Chapter Five
Lily walked halfway into the kitchen and made sure her mother didn’t see her. Lily felt her heart shatter as she saw her mother, sitting there, unconscious in the chair at the end of the kitchen island with a wine glass in one hand and her bottle of wine in the other. She was disgusted. Lily headed back up to her room. She took the bottle of “Ibuprofen” pills off of her bedside table and dropped 4 tiny pills into her hand. She popped them dry, and tried to sleep. It took her awhile to fall asleep, considering thoughts kept running full speed ahead in her mind. The one thought in the front of her mind, was that she knew her mom was a heavy drinker..but lately..her mom’s been drinking way more than she usually does.
The students ran out of the school like bats out of hell. Principal Corely had pulled Tara aside as she was running out of the main doors.
“I’m so sorry! I know I shouldn’t have been running. It will never happen again. Oh my god, I’m – “
Principal Corely then cut the rambling girl off.
“I’m not here to repremand you. I’m here to ask you a favor.”
“Oh..okay” Tara started to say. “What do you need me to do?”
“Good, that’s what I was hoping you’d say. I want you to go to Lily Harding’s house to see if she’s alright. After her big spill today, I want to make sure she is okay.” the concerned principal told her.
“Sure!” Tara was so excited when she was asked to see Lily. After she left, Lily had missed so much in school that day.
“Thank you. Here are the directions. We had to go into her files and find out her information. Do you know where that street is?” the principal asked her while handing her a hot pink paper.
“Yeah, its only a few blocks away.”
“That’s correct. Now go get a move on!”
Tara was still excited to see Lily, but she was also nervous. After all, Tara and Lily weren’t AS close as they seem. Would Tara going to her house the first day be awkward?
Chapter Six
Mrs. Harding soon became sober while Lily had been asleep. She hoped that her daughter was fully asleep when she had “fallen asleep” in the kitchen. When she was about to go and wake Lily up, the doorbell rang.
“Who are you?” Mrs. Harding asked in a harsh tone.
“Hi, I’m Tara. I go to San Carlos with Lily.” Tara said politely, trying to keep her cool.
“Uh, huh. Sure you do. What the hell do you want anyway? If you’re her friend, you should know she’s in a lot of pain right now.” Obviously, Mrs. Harding had a habit of becoming very ignorant while she was drinking.
“Like I told you. I’m here to see your daughter. Principal Corely told me to come by and check on her. And yes, Mrs. Harding, I was aware of her fall. I was with her when it happened.” Tara was starting to get on edge. She understood that she was supposed to respect adults, but this lady was putting her down..and she barely even knows her.
Mrs. Harding was still annoyed with the teen standing in her doorway. But, if she’s a friend of Lily’s like she says she is, she might as well let her in and see what she’s all about.
“Up the stairs. First room on the left. She’s sleeping. So if you happen to wake her up, the blame’s on you.”
Mrs. Harding then walked away, leaving Tara letting herself in. She walked through the door and quietly closed the door behind her. She walked up the stairs, and saw Lily laying in her bed, fully asleep. But she had so much to tell her..Lily needed to wake up as soon as possible.
“Lily..” Tara said sweetly as she poked Lily in the shoulder.
Lily’s eyes fluttered open, and blinked a few times while she tried to get adjusted to the light in the room. When her eyes were finally settled, she saw Tara standing over her with a pile of books in her hands.
“What are you doing here?” Lily asked shockingly.
“Well, I have your homework..and a surprise.” Tara said with a smile.
“A surprise? What are you talking about?”
Tara took a little slip of paper off of the pile of books and handed it to Lily.
“It’s a letter..”
Lily looked up at Tara with sparkling eyes. Tara immediately sat down on the bed next to her.
“Who’s it from?!” Tara urged.
Lily took the note that was folded into a paper football and started to unfold it. Such a guy thing, she thought. her heart fluttered when she saw his perfect handwriting scrawled across the paper. She then got a whiff of a guys cologne.
