Fly Lily, Fly

Being the only child has been a real hindrance in my life, Mum treats me like I'm made of glass, Dad thinks I'm a princess in need of protection, all I want is to be normal like most young women straight out of school, sadly, I'm not, I am shy, I'm nerdy and I wear glasses, no boy has ever looked my way, not once, throughout my high school years, it's time to change.

Looking in the mirror I see a girl looking back at me, long dark wavy hair, big brown eyes, glasses, full lips, I don't want to be this girl, I want to be a woman, Mum would freak out if she knew what I was planning but I have to do this, for my own self esteem I need to do this, after all I am 18 now.

Looking behind me, I see my suitcase laying open on my bed, after my shower I will finish my packing, for today is the day that I leave this town and head for the bright lights of the City.

~~*~~

"Lily, don't forget to call when you arrive in Edinburgh, I'll only worry until I hear from you OK?" , "Sure Mum, as soon as I get into my apartment I'll call, don't worry" I said, smiling at her.

I picked up my car keys and headed for the front door, my Dad was waiting there, arms open for a hug, I hugged him with as much passion as I could muster, I love both my parents but my Dad is my hero.

"Drive carefully princess, I love you", "I will Dad, I love you too" I replied, wiping the tears from my eyes and adjusting my glasses, I hate goodbyes.

~~*~~

The drive wasn't too bad from Fife to Edinburgh, just under an hour and I was parked in front of my new apartment in the Old Town part of Edinburgh; I say new, the building itself is actually very old, built around the 1800's by the look of the brickwork but it is new to me. As I get out of my car, I look up at the building and smile, my apartment is on the second floor of this three storey building.

Once inside I immediately test my landline, as soon as I hear the purring I replace the handset and smile, now I need to get my laptop & iPad set up with the internet, then I can chill out for an hour before my hair appointment at Michael's Salon in the Leith district.

I kick off my shoes, sit back on the settee and start up my laptop, when the internet is established I browse through the optician's available to find one closest to me, once I locate that, I dial the number and arrange an eye test for this afternoon at three, that gives me plenty of time to get my hair done, before crossing town to the opticians.

~~*~~

With my new hairdo and my newly acquired contact lenses I stroll down Princes Street looking for a smart office outfit, I start my new job as an office junior in a law firm on Monday and I want to look good, first impressions count right?!!

As I browse through the store I have to mentally slap myself, I instinctively went straight to the long line skirt section, I am the new Lily, the liberated Lily, I need to reflect my new status, so I swiftly go to the shorter length section, I want to be daring, I want people to notice me, I don't want to blend in with the crowd, so I picked up a grey pinstripe pencil skirt, looking around the shop, I spotted the blouse section, so headed there next, after numerous try ons I decided on a silky pearl blouse, now for the shoes, killer heels or flats?!! Hmmm I need to vamp up my image so I guess it's the killer heels.

I call my parents after I returned from my shopping spree, if I did it right away I would have missed all my appointments, they asked question after question after question, geeez I know they worry about me but let me move in first at least!

Finally I get to call my bestie Amanda, she's been my best friend all through school, we tell each other everything, she moved here before me, so we are all set.

"Hey Manda, want to come round to my new apartment? You can bring some supplies if you like!" I state cheekily.

"What shall I bring, food and drink? Shall we have a party? Do you need tunes?" All that without taking a breath, I love this girl.

After agreeing to the party, I put away my office clothes and begin rifling through my suitcase, knowing Manda I won't have time to put everything in the closet space, so deciding on my outfit, I head to the shower.

~~*~~

Amanda arrived just as I was unpacking some glasses, she waved three carrier bags at me " hurry up and help, these are heavy" I rushed over to grab two bags, she was right, they were heavy!

Placing the bags on the kitchen counter, I start removing the contents, bottles of white wine, red wine, alco pops and cans of beer, some nibbles and soda, her bag contained more beer and wine plus the tunes she said she'd bring, so far so good, I had made some finger food snacks after I came out of the shower, so we should be set. All Amanda kept stating was how "hot" I looked, short hair, no glasses, I really did look totally different, the best part is, I feel totally different too!

Let the party begin!

~~*~~

Amanda said just a few friends would be coming, I know better than to take that as read, she will have told everyone to bring a friend too, so I wasn't surprised when a crowd of 15 arrived within minutes of opening the front door, the music was playing in the background, the bottles were placed on the dinning table, glasses on the counter, food placed where ever I could fit it, seeing as I didn't have a lot of furniture as yet, standing room only in the kitchen as the chairs were moved to the living room. For each person that arrived more bottles and cans were filling up the dinning table, I was running out of space, I need to start storing the drink in my bedroom at this rate.

At 10pm everyone is having a blast, we all have had a few too many already, I for one have mixed up my drinks, I'm pretty drunk at this stage, so am dancing solo in the hallway, all by lonesome, enjoying the tunes, getting strange looks from people I don't even know, ha, this feels good!

Amanda soon joins me, she has her arm wrapped around some guy, "I think we've run out of cans Lily" she slurred, " let me check in my bedroom, I'm sure there's still some in there" I shout as I walk towards my bedroom. Sure enough, my bed is a flow with beer cans, so as stealthily as my drunken self could manage, I grabbed some cans and headed towards the Kitchen.

As I struggle with the cans, some guy grabs them from me and places them on the floor next to the fridge-freezer, he turns to look at me, "do I know you?" " you look familiar"

I hesitated, do I spurt out, hell yeah! I'm Lily from school or do I pretend to be someone else? Oh the dilemma! I decide to play at being someone else, " I don't think so" I shrugged and walked nearer to him, he's one of the cool guys from school, not that he ever noticed me before, so this was going to be fun.