What Is Your Name?

Chapter 20: Sailing (Lillian)

"Sky!" I woke my uncle. "Ready for breakfast? Tempest said she'd show me where the coffee machine is. Big day!"

"I slept terribly last night, Lil. Gimme a minute," Sky moaned.

"How can anyone sleep terribly when they have access to a flippin' bed? Come on, get up!" I bounced on my own bed.

Sky sat up and pulled the blankets tighter around himself. "Hey, Lil? You're a girl, right?"

I cracked up. "Of course I am. Weren't you literally there when I was born?" I paused. "Oh, wait." I got it. A huge grin spread across my face. "Oh my gosh, you want girl advice, don't you?! Oh my gosh, is it Tempest? Am I allowed to ship it now?! She probably likes you, you know. I mean, she literally took a bullet for you, and eeeeek!!! My ship is sailing!"

"Slow down!" Sky barked. "I didn't say anything yet. And I would prefer it if you don't bring this up in conversation. Nothing happened. It's nothing. Go eat breakfast."

"You can't leave me hanging like that! What happened?"

Sky sighed again. Depressed teenage boy hormones activated. "I said it was nothing. I went to visit her in the med ward last night, we were joking around, I joked that I hated her as I left, and she called back 'love you, too.' It really was nothing."

"It wasn't nothing to you," I retorted. "You wouldn't be worrying about it if you thought it was nothing. You're hoping she meant it."

Sky smirked. "Maybe I am. But there's nothing I can do about it. Of course, you can't tell Tempest about it." His crappy phone buzzed. "Crap, she just texted me."

"Oh my gosh, you sound like a girl," I teased.

"Shut up. I just won't reply."

"Whatever. You still want breakfast?"

"I'm going back to sleep, Lil. Go eat your strawberry pancakes, and let me know how coffee tastes." Sky slumped back onto his pillow.

"Will do, girlie. Enjoy your beauty sleep," I giggled.

"I hate you."

"Love you, too."

"Shut up."

"This is the greatest thing I've ever put in my mouth," I gushed. Coffee was liquid heaven. Prove me wrong.

"We're gonna give her a frickin' caffeine high," Grey told his sister.

Tempest straightened up in her seat. Her side was bandaged and she was wearing a back brace, but she could walk. She wouldn't spend another night in the med ward. "Rest in peace, Lillian. You had a good life," she farewelled.

I made a sad, dramatic sign of the cross and continued to chug my latte. Ugh, it was amazing.

"By the way, Lillian, are we allowed to start calling you Lil? I've heard Sky call you that, but I didn't know if it was just a you guys thing."

"Lil is a nice nickname for you. Is it because you're smaller than him?" Tempest asked.

"It's because I'm small compared to the rest of this school. Hence the nineteen-year-old midget excuse. And yeah, you can call me Lil. Watch Sky throw a possessive hissy fit or something." My friends laughed.

Tempest checked her (not crappy) phone for the third time that day and sighed. "Hey, Grey, you're a guy, right?" I stifled a smile. Was this going where I thought it was going?

Grey shrugged. "Um... I think so? Last time I checked I was, at least."

Tempest rolled her eyes. "In your all-knowing idiotic boy's opinion, why hasn't Sky texted me back?"

Grey's eyes widened. I beamed at him and nodded. "Whatever happened to our dreamy neighbor?" he teased.

"Shut up, I didn't mean... never mind, forget I asked."

"He's scared," I piped up.

"How the heck am I scary?" Tempest asked. Grey raised an eyebrow at her. "Ok, point taken, but really. All I said was 'Can we talk?' Tell me how scary that sounds."

"On a scale of one to ten? When a girl says it to a guy? About an eleven," Grey answered.

"Can you be serious for one second?" Tempest groaned. "I think I said something that made him uncomfortable last night, and I wanted to clarify things."

"Oh, and what was that?" Grey purred.

"She said she loved him, and he's not sure whether or not she was joking," I told him. Grey's smile grew ever larger.

"Were you joking?" Grey asked.

Tempest sighed. "I... I don't know."

"My ship! My beloved ship has begun to sail!" I squealed. I was about to burst with happiness.