Lily

I never knew my father. Not that it really mattered. It wasn't a defining thing in my life or anything. It was just the way it was. Me and my mom. My mom and I. A pair to end all pairs. It still amazes me to this day how a single moment in time, a split second, can make your whole life come crashing down around you. For me, it was the day my mom was killed.

All these years later I can still remember that day. That horrible day has been imprinted onto my mind like a stamp, pressed there ready to return on every bad day I have. It was nearing the end of the year in North Dakota. The leaves were falling and the air was full of that crisp fall scent. Normally I walked to school to take it all in but that particular day I was running late. Not all that surprising as I generally run late but this time I managed to convince my mom to drive me.

"You are going to be late" She warned from the driver's seat of the car, slightly agitated. She was such a carefree person but I had a knack for pressing her buttons.

"I know!" I barked back as I slammed the front door shut and locked it.

I jumped into the passenger seat and threw in my earbuds to try and prevent my mother's inevitable lecture. She let out an aspirated sigh and drove silently towards my school.

The brick building that had become my second home in the last four years was nothing to be proud of. It was actually the ugliest building I have ever seen. It was as if someone plunked a brick made of bricks in the centre of my town and just threw in some windows and a couple of doors and called it a school. I couple more months and I would be officially done. Maybe officially isn't the right word. Technically I had my high school diploma. I got it after my third year of high school at the bright young age of 16. I didn't feel ready to go to University though so I found myself back for my second go at Senior Year.

My mom pulled up to the front door of the building. My best friend Emma was leaning against the railing waving at out SUV.

"Got to go, Mom. Emma's waiting." I said, grabbing my bag and opening the door.

"Bye, Honey! Have fun!" She said before I slammed the door shut and jogged towards my friend.

Those were the last words that my mom had ever spoken to me.

My morning classes went as they always did. Far too much daydreaming and not enough paying attention. My teachers were far beyond caring by then as I still managed to pull off a solid 100% average. What can I say? I was gifted. I was the Lily Summers, the girl who would go down in history as being the most brilliant student this town had ever produced. I am not kidding. My principal said that at my graduation. Talk about embarrassing.

When lunch rolled around Emma and I sat at our regular table in the back corner of the cafeteria. It was a bit quieter there and we both liked that. Attention was not something that we particularly enjoyed.

"What's up?" She asked, pushing her curly brown hair behind her ears. She hated her hair. I was probably no help at all as I constantly teased her about how much it reminded me of Hermione Granger's hair.

"Not a whole lot. " I replied, taking the wrapper off my soggy sandwich. Was fresh food really that hard to serve? "Mr. Marshal was even more boring than usual. I didn't think it was possible."

"So did you hear about that new tablet that Stark Industries announced last month?" Emma asked. That caught my attention. We quickly fell into conversation until the ringing on the intercom pulled us back to reality.

"Lily Summers, please report to the office. Lily Summers."

Emma gave me a confused look and shrugged.

"Guess you better go. Want me to come?"

"May as well. It probably is something small."

We threw out our garbage and headed down the hall to the office.

When were arrived we shocked by the amount of people in there. There were three police officers and a blonde woman in very professional clothes. Usually it was just Mr. Kindam, the principal, and Mr. Breken, his secretary. I went to a relatively small school so it was just plain unusual to see more than four people in that room.

"Miss Summers, Miss Johnson, welcome." Mr. Kindam's voice quivered as he ushered us into the room.

"Hello, Mr. Kindam." Emma and I replied in unison, as per the office etiquette.

One of the police officers stepped forward and faced me.

"Miss Summers, may I have a word with you in private please?"

My whole body froze. What the hell was going on? I was a great kid! Never did drugs, never smoked. Hell, I never even drank! What was going on?

"Uhh… Okay." I replied. Oh go me. Straight As and that is all I could come up with?

I stole a glance at Emma before I followed the officer into Mr. Kindam's office. She looked about as pale as I felt.

The officer opened the door and sat down on the large spinning chair behind the desk. He motioned for me to take a seat and I hesitantly took it. He rubbed his hands together nervously and looked down. I saw his chest rise as he took a deep breath and finally spoke.

"Miss Summers, I am Officer Frank Rickdale. I am very sorry to inform you that there was a car accident on Main Street this morning involving an SUV and a pickup truck. There were no survivors."

My heart fell to the ground. My body quickly fell into shock. His lips were moving but my brain couldn't process anything that he was saying. My life was over. It was done.

"What happens now?" I interrupt, quite demandingly. I needed to be alone. I needed to get out of here.

"Well, for the time being, you will be living with the Johnson family. We hope that you will be able to move in with your father in the near future"

"MY FATHER?" I yell. He looked rather shocked, but apologetic. I didn't care. I wanted my mom, not my dad. I just wanted everything back to how it was that morning.

"Yes, your father. Miss Gruiller is here from Children and Family Services. She will help you." He stood up and walked towards the door. "She will come and see you in a minute." He gave me one last pitying glance before walking out.

I don't know how long I was alone. I couldn't tell you. I also cannot accurately describe how agonizingly painful those minutes were. I was stupid. I tried to be strong. I tried to hide my tears. I tried to be brave. My brain was turned into a mush of pain and sadness and distress. I will never forget how alone I felt. Never.

After what felt like infinity, I heard the door open behind me. I put my brave face on and turned to see a middle aged woman enter the room. She sat down behind the desk and gave me a soft smile.

"Hello, Miss Summers. I am Mary Gruiller and I am here from Children and Family Services. I am going to help you get through this, okay?"

I kept my face straight. There was no way she could help me but I may as well play along for her sake.

"What happens now?" I ask for the second time this afternoon. I hoped the answer would be different.

"We have information on your father and we will contact him as soon as possible. Your father, Lily, is –"

"Don't tell me," I barked. "Don't tell me his name. Contact him. Do whatever you want. If he doesn't want me then don't ever tell me his name. I can't live knowing the name a father who never loved me."

She looked up at me with pity. I was really starting to hate that look. I was not an injured puppy.

"Okay. We will contact him as soon as possible. Also, I hate to bring this up now, but I was told I had to ask about what you wanted to do with your house. It's unfortunately not paid off and your mother didn't leave enough to – "

"Sell it." I cut in. "I don't need those memories. Just sell everything"

The weeks flew by following that day. I turned into a zombie. I moved into the spare room at Emma's house and just stopped. I stopped eating. I stopped leaving my room. I stopped going to school. I didn't even return home. Emma's parents cleaned out my house and moved everything they thought I might want into storage. I needed help, like professional help, but I denied any suggestions of the sort. My second set of parents who I had known since childbirth were lost on what to do with me. They planned the entire funeral for their best friend. I should have helped. I should have been more involved. Instead I cried.

I was crouched into a ball on my bed one day about a month after the funeral. My cell phone rang and I reached across and grabbed it from the end table. Emma usually called at least twice a day. This was normal, but a little early. She should have been in class.

"Hello?" I asked. I hadn't even bothered to look at the name before swiping to answer.

"Hello, Lily. This is Mary Gruiller!" She sounded far too cheery to suit me.

"Oh. Hi." So this was it. The moment of truth. The moment I get to hear whether my dad wants to deal with a messed up daughter who hasn't left the house in a month.

"I have great news! Your father wants to meet you!" I nearly dropped my phone.

"He wants to meet me?" I asked in shock.

"Yes! He wants to meet you to discuss you moving in with him. He told me to make sure that you knew that everything going forth will be your choice and he doesn't want to force anything on you. Would you like me to let you know who he is so that you can start thinking about what moving would involve?"

"Why would his name matter? It's just a name."

"Lily, your father is Tony Stark."