Good evening everyone! I am not fond of stories that include messages from the author, but here I am. I hope those of you who are reading this are enjoying the story so far. I've never posted anything online before, so I appreciate any interest this may garner. I have been posting chapters in smaller, more manageable pieces akin to episodes. I find that it helps me transition to the next chapter. Smaller chapters but more frequent positing's hopefully. Our girl Lily is currently working through a lot of things, but should begin opening up soon! Just stick with her. We will begin seeing more recognizable characters within the next few chapters! Now, on to the story…
Who knew fish dinners could be full of drama? Lily certainly hadn't expected it. Her day had started out so normally too…
After waking up a little later than planned, lily checked her phone.
Jessica- "Sorry for the late reply! I'd love to have coffee, but no thanks on the homework. We have enough school during the week. Maybe later this week? 😊 "
Lily- "Yeah, no problem! I can't wait!"
There. Social cues met, she decided to get ready for the day. Dinner with Leah and her family wasn't until later, so she decided to finish up on her homework and explore the neighborhood a bit. Sarah had left a message on the fridge saying she was with some friends, and John was busy fishing sense the weather was still nice. The end of October was getting ready to bring with its frosty weather and less sunny days. She didn't blame them for trying to get as much sun as they could while the weather held.
The neighborhood she lived in with the Wilson's was a normal middle class one. All the houses looked reasonably the same, give or take some different tastes in gardening and shutter colors. Leaves had begin falling so piles were being raked by dutiful adults while younger kids decided to jump into them. The air smelled different than New York. There, when it was fall you could smell a cold crispness to the air, tinged with leaves and bonfires. Here, it was similar but at the same time different. It smelt more of decaying leaves than of bonfires. Then again, maybe she was overthinking it.
Hands tucked into her jacket pockets, she continued onto the next street over. From there, she noticed a police car sitting in a driveway and got curious. The lights were off, so it probably belonged to whoever lived there. Deciding that despite her curiosity was getting the better of her, Lily walked up to the mailbox to see who lived here. It was always better to know your surroundings just in case. The mailbox read "Swan" which caused Lily to pause. This must be where Isabella lives. That, or this town isn't as small as it boasts. After thinking on it, she decided to gather her courage and knocked on the door. A gruff male voice sounded from behind the door asking for just a moment.
The door opened to reveal a disgruntled middle-aged man with graying brown hair, pale skin, and a mustache the owner of it was probably proud of. After staring off at each other for several awkward moments, the man asked "Can I help you?" Startled into reality, Lily quickly stuttered out "Good m-morning. S-sorry for bothering you. My name is Lily, I'm new at school. I was wondering if Isabella was in?" It didn't sound convincing but then again, she wasn't sure who she was trying to convince in this interaction, herself or presumably Mr. Swan.
After clearing his throat, the man introduced himself. "Hello, I remember John mentioning he and Sarah had taken in a new kid. I was at the party a few weeks back. Sorry, I didn't introduce myself. My name is Charlie, officer Swan. Yeah, come on in. I don't know if Bella is up to seeing anyone, but I'll let her know she has…" he paused at this. "I'll let her know she has a friend here trying to see her." He sounded just as confused as Lily did by the whole visit, but he went upstairs after leading Lily to the living room. It was a normal looking room, with several pictures of what she presumed to be Isabella or Bella as Charlie called her growing up.
He came back a few minutes looking worse than when he went up, his face tight around the mouth. "I'm sorry Lily, she's not feeling too well. Maybe another time. Tell John I said hello." Well then. That was a clear dismissal as Lily had ever heard. Thanking him for his time and apologizing for just dropping in, she left and continued on her way.
Deciding she had enough awkward human interactions for the moment, she turned to walk through the woods. It was still pretty sunny out, and the trail seemed clear. As long as she stayed on the trail, she was sure she would be fine. She sent a quick message to Sarah letting her know she was fine and going for a hike just in case. Bella's rumored meltdown still weighing heavily in her mind.
It felt a lot more open and freeing than the trails she had been on in New York. Almost magical in a way. Everything was lush with greenery, birds chirping, a few droplets of rain from the treetops occasionally sprinkled down when the leaves were disturbed. Yes, Lily thought to herself. This is much more my pace. After a while she felt bolder about leaving the trail, and walked off a distance until she found a clearing. Deciding it was the perfect place to rest, she sat down on a moss-covered rock against a tree.
Losing herself to thought, she relaxed in a sun beam that somehow made it through the canopy. Shinning down on her face, she closed her eyes to look up and bask in its warmth on the brisk day.
But something seemed off. It was too still. Too quiet. Where had the birds gone? The rustling on the trees seemed ominous more than comforting now. Feeling nervous, Lily tried to think through her choices. She felt like she was being watched, but figured that was just her imagination overworking itself due to stress. She could climb the tree and hope she avoided whatever it was that caused the woods to empty out. Or, she could try to make it back onto the path. Or, better yet ignore all her instincts screaming at her to hide and continue on her exploration.
Taking a breath, she decided she wasn't athletic enough to climb a slippery wet tree, nor was she inclined to hysterics. It was probably just a wolf or something in the woods. Maybe a pig. She settled on just sedately but efficiently moving back wards the trail. She heard something in the distance, a type of rustling of something moving fast.
Nope. She had lived this long and through too much to be taken out by some mystery forest monster. No thank you. She decided to heck with it and started running. She saw something out of the corner of her eye while she ran. It was big, black, and furry. It wasn't chasing her per say, but she wasn't going to stand around to find out what it wanted. She heard a crash as if something big and heavy had just hit something equally as big as she made it closer to the edge of the forest.
Catching her breath now that she finally felt a bit safer, she went back to the house It was getting closer to the time she needed to meet with the Clearwaters for dinner. Deciding a shower was in need, both for her shot nerves and to clean up she headed to her bathroom. The Wilson's were still out so she sent a quick message to Leah.
Lily- "Hey, S and J are still out. Could you pick me up please for dinner?"
She waited a few minutes for a response while she gathered up her shower kit. After a while her phone went off notifying her Leah had messaged back.
Leah- "Sure, be there in an hour."
After her shower, Leah came right on the dot but seemed a little off. Hoping she hadn't just put her new friend out of her way, Lily apologized for the short noticing needing a ride to Leah's house for the dinner invite. Leah scoffed it off, letting her know it was fine. She had just gotten into a fight with her boyfriend and was hoping they would make up before dinner tonight. Sam was apparently supposed to meet with her earlier in the day for a walk in the beach but never showed up.
"That's not like him, though right?" Lily asked, trying to find out more about the situation from Leah. "No, he's always been good about telling me if he was gonna be late. I mean, we have been together for years. It's not like we don't argue. But he has never just not shown up and not responded to my messages.
"Well," Lily started out "we can let him sweat it out a bit over dinner. Maybe he's having one of those teenage boy existential crisis issues" she said jokingly.
"Maybe" Leah said, but didn't sound so sure. In truth, she had every right to be unsure.
Sam never showed up for dinner. He didn't call, he didn't text, he simply vanished. Leah was losing her mind during dinner trying to figure out what happened. Seth didn't help the situation by making jokes at Leah's expense, which was not appreciated by Leah. She would snap back a scathing remark and return to brooding. Sue tried to keep everything happy and easy going but with the teenage drama happening at her table she lost hope.
Sue later apologized for how her family acted and offered to drive Lily home, but John had stopped by the house with Harry Clearwater. They apparently weren't able to catch too many fish, but remained hopeful for the next time. After realizing the drama his teenage daughter had incited due to her missing boyfriend, Harry quickly said his goodbyes to John and Lily before sending them on their way.
Once Lily was finally home and had a chance to process the day she had, she decided that maybe it was a good thing she wasn't interested in relationships. They seemed like more effort than they were worth.