Chapter Three
The next morning, instead of shopping, Lily went outside with the others and read her books while they practiced on their own. She joined them for strength excercises and stretches, and did a few of her own sets before turning again to her book about the days of old and the magicians and sorcerers. She found it fascinating, and this exercise of her rusty Chinese made it all the more interesting. There were a lot of older and less-used characters that she had to look up or use the context to figure out. But still, she went through the book quickly, having it half done by the time they were finished with their practice.
She helped Barney make the lunch. "So..." She said, glancing up at him where he worked beside her at the counter. She stirred the pot uneasily as he looked back. "Sue?" She mentally kills herself for her lack of tact, but listens for his answer.
"No, I'm Barney, remember?" He looked at her like she was crazy.
"I know who you are, I'm not an idiot," she said narrowing eyes at him. "I meant, you know Sue likes you?"
"I would hope so, we've been in the same house for a few years now." She shook her head at him, rolling her eyes and wondering if he was really that dense. A few minutes passed, him frowning at the ingredients he was chopping, before he looked at her, comprehension dawning on his face. "OH!"
Lily smiled, nodding. They said nothing more, as Sue came in with Sid and Tobey just then, but Barney smiled back at Lily. Tobey came up between them, stealing a carrot and putting an arm around Lily's shoulder. "What's this?" She just smiled wryly with a small wink that she made sure Sue couldn't see. "You're naughty," he whispered in her ear before crunching the carrot loudly in the same ear, and she laughed, nudging him away.
They all eat the lunch with smiles, Nana even joining them, and Mr. Wu as well. He complimented Lily on the cooking, but she blushed and told him it was mostly Barney's handiwork. Barney just shook his head with a smile. After lunch the calls started coming in, and after a while her and Barney were alone again. Busy, but alone.
"How did you know?"
"Honestly? A total stranger could see that." She blinked. "Which I am very near to."
"What? No you're not. You're like family now."
She laughs drily. "After a few days? Give it a while, Barney. In any case, she admitted it to me."
"Oh wow, really?" He handed her a pot to dump into the respective orders.
"Yeah," she said, doing as he bid without much thought anymore. "Does it bother you?"
"What, no, I had no idea!" He said, raising his hands up for a second in a mock surrender. "It's a bit of a shock."
"I imagine," she said in a low voice, but was happy. "Are you going to do anything about it?"
"Uh, well, maybe. What do you think?"
"I told her to not be so subtle, so see if she does anything first, right? If not, then, yeah, you should." He frowned and returned his full attention to his work. She had been taught how to answer the phones, so this was added to her duties. Seeing Tobey and the siblings between their deliveries was a good break in the monotone, but she began to see why Barney was always so spacey, and his father wasn't ever in the kitchen. After her shift and helping clean up, she gave a loud sigh, sitting down at the table and putting her cheek on the surface, her eyes closing. They hadn't even had a slow hour today, for training. It was nearly constant. She knew in a few minutes when the three returned from their last deliveries they would have training, and she sighed louder.
"Welcome to my world," Barney said, joining her at the table. He offered her a glass of juice and she accepted, watching as Sue and Sid entered, but no Tobey.
At her furrowed eyebrows, Sue smiled. "He wanted to stop at one of his disgusting food joints." As if on cue, her phone buzzed in her pocket, and she pulled it out to see it was a text from Tobey. She smiled despite herself.
"Got food 4 2!" Sid took the phone from her before she knew it, and he made a swoony noise before Sue hit him aside the head, and Lily stole her phone back with a glare.
"Trust me, Lils, you're gonna wanna eat before he gets here—or maybe not, depending." He made a face and plugged his nose, and a look at Sue made Lily seriously worry.
"He's right. Most of what he gets is inedible." Barney nodded in agreement with a smile, not really paying attention to the conversation.
"I'll live," she assured them, getting up to wait by the bike rack for him. She checked her nails casually until she heard his bike's tires on the road and looked up to see him. He grinned at her, taking off his helmet and locking up his bike next to hers.
"I figured that you might want something besides Chinese—" he lifted a paper bag, slightly soggy, with a smile. "Burgers alright?"
"Sounds great," she said, relieved that it sounded completely edible. They sat down on the sidewalk, and he handed her a burger wrapped in foil, and she examined under the bun curiously, looking for anything odd.
"Honestly, I know how normal people eat," he said, almost whining, half a burger in his mouth. "They way Sid and Sue talk, they make it seem like I'm completely mental."
She smiled and agreed, eating the burger hungrily. He finished four in the time it took her to eat one, and she watched him with interest. He almost inhaled them. She examined one of the ones in the queue, unwrapped but not eaten yet, and among sardines and jalapenos, there was the normal condiments, bacon, lettuce, tomato, lots of cheese, onions... She handed it to him with a smile and he laughed, taking it and eating that last one quickly too, burping as he finished. She made a burp to rival his, and he stared for a second before busting out into laughter, ruffling her hair playfully.
They then took turns shooting the wrappers into the trash can, only returning inside when Mr. Wu threatened to lock them outside. The four of them spent some time in Sid and Tobey's room before Sue and Lily retreat to Sue's next door. "He got you normal food, huh? He must really like you."
Lily chuckled. "Yeah, I guess. Any news on your front?" Sue sighed and shook her head.
"Worried about school tomorrow? No one will be around to protect you. From Kong Li or other students," she added.
"Yeah a little I guess. Good thing its almost over." Sue nodded in agreement. "I'm riding with you guys tomorrow, right?"
"I would hope so! How else would you get there?" She laughed and Lily joined in before saying a pleasant good night and returning to her room.
She sighed as she sank into her bed, kicking off her shoes without a care, eyes closing for a few minutes...
She wakes up a few minutes later to a swift knock on the door and Tobey coming in, locking the door behind him with a smile. She sat up and greeted him, interrupted by a yawn. "Are you that tired?" He asked, worried.
"I'll be fine," she assured him, watching as he joined her sitting on the bed.
"Alright. So tell me what was with Barney earlier."
"I told him that Sue likes him," she said simply with a shrug. He laughed and brought her into a side-hug.
"You truly are naughty. I thought that was it," he said, not letting her out of the hug. "And you didn't tell Sue you told him."
"Oh, no! She would be mad!" She said, eyes wide. "It took him a few minutes as it was to understand me, but he seemed quite pleased."
"You think...?"
"I think what?"
"They'll get together?"
"They should, right?" He nodded, and she nodded in return. "Right."
"And, um..." He looked up at the ceiling. She waited for him to finish a bit impatiently. "And us?"
She smiled widely. "I dunno. What do you think?" She asked in her most curious voice, and he looked a little down until he looked back at her and saw her smile. He grinned back.
"I think we should." She nodded in reply, and he clutched her close, face burrowed in her neck. She ran her fingers through his hair lightly, suppressing another yawn as to not to ruin the moment. "I'm sorry, I know you're tired." He pulled back and kissed her on her cheek, whispering a good night in her ear. He left, and she touched her cheek softly, giggling and laying back on her bed. His company had kept her mood up for a while, but now that he was gone, his aura of presence slowly faded and she felt her mood growing sour.
She sighed, shutting off her light and laying down in her bed much like the night before, curled tightly in a ball. Tomorrow was going to be hard; harder than she probably realised. It would be full of people—kids and teachers alike—expressing their condolences. She didn't want to think about it. She suddenly wished she had one of the three in her classes—but she was a year ahead of them. She scowled and turned to her other side.
