Notice Me Please

chapter five

The day went by quite slowly for Lila. She barely saw Luca today because of her schedule. News of Giselle's party started to spread like a wildfire throughout the school, and of course everyone wanted to be invited. Lila, of course, had no interest in these events. She'd rather be at home eating dinner with her mom and Luca.

During her lunch break she usually spent her time in the orchestra room practicing, but also watching Madeleine, that snake of a woman, flirting shamelessly with Luca. It was painful. She wanted to bust down the wall separating the orchestra from Madeleine's office and protect Luca, tell him she loves him, and run away with him. She didn't want to imagine anyone other than her with Luca.

So, as Lila played the piano, she would peer out the window into the hallway and watch them talk. 

Madeleine would flash her cute little, perfectly white smile, look at the floor, bite her perfectly pink lips, twirl her perfect hair around her perfectly manicured fingers. What made Lila's blood boil the most is when Madeleine would touch him. A soft brush on his shoulder, putting her hand on his chest, putting his hands in hers, and brushing her hand with his. Those angered Lila beyond belief. She wanted to be the one to do that to him. She wanted to make his heart flutter the way Madeleine did. She wanted to make him smile the way she did. She wanted Luca to think of her as constantly as Lila thought of him. 

Lila, still playing the piano, started to get emotional. A tear rolled down my cheek and fell onto the ivory keys. 

The door of the music room slid open and Lila looked up. It was Luca. She quickly wiped her tears and smiled. 

"You've really improved haven't you?" he said smiling as he took a seat next to her on the piano bench, "I'm so proud of you."

He always told Lila he was proud of her. Lila didn't want to hear that he was proud. She wanted to here those three special words which she longed for. She knew it would never happen as long as Madeleine was in the way.

"Thanks, I have been practicing hard so that my solo will be nice," Lila said with a small smile.

His smile brightened, "You're a good kid. No wonder Ms. Beaumont likes you so much. She must be helping you out a lot, right? She must be a great music teacher."

Madeleine again. Lila didn't want to here that woman's name. She was stealing the only precious thing Lila had left. Lila and Luca's conversations were slowly becoming filled with Madeleine. Lila couldn't tolerate it any longer, but she could not make a scene, otherwise she might scare him away. So Lila buried her anger further and further inside of her fragile heart. Only heaven knows how long she could keep all of those memories and feelings inside of her.

"No, not really. I mostly practice on my own. We don't really talk actually," Lila explained.

"Oh? Should I ask her t-" he started.

She cut him off to say, "It's fine. I don't need her help anyways Luca."

He gave a small laugh, "Lila, don't call me Luca here. You'll get me in trouble."

"But that's all I've ever called you. Why stop now?" Lila say getting closer to him, hoping to make a move. 

It was impulsive, but her bottled up feelings were seconds away from breaking free.

They were so close. Her lips were inches away from his. The world suddenly became quiet and time stood still. Maybe she could take this chance. Maybe she could kiss him. Maybe he could see that she's the one he's been looking for.

"Am I disturbing you guys?" a woman asks before stepping into the room, it was Madeleine.

Lila, in surprise, jumps back a little. She quickly glanced at Luca and noticed that he was red in the face, flustered. Lila wondered if she pushed too far too soon? She didn't care. If she didn't make a move, nothing would happen, and Madeleine would win.

"I was just asking for Lu- Mr. Pedleton's advice on my piece. He has a good ear for music," Lila lied.

Luca, still flustered, stuttered, "Uh.. yeah."

He gets up in a huff, "I should get going," he said as he exited the room.

"He's so sweet isn't he?" Madeleine said, taking a seat next to me.

Shut up. I don't want to hear anything from you. Despicable woman. Thief. Shameless flirt. 

"I have a class to get to," Lila said dryly.

Her smile leaves her face as she got up and left the room. Lila promised herself that one of these days she'll show Madeleine that she's not as perfect as she thinks. She'll prove it to Luca too. Luca will be hers before Madeleine can get her filthy claws on him. After all, he was Lila's before he even knew Madeleine.

Lila rushed through the hallway, nearly running. She wanted to be as far away from that woman as possible. She walked into her next class nearly panting. Nobody was in the room, so she sat near the window which was slightly open. The breeze was cool and it calmed her down. 

Students eventually came into the class. Elektra was in her class which comforted her. A few popular students like Giselle, Ivan, and Chanel were in the class too. Chanel was a surprise to Lila. Usually students with high grades were in her classes, and Chanel is definitely not someone with high grades, as Chanel would rather spend her time trying to seduce Ivan or increase her social media following.

The teacher came in after a couple of minutes. She did roll call and then began going over the outline for a project that would be due next week. 

"Are we allowed to pick our own partners?" asked Chanel in her usual fake, sickly sweet voice.

The teacher thought about it for a moment before nodding, "Go ahead. Remember, groups of five please."

Chanel reached out and grabbed Ivan by the arm and squeezed it in a friendly yet flirty type of way. It was a predictable move on her part. She had no shame in being super lovey dovey public. Lila knows she shouldn't be judging. After all, she did try hitting on a teacher today. After that, she motioned for Giselle to join her too. Elektra and Lila decided to be partners, but they still needed three more people. Everyone else had grouped up, and Lila hesitated asking Giselle if they could join her group. 

"Ivan is pointing at us," Elektra whispered in Lila's ear excitedly, "The. Ivan. Alderidge. Just. Pointed. At. Me."

"You're probably wrong. There's no way he'd want someone like us in his group and I don't think Chanel would support this either," Lila whispered back.

"You're wrong. Look. He's walking over to us!" She said happily.

Lila rolled her eyes and looked back, and Elektra was right. He was walking over here. 

Elektra stood up, grabbed Lila's hand with excitement. She pulled Lila out of my chair towards Ivan. It was so fast and so startling for Lila that as soon as she stood up she tripped over her feet. Lila hit her head on the corner of a desk and then everything went black.

~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~

You guys might think it's cringy, but I promise you that something interesting will happen, and after that the story WILL start rolling full speed ahead! I'm going to ask you to bear with me one more time lovies. I'd love it if you'd vote and comment and give me suggestions! I really want to improve my writing and see your ideas and predictions.

Love, starryxangel