“Lilith! "What the hell happened to my breakfast?" My uncle ranted from downstairs.
I groggily get out of bed as I hear him stomping up the stairs. As I rush to the door to check that it is locked, I trip over my bag and crash into the door with my side. I clench my teeth as I check the lock and sigh. It hasn't been unlocked since I went to sleep.
Heavy footsteps come to a halt at my door, followed by a constant bashing of fists against it.
"You little shit! You don't lock the doors in my fucking home! You'd better get your ass downstairs and start cooking before I tear your door down!" He's shrieking now, which sends shivers up my spine.
"Uncle Tim, I'm getting ready for school and will be down in a jiffy," I respond.
My ears perk up at the sound of him stomping back down the staircase. With a sigh of relief, I drop to the floor and rub my side.
"That's going to leave a bruising..." I murmured to myself.
I get up and go over to my filthy dresser, where I grab a blue fitted t-shirt and black sweatpants. However, if I had more fashionable attire to wear, I'd be
more confident in my appearance. Tim bought all my clothing at a secondhand shop. He told me it was a waste of money to purchase me anything new since I was a hand-me-down child.
My uncle, who was never able to have children of his own, grew up to be a grumpy old guy who shouted at neighborhood kids who let their ball drift in the yard. On his best days, he primarily rants and curses at me. On his worse days, he's been known to physically attack me.
I make my way downstairs to the new kitchen and begin making Jimmy Dean Sausage and Cheesy Scrambled Eggs for him. In terms of cooking time, what's better than pre-cooked meats and eggs? No other option will be available to him other than to consume the food I prepare. My memory is hazy, but I don't recall ever seeing him prepare a meal on his own that didn't entail the use of a microwave.
I can hear incomprehensible mumblings coming from the living room. When I looked at the stove to see what time it was, I realized my bus was just 10 minutes away. Thanks to Tim cranking up the volume, I can hear the newscaster describing a missing girl in a town not far away. As I rotate the sausages, the meteorologist switches over. He mentions we will have a sunny day here in Georgia and to expect a 70% chance of rain in the evening. I grin as I recollect the chilling wind that we would have right now if we were still in Michigan.
My deepest want is for frigid days to occur more often, even though I know I will never be that fortunate. My uncle's inability to use his knees was preserved by a miracle: cold weather. He couldn't get close to me because he couldn't use his knees to support himself. When I think about how he pays for our housing and food, I'm afraid to ask. It's not as if he's able to work without being restricted by his disability.
I hear a bus honk as I put his meal on a plate and put it on the table with a glass of orange juice. My school bus is patiently waiting for me as I peer out the window. I grab my book bag, put on my tennis shoes, and dash out the door without telling Tim about his prepared food. Hopefully, that doesn’t leave him in a foul mood for me to come home to.
On the bus journey to Oceanside High School, there was a lot of silence. There were two people on the bus when I got on it, and it had five more passengers to go until it arrived at school. My eyes were drawn to the beauty of the school and its surroundings as we approached it. It was almost as if it was a school that specialized in the study of foliage. The massive Red Wood trees that flanked the school and stretched into the distance, cast a natural shadow over it.
Hopping off the bus, I couldn’t help but miss my best friend back home. I had no way of communicating with her and it was eating me alive. Her school year starts about two weeks after mine. I knew she would cheer me on from the sidelines if she was here.
Pushing past the gaudy school entrance, the scent of breakfast hit me. Cafeteria breakfast always carried that memorable, attractiveness when it hit your nostrils. As I enjoyed the aroma, I passed through a few cliques hanging around the faded and beaten, green lockers. The outside of the school did not help with the worn-down insides it contained. The dull, yellow walls had flyers taped to them wherever a student could reach and the once white tiles were now gray with permanent scuff marks. Disgust crossed my expression when I accidentally stepped in old, sticky-pink gum. Attempting to scrape it off as I walked, a few students passed by and judged me with their eyes as they snickered.
I searched for my locker among the bustle of kids mingling around the school. G52, where are you? I bump into someone as though I'm in the midst of a scavenger hunt, gazing at a paper map and glancing up to see where I'm heading. All I could think about was: Ugh, please don’t be a mean girl… I don't need anything else to occupy my time.
Looking up from my paper, I see a girl around my height with short, wavy brown hair. Almost the hue of milk chocolate. Seeing her, I couldn't help but be charmed by her beauty. Shock spread over her face as she stared at me with her green eyes, which were neither light nor dark. She seemed to have been sculpted to perfection with freckles covering her face. In every way, she exemplifies the concept of beauty.
"Hi, Hi, Hi, Hi," she exclaims with a grin as she realizes she's being stared at. 'I'm Susi," she says, her voice full of laughter. "Who are you?"
She lowers her head slightly, looking up at me from a side angle. With her hands behind her back, she takes a deep breath. I lift the side of my lips in a "caught red-handed" smile.
"That obvious, huh? My name is Lilith, but feel free to call me Lili with an 'I'. Could you point me toward the G section?"
In the past, I've never been afraid to meet someone new. From my straight- forward question, she becomes excited. Her excitement shone through her resolve, happy that I put my trust in her for assistance.
"Sure thing! Let's go together!" In an exuberant yell, she grabs my hand and takes off towards the hallway I'd missed. She turns around as we come across the lockers. "What is the number of your locker?"
"It's G52."
Her grin was so bright it was almost blinding.
"Oh, this is going to be so fun! My locker number is G51. Go ahead and get situated. I'll wait here for you." She promised
Swaying and rocking back and forth on her heels, she waits patiently. Her personality appeals to me. She exudes a sense of joy and vitality. Our future friendship will blossom into something special in no time at all.
It's my first day of school, and I'm already looking forward to it. Closing my locker, I confirm all my essentials for the first period. According to my schedule, English is the first class of the day. Over my shoulder, Susi leans forward and exhales forcefully.
"We have the same courses!" She remarked, now beaming with happiness. This girl is undeniably attractive.
“Are you all set?” She asks.
I nod, double-checking everything I didn't stow in the locker. Making a new friend and having such a wonderful experience doing so, has shifted my expectations for the remainder of the day into overdrive.
Susi spins on her heels, waving for me to follow. “Mr.Wilimuris our English teacher.I’veheardpretty goodthings about him. Not too strict with giving out homework and he tries to keep the class entertained.” Shestated. We reach the classroom and pick our seats next to the window. Susi chooses the seat in front of me. Sitting down, she spins around and rests her chin in her hand, propped up by her elbow on the desk. Staring into my eyes, studying me, she asks my story and I tell her without hesitation. Something about her just makes me feel safe and comfortable. I want to spill my deepest dark secrets to her. Strange. She piped in, “I’m so sorry your parents died. That must’ve been awful to deal with.” Putting her hand on my shoulder, she gave it a rub, trying to soothe me from releasing the tears I was trying ha
Lilith’s POV On the way to our second class, math, Susi was even more energetic. While Icouldn’tunderstand it, so was I. Once we entered our class, the same two seats as thepreviousclass were available. Does no one enjoy window seats? We practically skipped to our seats and plopped our butts down. While getting situated with my folders, a shiver went down my spine, and I felt the need to peek at the door. Suddenly, all my newfound energy dissipated as Connor walked in with some girl hanging on his arm. Annoyance pricked at me, irritated that itwasn’tme on his arm. Why? Ididn’teven talk to thedude. Connor picked the seat behind me instead of the one next to me, this time without stopping to look at me. I did my best to ignore them both when th
Lilith’s POV After Mr. Patel, our math teacher, finished his first-day introductions and what to expect from the class, he started the painstaking introduction of each student. One by one, he called out a random student’s name and they would stand up and deliver a presentation about themselves. I was truly hoping to skip having to do this today, but clearly, luck is not on my side. Thankfully, he was going by alphabetical order of everyone’s last names, which meant I would be close to the end. To add to my relief, the sexy Connor would present himself before me. “Ms. Reigh, would you be so kind to stand and introduce yourself?” Mr. Patel asked, glancing around the room. A red-headed girl stood. She was nervous and started fidgeting with the helm of her pink T-shirt. “Hi, I--- I’m Opal Reigh. I just moved here from North Carolina. I
Time for a distraction. “Hi, Opal!” I greeted her with a welcoming smile on my face. Startled that I started up a conversation with her, “Oh, oh, hi… Lili with an I right?” Shushing Susi’s giggles, I confirmed her question, “Yepp, that’s me! Nice to meet you!” attempting to respond bubblier, like theSuMonster beside me who seemed to burn to get her chance to speak with the strange guy sitting with us. Opal nodded her head and smiled with her palm facing upwards towards the new guy. “This is Simon, my twin brother.” Susi’s and my mouths dropped. This Simon was gorgeous. He was on the same scale of sexiness as Connor. The resemblance to Opal was extremely obvious now. Both had vivid, dark red hair and freckles splashed on their faces. Theycould’vebeen a pair of models. Light brown eyes with speckles of gree
Lilith's POV I didn't need any more distractions. Connor had me frustrated enough to just want to ignore this sexy man sitting in front of me. He wouldn't remove his eyes from my face, causing me to feel a small ounce of insecurity. To make matters worse, he was insistent on me giving him my undivided attention. Clearing his throat to get my attention yet again, I gave him a sideways peek. He smirked with his lips slightly pulled back from his teeth. His tongue flickered across his lips like he was staring at something delectable. He continued to play with me. I couldn't concentrate on the lecture. Not even Connor. Perturbed with him, I crossed my arms and relaxed back in my seat, accidentally kicking the pole of the table. I watched as my pen rolled off onto the floor and made its way under the table. Rolling my eyes, frustrated that I must hop off my stool to grab my pen, he stops me. "It's alright, I got you." He said, win
I hesitantly agreed to walk with Simon to history class. Opal had enough of his foolery and headed to her own class. She reminded me to kick him in his testicles if he tried me again. I couldn't help but laugh when she said it because Simon winced and covered himself. We stopped by my locker first since it was closer and then made our way to his. When we came upon his row of lockers, my eyes landed upon Mr. God-Like and the skank who had him pushed up against the lockers. Her body smashed against his. Didn't they get enough during their free period?? I felt prepared to handle anything relating to Connor with Simon beside me. I didn't know what my relationship with Simon was to me, but he attempted to cheer me up, and in my books, that's something a friend would do. All I could hope for, as we came up to the locker beside Connor and Talia, was that Simon would defend me against Connor. I could handle Talia on my own. Connor's eyes fell upon mine, black w
Connor’s POV Hearing the strange guy call her “Lil” bothered me. It told me they were becoming close. Something she and I had yet to become and wouldn’t if I kept fooling around with Talia. Who could blame me? Meeting my mate has sent my hormones raging, and I’m not ready to accept Lili as my mate. I fear risking the change to her. This must be the guy Susi was harassing me about when I was having my heated earlier. He was on the same level as me with looks, but he was not me. He was not Lili’s mate. Even though these are true, it doesn’t stop the fact that he was human, making him a better choice for her. A safer choice. Watching my little mate reveal her backbone struck pride deep in my soul. She had no fear in her eyes as she got in my face and snapped. Keeping my distance from her was nearly impossible in the first place, so when she did that, whew. I had an urge to claim her but held back to watch her squirm with my flirtatious
Lilith’s POV 4th period ended up being boring. The teacher was super strict with us not speaking, but that didn’t stop Simon from giving me small pokes or knee bumps. Occasionally, he would lean back and throw his arm across my shoulders. Susi would catch him from the other side of me and shove his arm off. Shaking her finger at him, mouthing “No!”. These two had me going back and forth the entire class. I did like Simon. He was blunt and not afraid to go for what he wanted. Even if he tried to push my boundaries, I at least knew where I stood with him. The bell rang, and we hopped out of our seats. The three of us tried to race out of the room at the same time and got stuck in the doorway until Alexa was kind enough to shove us through. Giggling like little girls, yes, even Simon, we headed for the cafeteria to have lunch. The lunch lady slopped gooey mac and cheese onto each of our trays and asked if we preferred a burger or pizza. I’m a p