Lily Annabelle Cullen: A What If Story

Chapter 33: Hey!

(Victoria's POV)

I had taken what Lily said to heart. She seemed very genuine. Instead of waiting for my mom to apologize, as soon as I saw her, all of my feelings that I'd been holding on to all these years exploded. I screamed and yelled and cried at my mom. Everyone was shocked. My older sister, Anne, cuddled me while glaring at our parents. In the end, my mom did apologize. She apparently met someone in Seattle who made her rethink a lot of things and she recently started therapy. She was originally coming this weekend to take me home with her.

Dad was furious that mom thought that she could come back here and take me with her. And then my step-mom stepped in and told my mom she could take me. That she was tired of babysitting me. I scoffed and just let her comment roll over me. At the end of it all, mom is going to talk to her lawyer about getting custody of me and Anne said she was going to move closer to here so I could spend more time with her again.

On Monday morning, I waited for Lily at the front of the school. While I was waiting, Kavina approached me.

"She isn't coming today." I looked at her and she pointed to the sky. "It's a nice day today. She's going camping with her family." I looked down at my feet. I forgot about that. Kavina sighed and put a hand on my shoulder. "Don't look so down. If it doesn't stay this nice tomorrow, she'll be at school tomorrow. You can talk with her then. Now let's go before we're late for class." I nodded and walked with her into the school. I never thought I would ever miss Lily's presence but I really wanted to talk to her about what happened this weekend. She was right that the girls I hang out with at school aren't really my friends. I would never tell them about this.

The next day was also a sunny day. I wound up talking to Kavina about it instead. She was being friendly and genuine. "I see. Well, Lily is very good at predicting things. I can text her and see if she has any insight for you."

"I forgot she had a phone. I didn't even know you had one."

"Well I don't go flashing it around and neither does Lily. A cell phone is a big responsibility. You can't just do whatever with it. You have to use it when needed and not just because you have it or want to use it. You also have to distinguish the difference between wanting to use it and needing to use it."

"Hmm." A minute later, Lily texted back. "What did she say?"

"She said mainly go with your gut on this. If you believe your mom is what is best for you, try to help your mom out. If you don't want to be involved in it, stay out of it and let the adults settle it. She's on your mom's side though. Lily is always right about these things but she also doesn't want to tell anyone what to do exactly. She tries to let everyone make their own decisions." I nodded.

The next morning I was standing in the hallway with two of the girls I hang out with when I heard a squeal accompanied by familiar giggles. I looked down the hall and saw that Lily was there and had jumped on Kavina's back almost knocking her over.

"Ugh. Why can't she at least act like she belongs in our grade." Taylor was sneering in Lily's direction. Katie nodded agreeing with Taylor.

"Seriously. Oh! I saw her last night. She was with her older brother. The one that she said in kindergarten that she was going to marry. They were at that Italian restaurant in Port Angeles together. By themselves together. My parents thought it was so precious that he spends so much time with his little sister. I had told them that she likes him likes him."

"No way. Imagine dating a brother that is way older than you. That's just weird." I shook my head at them. They didn't understand. I walked away from them, annoyed, to go talk to Lily and Kavina instead. Taylor and Katie were giving me a headache. "Victoria? Where are you going?" I ignored the question and kept going.