Chapter 1
The rain came down silently but heavily. Her long wet hair was draping in her face and on her shoulders. She walked down the street, her footsteps silenced by the rain. Her black sweater did little to protect her from the cold. The spring season was still unpredictable with the cold weather left from the winter. She sat down on a bench in front of an old run down store. She closed her eyes and lifted her head towards the sky, her tears blending with the cold rain.
She jerked her head to the right as she heard footsteps coming towards her. Her gaze softened as a handsome 17 year old boy walked up to her. She got up and smiled at him. He was equally wet and was smiling softly back at her. She ran into his arms, happy to have him there with her. "Derek…" she whispered. "Hush…" he said brushing some of her wet hair from her eyes, "It's okay…Jewel told me what happened. Come on. We can head over there. You need to get out of this rain." He smiled at her holding her close and kissing her lightly on the forehead. She smiled back and put her arms around him as they walked down the street.
"So what exactly motivated you to run out like that, Lily?" she sighed leaning towards her friend, "Do you need another blanket?"
Lily smiled at her friend, happy to know that she cared. Jewel leaned back on her couch, still in her clothes from earlier, a pair of long rugged jeans and a black top. Her short dark brown hair, as normal was up into a ponytail. "No. I'm fine." She answered pulling the blanket around her a little more. Jewel had tried to get her to change earlier but she had refused the offer. She leaned back and closed her eyes taking a deep breath. Her three friends were sitting on the couch, Derek had gone to take a shower. Jewel was his younger sister. Sitting beside Jewel was Jason, Jewel's boyfriend and Lily's childhood pal. Next to him was Mark, all of them were 15 years old.
She breathed out and started her story. She began where she had received a phone call from her mother. She had told her that she was going to kill her if she came home. She was drunk and her mother repeated over and over that Lily's father was sleeping with some slut down the street and she was going to kill her too. Lily had tried to calm her down only to hear her mother scream, "Lily! If you come home you will die with that bastard of a father, you hear me!" At this Lily had hung up and ran out side. They knew the rest.
Derek walked in then in some sweat pants, no shirt. "You feeling any better?" he said looking at Lily. He walked over and sat down next to her. He put his arm around her and she leaned over towards him. "Yeah, I'm fine." She said. He kissed her gently on her forehead and looked into her eyes. "Do you want me to give you a ride home?" he asked. Lily looked back at him, trying to hide the fear in her eyes. She put her head on his chest and glanced at Jewel. "I think I want to stay here…" she whispered, "I don't want to go home."
Jewel got up and smiled, gesturing to the others and leaving the basement, Lily and Derek were alone. He lifted her chin and she smiled looking into his eyes. He leaned in and kissed her passionately. She closed her eyes as his lips touched hers. She moved her arms around his neck, tossing off the blanket. He wrapped his arms around her waist, not wanting to let go. She could feel her pain melting away, replaced by the warmth his touch brought. She opened her mouth, accepting his kiss. His taste brought her pure joy, causing her spine to tingle. She could stay in this moment.
Lily was asleep on the couch. She had gone to bed shortly after coming upstairs. Derek pulled the blankets over her. He watched her as she slept. She looked so peaceful. From a glance you would never know the problems she faced. Her mother was an alcoholic, her father slept with every hot girl in the bars, both her parents were abusive and they never lent her money. She had a low paying job and that's how she paid for most of her clothes. She was often over here and his and Terry's house and never liked to go home unless necessary.
Her blonde, almost white, hair was long and silky to the touch. Her beautiful brown eyes were deep and caring. He loved everything about her. From her smile to her tears, she was perfect in his eyes. But he worried. Sometimes she would sink into these moods when she wouldn't talk, was quiet and when she did talk she usually asked questions that had no answer. It was at those times he worried most. He kindly brushed her hair from her face and walked to his room upstairs.
Lily woke to the smell of lavender. The relaxing scent usually hung around her friend's house. She slowly put her legs over the couch and moved the blanket to the side. She blinked at the sunlight pouring from the open window in the living room. She stood up and moved towards the kitchen. A plate of eggs and toast were sitting on the dining room table. She smiled as her friend Jewel walked over holding another plate. "Oh! Your up. Ya sleep well?" Lily nodded. Jewel was still in her sleeping clothes. She was wearing a black tank top with powder blue pajama pants imprinted with cartoon bunnies. She was also wearing a pair of worn down bunny slippers. Her silky shoulder length hair was down. She smiled and stuck out her tongue. "Well? You gonna stand there or what? Grab a plate and join me on the couch for a late morning breakfast." She pointed to the other plate and headed for the living room. Lily turned and smiled, grabbing the plate and a glass of milk. She followed her friend into the living room. Jewel was sitting on the couch and was grabbing the remote for the T.V. "Hope you don't mind," she said "I usually watch the news with breakfast." Lily laughed and sat down, "Of course not!" Jewel smiled and turned on the T.V.
They sat there watching the news and chatting as they ate their breakfast. They laughed at the mistakes some of the people made in the news room and listened to the small stories and interviews. They stopped laughing when the next news report came on. Lily was listening closely. "For today's special report we have Kelly in the field. Kelly?" "Thank you Kim. In today's report we're over at the Hikari's house on the corner of Mill Rd. and Sahara Ln. The house is under police inspection at the moment and the officers have concluded that the death of Tasha and Dan Hikari was a murder then suicide done by Tasha Hikari. They believe that Tasha shot her husband twice in the cheast and then shot herself. Their child, Lily Hikari, has not been found. The police believe she may still be alive and staying at a friend's house. That concludes today's report. Back to you, Kim."
Lily turned pale. She didn't hear anything else. She ran out of the house, on the verge of tears, leaving Jewel sitting in the living room alone gazing after her with concern as Derek came down the stairs.