***1st Place Winner in Teen Fiction for the Undiscovered Writer Awards***
***One of the EarnestyWriterAwards favorite female leads***
Lulu's mom is sick and Lulu desperately wants to be free of all her troubles so she convinces herself that she no l...
Could she really have been that oblivious? The ice cream shop, the lighthouse...the signs were everywhere. The scars on his face. They must have been from the accident they'd had at the museum. A slow, creeping understanding inched its way through her head and she had to lean against the wall to maintain her balance.
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He'd pushed her out of the way as the building collapsed on top of them. He'd saved her, costing him his sight. A nurse passing by saw her and Lulu quickly tried to mask her horror and walked towards the waiting room.
He didn't know who she was. At least she didn't think so, or else he'd have mentioned something. Wouldn't he have? Would she?
Mrs. Ayala was sitting in the waiting area with a small cup of coffee in her right hand as she scrolled through her phone with the other. Lulu scanned the room quickly, jumping a little when she saw Liam sitting a little to the left with Selene. He spotted her and got up quickly and walked up to her.
"Lulu! I don't understand. I was supposed to pick you up..." he trailed off looking back towards Selene who was still seated, looking at them. "...later. After school."
"Mr. Peters?" Mrs. Ayala piped in.
"Oh, Mrs. A. Are you here together?" he asked.
"Yeah. My dad was in a car accident and Mrs. Ayala brought me here," Lulu explained.
"Oh, man. I'm so sorry. Is everything okay?"
"Looks like it."
"Zac had an eye operation and he should be discharged later. I brought Selene to see him, but they told us someone was already with him. I don't know who it could be though."
Lulu shrugged evasively and looked to her teacher.
"I think I'm going to stay here and see about my dad. You can go, if you want. I'll call someone to pick me up, Mrs. A. Thanks so much for bringing me."
"You can leave with us," Liam offered. Lulu didn't feel like sharing a car with Selene, especially if Zac was about to break up with her, but they didn't leave her a choice.
"Thanks."
Mrs. Ayala left then, her motherly instincts probably on overdrive, as she threw back concerned glances towards Lulu who returned encouraging smiles hopefully letting her know she'd be okay.
Selene finally went in to see Zac and Lulu went back into her father's room to tell him she was leaving. He placed a soft hand on her cheek, which made Lulu's throat tighten with emotion. "I'll come back tomorrow," she promised.
When she met with Liam again, Selene was already there too, looking too calm for someone who was just broken up with. She gave Lulu a smile and Lulu determined Zac must not have done it. The drive back to town was quiet. When they got to Liam's house, Selene looked at them curiously, but didn't say anything about the fact that Lulu hadn't been dropped off somewhere else. Luckily, she got into her own car after thanking Liam for the ride and drove off without a word to Lulu.
