A/N: Here's the next chapter! I hope more people will start to read it, though most tend to look mainly for HxA fics on this…Oh wells, VIVA LA RESISTANCE! Hope ya'll like it!
Disclaimer: I only own Chal, Anna Belle, and the kids!
Italics/Bold – AUTHOR'S NOTE
***Bold*** - Chal, Brainy, and Anna Belle's POV
Normal Text: Lila and Sid's POV in the story Chal is telling
ENJOY!
It was a moist, humid, and cloudy afternoon when a pale blue, worn Ferrari 355 Spyder sped down the old gravel road that made its way to Hillwood. The driver, a woman of twenty-four, ignored that the country side had become a mixed blur of grey, gold, and greens. She wasn't worried about wrecking though, she drove this route every weekend. Her long, red locks whipped around her as the warm wind forced itself against her thin body. She quickly brought a hand to her pale, now slightly puffy, face and wiped her tear-filled emerald eyes, her golden bracelet sliding down her wrist.
She couldn't understand what she had done wrong. It wasn't the first time she had gone to the home her and her fiancé shared to find him cuddled up in a pile of hay with a girl, ranging from a new farmhand to her cousin Lulu. But this time was different. He was with her. The woman she feared the most: Hilda Pataki. Deep within herself, she always knew that Arnie would figure out that he was in love with the blonde woman who lived just down the road. She had long ago figured that Hilda was Arnie's 'oh-so-special-someone', but she deeply felt for Arnie. She wanted to be the one for him. They both thought that she was. But she wasn't. No matter how many miles she drove everyday to be with him, no matter how many years she had put into their relationship, despite all she worked for, Arnie had fallen head over heels for Hilda.
She couldn't blame them though. Arnie was a wonderful man and Hilda was passionate and elegant. She wasn't nearly as attractive as her city cousins, however, her plain-Jane looks and honest nature carried her well, and beauty in the end seemed irrelevant. Both were fascinated with each other. Arnie seemed to love her passion and her free spirit while Hilda adored his little snorts and knowledge about lint. And from what she witnessed, she certainly knew how to get his propeller going.
Feeling depressed, she pulled over on the side of the road and stopped the engine. She sighed and leaned back in the driver's seat. She dreaded the idea of going back to Hillwood and facing the judgment of those who either knew her or knew of her. She wasn't too worried about her friends from Mr. Simmons' 4th grade class. Most hated to be around Arnie and said she could do better. They had matured a great bit too. Well, aside from the time they all began to crack jokes at Phoebe and Gerald's wedding when Arnold slipped after too many drinks (after trying to be polite to everyone offering him one), stating that looking at his cousin was equivalent to looking through a f***ed up mirror. Arnold spent the whole night apologizing, much to everyone's chagrin. Stinky and his wife had moved out of state when he decided to take the family farm off his old uncle's hands, while Nadine and Peapod had moved to South America for Nadine's research. Lila always found her love for bug strange, but she held her tongue. Peapod seemed fascinated by it just as Nadine did so she let it be.
Her fellow faculty members, unlike the gang, would never let her hear the end of it. She was completely aware that they disliked her, no matter how nice she would be towards them. They called her a fake and a 'principal's pet'. She did her best to ignore them, eating lunch with the older teachers like Mr. Simmons and his wife of 10 years, Dr. Simmons, Helga's old therapist, who still worked for the school. Principal Wartz was still there and he didn't seem to mind her much. They were the only ones who honestly liked her besides her students. And then there was her father. What would he say? Her father loved her dearly, and they were all the other had after her mother had passed away when she was six. He wasn't to keen on Arnie either, and she knew he was disappointed by how easily dedicated she was to Arnie, even after his many affairs.
She wished she had listened to everyone else. She wondered if she was like her friends, if she would have gone about the relationship differently. Her female friends were all very different, but in successful and blossoming relationships. There were her best friends: Rhonda, Helga, Chal, and Phoebe, along with Patty, Sheena, and Nadine. Nadine was exotic, Sheena, all natural and hopeful, and Patty the strong, silent type. She was none of those things.
Rhonda, her closest friend since she came to Hillwood, was presently married to Thaddeus Gammelthorpe and had given birth to a beautiful baby girl a couple weeks ago. The woman's personality fit her appearance. Rhonda was the confident type. She knows what she likes, how she wants things done, and is very vocal in it. She acknowledges her beauty and flair, and doesn't care what people think of her. The young woman shook her head a bit. She wasn't nearly as confident and she definitely cared what people thought of her. Not in a vain way of course, but she wanted to appear as an honest and gentle young lady.
This idea brought her mind to Phoebe Johansson, previously Heyerdahl, who had just given birth to her fraternal twins Valerie and Damien a month earlier. She was intelligent, which the two women had in common. However, Phoebe knew how to appear smart and not arrogant. She did not. She was afraid she would downgrade others unintentionally and seem snobby.
She definitely wasn't Helga or Chal. Mrs. Shortman was well-known in Hillwood for more than her beauty. Her blunt honesty and understanding of people and their problems put her on a hire level than most, not that she cared. Helga was also a fiery blonde with a passionate heart and A LOT of patience. Unlike Helga, though, the redhead was soft, reserved, and found it difficult to relate to a lot of people around her. Next to Helga was her sister-in-law, Chaltiquel "Freckles" Bartlett. Unlike her, Chal was quickly loved and accepted as the Princess of Hillwood. Chal was always up to something and loved adventure. She was curious and strange, but her quirks and heart made her easy to fall for. She, however, was not Chal. She kept her curiosity to herself and didn't have strange habits as far as she knew.
The vibrant story teller was interrupted by snickering followed by laughter.
"Someone's a bit full of themselves, hm, princess?" Brainy laughed as his wife glared.
"Well it's true. I am a real PRINCESS. Ya know, of the Green-Eyed people." Chal crossed her arms over her chest.
"How could I forget? When my mother found out she fainted. Best Lloyd Family Ball EVER." Brainy chuckled, his signature grin etched across his pale, chiseled face.
"What happened at the ball?" Anna Belle asked curiously.
"OUR STORY is about your parents. RIGHT, Brian?" Chal glared at her husband who cleared his throat and opened his book, hiding behind it.
"You forgot scary as bloody hell…" He was hit with another pillow.
"Anyways, as I was saying…"
As much as she wished she was one of her friends, happy and at home with their loving husbands with babies or babies on the way, she wasn't. She was left behind. She was Lila Sawyer.
Little Miss Perfect. She was gentle, practical, feminine, and intelligent, yet to herself and respectable of others. She wasn't curvaceous like Chal, Helga, and Patty, but she wasn't as small as Phoebe or wiry like Sheena. She was thin, but she had her small curves here and there in all the right places. They were just enough to earn glances, but not too much to where she would be stared at. She wouldn't have had it any other way either.
Men would always say she was the perfect woman when she over heard their conversations. Not too big and not too small. She was free, but tame. She was perfect. She was always told that. Her mother was the first one to tell her. Her father began to tell her so, as well as friends, past boyfriends, and enemies. The only people to tell her she wasn't was out of pure opinion and observation was Chal (who said that no one could ever be perfect anyways), and Arnie. Honestly, she had no idea what he thought of her. He had yet to say so. She figured when he proposed that meant her loved her though.
Lila wiped her eyes after jumping a bit from the sound of thunder gaining on her. She hated storms and wanted to get back to Hillwood as soon as possible. She'd try to stay with Rhonda or in the Boarding House for the time being. There was no way she could face her father this way. Not so soon.
Wiping away her tears in haste, Miss Sawyer went to start her car up once again. However, fate was not on her side. Her car stalled. She turned the key once again, before trying again and again. The car wouldn't start. Frustrated, Lila exited her car, gathering up her purse and took out her keys. She threw her keys into her purse and dug out her cell phone.
She quickly dialed the one friend she knows to know everything. After a couple of teeth grinding rings, a proud and cheery voice came through, "Rhonda Wellington Lloyd-Gammelthorpe, designer extraordinaire, how may I help you?"
"Rhonda? I'm ever so sorry to trouble you, but it appears that I'm having car troubles…" Lila sighed, choking up a bit.
"Oh my! Where are you, dear? Are you crying? Are you hurt?" Rhonda gasped through the phone, questions immediately flooding from her lips.
"I'm alright; it's just been such a troubling day…" Lila cried, wiping her face.
"What happened? Why aren't you with Arnie? Weren't you two suppose to spend this Spring Break on his family's farm?" Rhonda questioned, a worried tone in her voice.
"I'm ever so sure that's no longer possible, Rhonda. I found him there with someone. Hilda this time. It's really over for us…" Lila bawled, holding one hand to her head. She stared at the ground watching her tears dissipate into the dry soil, "Today can't possibly get any worse!"
As those hopeful words left her pink lips, rain came pouring down on the distraught country girl.
"Perfect. Rhonda, what do I do? It's starting to storm!" Lila began to cry and panic. If there was anything she hated in life, it was a storm.
"Okay, sweetie, calm down. Where are you?" Rhonda asked calmly.
"I'm on the road back to Hillwood next to an old wheat field! I'm on Jackson Road!" Lila yelled over the roaring sky.
"Jackson Road! Wheat field? Thaddeus, any ideas?" Rhonda turned to her husband, who was doing a tribal dance shaking their newborn daughter's rattle, the latter giggling loudly.
"Hm. Didn't one of the gang move out that way?" Curly rubbed his chin.
"Oh! I know! Lila dear, keep going straight a couple miles. There should be*static* a grey house on your left *static* will keep you *static* car get fixed *static* Stay safe Lila!" With that, Rhonda hung up.
"Rhonda? Rhonda?!" Lila sighed and jumped as thunder rumbled once again. She looked down the road, then back to her car before heading down the road on foot. As she walked, the thought of dying and tornadoes began to cross her mind. She began to pick up speed until she was racing down the road. She ended up falling and scraping her knee. She quickly removed her white heels and continued to run. By the time she had made it about two miles in, she had slowed down, too exhausted to keep running. In one hand was her purse and in the other her shoes. Her hair was now flat and sticking to her face, which was pale and ice cold. Losing hope, she limped on as rain pummeled her body.
She began to head further down the road before coming to a halt. Turning her head to the left, she noticed a dark, golden square. It wasn't until lightening flashed that she got a glimpse of a small two story house. It had white shutters and a white door. The grey home had only one light that remained on. Taking up a new found faith, she galloped over to the house.
She didn't realize that the yard was entirely empty. She ended up tripping over a tire with a yelp and knocking over a couple empty cans , causing a loud bang. Another light quickly came on in the house. Frantic, she began trying to gather her things and shove them into her purse. Before she could finish, though, the front door swung open with a slam.
"Is this where they fall in love?!" Anna Belle interrupted excitedly, her meal now finished.
Chal laughed, a genuine smile on her smooth features, "No, honey. This is only the beginning. Humans can only fall in love so quickly.
"Oh. I guess that makes sense…Keep going! Keep going!" Anna Belle began bouncing in her sleep.
Chal nodded, "Well you can only imagine how awkward it was for the two of them…"
The last thing Lila expected to see was Sid Gifaldi, mouth hanging open, with a baseball bat prepared to swing from his spot on the porch dressed in a white wife-beater and blue pajama pants. And she was ever so certain the last thing he expected was to find her soaked to the bone in his yard, muddy and barefoot, with her purse, its contents, her shoes, and her phone scattered across the lawn. Silence passed as Sid lowered her baseball bat. Lila blushed as did he. Lila attempted to smooth out her sticky strands and to smooth down her now transparent pale green dress. The two made eye contact once again.
"Lila?"
"Sid?"
"It's twelve thirty." Brainy interrupted, not looking up from his book as he sat with his head in one of his hands. Both girls looked up at the clock above him. It was indeed time for Anna Belle to head back to school.
"But I thought we just started…" Anna Belle pouted, her bottom pink lip jutting out.
"Hmm. I'll tell you what. How about when you have lunch tomorrow, you come back and we'll continue. Mr. Bartlett's always here and I don't got to my dance studio to set up until two. What do you say?" Chal grinned at the little girl, whose face automatically brightened.
"Wonderful!" Anna Belle smiled, "Thank you for lunch!"
"Do you need a ride back?" Chal questioned, opening the front door.
Anna ran down the steps and turned around, "No thanks, Mrs. B! See you tomorrow!"
Chal smiled and shook her head before going inside and closing the door. She began to head upstairs and looked to her husband, who seemed so entranced by his novel.
"Aren't you coming?" She grinned mischievously at him.
"I don't think so. Talking about Lila and Sid's romance has killed the mood.
Chal rolled her eyes and walked over to his favorite spot. She leaned over his book and whispered into his ear before smirking and heading upstairs to their bedroom.
Brainy, finally sure that she was gone, paused, "That damn woman…" He muttered and stood up, tossing his book over his shoulder and hurrying upstairs after his wife.
"Chal 2. Brian 0."
"Shut up…"
A/N: Okay, there's chapter two! Hope you guys like it. I know there's not much interaction between Lila and Sid yet, but there will be in the next chapter!
Hoping for reviews! This isn't a popular couple so I'm hoping you guys can spread the word about it! I'll try to update soon, but I got AP test this week and next week so we'll see!
Love, KireiTsuki
