Payback [ON HOLD]

Chapter 3

     Lillian shoved Timothy's hand off her shoulder. "What do you want?"

     "Yeah," Dakota practically snarled. "What do you want, boy? You have no business being over here, or within a mile of Lilly."

     "Jerk Jerk here came looking for pity," Grace explained coolly, not even bothering to look up from the charm on her charm bracelet she was playing with. She only glanced up briefly to shoot a look of support in Lillian's direction, and when she did, Lilly saw why she'd kept her head down; her eyes were as cold as ice. Lilly guessed Grace thought that would have given Timothy too much satisfaction. She had to agree.

     Timothy took Lillian's hand in his and pulled her up from her seat to a standing position. As incredibly annoying as it was, Lilly had to notice the way her heart still fluttered when they touched. The way her skin tingled whenever their skin made contact. Timothy shivered, proof that he felt it too.

     What am I doing?!  Lillian's thoughts screeched. She was supposed to hate Timothy! And in a way, she did. She hated that he was torturing her like this. Toying with her emotions just to satisfy his own ego. But... in her heart, she still loved Timmy, the sweet boy who'd told her she was beautiful back in the Seventh Grade.

"FINE, I'll hear you out," Lilly told Timothy, sighing at her own weakness. But, just so it was clear he wasn't off the hook, Lilly yanked her hand away.

"What are you doing?" Dakota hissed in her ear. "You know you can't trust him!"

"I know," Lillian whispered in return. "I just wanna hear what he has to say, that's all. I'm not trusting him with anything."

Dakota sighed. "Okay. Just... be careful around him, Lilly. I don't want him to hurt you again, because if he does, I'll have to beat him up. That'll ruin my nail polish."

Before Lilly could reply, Timothy snatched her hand again and dragged her to an isolated table in a shadowy corner of the cafeteria. He motioned for her to sit, so she did. He did the same.

"So..." Lilly began awkwardly, trailing off before she could complete the thought. This was getting awkward really fast.

"Well," Timothy said after a second, breathing in and out, most likely to sooth his jittered nerves, "I guess I should say what I brought you over here to say, huh?"

     "That would be nice," Lillian agreed, a small smile flickering across her lips, but she quickly forced it away.

"Right." He cleared his throat. For time, Lilly guessed. After a few seconds and a deep breath, he continued. "I care about your happiness, Lillian. I really do. Actually..."

"What?" Lilly prompted, curious.

Timothy seemed to make up his mind on something right before he said, "I wasn't planning to tell you this, but I'm trying to stay honest. I, um... So, after we had that fight last week that ended things, I was... somehow liking you again. Romantically. I didn't tell you because I don't want to keep hurting you, Lilly. You deserve better than me."

     Timothy stopped, a look of pain on his face. His eyes were glassy, and he sniffled. Somehow, Lilly didn't think it was because of any cold. She touched his hand gently with hers, and he intertwined his fingers with hers.

     "Timmy," she said softly, "ever if you don't deserve it, I'll forgive you. I won't forget, but I'll forgive. And... if you really just want to be friends again, I can do that. Just..." She trailed off. What was she trying to say?

     Finally, Lillian had it. "Just... remember that, no matter what, I'll be there for you. I can live with being your friend, but I can't live with losing you because you broke things off romantically. You're one of my best friends."

     As the tears came to her own eyes, Lilly felt Timothy's arms wrap around her in a hug. You know how, when the conditions are right, a simple hug can be healing? Well, that's what this hug was like. For both Lillian and Timothy, it was as if a huge burden had been lifted, and everything suddenly felt lighter somehow. Like there had been no quarrel between them. Not that Lilly had forgotten. She would never forget so easily. But it was as if whatever grudge that had been left over against Timothy had melted away.

     Lillian certainly was no less jealous of Grace. Not even close. But now... she could at least live with it. Maybe.

     Later as she was walking back to her table to tell her friends what had happened, her mind raced through what had just happened. Timothy and she had decided to meet up after school to talk about a book series they both liked (well, that Timothy loved) called Ranger's Apprentice. It was as if nothing had changed.

     But something had changed. And, as the girls bombarded Lillian with questions, she had a gut feeling that everything would turn out just fine.

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a/n. I finally got the last part out! Hope you guys liked the end of Lillian's story.

Or was it? DA DA DAAAA...