A Rose for You

Chapter 4

Hey guys, here's a longer chapter to cover up for the shorter one from last week...:)

In London

Lily stared at herself in the mirror as she tried to compose herself. It was her first day at school in London and she was in plain words, panicking. The one and a half months that she had spent in London hadn't been enough to adjust to her new life. She didn't even know anyone yet. Not that her besties helped her by continuously skyping her, hoping in vain to hear traces of a British accent. "Those two will never change", she thought shaking her head with a small sad smile tugging at her face.

It had been so hard without them. She missed them so much and it was only now that she realized how supportive and great friends they had been, always there for her. She could still talk to them but things weren't really the same.

"Lily! Hurry up or else you're going to be late!", her mom screamed from below. Lily took one last glance at herself in the mirror and rushed downstairs. A thought that had never occurred to her before suddenly flashed in her mind,

"Do I look okay?". There was no time to worry about that though as Lily was rushed out of the house and she made her way to the bus stop in a blur.

Still thinking about Kiara and Larisa, Lily watched a small yellow bus make its way to her stop. Hit with a sense of nostalgia for her old bus Lily trudged up the steps only to find all the seats full. What luck, no seats she thought. As she walked up the aisle looking in vain for a seat, someone called her.

"Hey new girl! You can sit next to me."

"Oh thanks", Lily said as she slid into the seat. The girl who called her seemed about her age with her long wavy hair tied into a messy ponytail. She seemed to reading a thick book. Putting it down she introduced herself, "Hi my name is Eva and I'm going to 9th this year"

"Hi, I'm Lily, also in 9th" replied Lily between unintelligible jumbles of words.

"Ohh cool. I feel like you're nervous" said Eva.

"Is that obvious?" said Lily her face flushing with embarrassment.

"Well, being in this school all my life, I suggest that you be confident and open up. The people here all really nice, except for a few... Anyways if people think you're an introvert, no-one's gonna talk to you."

"Uhhuh.." Lily murmured wondering what Eva meant by except for a few. Up ahead Lily saw a band of jocks and one noticed her. Not knowing what to do she quickly asked Eva, "What do I do?! He just noticed me.".

"Just smile and wave, smile and wave" said Eva..

"Okay..." Lily answered waving at him. She meanwhile was thinking perplexed why the madagascar reference though? then she quickly busied herself asking Eva questions and ignoring the jock's gaze.

"Umm sooo... is the food good?" she asked not really knowing what to say. It was the first thing that popped up into her head after terrible experience of school food back in India.

"Umm well it's okay I guess" Eva replied taken aback by the absurd question. "I'm sorry I didn't know what to say. I guess we're here." Lily said in hope to cover her quite horrible explanation. All of a sudden she thought of Larisa and Kiara and how that kind of question would be completely normal to them. Tears forming in her eyes she got off the bus following Eva. She missed them so much already. How was she going to....like live?!

"You know that guy who notice you in the bus this morning?", Eva asked, breaking the silence as they walked to the assembly hall where everyone was to meet up.

"Yeah, what about him?", Lily asked slightly flushed, a knotty feeling in her stomach.

"Well, actually, he's one of my closest friends, since second grade. We started school together. His name's Trevor by the way. He hangs out with all jocks and he's really popular but he's the nicest guy you could ever find. He doesn't flirt with all the girls and he isn't rude at all.

"Hmmm", said Lily, not sure what to say. "And, I think he's really into you", snickered Eva, nudging Lily in the ribs.

"Wha-? No? Wait what? No way?", Lily said, fumbling for the right words. Immediately, the image of Larisa and Kiara jumped into her head, screaming TRELY! At the top of their lungs in their stupid babyish voices. Ugh, she thought, I can literally hear them right now.

"Come onnnn", whined Eva, "admit it, he's cute right?"

" Pshhhh no way Eva! I don't even know this guy!".

"And I'm going to change that.", replied Eva, grinning wickedly.

"Great!", thought Lily. Now even she's started. I thought I'd left those two and their fantasies behind but I guess not".

After that slightly awkward conversation, Eva and Lily walked into the auditorium and took two seats in the middle corner. For some reason, Lily found her eyes continuously darting towards the entrance, waiting to see Trevor again. "What is wrong with me?", Lily inwardly scolded herself. Suddenly they all entered, the whole gang of jocks, taking the front row seats. A cute, blond haired boy with doe-brown eyes walked up to them.

"Hey Eevs! He greeted, pulling Eva up for a tight hug. Great to see you again! I missed you!". " Jass...", Eva said, looking at him with adoring eyes and kissing him on his left cheek.

"You saw me yesterday evening".

"But I still missed you", his deep yet melodious voice replied, his face pouting.

"Aw, me too", said Eva.

Each moment of their conversation made it weirder for Lily, as she said there, not sure where to look. Eva seemed to remember her presence and quickly said, "Oh, I'm sorry I forgot to introduce you guys".

"Lily, this is Jasper, my boyfriend and Jass, this is Lily. She's new here and today's her first day at school. She used to live in Bangalore, India".

"Nice to meet you Lily", said Jasper in a friendly tone, shaking her hand. "Hope you can bear with this girl here", he said pointing to Eva. "She talks a lot you see".

"I don't!", Eva exclaimed, playfully smacking Jasper's muscular shoulder.

"Anyways, I've got to go. I'll catch up with you guys later!", he said, waving.

The moment Jasper was out of hearing range, Lily burst. "You have a boyfriend and you didn't tell me!".

"Well, I mean you never asked plus I just met you" Eva replied still smiling from Jasper's arrival.

"Point" Lily murmured as she noticed Trevor coming towards their table. Was he coming to talk to her?.

"Hey Eva how are you doing? I haven't talked to you in a while, so I thoughtI might as well talk" said Trevor as he approached their table.

"I'm fine as good as always. By the way have you met Lily? She's new here, just came from Bangalore."

"Hi Trevor, nice to meet you" said Lily, trying not to mumble. She groaned inwardly at how stupid that sounded.

" Hey" Trevor replied. He reached out to shake her hand but the moment he touched her, Lily felt a bolt of electricity go through her, frazzling her nerves. Her pulse quickened and her heart thumped loudly. She blushed and quickly let go of his hand. Still tingling from the contact, she dropped the bottle that she was clutching. Trevor caught it just before it hit the ground. 

"I think you dropped this" Trevor said handing the bottle back. A lopsided grin appeared on his face. "Oh, umm, thanks" said Lily blushing profusely. Taking the bottle, she tried to regain her composure. I'm so stupid. He probably just wanted to talk to me and now he probably thinks I'm a total weirdo. Ughhh. In Kiara and Larisa's words. Send Help!

When Trevor left, Eva started giggling like mad. "Don't like him?? I saw that face Lily! You're in love!"

"Shut up!! Not so loud. Please?" Lily said as she frantically looked around to see if anyone had heard. Meanwhile Eva just giggled thinking of different plans to get the two together.

Lily just wanted to sink into the ground. My first day. How did I get myself into this?