The Angel

Chapter 2

 That morning, it was hard to wake Lilac up. That was normal.

You'd have to take into consideration the fact that it was the weekend and all high school students were probably dying from the workload of the five days before. Whoever said that teens have nothing to stress about is an idiot. You spend a third of your life on education, another third working and the rest too old and frail to enjoy life anymore. Talk about stress; human beings are like robots being pumped out of a machine and worked straight to death. I mean, sure, the world of adults is much more busy with finances and independence and responsibility, but for teenagers...

... They're expected to act just like adults while being treated like children.

And I better stop talking before this becomes an emo, angsty rant.

"Lilac, wake up! It's past eleven!" Alec yelled from the kitchen, eating lunch already. He, too, had gotten up late, but only around nine thirty. (He hadn't checked right away when he got up -- it was straight to binging on old movies.)

She groaned loudly in reply, tossing over and refusing to wake up. "I have a headache!" she complained. "Just lemme sleep..."

"Then actually do something about it and take Advil!"

She grumbled to herself and quite literally rolled off of the couch, falling into a heap of pillows and blankets on the floor. "... Ow." It was said in a deadpan tone. Lilac scrambled to her feet, but she tripped over the fabric, as it had wrapped around her ankle. A second fall. "Ow! Okay! That one hurt!"

Alec left his cereal to soak in the milk as he walked over at a brisk pace. He pulled her to her feet quite quickly. "Don't get a concussion, woman, god," he muttered, shaking his head in disappointment.

Lilac stuck her tongue out at him but said 'thank you' nonetheless. "Where's your mom?"

"Already at work. She got home around midnight but had to leave at four in the morning," he answered after taking out his phone to show her the text message he'd received from his mother.

A moment of silence passed. "... Does this mean we can blast music without getting into trouble?" A small, mischievous yet somewhat nervous smile grew on Lilac's face, eyes sparkling at the idea as she walked to the wall unplugged her phone from its charger.

"If you put on Sara Bareilles-"

"I... Will... NEVER LET YOU LET ME LEAVE! I PROMISE I'M NOT LYING!!!"

"Oh my god."

* ** * ** *

"You can try~ Oh, but I...~ 'I love you' means you're NEVER, EVER, EVER GETTING RID OF ME~!!!"

Alec had put on earmuffs from the garage two hours ago, but it wasn't as effective as he hoped it would be. He still didn't understand how anybody could listen to the same song for over thirty minutes straight. The fact that Lilac was practically screeching the lyrics alongside the official audio didn't help, either.