My Civilian Goddess

Chapter 9: Towards me

"You want to do what for Amber," Maria asked far too loud for her own good.

Eli held his finger in front of his lips and glared at his friend annoyed.

"I want to do something nice for her," he said finally after Lilly didn't respond, instead listening to music at the other side of the classroom.

"She had a rough Sunday, and since today we're off at twelve I thought I could take her to a nice place she hasn't been before to cheer her up."

Kevin shrugged. "Why us though?"

"Because I'm afraid if I go alone with Lilly... I mean Amber, it might be a little awkward between the two of us." Eli let out a smirk, almost as if he were an evil mastermind. "And you two started dating when I was in the hospital, didn't you? This would be a nice place for you both to visit."

Maria and Kevin both looked away with a blush on their faces.

"You could have just told me, you know."

"Well," Maria mumbled, "We were scared you'd feel like a third wheel around us if we did."

"Is that why you wanted me to dive headfirst into Amber," Eli grumbled with a raised eyebrow, staring directly at Kevin, who attempted to avoid his gaze.

"I just want you to be happy man," Kevin shrugged with a slight blush on his face.

Maria cleared her throat and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Anyways, Kevin and I have movie tickets for later, so we can't come. Sorry Eli"

"Don't worry about it," Eli replied, biting his lip as he started thinking. Should he go alone with Lilly after all.

It was then Eli felt an arm wrap around his shoulder, as well as another girl who stood beside him. The arm belonged to Ellie, while the other was her girlfriend, Cassie.

"What's up," Ellie asked with a smirk. Eli replied with a soft gaze. He was still partially in thought as he tried to process her and Cassie's arrival.

"Too friendly?"

"Oh, no, it's fine!" Eli blurted out. "I don't mind. Just surprised, that's all."

Maria's hand shot up in the air, and she wiggled back and forth excitedly. "What if you take Cassie and Ellie with you? Wouldn't that work?"

"With where?"

Eli once again looked around for Lilly in the room. She was talking to the teacher right now.

"I want to take Lilly to a butterfly garden after school to cheer her up. I'll pay for everyone's entry, of course. Amber, I mean."

"You can keep calling her Lilly," Ellie chuckled. "We all know who you're talking about."

Surprisingly, it took very little convincing to get Cassie and Ellie on board. Thus, after the next class, the group of four took off, with a very confused Lilly. On the train ride, followed by bus ride there, she mostly kept asking where they were going, with Eli refusing to tell her anything. It wasn't until they got to the small building that the signs outside gave it away.

The inside of the building was quite warm. Near the entrance to the garden, which was built in the style of a cross between a greenhouse and a simulated jungle of sorts, were a few glass boxes in the walls with insects, reptiles and tarantulas. To Eli's surprise, Cassie of all people was completely entranced by them. On top of that she could name many, many facts about the different kinds of tarantulas they had.

Cassie and Lilly seemed like they could be very good friends as they shared the same kind of excited energy. Ellie and Eli, meanwhile, stayed behind them a little bit. Though every time Cassie would ramble more animal facts, Ellie had a completely love-struck expression on her face. They were a wonderful couple, in Eli's opinion.

After the girls got to enjoy themselves with the glass enclosures, they moved into the gardens proper. As expected, butterflies were everywhere. Both in the air, but more so resting on feeding trays, leaves, and flowers around the area. Alongside that, a few different small insects were flying around too. Eli had no idea if these insects sneaked into the building or were supposed to be there.

A lot of different exotic plants were displayed, each of them with a sign with their name and place of origin. Some Eli could recall were Button bushes, Birds of paradise, Golden rods, and Phlox. (That last one mostly because it sounded like a funny monster name.) He also had the idea that a few of the plants weren't there for the butterflies, but more so because they looked pretty.

In the middle of the enclosed butterfly garden was a pond with a few fish. They also had a few signs with them, but there were people blocking them, so he couldn't quite read them. Not that he much cared for them regardless.

"I want a butterfly on my hand," Lilly yelped out. The first thing she tried was to grab a few of them, which did not work out how she wanted it at all.

"Can't I make one sit on me with a little bit of goddess powers," she whispered to Eli. He almost got annoyed at the question, but as he looked at her face, all he saw was an expression full of innocent bliss and excitement.

Eli took Lilly's hand, took a bit of nectar from a nearby feeding tray, and smeared it on her. Then he held her hand in the air near some plants, and patiently waited, doing the best to keep their hands still. To their luck, it didn't take long for an orange and yellow patterned butterfly to land on Lilly's hand. As it did, Eli could feel his face relax a bit. For a moment, the beautiful butterfly rested there. Yet soon, Lilly's hand flinched. As the butterfly flew away, she pulled her hand back to herself.

"I'm gonna try to get another one over near the pond," she stuttered with a blush on her face. "C'mon Cassie."

Pulling the other girl along, Lilly disappeared into a stone path behind some trees and bushes, to Eli's confusion.

Ellie, who stayed behind with him, tapped him on his shoulder. "Look at this," she said as she held her phone up.

It was a video? A video of Eli and Lilly as they just were, with Eli holding up her hand. Soon after, the butterfly landed on Lilly's hand, and Eli could see himself smile as his face relaxed. But even more of note, Lilly wasn't looking at the butterfly. She was looking at Eli. And as soon as he started to smile, she started to blush. Her hand flinched because of his smile?!

Not knowing what to do with this information, the only thing Eli could feel was a blush coming up on his own face, which only seemed to make Ellie's smirk more prominent