Come Back

Ch 1

Hey, thanks for reading.  Please comment and give me advice so I can improve.  I know I'm not the best but I want to improve so tell me what you think.  And be honest. -Sally

“Lily,” I yell out into the trees but there’s no reply.  “Lily where are you?”  Out of the corner of my eyes I see a flash of movement up in a tree.  I turn my eyes that way and see a bright blue sneaker on one of the branches.  “Lily,” I call again and listen for the small giggle I know will follow.

When there’s no reply again I walk out of the clearing and hide myself in the bushes.  After a few seconds she comes out of the tree.  She stands in the clearing, looking around.  She looks into the trees above her and at the bushes below her but she doesn’t see me.

“Aaaarrrr,” I yell as I run out of the bushes and wrap her up into a giant hug.  She gives a small shout as we spin around in circles until we fall to the ground laughing.  She lands in my lap and looks up at me with her big brown eyes.

“Luke, what’s wrong with us?” she asks and I look down at her.  Her eyes are big and curious, her blond hair falling down behind her shoulders.

“What makes you think something’s wrong with us?”

“This, spinning until we fall down and laughing as we do.  Hiding from each other until one catches the other.  Just all of this that we do and call fun.” She says never losing her smile, her eyes still big and bright as they look up at me.

“Lily, nothing is wrong with us.  We’re just who we are and have fun in different ways from everyone else.  What’s wrong with that?” I say and absentmindedly grab a strand of her hair and twirl it around my finger.  Her hair glows gold in the sun light and her smile widens as she watches me.

“Yeah, you’re right. As always.” She says standing up.  She puts her hand out to me and I take it.  With little effort she pulls me to my feet and I’m reminded again of how strong she is for how little she seems.  “Now come on.  We better get going or we’ll be late.”

Lily turns around and starts running out of the woods, her blue sneakers flashing under her feet.  I run after her until we’re out of the woods and we both reduce to walking.  We walk out of the forest and onto the street that leads back to my house.  The only problem is that on the way to my house we have to pass the strip mall.  On a Saturday that’s likely to be where everyone from school is.

I watch Lily as we walk and I can see a little tension in her shoulders.  She’s never been like other girls our age.  She doesn’t wear makeup or worry about her hair.  She doesn’t buy all the expensive flirty clothes that all the other girls wear.  I’ve never seen Lily in any kind of group or even try to keep up with what’s going on at school besides classes.  She just isn’t like other girls and doesn’t get along with them very well.  Half the time she’s the subject to criticize.

Just like I thought there are a ton of people from school outside the TCBY in the strip mall.  It’s mostly just the cheerleaders and the sports jocks, probably the worst people we could run into.  Lily walks on the side of the sidewall away from them and I look down trying not to make eye contact.  Of course that doesn’t work, it never does. 

“Hey look, it’s Lily and Luke.  Guys, come over here.” Brady yells over at us.  We stop walking but I still don’t look up.  Lily’s still trying to hide herself behind me.  Brady’s one of the better players on the high school football team.  When he calls people like us over there’s usually some kind of trouble.

“Lily it’s ok.  I’ve got you’re back and we can just leave if anything happens.  It’ll be worse at school if we don’t go.” I whisper in Lily’s ear and she looks up at me.