THE QUEEN'S CROWN [2]

06 : NO SUCH ABSENCE

        "So how's Denver?"

Lily sighed, looking around her temporary room, deciding it could be worse. "So far, it's been relatively boring. My room smells like dust and cobwebs though."

"Oh my God, are there spiders there?" She heard the screech behind Charity's voice, causing Lily to flinch as she pulled her phone back, momentarily reminded of when Charlie was on the phone with Maggie and had to let her friend vent for a short while because of high her voice got. Apart of her wished she had pressed 'Ignore' or had called Christine before Charity could call her, because she could tell that her friend was bored and that was when the calls came.

"I'm not scared of spiders,"

"I'll make sure to remember that the next time I need someone to get the evil bastards out of my room." Charity snickered. "I mean it, how's your cousin? Is he still in the hospital?"

Lily couldn't exactly tell her and Christine that her cousin Ryan was presumed dead but that he had gone missing and she and Charlie had left Mystic Falls with her sister's Original boyfriend after a failed sacrifice that had meant to kill him and his entire family. She hadn't intended to talk to either of her human friends that evening, having had takeout with Charlie and Elijah before going to the room that she had chosen, but Charity called her before Lily could change out of her clothes, leading to her sitting against the headboard with her skirt and top, wanting to go home but also liking that they were escaping Virginia for a while. She felt stuck in the middle—at least Charlie was with her soulmate and was confident in that decision.

Instead, she told a lie, that Ryan was in the hospital and she and Charlie needed to go to Denver to help him as he recovered from an accident. She didn't know what bullshit her sister cocked up in order to get her out of school but since Lily was expected to still do her homework, she suspected it wasn't that big of a deal. She didn't like school and she didn't intend to go to college either, not that she had told Charlie that, as her sister had already started talking about ways of saving the money for her tuition. The only person Lily had told was Louis, knowing he would never tell a soul, maybe because she was not sure exactly what she wanted to do. Charlie always loved her writing, always knew she wanted to do English in college. Lily had no idea.

She would be lucky if she made it to eighteen after all.

"He's gonna be here for at least another week, but he's...he's fine." She forced the words out, not knowing Ryan Prince's fate at all. "Look, I have to go. I still have to unpack my stuff."

"Okay, okay, but just let me know when you've finished the History homework, will you? I need to compare our notes to make sure I got my answers right."

"Can't you ask Christine?"

"She doesn't have your genius boyfriend whispering in her ear with all the right answers. Louis is the smartest person I know and he'll tell if you're wrong." Charity said casually, clearly not sensing the tension in the silence that came from Lily's side of the phone.

She hadn't told anyone about her breakup with her boyfriend, the exception being the other two people sleeping under the same roof. She hadn't wanted everyone back in Mystic Falls to know how right they were about her soulmate bond. It had already come between her and Louis, and that was just the start. "In case you forgot, I'm not with Louis right now." But she did have a thousand year old vampire that likely every answer to every question, knowing more than any Freshmen in her class could. "But my sister's boyfriend is a history buff. I'll ask him for help and send you a picture of my homework. Just don't copy every answer to the last detail or Alaric will know that we were cheating."