All I Want

CHAPTER 2: End of The Dream

Why she didn’t just say something, she wondered each day. Lily knew that she could just speak the cops and al this would be gone. Hell, why didn’t she speak to her mother about it? Kara Kelly may have been a drunk and a failed excuse for a mother, but she was the only mother Lily had, so why didn’t she tell her of her abuser? But, after wondering the same thing every day, the apparently obvious answer would hit her. Not only was Kara the most unreliable person in the world, Don had so much dirt on Lily that the latter had no choice but to shut up. One piece of information that would start an undesirable chain of events was the fact that Lily was a junkie.

Well, she wasn’t a junkie of her own choosing, it was the only way she could live with herself given the family life she was thrown into. Had Don decided to tell the authorities that Lily was an abuser, word would have got out that Heather Cruz was her supplier, and among other things, that would have tarnished the name of the Mexican ambassador. So, out of what she considered common sense, Lily kept quiet, came down for breakfast like nothing had happened, and since her stoned mother and her psychotic boyfriend were nowhere to be seen, she rushed out of the door with nothing more than an apple.

In school all everyone saw was this pretty girl, who was mostly rather quiet, girlfriend to the most charming guy in the world, and who had equally amazing friends. Even her supposed closest friends knew nothing of the secrets Lily had, and she was determined to keep it that way.

As soon as she spotted Dennis in the hallway, she put on that ever so perfect fake smile and hugged him tightly. She could have fooled even the most observant of her friends with her masking emotions and supposed happy life. Unlike all other couples in school, Dennis and Lily refrained from kissing in public. It was Lily’s idea. Dennis never really understood the explanation she gave, but anyway, only she knew the real reason why.

‘Where were you last night?’ Dennis asked, Lily’s lanky body still pressed firmly against his.

‘Oh,’ she said like it slipped her mind, ‘I’m sorry, I got caught up.’

‘With what?’

‘My mum,’ Lily replied, pulling away from her boyfriend, who decided to dismiss the topic. Dennis had never really met Kara, and wasn’t intent on doing so any time soon, since really explained that she was super-strict.

Arm in arm, Dennis and Lily began walking along the corridor to class. As they passed the multitude of students in the hallway, they attracted their fair number of eyes, but none of them were quite ogling like they would on a regular basis. As she leaned on her locker, Beyoncé watched as her two friends walked past her and Athena like they weren’t even real. Even through that, neither was willing to address that issue. When Athena was certain that Dennis and Lily were out of ear-shot, she said to Beyoncé, ‘Was it just me or does Lily look like she’s at a funeral?’

‘Oh, you know Lily,’ Beyoncé replied, unwilling to speculate too much on what she saw, ‘she’s a goth ad goths always have that kind of look.’

‘I know, Bee, but sadness is sadness, and it looks the same on everyone.’

‘God, don’t you watch a lot of Lie to Me?!’ Beyoncé replied with a grin and a slam of her locker. She and Athena began heading to class when she said, ‘Lill’s fine, Athena, she always says she is anyway, doesn’t she?’

Athena thought about it, and realized that Beyoncé actually had a point. Regardless of the situation, no matter how it looked like she was suffering, Lily would always say that she was fine. So, basically, if the victim doesn’t fret about it, then Athena figured she shouldn’t bother.

In the auditorium, while she sat alone in the rather small audience, Heather realized that the play wasn’t Hamlet at all, but one created totally from scratch by the teacher. From what she understood, it was called Of Stone, but that was about as much as she understood about it. From the complex storyline, to the characters speaking in Ye Olde English, it was no wonder she got nothing from it. Still, watching the rehearsals beat doing some constructive work, and anyway, regardless of the language barrier, she was dying for a part in the play. If only that not-so-pretty princess just caught a nasty case of small pox or something, Heather thought…