Finding Lily

32- Lily

I woke up to a cupcake being shoved in my face, courtesy of Jane.

"Happy seventeenth birthday, you gorgeous stud." Her voice was way too cheery. I stared at the pastry. It was chocolate with white frosting and a pink candle sticking out from the top, flame burning.

"What the hell time is it?" I yawned as I sat up. It was too early for sugar, that was for sure.

"Doesn't matter. You've got a big day ahead of you." Jane smiled. "Now make a wish."

I closed my eyes but didn't let any thoughts pass through. Then I blew, extinguishing the flame.

"Nice."

"Seriously though. What time is it?" I groaned.

"Nine. We have mani/pedis in an hour so get ready." Jane told me. When she saw me shoot her a face, she rolled my eyes. "You've been here for a month. If you're gonna be a part of this town, you better start acting like it."

I had to admit the judgmental stares were getting quite tiresome. Jane had so far become my only friend because she was right. Most people here were shallow as fuck.

As it turned out, primping wasn't the only activity Jane had planned for my Saturday birthday. She also took me to the electronics store and led me to the camera section. "Pick one." She said.

"What?"

"You mentioned an interest in photography the other day. So pick one. You need to practice." Jane reminded me.

It took me a minute to remember the instance she was talking about. It had been a week ago at the botanical gardens, when we were surrounded by flowers and my iphone was doing a piss poor job of capturing the right amount of detail. It hadn't been a serious wish. But yet, here we were.

An hour later, I arrived back at our house with a new camera.

"Where were you girls today?" Regina asked. She hadn't been up when we left that morning and it was already five in the afternoon. Now, she was lounging on the couch with a martini in her hand. Dry, shaken, with three olives. Or something like that.

"Just took Lily out for some primping." Jane replied. "You guys doing anything for her tonight?"

Regina shot her daughter an inquisitive look. "Whatever do you mean?"

"When Daniel comes home. You'll take her to dinner or something?" Jane continued.

"No. He's working late." Regina replied. "What is going on?"

By then, I had heard enough. I gripped the shopping bag tightly in my fist as I sprinted up the stairs, past all of the family portraits with random men until I got to my room. I slammed belly first on my bed, pissed.

"You should talk to him." Jane suddenly appeared in the doorway, looking at me with sad eyes.

"He won't listen."

"You should try. Please. Maybe he'll change."

I doubted it with every ounce of my soul. It had been years since he'd been a real father to me. Years. Countless discussions hadn't changed anything. Still, as I examined the expression on Jane's face, I gave myself hope that maybe this time would be different. Maybe this time, he'd see me as someone he loved again.

"Ok. I'll try." I wandered down to the living room a couple hours later, leaving Jane to study. It was eight on a Wednesday, and Regina was sitting on the couch watching some show I had no interest in. I grabbed some cookies from the walk-in pantry and stood at the counter and munched on a few.