Finding Lily

4- Lily

"You better wear that low cut black dress. You look sexy as fuck in that." Jane told me as we got ready in our room that night.

I smiled mischievously at her before disappearing into my closet. I was in there for only two minutes before I walked back out, greeted by a whistle courtesy of Jane.

I struck a pose in my new outfit, putting one hand on my hip and sticking my chest out. I was wearing a white lacey crop top with a scoop neckline. The skirt started right below where the shirt ended and covered most of my stomach and ass. It was tight and black, and left little to the imagination.

Jane's reaction and my reflection in the mirror did a lot to improve my confidence and get me in the mood to have some reckless fun.

"There's no way you're not getting laid in that outfit, Lil. Everything with a penis is going to be all over you."

I walked over to Jane and put my hands on her shoulders. "Who cares about men. Tonight's about me and you, no one else."

Jane laughed. "We'll see about that."

When we got to the party, it was already in full swing. There was loud bass bumping outside of the mansion. Empty beer cans tossed around the front lawn. A group standing outside, passing around a blunt. A couple sitting on the front steps, making out while a guy shouted at them to get a room.

Yep, we were at the right place.

"You sure you don't just wanna grab a bottle of wine and drink at home?" Jane asked.

She was stuck standing on the sidewalk, looking on with horror. I knew that she was only there cause she thought it would make me feel better. This was never her thing. It was never really mine either, yet here I was, every weekend.

"Come on. Let's get a drink." I linked my arm with Jane's and led her inside, past the sweating bodies, past the rich girls with attitude looking at us with disgust. I caught the gaze of the meanest of them all. Meaghan. First of all, why was her name spelled like that and second, she wouldn't have a black eye if she didn't comment on my dad.

My glare was powerful. A warning almost. I was satisfied when Meaghan's icy expression softened a bit at the look of it. Almost like she was scared.

"What was that about?" Jane commented. Nothing ever escaped her attention.

"Just some bitch. It's nothing." I led Jane into the kitchen, where red solo cups were scattered on the counters. Some dirty, some clean, some with names written on them. I found a stack of what appeared to be clean ones and poured us both a shot of tequila.

"Shots? Already?" Jane wrinkled her nose when she sniffed the contents of her cup.

"We gotta catch up."

I convinced Jane to take three in a row, back to back, before grabbing a beer and drinking that as well. Maybe Jane just needed some liquid courage. Maybe I did, too. I realized pretty early on it was the only way to survive nights like these.

"Hey ladies, fancy a game of pool?" A guy with brown hair, blue eyes, and muscles was standing right in front of me. Yes, please.

"Definitely." I grabbed Jane before she could protest. Jane paired up with one guy and I got the blue eyed cutie. The game room was quieter than the rest of the house. It was located in the basement, and besides some stragglers that had just come down to talk, it was mostly empty.

Even the music didn't seem to penetrate down here. All I heard with the bump of the bass but no words. No real rhythm.

As we played, the conversation started light and flirty. You're so good at this, here, you should take this shot, damn you look pretty, yadda yadda. I was enjoying it. I was enjoying him. Another cute boy at another party with more alcohol. I knew exactly what to expect. Exactly where I'd end up.

Until.

"So, what do your parents do?"

It was an innocent enough question. At another time, in another place, in another lifetime, I could have answered easily. He didn't overstep. Didn't ask anything inappropriate. Every kid that lived in this neighborhood, in this town even, had to have rich parents. That's how it was. Heatherwood, or The Hill as some called it, was separate from the rest of the world. A community built for the rich that kept out the poor. The only explanation for me to be there, a 22 year-old girl, was to have rich parents.

Except I didn't have any parents.

Luckily, I had a rehearsed answer for questions such as these. He wasn't the first person to ask. Before I had a chance to, someone else beat me to the punch.

"She doesn't have parents."

In my drunk mind, I couldn't tell who said it. Maybe I did. Maybe Jane did. Then, spotting that bitch Meaghan standing at the foot of the stairs, I knew.

"She's not supposed to live here. She's trash, just like her dad."

I saw red. Before I could act on it, there was a strong arm wrapped around me, holding me back.

"It doesn't matter." The guy said.

It did matter. It mattered every day. Every kid in my class knew that my dad split. That I was living with Jane's mom, who had no obligation to keep me but did so out of guilt. Or maybe cause Jane was forcing her to. Either way, if and when Regina decided that I should move out like my father did, I would have to leave Heatherwood. Live on the streets. Live in some trashy commune, I didn't know.

"Get out of here, Meaghan. Leave her alone." Some random girl spoke up for me. Most kids had gotten over my situation a long time ago. Most of them had accepted me as a part of them. I'd been in Barrio's Edge for six years. Though most of the other kids had been born here, that was long enough.

Meaghan was that one bitch who liked to remind me of where I came from. And whether I liked it or not, I still reacted to it.

"Just saying." Meaghan put her hands up and walked away, acting all innocent. Most of the people in the room saw right through it.

"Sorry I asked." The guy said when he finally let me go, letting out a nervous chuckle.

"It's fine. Wanna go somewhere more private?" I needed to get out. I needed a distraction. Alcohol wasn't doing it. Maybe sex would.

The brown hair blue eyed boy nodded his head.

Upstairs we went.