Lilia seems like your average teenage girl. She likes pizza, she obsesses over bands and other celebrities, and she acts awkward around boys. Although there's one small detail that makes her life a little less 'average': she's the younger sister of...
It was December 21st and I was stood in my bedroom, trying to decide what to wear before we left for Wiltshire in an hour. I wanted to be excited about going back to Wiltshire. It's my home town, it's where I grew up, I'll always have a special place in my heart for the little town of Lacock, but all I could think about was the fact that Callum was going to be there and I was convinced he would find a way to ruin my childhood home for me. I tried to tell myself that there wasn't much he'd be able to do to me with all my family around, but I thought that when he came to stay for dinner last week with Zoe and Alfie, and he still found away to make the night miserable. Now he would find a way, or multiple ways, to make the next three days leading up to what's supposed to be the happiest day of the year, a nightmare for me.
I tried to shake the disastrous thoughts out of my head just long enough to achieve the simple task of getting dressed, but they were still lingering in the back of my mind. They probably always would be until the day I die.
Eventually, I found something comfortable but good enough to wear for the day; a white t-shirt with the lyrics from The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) written in emojis. I paired that with a pair of leggings with laces down the sides and a dusty pink cardigan. I didn't do much with my hair, I just decided to slip a dark green beanie with a pink pompom on my head and quickly applied my makeup, adding a dark pinkish colour to my lips. I also slipped my glasses on for the first time in what felt like a long time. I'd been wearing my contacts a lot lately, but I couldn't be bothered with them today so it was back to the old black rims. Last but not least, I added my Christmas polar bear case to my phone.
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"Lilia, are you ready to go?" Zoe called up to me as I was pulling on my black lace-up boots.
"Yeah, coming!" I said as I stood up, grabbed the handle of my bright pink suitcase and managed to carry all my other bags in my other hand before making my way downstairs. I reached the bottom of the stairs, where Zoe and Alfie were waiting by the front door.
"Where's all your luggage? And the presents?" I wondered, noticing they were empty handed.
"We've already put them and Nala in the car." Zoe explained, "Right, now, come on. We're already running late."
We all went out to Zoe's car and Alfie helped me load my bags into the boot before he got in the passengers side next to Zoe and I got in the back next to Nala. I stuck my headphones in and pressed shuffle on my phone, getting lost in whatever songs came on. But no matter how much I tried to focus on the music, I couldn't stop thinking about the next three days. I've never spent this much time at once with Callum and it terrified me. What if I upset him but don't realise? What will he end up doing to me behind closed doors? I just have to make sure I'm on my best behaviour for him over the next few days. But what if my best behaviour isn't good enough? When Callum is in one of his moods, literally anything could set him off, and I was almost always the one that paid the price. Even if I'm not the one who made him angry, I'm the one that has to suffer and I don't know if I can deal with that for three days straight.
