summer ardor

chapter 6 | tings&sweetnothings

WHEN LILLY woke up the next day, she found the person who laid next to her was gone. Lilly felt disoriented, and when she checked the time on the clock next to the bed, her eyes quickly widened. "9:38", it read, but could she have possible slept that long? Soon enough, the smell of breakfast filled the room, and Lilly's stomach grumbled in response. She crawled out of her bed, and before long, she was standing in front of the kitchen, facing her mother. 

Her mother's back was faced towards her, but she could sense Lilly's presence within the room. The first thing Lilly did was walk towards her and hug her, looking over to see what she was cooking. There was a quiet in the kitchen, the comfortable kind, the type that seeped into the nooks and crannies of their small kitchen and streamed in through the windows along with the light. Lilly walked over to the counter, noticing the small paper slip on there. She quickly grabbed it, hoping her mother hadn't seen it, and slipped it in her pocket. When Lilly turned around again, her mother was staring at her. 

Lilly's heart started beating twice as fast. She looked down, feeling her mother's disapproving gaze on her.

"So I was right," she murmured. "It was a boy all along, sì? " Lilly didn't even have the energy to nod. She continued looking down at the floor, noticing small cracks that were never there before. Her mother continued. "Lilly, what did I say?" and she started walking towards Lilly, "Those boys are trouble, tesoro. And I don't want you to learn the hard way." Lilly finally looked up at her, and truly looked at her mother.

She was an aging woman, the wrinkles on her face more and more prominent. It was as if Lilly was looking at an older version of herself, their same olive skin tone and dark brown eyes. The only true difference was in their faces. And while Lilly shared the same hair color and skin tone as her mother, she felt like her father, a stranger. An outsider who she'd never known, someone who'd left her mother way before Lilly was even born. She knew the story.

"I know, mama," she finally replied, "I don't even know him that well. He's just a friend that I just met," but even as those words were coming out of her mouth, she knew they were lies. She stepped forward to give her mother a hug. "Don't worry about me, mama, I'm a grown woman." She smiled slightly, before leaning back and kissing her mother on the cheek. "I'll head down to the pool, I heard that they're hiring and I'm interested in a job." It was about time she helped support the two of them. Lilly stepped back, and seeing a content look on her mother's face, she gathered all her belongings and head out the door.

With the small slip of paper burning in the back pocket of hers, she made took out her cellphone, eager to type those small numbers down, and save them in her phone.

And when she started onto the sidewalk, it was then Lilly's mother smiled, a sad smile that knew that it was too late. Her daughter wasn't a child anymore, and she wouldn't listen to what her old mother said. 

"Spero che starai bene anche tu, tesoro."

***

As Lilly walked towards the pool, the phone she held in her hand seemed like it weighed a thousand pounds. The one text she sent to an unknown number seemed like it was the world to her, as she threw caution to the wind and hoped, that she would get a text back. Her phone vibrated in her hand, a small "ting", a signal of an incoming text. Lilly stopped walking, not believing what she felt in her hands. And as she slowly turned her phone screen towards her, she saw it. A text, in plain sight, sent by the one and only. It was as if God had answered her prayers and blessings, and blessed her with a text.

Which was kind of sad, to be frank. 

A smile took over her features, and she quickly replied to the text, and an idea popped into her head. She felt it in her heart, the first pulls of love. 

She added a few extra words, something along the lines of "I'm heading to the pool", hoping the boy would take the hint and join her. If he wasn't making any moves, than it was up to Lilly to be the catalyst in their friendship. 

 Soon enough, a text was sent from Colby. Another "ting" filled the air. 

"I'm already on my way."

***

tesoro : honey/sweetheart

"spero che starai bene anche tu, tesoro." : i hope you will be fine too, sweetheart. 

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a/n: just watched crazy rich asians and !!! so good y'all i would 15/10 recommend,and go support your fellow asians :)