Chapter 8
Lilly made her way down the stairs, making sure not to fall on the way down. She made it to the bottom of the stairs and hobbled her way towards the library. She opened the door to find it empty and rolled her eyes.
"Figures." she muttered.
She sat down on the couch and propped her foot up on the table in front of her. She grabbed her bag and pulled out all of her books and set them around her. She grabbed a pen and her notebook and leaned back into the couch, waiting for her teacher.
She looked around the library, noticing things she hadn't before. How the sun shown through the stained glass windows and sat right on top of the fireplace, illuminating a picture of a piece of art Lilly had never heard of before. She was tired of waiting and pushed the small button off to her right. In a few moments, the doors opened and Jeffrey entered.
"Yes, Lilly?" he asked.
"Could you bring me some hot tea? Please?" she asked.
"Most certainly." said Jeffrey.
He left the library, leaving Lilly to her thoughts and boredom once again. She tapped her pen on her notebook, trying to stop herself from going insane. She looked at the clock and noted her teacher was thirty minutes late.
"He'll be here early in the morning." said Lilly, in a mocking voice.
She sighed and opened her notebook. She began doodling and writing down little notes here and there. She began writing a story, her boredom finally being put to use. She began writing furiously, her mind wandering and filling with all sorts of different thoughts and ways the story could turn.
"Your tea, Lilly." said Jeffrey, walking into the library.
Lilly snapped out of her mind and looked up to see Jeffrey holding her mug of tea.
"Sorry, Jeffrey. I didn't hear you come in." she smiled.
"Yes, a writers mind is hard to get in between." he smiled.
"Thank you." she said, as Jeffrey handed her her tea.
"You are very welcome. Your teacher called, and he said he was about ten minutes away." said Jeffrey.
"Thanks." she said. "I was beginning to think I was forgotten about."
"You will never be forgotten about. The future Mrs. Luthor will never be forgotten about." smiled Jeffrey.
Lilly stopped her mug half way to her mouth and looked towards Jeffrey. He smiled and bowed, leaving the library, closing the doors behind him.
Lilly lowered her tea and sat it on her lap. She slouched further into the couch, realization digging deeper and deeper into her bones. She really was going to marry Lex, and there wasn't anything she could do about it. She had hoped it had all been a dream, but Jeffrey's smile made it too real.
The library doors opened and a man in his fifties entered the room, laptop bag and books in hand.
"I am so sorry Ms. Kent. Driving though Smallville isn't something I do on a daily basis." he smiled.
Lilly felt herself become comfortable in his smile. He seemed like a sweet old man who seemed to know everything. He sat down his bag and pulled out his laptop, booting it up and pulling out a few books.
"Hello." he said, holding out his hand. "My name is George Sweeden."
"Lilly Kent." she said, attempting to get up off the couch, but was stopped.
"Please, don't get up." he smiled.
Lilly smiled and they shook hands. Lilly got herself re-situated on the couch and grabbed her books and notebook, placing them around her.
"Now, I have read some of your work, and I must say, I've never read anything like it before." said George.
"Was it really that bad?" she asked, grimacing.
"Quiet the opposite really. I think it better than some of the works most beloved writers throughout history wrote. The way you can capture emotion through words is something that I've never seen before. And to tell you the truth, I don't can't find anything to teach you." George laughed.
"Well there must be something." laughed Lilly.
"There isn't much, but there are a few places in your most recent work that I think you could improve on. Uh, I brought that so that we could use it as sort of a reference point. I'll use that story as a teaching tool and we can pick it apart, piece by piece, thought by thought, giving you a better understanding of what you're writing. I know that you have a very active brain and it shows through your words, and there is no doubt that you know what you're writing about. Although, I think we could actually build your understanding, making you a better writer." he said.
"It sounds like you're contradicting yourself, but I understand what you mean." laughed Lilly.
"Excellent, at least someone does." he laughed. "Now, I'm going to send this to the screen here, and we will be able to see your story write in front here."
He grabbed a screen from his bag and set it up and hooked it to his computer, sending her story straight to the paper.
"Where do you do most of your writing?" asked George.
"Uh, mostly outside. The outside world gives me a clear head, letting me listen to what is actually out there, making things a bit more understandable for me." she said.
"Well, I must encourage you to work outside. We need all of the best writers we can get in this world." he smiled. "Here is a copy of your story, I know you probably have it memorized, but this way you can make little notes to yourself."
He handed her a thick book of paper, the cover reading the title and her name. She sat it down on her lap and skimmed through the pages, remembering when she wrote this.
"Now, can you tell me the basis of this story?" asked George.
Lilly went into much detail about where the story came from, and what inspirations drove her to tell such a tale. She recounted memories and feelings she had during the pre-writing stage, where she just sat and wrote down ideas.
The hours passed and it was time for George to go. He packed up his things and walked up to Lilly.
"Now, I want you to take the areas we went over today, and try and rewrite them, using what we discussed today." he said.
"Sounds good." she smiled.
"Excellent. I will be back on Wednesday for our next class." he said. "Let's say noon? No sense in getting up early is there?"
"No there isn't." she smiled.
"Great. Well then I will see you on Wednesday, and I look forward to seeing what you come up with." he said.
"Okay." she said, standing up. "I'll walk you to the door."
"No need, please, sit down and relax yourself. Mr. Luthor told me you had quiet a fall and needed as much rest as you could get." said George.
"He's a little overprotective. I'm fine really." she smiled.
"No matter, you sit and rest, I know my way out." he said.
"Okay then, goodbye." she smiled.
"Goodbye." said George, walking out of the library and towards the front door.
Lilly grabbed her crutched and hobbled over to the window. She looked down to see George loading all of his equipment into his car, and leaving without a second glance.
"So, how did it go?" asked a voice from behind Lilly.
She turned around to face Lex standing in the doorway. He had on some casual pants and a long sleeved green shirt.
"It went very well, although he was a little late, but I like him." she said.
"How late was he?" inquired Lex.
"Lex, don't. He doesn't live in Smallville so he got a little lost. It's his first day, cut his some slack." said Lilly.
"Alright, but if he's late again." warned Lex.
"Lex, please. Leave it." warned Lilly, right back at him.
She hobbled over to the couch and gathered all of her stuff. She swung it over her shoulder and walked out the door, passing Lex without another glance.
"You need help?" he asked, as Lilly tried to walk up the stairs.
"Nope." she said.
"You can use the elevator." stated Lex.
"This is better for my leg." said Lilly.
Lex nodded and left Lilly alone, letting her walk up the stairs in solitude. She was halfway there when her crutch slipped and she fell onto the stairs, her leg colliding with the edge of the stairs, and her books rolling down the stairs.
She shut her eyes and leaned back against the wall, letting her eyes cloud with tears. Her anger grew and she threw one of her crutches off of the stairs, having it collide with a vase that looked to be a few hundred years old.
She closed her eyes and cried. This was not the life she wanted. Being crippled wasn't the first on her list and marriage was definitely not the second. She laid her head in her hands, letting the tears run their course. She felt so alone in this big mansion with no one to talk to.
"Lilly?"
Lilly looked up to see Lana at the bottom of the stairs.
"Lana." she said.
"Are you okay?" she asked, walking up to stairs towards Lilly.
She sat down next to Lilly and watched her wipe away her tears that made their way down her cheeks.
"What happened?" asked Lana.
"I slipped." said Lilly.
"I can see that. Is there no one here to help you?" asked Lana, worry very evident in her voice.
"Not really. I'm a little stubborn when it comes to help." said Lilly.
"But still, you need someone here just in case something like this happens again." said Lana.
"I know, I've just been so preoccupied lately." said Lilly.
"Yea, I heard." said Lana.
"From who?" asked Lilly.
"Clark told me." said Lana.
"I figured he would. The boy can't keep nothing a secret except-" she paused.
"Except what?" asked Lana, her interest peeked.
"Except that, I always wanted to be bus driver." said Lilly, wincing at the worst lie she had ever told.
"A bus driver?" asked Lana, not believing Lilly's words.
"Yep, since I was little I always wanted to drive a school bus. I might do it when I'm older." said Lilly.
"Right." smiled Lana. "Come on, let's get you upstairs, you're probably exhausted."
"Yea I am." said Lilly.
She went to get up when she noticed she was a crutch short. She looked around until it came into view. She looked up to find Lex holding it out for her. She grabbed it from him rather forcefully and made her way upstairs, leaving Lana to grab all of her things.
When Lilly was around the corner and out of earshot, Lana came down on Lex.
"Lex how could you just leave her by herself? She's hurt, you can't just leave her and expect her t be fine on her own." said Lana.
"I was waiting for her to come to that realization." said Lex.
"She is aware of it, Lex. She's just to stubborn to say anything." said Lana.
"Well, maybe that's her downfall." said Lex.
"Don't you dare blame this on her. It's not just her fault. You can be pretty stubborn yourself." said Lana.
Lana picked up Lilly's bag and walked up the stairs and left Lex to his own thoughts. Lana walked down the hall and found Lilly's room. She walked in to find Lilly passed out on her bed, her crutches laying discarded on the floor.
Lana sat Lilly's bag on the table next to the bed and picked up the crutches. She leaned then against the table and tucked Lilly in. She left the room, shutting off the light and closing the door.
"Is she asleep?"
Lana whipped around to see Lex standing against the wall.
"Lex you scared me." she said.
"Sorry." he said.
"Yea. She's exhausted. She just passed out on her bed." laughed Lana. "Lex, you really need to get her someone."
Lex only nodded at Lana's words. He didn't say anything as Lana took the silence as understanding, and walked away.
Lex opened Lilly's door and watched her as she slept. He watched as her chest rose and fell with each breathe she took. The light poured in from the window, giving her an angel glow as she slept.
He closed the door softly behind him and walked towards his study. He poured himself a glass of brandy and set to work on finding someone for Lilly. Making her better was all he was concerned about, and he wanted to make sure she would be put into the right hands.
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