Holding Everything

Chapter 10: Stressful Tears and an Untold Truth

After the incident that occurred on Monday involving Lillya and her father, Lillya hasn't spoken to me at all, it is now Thursday and I'm certain I will receive the same ignored responses and cold shoulder throughout the day just like I did on Tuesday and Wednesday. I have yet to find out what she 'decided' to do, but I would like to assume she chose yes. I'm completely unaware of how things work in this situation; if she picks no, or doesn't decide would the Council make a trip to 'Sector E' to take her away, or would they simply manipulate her body through some high tech mechanism they have in that giant lab they have and force her into a coma instead? She's been avoiding me both at school and any other time I try to get her attention. In class she ignores any notes I try to pass her and shuts down all my attempts to grab her attention; I originally thought that sooner or later she'd get annoyed and respond, giving me the opportunity to talk to her, but no such luck. In any normal family, I'd be totally hated for doing nothing while the father of the house gets murdered in cold blood; but given Lillya's dreadful past, I thought she may be a bit relieved to hear he would no longer hurt her, "I guess it could make sense though, he was her father and by the looks of it, he supported his family one hundred percent financially, I guess it's understandable why she'd want to avoid me but,"

"There are really important things I need to talk to her about." I say out loud, I'm suddenly pushed to the side and surrounded by 2 of Lillya's friends that always hang around her, and they do not look happy to see me, in fact they look quite disgusted.

"What the hell did you do to Lilly?!" shouts the taller one, Tess, she's the cliché Barbie wanna-be, also one of Lillya's closest 'friends', completed with the fake tan gone wrong and the makeup that makes you cringe.

"Yeah she's been, like, TOTALLY actin' all strange since like Monday! I know you did something, when she left school that day, we saw you running after her like a total maniac! AHAHAHA!" they both laugh obnoxiously loud as they tease me, the shorter one, Beth, the other close friend of Lil, is cliché Barbie wanna-be number 2, always fluffing her hair up like it wasn't already a mountain to begin with, and 'touching up' her glimmering pink lip gloss.

"I honestly don't know, now if you don't mind-" as I try to push past them but Tess pushes me back against the wall again, not letting me go; I sigh, not holding back how much they irritate me.

"You're not going anywhere until you tell us what happened, you're like, the only person in our class who hates her." says Beth.

"Yeah, well like aside from the jealous bitches and stuff, but that doesn't count because they are too scared to like, do anything but gossip." says Tess as she rolls her eyes and laughs mockingly.

"Look, I really don't know what's wrong with her. Now I really need to go." I push past them more forcefully than before and quickly head toward the school entrance to leave. On my way out I catch a glimpse of Lillya leaving a side entrance of the school. Despite knowing I'll probably be ignored again, I run after her, hoping that I'll get some kind of response.

SMACK!

Everything seems to freeze for a moment, my right cheek starts to burn a little, then a lot; everything seems to be moving in slow motion as I lose my balance and fall to my side cupping my cheek. When the numbing feeling starts to subside and I realize what really just happened I look at Lillya standing over me. I stare up at Lil, anger etched in her expression as she glares down at me, hands clenched into tight fists, her chest rising and lowering fast from breathing heavily as if contemplating whether to proceed to punch me or just turn away and leave.

"L-Lil I-"

"Leave me alone!" she screams, tears form in her eyes, fists still clenched as she turns and runs away. I sit there in shock for a moment before sighing and leaning against a nearby wall, still sitting on the ground as I rub my sore cheek. By the throbbing sensation, I can tell it's gonna swell up a bit and turn red.