Time's Tragedies- The Books Of Beginning [2]

38. Denial

Lili was absolutely, completely, one-hundred-percent fine.

Of course, what that really meant was she was terrified, she missed her mother fiercely, she was worried about how her siblings were faring since they were being hunted by a villainous former spy and all. It also meant she was angrier then she had ever been before, she wasn't sure if she was in control of her magic or not, and she was tired too, because all of this was starting to haunt her dreams and keep her awake. Not to mention the fact that she felt horrible when she imagined trying to speak to her father about all this and placing the burden on his shoulders, not that she even had the right words to explain it all. So, to put it bluntly, she was actually as far from fine as one could be, but for now, she was committed to pretending.

No, it probably wasn't a good idea, as anyone would tell her, but Lili was a stubborn girl, and her mother's daughter at that, which meant sometimes seeking help was a hard thing to do for her.

She felt like her life had turned upside down and not for the better. That certainly had a destabilizing effect on a young teen who was still figuring who she was and how she would handle life's challenges. And with the crippling rage she felt bubbling in her at the mere thought of Robert, she feared the person she was becoming wasn't the one she wanted to be.

Really, the only good change in her life recently was-

"Is that my shirt?" Eternity asked, walking into the room she and Lili shared. 

Lili looked down at herself and the white shirt patterned with small rainbow butterflies, which was a bit big on her and which absolutely belonged to Eternity. Then she looked back up at her friend and merely replied, "it was in the dresser."

"I didn't realize that meant it was yours," Eternity raised an eyebrow.

"We share the dresser, we can share the clothes in it too," Lili said in a voice dripping with false innocence, "after all, sharing is caring."

Eternity snorted, "is that your excuse for all the times you've stolen my stuff over the past few months. Because let me tell you, you've done it a lot. I noticed."

"I didn't realize you had a problem with it," Lili said, "and you're welcome to borrow my things."

"I don't have any problem with it, I was just mentioning it," Eternity replied, "and thanks, but no thanks. Your shirts would probably be crop tops on me."

Lili rolled her eyes, "you aren't that much taller then me."

"I have a good five inches," Eternity argued.

"It's four inches."

"I'm pretty sure it's five."

"No, no it's not, and you know it."

Eternity was nothing if not determined, "four and a half. At the very least."

"You exasperate me," Lili sighed, "you do have great taste in clothes though."

"Thanks," Eternity smirked, "if only I can say the same for you. Seriously, your clothes are pretty much all black. I adore you but you dress like a wannabe goth."

"I do not!"

"But you do," Eternity said.

Lili huffed, "first of all, if anything, I dress like a real goth-"

"Nope," Eternity interrupted, shaking her head, "you're too much of a romantic."

Lili wrinkled her nose but couldn't deny it. She truly did adore the idea of love, especially deep love, as her taste in tragic romance poems suggested. Still, she did have one argument left to make, "who says goths can't be romantics too?"