Beyond The Crash

CHAPTER 23 | [A STRANGE NEW FRIEND <PT I>]

The Next Day.

Despite her will, Lilley found herself waking up early. She'd toss and turn over on the bed, forcing herself to catch up to the sleep, but nothing worked. It's not like she wasn't tired. In fact, her eyes were still heavy, but no sleep came along.

She was glad she didn't catch a cold. That wouldn't have gone well for her. Despite wanting to school in a whole other country, she couldn't take care of herself anytime she fell ill. She'll always need some kind of support, be it emotional or physical, as she always seems to have some kind of delusions anytime she's sick. But she was glad that those rarely happened because she's not one to fall sick easily. But as she immediately got up, she fell right back on the bed. It was as if everywhere was spinning around her.

She've stayed in Germany or, rather, Lake City for a while now and felt she was getting the hang of it. That is, she was able to walk to where she could haul a taxi and direct it to school; to and fro. Other than that, she hasn't gotten the opportunity to know places around Lake City. Heck, she didn't even know where she could find a supermarket.

She came down to the lobby of the complex, breathed in, then zipped up her hoodie. Cold was still in the air. She spotted Lindy at the desk, prepping for the day.
"Good morning!" She greeted with a smile.

"Oh, morning Lilley! How was your night?" She replied, also with a bright smile.

"Uh... well, it was manageable," she scratched the back of her neck.

"Waiting for Stella, I see," Lilley nodded.
"By the way, I didn't see you yesterday. Did you come back earlier or...?"

"Oh, I had to do a project, plus the rain kept me," she replied, voice a little bit awkward.

"Oh, right, right. The rain yesterday was terrible," Lindy sighed.

Before Lilley could say anything else, Stella came out of the elevator, humming.
She seems to be in a good mood. She blinked.

Her diamond eyes landed on Lilley. The smile didn't disappear, but it went down a bit. "Let's go. Morning Lind's."
For some reason, seeing another emotion from Stella made Lilley healed. No one could deny that she had a beautiful smile. Plus, the glow around her felt refreshing than the usual sass.

Lilley immediately slumped on her chair as soon as she arrived in her classroom. She felt drained. And hungry. She had money to spare but didn't still know what currency Lake City uses. So, she had to wait till lunchtime. Just by saying it, it didn't sound so far away, but the first class hasn't even started yet. Heck, they still had half an hour before school officially started.

Her train of thought decided to switch tracks. Her head started replaying what went down yesterday. Stuck in the art room with Atticus, falling several times, running in the rain with him, getting his opinion about her dilemma, him calling and paying for an Uber for her. Not to mention their banter in between.
Damn, a lot of things went down yesterday. She chuckled softly to herself.

To brighten her mood, she decided to look at the art Atticus drew. She searched her bags but couldn't find it. Remembering she had left it in the art room after the rain had previously stopped, she got up and made her way for the class.

Upon opening the door to the room, she saw William sitting on one of the stools. She didn't know if it was the brightness of the room or the sun that penetrated through the window, giving him such a glow. In his hands were some papers he was looking at intensely like he was examining something of utmost importance.

Atticus, though, was found on the ground, back relaxed against the white wall, eyes closed, and skin pale. William looked up to see her just standing and looking dazed. He smirked.
"Good morning,"