Their Masterpiece

Chapter One

Low battery. Exactly the two words I did not want to see right now. Many seconds passed as I stared at the ceiling above my bed. Some kids at my school decided it would be absolutely hilarious to swap my phone with someone else. If I remember correctly, they said: "It will be really funny when you embarrass yourself in front of him!" 

Lord help me. 

I should be doing something productive, like studying or chores, not dealing with this mess!

 I heard a knock on my bedroom door, "Come in!" I yelled. The door opened revealing my dad dressed in purple and black from head to toe, our school's colors. "I'm going to your brother's game, you okay here?" "Yes, I'll be fine, have fun!" He left my room, as well as the house. I'm home alone, which is entirely different without my crazy older brother, Zach. Even though he's a pain sometimes, I'm lucky to have him. Especially since everyone at school seems to use my face as their dartboard. Usually, It's small things like name-calling, shoves, trips, and the occasional too-hard fist bump. Though, I have had some cases past fist bumps. It calmed down a little after my big bro became starting quarterback for the football team. All too many times has he come to be the hero and save the day. I'm grateful for that.

 I put makeup on the visible bruises so my dad doesn't notice, my brother promised not to tell if I got at least one insult in before the first hit; I haven't failed yet. Although, even if I cover them up with makeup, I usually wear sleeves, pants, or hide them with my hair. My dad is an overprotective cop, who is not easy to trick. I haven't told my dad about the bullying because I know he'll freak out and overreact, and I don't want him to worry about me more than he already does. 

I feel my stomach grumble as I head to the kitchen for food as I play a game on this boy's phone. I poured myself some sweet tea and grabbed a bag of chips. I silently ate in peace until the phone goes off. I look down to see my number calling me. I took a deep breath and swallowed the remaining food in my mouth before hitting 'accept call'. 

"Hello?" I said, slightly unsure of the voice I'd hear respond. 

"Hi." Umm... "Our phones got swapped."

 "Yep." Well isn't he a lovely person to talk to. 

"What's your name?" "Terance, you?" "Lily." 

"Lily, that's a nice name." I was slightly shocked, I don't hear that very often.

 "Thanks..." 

"So I need my phone back as soon as possible, it has notes for a class on it I need." he cut to the chase huh?

 "Alright, wanna meet somewhere?" "How about the PurPur Cafe by Johnson Rode?" "That works, what time?" "Twenty minutes?" "See you there." He ended the call. Well, I guess I better change out of my pajamas. 

I went to my room and threw on some skinny jeans and a purple t-shirt. I grabbed his phone and the house keys and set off to the cafe. After a few minutes of walking, I arrived.

 I walked in and ordered a small coffee and sat at a table patiently waiting. I eyed all of the customers, seeing if any of them could be him. They were either too old, too young, or the wrong gender; assuming that Terance is a guy anyways. Some people walked in, and some walked out, the streetlights beamed in the windows and reflected off glasses and appliances. It was a very pretty fall night. 

I heard the chime of the bell strung at the top of the cafe door as an employee said a customary welcome. I studied him for a minute. He had brown hair and blue eyes. He was very tall, easily a foot taller than me. He caught me looking and I looked away quickly, slightly embarrassed. I looked back up to see him sit down without ordering, weird. 

My head shot up as I heard my name being called. "Small coffee for Lily!" I got up from my seat and strolled to the counter as the employee slid the steaming cup forward. I made sure to pick it up from the heat-protective sleeve and went back over to my table, staring down at my feet on the way there. I sat down and got comfortable before looking up to see the guy from earlier sitting across from me. It startled me and I jumped a little bit. I heard him chuckle and apologize. I excused him and smiled. "So I'm guessing you're Terance?" "And you're Lily?" I nodded.

 "So about our phones, I'm sorry about that. If I knew they were going to steal your phone I would have stopped them." "It's fine, besides, if they didn't, I wouldn't have been able to meet you." He winked as he finished that sentence. So he thinks he's smooth, does he?

 "So where do you go to school?" I asked. "South High, you?" "Really? Go Lighting Strikes!" "Wait, you go there too? How have I never seen you before?"

 "Well, my school persona is quite different from this one." I'm hoping he doesn't ask any more questions, I don't feel like watching someone else walk away in disgust again. 

"What do you mean by that?" he sounded confused. 

Nevermind. Here goes nothing I guess. "Most people know me as 'Loser Lily' or a name of that sort." I internally cringed as he stopped moving and stared at me in shock. 

"Wait you're that Lily?" I cringed externally now too as I prepared myself for the depressing reality to crash down on me in t minus zero seconds. 

"Yeah..." My voice shook slightly, expressing my melancholic shame. 

"Well, now I'm even more confused." "Huh?" "Why does everyone hate you?" I paused, taken off guard by his response.

 "The highschool patriarchy." he laughed and I just continued to look at him with my usual unimpressed expression. 

"Here." I grabbed his phone out of my back pocket and handed it to him. He did the same and we exchanged phones. 

"Also, you have a lot of art on your phone, you must follow a lot of artists." Terance raised his eyebrows and looked at me expectantly. I quickly replied with, "Well, it's mostly my art that I post online, however, I do follow other artists."
He then pulled off quite possibly the best double-take I've ever seen. "Wait, that's your art?" I just grinned while he was in disbelief. 

His humorous countenance didn't last long, we were shaken out of our conversation by a phone call. He excused himself before answering. He nodded his head a couple of times and replied with common responses before hanging up. "Hey, I gotta go, it was nice talking to you, Lily." I just smiled and motioned for him to leave. I watched him open the chiming door and exit my sights.