Running (old story)

Chapter 2

Waking covered in a cold sweat Lily quickly turned off the alarm on her phone that woke her. Thankfully she couldn't remember the dream that caused her fright, although it wasn't hard for her to guess what it was about. Not wanting to think about that Lily threw off her covers and made her way over to her kettle to start some water for coffee. Having only managed to get about three and a half hours of sleep she knew she was going to need as much caffeine as she could get.

Jumping in the shower quickly as the water heats up Lily quickly started her normal routine. It didn't take her long before she was out, actually making it out just as the kettle started to whistle. Pouring the hot water over her coffee grounds she set it aside to steep for a few minutes as she got ready.

Normally her hair fell just past her shoulder blades is soft waves but, at the moment it was a tangled mess that more resembles a birds nest than anything that should be on a humans head. Deciding that there was no way she'd be able to make it look presentable if she kept it down she quickly spun it up into a bun on top of her head. With a few pieces falling to help frame her face she decided that it was good enough. It's not like she was trying to impress anyone. Honestly she didn't care what anyone thought of her as long as they left her alone.

Reluctantly Lily slowly turned to her mirror knowing already what she would see. And unsurprisingly what met her was a face that looked all too tired. Dark purple bags underlaid her eyes, her lips were dried and cracked, and her skin pale and lifeless showing just how little she was able to get out in the sun or even take care of herself. That had pretty much become permanent look now though as she doubted she'd ever be able to erase the memories of her past from her body.

Still though, she could at least try, so she picked up her cheap concealer and tried her best to mask her exhaustion. Finishing off with mascara Lily was finally content that she looked, if nothing else awake, she moved away to pour her coffee to take with her on her journey to school.

* * *

Stepping off the city bus Lily paused for a second taking in the reality that laid before her. It didn't seem real but the feeling of the person behind her roughly pushing past her showed her it was. Standing proudly in front of her was a large, castle like, brick building; her new school. Honestly it was everything she could ever dreamed of. It looked just like she'd always seen in movies. There were students hugging in reunion, some people hanging around seemingly waiting for their friends and others, like her, making their way into the school.

She made her way into the school trying to keep her breathing even as not to freak out or draw attention to herself. She examined the papers in her hand trying to make out which way to go to get to her homeroom. On her way down the hallway Lily glanced at the front office and realized how thankful she was that she had the forethought to come a couple days early to get her schedule. The crowd that surrounded the office was overwhelming and she wouldn't have been able to stomach trying to fight through the a crowd like that on her first day. Looking back at her paper she saw she was supposed to go to room 257 which was apparently where her home room was gathering for a welcome back speech and for the lockers to be distributed.

It took Lily longer than she had hoped for her to find her home room. It was only after the first warning bell had rung had she realized that the 200 number rooms were on the second floor. She was out of breath by the time she made it to her classroom and she only just made it before the bell rang. Lily slumped into the first empty desk she saw not caring much for the buzz of students around her. She'd been in high school for less than fifteen minutes and yet it was already becoming too much. Honestly she wasn't sure how'd she'd make it through the next couple years considering she wasn't used to socializing and was already so behind in schooling. But she couldn't go back in the grades if she wanted to avoid attention so here she was, way out of her comfort zone and hoping to have some sense of normalcy.

Suddenly she was shocked out of their thoughts by two very loud claps. Standing in front of the whiteboard was a man who looked to be in his late thirties.

"Well I'd like welcome you all back to another year of school." At his statement a unanimous groan flooded through the room, but the man pushed on with a small chuckle. "Now I know many of you aren't happy to be confined to these chairs once again but it won't be long till you were wishing it was still the start of the year."

"Now for any of those who do not know me I am Mr. Nazar. Hopefully I'll be seeing most of you around school other than when we have to gather in home rooms as I teach a couple of the philosophy and world religion classes. But for now we will just go over the basic school introduction and rules then I can set you all free to find your lockers."

* * *

It hadn't taken long for Mr. Nazar to get through the speech as he didn't bother going over everything. He just gave a basic rundown assuming most students would remember from the year before. Lily decided he seemed nice enough although she hadn't appreciated how he called attention to her by welcoming her to the school when he gave her her locker information. It was a nice enough welcome but she felt everyone's eyes on her as he spoke.

Pulling herself out of her thoughts and shutting her locker Lily turned just in time to watch a girl who was ruffling through her bag trip and spill the contents halfway down the hallway. Almost automatically Lily made her way over and started helping the girl pick up her papers and pens. She stole a glance at the girl she was helping as she looked away. The girl had raven black hair that fell just to her shoulders in natural ringlets and freckles that danced across her light brown skin. The thing that surprised Lily though was that although the girl had seemed flustered a second ago she had a set look of excitement and determination in her face and posture that could force respect from anyone. Standing back up Lily handed back the items she'd collected she received a warm smile in return.

"Thank you so much for the help. I'm Beth by the way. I'm guessing you're the new girl I've heard about." She reached her hand out to shake balancing all her papers in one arm.

"Um, yeah. I'm Lily." She responded thoroughly confused but still shaking her hand. Sure she was new but in such a large school it shocked her that anyone would notice.

Noticing her perplexed look Beth let a small laugh slip out.

"No, I don't know everyone in the school and no, I'm not a stalker if that's what you were thinking. I just didn't remember ever seeing you face even in passing and Brett told me about you so I figured that it was a fairly safe guess you were the new kid."

"Oh."

"So what class do you have now?" Beth inquired leaning over to look at the paper in Lily's hand. "Oh. Pre-cal with Mrs. Spence! That's great I'm in that class too so we can go together!"

A smile worked its way to Lily's face. She was ecstatic that she was already making a friend and it was only her first day. "That would be wonderful. I was certain that I'd never be able to find his way."

"Well we should be on our way then."