The Bench

Lily

Cecilia stood behind an old collapsible table holding a ladle. She was one of five people helping to serve food.

She scooped another serving of mashed potatoes onto a homeless man's plate, taking note of his dirty clothes. There was definitely a pattern with these people. This was starting to get tedious.

She shook the thoughts out of her head and plastered a smile on her face. Cecilia focused her attention on the mashed potatoes and prepared the next heap of food.

"Cecilia?" A voice startled her.

She swung her head in the direction of the voice and gasped.

"Jake!?" She exclaimed, taking a step back. "What are you doing here?"

"To be with you of course C." He answered. "That and I still need some community service hours in order to graduate."

"Oh," Cecilia responded. "Yeah I guess this would do that."

"Yeah I would've been here earlier but my alarm didn't go off." Jake said.

"Mmhh." She nodded, and began drawing squiggles and lines in the mashed potatoes in front of her.

Jake took a spoon and stood right next to her taking over the green bean portioning.

Right.

Next to her...

"Um.." Cecilia began uncomfortably. She could feel her heart begin to beat faster. "I...."

Her alarm shattered the dream she had been having.

Cecilia slowly opened her eyes to stare at the ceiling. Allowing her heart to come back to normal and her senses to sharpen. She took in the sharp red numbers of her alarm clock.

5am.

She allowed her alarm to go on a bit longer blurring the memories of the dream.

She finally sighed, turned off her alarm and got out of bed. She tried rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as she surveyed her closet. An old pair of jeans, a t-shirt and her precious hoodie would work just fine.

Cecilia padded to the refrigerator in her socks to grab a quick bite to eat. The antique porch light, painting the floor in streaks of yellow, was the only thing luminating the kitchen. She grabbed a carton of orange juice and a banana.

She drank straight from the carton as she put a few more things into her small backpack.

As consciousness continued to assault her, so did her thoughts.

What is this day going to bring? Am I going to be forced to do something I don't want to do? What if someone wants to get into a long boring conversation? Should I bring a knife? Wow Cecilia, lack of trust much?

She sighed. Just like meeting a foster family for the first time, there was no point in worrying about the future.

I guess I'll just have to live in the present.

"Lord, give me strength." She prayed in a whisper while she laced up her boots.

She checked her phone.

5:30.

The orientation wouldn't start till 7, so she had time to get something from her favorite coffee shop.

The bells on the door jingled as she took shelter in the cozy little shop.

"You're up early!" The warm skinned barista welcomed. "Your usual?"

"Good morning Yvette, no, not today. I actually need caffeine." Cecilia smiled.

Spinelli's Café was her favorite for a reason. She ordered her coffee and a cannoli and sat down in the waiting area.

"So why are you up so early?" Yvette asked while grinding some coffee beans. "I don't think I've ever seen you in here at this time."

"I'm actually volunteering at the homeless shelter downtown for the day."

"Really? That's pretty cool. Any particular reason why?"

Because it's my penance from confession.

"Oh, I've never done it before." Cecilia stated without really answering the question.

"Fair enough." Yvette bagged the cannoli and handed her the coffee and dessert. "Well have a good day!"

"You too, thank you!" She responded as she pulled her headphones back on and walked outside to catch the bus.

All too soon she was standing in front of the homeless shelter doors. She opened the doors and followed the signs as she began to dwell on what the orientation could possibly be about. Safety? Would there be a need for safety? Like, do people attack people handing out soup? What else would there be? Her anxiety began to increase, and she started to fidget with the coins in her pocket.

As Cecilia rounded a corner, a ragged dressed lady rammed right into her. The lady fell to the floor in a heap, and the fake flowers she had been carrying spilled all over the place.

"I am so sorry!" Cecilia exclaimed, rushing to help the lady to her feet and to help clean up the mess.

"No, it's my fault, I should be watching where I'm going." She said, with her brown eyes downcast, focusing on dusting her ripped pants off. "Oh sometimes I can be a real klutz." She murmured, as she began to gather the spilled blossoms.

Something came over Cecilia as she picked up the last couple of plastic lilies from the floor.

"My name is Cecilia," She said, handing the plastic flowers to her. "What's your name?"

The woman caught her breath for a second, and made eye contact with Cecilia.

"Lily." She said, taking the flowers.

Cecilia smiled. "Well, have a good day then Lily."

Lily blushed with a small smile and walked off with her armful of flowers.

The room was set up to be a theater.

A theater, and a gym, and a dining room, and a ballroom, and... well, anything else it needed to be.

Right now, a large projector screen hung from one end of the room and several cold metal chairs sat in front of it.

Several people sat in the chairs conversing, creating a pleasant atmosphere in the echo-y room.

Cecelia chose a chair in the back of the room and sat down, trying not to draw attention to herself.

She drew her hoodie around herself.

That woman in the hallway, Lily. Something about her interested Cecelia.

It was more than the irony of Lily, carrying lilies. Well, maybe that was part of it.

Cecelia had seen a few kids at school act in an apologetic manner, (specifically the ones who had bullying problems), but Lily seemed... almost ashamed to exist. Like her every breath was causing those around her trouble. Was that how all homeless people felt?

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Author's note:

This is a long chapter...

I mean compared to my other ones...

I just got a little excited to write this one...

And it ended up being kind of long compared to all the other chapters...

¯\_( ͡❛ ᴗ ͡❛)_/¯

Also don't expect updates too often. I'm SERIOUSLY having trouble finding time to write! :(