Burn Me

10: City Lights and Brown Eyes

"Is the meaning of life in those papers?" Blare asked Lily, approaching the couch she sat on.

No answer.

"Lil? Earth to Lily?" Blare waved her hand, motioning to her.

She turned her head up from her stack of papers, "Hm?"

"I said," she lightly chuckles in between, "Is the meaning of life in those papers? Cause your studying them awfully hard."

She scoffs and pushes the papers to her left. "I think that would be easier to find then what I'm looking for." She has been studying the competition papers for three days.

"Right- and what is it exactly that you're looking for?" Blare sat in the chair slightly across from the couch.

"Doesn't matter anymore, it's not in here. Even after reading the competition handbook three times in detail." She complains, realizing the waste of time she just spent looking for an answer.

"Maybe you need a library?" Blare suggests.

"Thought of it, it wouldn't help me with this particular question." She rubs her makeup-less eyes, 10:47 the clock read.

"You've been searching for an answer in those papers every waking hour you get. Maybe take a break for a day or two." Blare suggests again.

"No I know, I know it's bad, my sleep is awful too. I think it's better I give up on it all around."

"You don't take me as a quitter..." Blare says.

"I'm not," Lily shoots out, "I just know the answer I want isn't in here."

Wednesday evening, cold and silent. But warm and cozy in their dorm.

"But I'm sure there's other alternatives to finding it..." Lily thought out loud, the devil was in the details and she had done details. Now she needed to look at the bigger picture, the clues, the hands on work.

How do I get eliminated from the competition?

"You haven't bothered asking me for help, two is better then one." Blare says, tucking her legs under her butt.

She had, but she couldn't have her roommate know what her plan was. Or know why she didn't want to be here.

"No, you have more important things to focus on. The test tomorrow, the interview on Saturday, training starting next week...." She lists things off one by one, in the span of three days the competition had picked up to a quick pace.

"I don't care, we can spend time together, I mean I barely know anything about you because you're so- so busy." Blare waves her hands in the air while Lily cleans up her papers.

"I'm just as busy as everyone else." She breathes, sliding the papers into folders and bundles.

"No you're not. You're gone early in the morning to who knows where, then you've got this mystery question you're researching that no can know about, and these straggingly different and put together answers for everything, not to mention you come from lower Terra, you've stayed at the top of scoreboard so far, and you barley make an effort to hangout with anyone." Blare rants, Lily puts the papers on the coffee table and stands with her arms on her hips.