees to my chest and wrap my arms around them.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"No. I don't want to ruin the trip with all my drama. I'm fine, really."
"Okay, just know if you want to talk, I'll listen."
"I know." I look over at her, and she gives me a reassuring smile. I don't know what I'm going to do without her.
Her eyes go wide, and she points over at something. "Are those . . . ?"
I look over to where she's staring.
"Oh God!" I jump from my seat and grab the red panties that are floating in the hot tub and shove them into the front pocket of my sweatshirt.
Jisoo bites down on her bottom lip to stifle her laugh, but I can't keep mine in. We both burst into laughter—her genuine, mine out of humiliation. But I'll take this laughter with Jisoo over my usual postfight crying with Lisa any day.