More things occur.
Slender fingers ran through brown, tangled locks and a blur of chatter registered a tired brain. Lia gave an equally exhausted sigh as she massaged her temple, moaning when her headache seemed to intensify. Looking forward and trying to listen more carefully to how Mr. Faraize attempted to bring the classroom to quiet down, she sighed. The girl felt some sympathy for the man when the students continued to howl with noise.
Slowly letting her head hit the desk, Lia shut her eyes. Fuck. She probably looked like a bus went through her entire body (and that would be a believable story. The bus-guy wouldn't even notice she was crossing due to her invisibility), or as Kim would say, 'shit'.
Lia let her weary lips quirk upwards at the mention of her co-worker, then let her lips dip back into a frown, grimacing sharply. It felt as though she couldn't move a single part of her body without feeling pain or having to try harder to make it work. She couldn't even close her eyes properly.
"Alright everyone, settle down," Mr. Faraize murmured in that soft tone of his. The classroom suddenly seized and a look of relief washed over him. "Today, we will be learning about something different."
Tired green eyes forced themselves to stay alert, awake, but they failed. They shut and so did the rest of Lia's body – her senses – and a rhythmic breath flowed out of chapped lips.
And Lia can proudly say that the good thirty minutes she slept were the best she had in weeks. It was better than having to sleep to silence every night because the classroom automatically and coincidentally started screaming right when she fell asleep. Nobody woke her up and nobody thought of waking her up - the perks of being ignored by your whole school – and Lia floated up in Dreamland, smelling all the roses that didn't smell like soil but instead honey, and she felt so alive—
But then a loud metallic sound of something hitting the desk woke her up, and her body immediately went rigged as she sat up straight. Mumbling grumpily, Lia narrowed her eyes at the person who made her Dreamland into hell.
"What do you want?" she muttered groggily, fisting her frail hands into the fabric of her shirt. Armin shrugged at her angered expression and her fury dissipated a bit.
Scratching his head, Armin tapped his game console. "You fell asleep and nobody noticed until class ended. Yeah, uh, I was kind of about to go but then I remembered you're in the same class as me and I went to go look for you and then I found you here," he rushed out.
It was obvious that Armin felt bad about forgetting, and she wasn't surprised. Really, it was easy to forget her. There was this time when Lia was three and her aunt forgot her at the grocery store (that was very far from home) and she didn't even noticed until she was at the street close to her house. Her heart sank a little, but she gave a grin.
"Nah, it's alright. I mean, I understand," Lia whispered, mentally kicking herself when her voice cracked. Armin's smile faltered visibly. Shit. "Don't feel bad; it's not your fault. Plus, I would have to thank you if you did forget because that would mean more sleep for me." She gave a sly beam.
Armin didn't seem convinced, but he gave her a million-watt smile. "Hey, let's go. You're probably late for your next class."
"What about you?"
"Eh, I don't really care. I'll just go to the basement to play. Y'know, more time for games."
A dry chuckle emitted out of her mouth. "Okay. Don't let yourself get caught. I can do it because I'm powerful, but you aren't. I wish you luck."
"Back to you."
Lia sped up, walking faster and nodding her head. She did need luck.
And she was serious.
Curiosity (synonym: nosiness) took the best of her this time. It wasn't her fault, no, it was not, it was the fact that she heard a soft voice from the basement that pushed her toward the edge of the mild interest she had afore. Lia had heard the voice before, but she hasn't really taken her time to actually go down and see who the hell was singing. And this time, after her daily-after-school-tutoring-classes with Mr. Faraize, she took the advantage and snuck down there to find out.
Peering through the small crack in the door, she sat at the top of the first stair, squinting her eyes to see more clearly. Lia was still tightly clenching her notebook in which she wrote down some random stuff Mr. Faraize was explaining to her. She didn't even take the damn time to shove the book into her locker, she just went straight forward and became her own personal spy.
Lia tilted her head to the side to see better. There was a male with somewhat white hair that seemed to be singing, and someone else behind him that was playing a guitar. Pressing her ear against the door, now not looking at the people at all, she gave a blissful sigh. This day began crappy, but it ended with music. Which made it great. Plot-twists are amazing sometimes.
But then suddenly (oh for the love of fuck, why were these words so common these days?), the singing stopped and so did the guitar chords and a clanging noise erupted. Everything was then quiet and Lia quickly moved away from the door.
She moved back promptly after a few moments when she realized the two people weren't coming to the entrance. A smile flickered on her face.
"Lys, I gotta tell you something." The first voice. The tone was slurred and deep although it sounded quite familiar. Shrugging off any questions, Lia continued to stare.
"What is it?" The other one said, possibly named 'Lys'. There was a sound of rustling, probably one of them shifting or something. Lia pressed her ear to the door again, hoping to hear more.
Really, she had nothing to do with her life until around six-thirty, which was two hours from now. She had a lot of time until she could leave, but for now she was going to be one those bitches that stalk on people for a while.
Yes, she felt bad for doing this. Nobody deserved to get stalked on, even the president. Or a celebrity. Anyway, Lia would be upset if she found out that someone had been staring her down for a solid fifteen minutes, but that would never happen. Practically nobody knew her in this school; who was scary enough to notice her? Or nice enough?
Shaking her head, she sighed when she realized she how she was acting. She was acting as if her life was full of fake teenage angst. Breathing in a pliant atmosphere, Lia continued her journey of being such a sad girl with no friends (did Armin count?) that watched people have conversations.
Oh, the conversation! She shook her head again, trying to concentrate on the words. They were whispering now, but when she strained her ear she could hear a bit.
"And Candy is always stripping down to other people. She acts like she likes me, but then she runs off and becomes Nathaniel's slutty worker," the guitarist person growled. Lia tilted her head when she heard the two names: Nathaniel and Candy. Lia kept her eye open for the student body president, but she hasn't seen much of him. It was as if he was hiding in a room or something.
'Candy'. Lia heard that name many times before. Armin had stated how she was 'so adorable' and how she liked video games too (which was an automatic jackpot for him). Lia had just gave him a slightly jealous look and ignored the mention of the female. Lia didn't really know her, so she couldn't judge her quickly. All she knew was Armin liked her and that bitch was a friend stealer. But now, thanks to the information the guitar guy gave her, she could proudly say that 'Candy' was also 'slutty worker'. Huh, that one was new.
(Kim had also talked about this 'Candy' character and how she was so nice and so cool and awesome. Lia didn't want to add that in because that was another friend stolen by the 'slutty worker'.)
(Okay, don't blame her for being an envious asshole. This friendship thing was new to her and she was trying to keep it at the lowest pace.)
Gritting her teeth and straining her ear again to hear better, Lia breathed out of her nose, wincing when pain flared. Hell. Did she forget to take her Tylenol again? Because really, they were needed in this case scenario. Her eyes drooped, sleeping forcing them to close. No, Lia, stay awake. Just listen…
"You just need to wait," the singer prompted. More rustling. "There's more to it than this. Surely she will come to her senses soon enough."
Lia choked back a laugh/sob. How sweet. Friendships were adorable sometimes. Lia then frowned. Were they even friends? Who the hell were they, anyway? That was the thing about stalking without knowing who you're stalking: you never know who you're stalking. True, straight forward, repeated shit right there.
A hand slapped on to her shoulder and she jumped, rolling over onto her side. At least she didn't scream. Looking up at the prime member of her scary fest, Lia bit back the urge to say, 'hey, I was just thinking about you like five minutes ago'.
Instead, she gave a cough. "Whoops. How did I end up here?" she said, kicking herself again mentally when she realized how fucking crazy that sounded. Casual move, McDonald. "Hello, there." Lia added, nodding toward Candy.
"Excuse me," spoke Candy, letting out a chuckle. Stepping over Lia, she made her way inside the basement, going down the stairs with the same shy smile on her mouth.
Lia got up when she saw Candy stop and look back to her. Her eyes wide and her heart beating a little faster than possible, she pretended to walk away, looking back only once. Candy was gone. Slowly turning back around and tip-toeing to the basement door, she placed herself securely and comfortably on top of the first stair.
"Hi, Castiel! Hi, Lysander! I forgot to get something so I came back here and heard you guys playing!" Candy practically squealed, her blonde hair falling on her shoulders. Lia hummed with acknowledgement. So Castiel was the one who was playing the guitar! He was serious when he said he knew how to play.
There was more rustling and a dry laugh. Rustling again and a stretched silence. "Don't lie. I know you were hiding somewhere watching," laughed Castiel – or, should she say, the guitarist.
There's an uncomfortable grunt and Lia could tell it was from the singer. "Castiel, don't you think we should resume practicing? I won't have time tomorrow to rehearse with you."
"I can go if you want…" Candy trailed off, clearly not wanting to, and there was another silence. Then, a voice.
"No, you can stay," said Castiel. Lia shook her head, muttering fumbled sentences like 'what a bitch' and 'wow, look, Castiel and Candy angered the singing guy' under her breath.
"Okay. But I just remembered that I have to leave," the singing guy (a.k.a Lysander or something) murmured. Lia's breath hitched and she stood up, running away from the door and out of the hallway. She didn't even realize she was outside until she felt a cool breeze slap onto her damp skin. Crap.
Digging into her pocket and grabbing her flip-phone, she almost yelped when she saw what time it was. Oh god. Oh sweet fuck, it was six o'clock and she only had thirty minutes to reach the bus stop and take the closest route to the grocery store and then run the rest of the way. Tears of frustration filling her eyes, she sighed and walked on.
This was all her and her hormone's curiosities fault. Her stupid, annoying, cringe-worthy hormones. Staring at the hole-full parking lot, she swore colorfully, dialing her Aunt Meredith's phone number. Pressing the phone against her ear, she allowed her legs to go limp. Sliding down the wall Lia was leaning against, she bit her lip as hard as she could, gagging when she tasted the sour flavor of her own blood.
The school's doors opened from her left, and she would be lying if she didn't feel her heart jump inside of her. Slowly turning her head, she watched the silver-haired singer make his way to his car.
But she immediately lowered her gaze, biting her lip harder. Stalking lead her life in the wrong direction. Lia did not want anything else to happen to her.
Looking back at her phone, she groaned softly when her aunt didn't answer. Shit. It was either walking or she was going to have to hijack a ride.
(Whoa. Slow the hell down, McDonalds, Lia thought, her eyes wide. You're gonna get yourself locked up in a cell at a young age. Remember, don't end up like Uncle Charlie.)
But Lia could just ask that nice-sounding guy to give her a ride. There was a chance that he would say no, but Lia was a daredevil and she was open to taking risks. Fuck the establishment.
Standing up and straightening her posture, Lia walked slowly behind the singer. He seemed to be staring at his car with a look of contemplation, his keys held tightly between two fingers.
"I don't mean to bother you," Lia whispered. Furrowing her eyebrows, she swore again. Why was she forgetting that she was such a quiet asshole that he couldn't even hear her? Before she raised her voice, Lia remembered about her stupid invisibility thing. This guy probably wouldn't notice she was standing their even if she screamed her lungs off.
Who cares? She'll just go ahead with it. "I don't mean to bother you," she repeated, her tone slightly louder. When he turned around, she beamed. Add another point to the scoreboard, please. "My ride isn't here, and um…"
The other was staring at her with a rather dumbfounded expression, clearly not knowing where this was going. Lia coughed, staring at her shoes. "Could you - no, I mean, may you..."
"Okay."
"What?"
"Okay."
The singer turned around, pressing the button to start his car. "The door is over there," he directed, pointing to the passenger seat as if she had never seen a car. Lia was still grateful, her smiling about to split her face in half.
"Thank you so much," she nearly cried, opening the sleek black door. Lia may or may not stood touching the smoothness of the door for more than necessary, but thankfully, the singer hadn't noticed.
"Are you new in this school? I haven't seen you around before; let alone once." The singer buckled his seat belt, quickly promoting Lia to do the same. "Is this your first day?"
Lia shook her head, sinking into her seat. "No," she croaked, fingers feeling the fabric of the seat belt. "I've been here for more than a year now."
There was a silence and Lia could tell he felt bad. Once they reached the road, he decided to reply. "Oh. I'm sorry for forgetting. Where to?"
"Just by the corner of the grocery store," Lia said, looking anywhere but him. There was literally only one grocery store in all of Amoris, so it was pretty obvious to which one she was talking about. "And you don't have to apologize. I get that a lot."
There was more quietness, but Lia wasn't affected by it. The singer – why wasn't she calling him Lysander? She knew his name. – looked more relaxed than he did before and the peace was quite comfortable. When they reached the store, Lia immediately unbuckled her seat belt and reached into her pocket, grabbing her worn wallet and searching for money. A smile on her face when she found a rock-hard ten dollars (why did she have to find it now?), she stretched her arm. "Here you go. Thanks for driving me here."
"You're welcome. And you can keep the cash; I don't need it nor do I want it," said Lysander. "And may I ask, what is your name?"
Placing the cash neatly on to the seat, she grabbed her book (that she was still holding. Did she really forget to put it in her locker?). "No, here. It won't be fair if I don't give you something in return. My name is Lia, by the way."
Shutting the car door behind her, Lia waved. Wow, what a nice person. Too bad he wouldn't even remember her name the next day.
Lia would be lying if when she saw her phone's missed call's caller ID, she was confused. Then came a fit of running around her small apartment, not really running but tip-toeing (because she did not want to get evicted by her neighbors because of the racket she was causing).
Eyes falling shut with excitement, she gave another squeal as she enthusiastically tripped, falling on to her back. Lia didn't even flinch. Redialing the number, she smiled in delight.
"Hello?"
Lia bit her lip. "Hi? Dad? You called?"
"Yes, I did call. Aren't you a smart girl," her father joked, causing Lia to laugh a bit. She missed his dull humour. "How's school?"
"It's okay. Nothing changed or anything. Dad, are you going to come back anytime soon?"
Of course he wasn't. Lia's father was a working guy; he wouldn't come home even if he had a break. The fact that he got transferred and promoted at the same month as her mother was taken into care by stupid doctors wasn't helping, which is when and how she became independent for the first time. Or, at least she liked to think she was. Eh, she didn't know/she didn't care and she was just so fucking happy that he called because he hasn't called in weeks.
"I don't think I will come anytime soon," her dad explained, and Lia's smile cracked. "But I do think I'll come home for Christmas."
Lia almost screamed. Christmas was only around one and a half months away. It was like saying her birthday was coming early. "Oh, really?" she replied, keeping her cool although she was exploding with gladness inside. "That's great, dad. I can't wait to see you."
"You too. I have to go, Princess, but I'll call back tomorrow if I have time. I'll see you on Christmas!"
Lia, already up on her feet and walking toward her room, laughed. "I'll see you too, dad."
When she turned off her phone, she jumped on to her hard bed, a smile still on her face. Christmas felt like a day away.
I forgot to post this! I am so sorry. But I want to thank the people that reviewed and favorite! Thanks for sticking with me ;).
