Chapter 8: The Truth

Lyra hit the ground so hard she couldn't breathe. She kneeled on all fours in the dirt of a flower bed trying to get some oxygen into her lungs. To her horror a hand patted her back gently and brushed a tear from her eye. Who was it? Had they seen her arrive? Once she had regained her breathing she looked up into the face of her best friend Nelie. She flinched back remembering the last time she had seen her; shocked and hurt in the cafeteria. Then she noticed something worse; Nelie's eyes were red and puffy with tears.

"Neli-e-" She managed to choke out. Nelie smiled weakly and put her finger to her lips, telling her not to speak.

"I'm ok Lyra, I was just worried about you." She explained. "After you left the cafeteria I realized that everything you said about Kyle was right." She looked down at her hands, ashamed.

"No, I was wrong to say those things, even if some of them were true." Then Lyra remembered why she was here. She gasped, "Did you...see-"

"Yes, but don't' worry I know a lot more than you think." She smiled mischievously finding Lyra's shocked expression humorous.

"What...what do you mean...about the "worlds" or about..."She trailed off trying to see if Nelie knew what she was talking about.

"About Will you mean?" Lyra gapped at her. "You are a good lair Lyra, but let's just say I have a sixth sense when it comes to this sort of thing."

"So...you never bought that story about me meeting Will on vacation..." She was still amazed. Nelie was shaking her head.

"I knew something more...shall we say...profound had happened, not just a summer romance." Lyra nodded, still confused, but starting to get the picture.

"How exactly did you figure that out?..." Something was wrong about Nelie's appearance. It took her a minute to pinpoint what it was.

"Nelie...where's Eric, where's you demon?"

"Oh crap!" Nelie said bluntly. Then she closed her eyes and murmured something under her breathe. No more than half a minute later a small finch arrived, smoothly turning into a hopping rabbit as it landed.

Lyra sat stunned for the next minute before realization flooded her features.

"You're a witch, aren't you !" Nelie smiled slyly, nodding her head.

Sand! Will had completely forgotten about that. Only someone like Lyra would remember such a minute detail as that. He struggled to come up with an excuse, but could think of none so he just remained silent. His mother was looking concerned and confused by Mary's remark.

"What garden?" Will's mom asked excitedly.

"Oh, just one that he takes a shortcut through to get to the bus." Mary lied easily, not wanting Will's mom to go into one of her episodes.

"Oh, is that all? Well I have to get back to work soon." She glanced at her watch and then kneeled by Will's bed.

"Are you going to be ok Will?" She questioned, holding his hand. Will, rolled his eyes, tying to play it off as nothing,

"Don't worry mom, I'll be fine. I just tried to jump over a bench and hit my head, it's nothing to serious." He smiled meekly. She responded by giving him a quick kiss on his cheek. She seemed to brighten as she made her way out the door.

"Take care of him for me Mary, I'll see you tonight for dinner?" Will's mom asked practically skipping out the door. She sometimes had sudden mood changes like this. It was better than her former state, but it still worried Will.

"Ok, hun. Don't push yourself too hard at the office." She waved as Will's mom vanished and immediately shut the door once she was gone, giving Will a critical look. Will looked out the window guiltily. But he hadn't done anything wrong, right? When he turned back Mary and her bird demon where examining him carefully. Mary looked confused as she plucked a stray hair off from Will's own dark mass.

It was one of Lyra's long blond ones. Will felt his heart speed up. He was going to have to tell Mary what was going on, and he wasn't sure what her reaction would be. Then again it would be nice to share what had happened in the last "day". Mary was about the only person in the world who he would trust to tell anyways. He decided it was a good thing that Mary had noticed the inconsistencies and not someone else. Mary was brushing curiously at something on his cheek when she gasped,

"Will!" She looked at him astonished. He finger was slightly pink with lipstick. Will sighed, now he really had to tell her.

"Mary...I-" Will tried to explain but Mary cut him off, abruptly hugging him tightly.

"Will! You've finally moved on! I didn't think it would happen. But here we are after two years with a girl-friend!" Will gaped at her, not understanding where she was coming up with this conclusion.

"Tell me who it is Will. Wait no don't tell me...I'll guess..." She trailed off trying to think of who it could be.

"Mary, it's not-" Will was becoming slightly annoyed with her now as she interrupted him again,

"I know! It's that girl on the softball team! The one with the short brown hair...what's her name..." Will rolled his eyes. No it defiantly had nothing to do with Sarah. She had been his friend since he had gotten back from his "adventures" with Lyra. There had never been any romantic intent between them.

"Oh, it's Sarah! Right!" Will was passed annoyed and beginning to become angry. He groaned, exasperated.

"Does Sarah have blond hair?" He pointed to the piece of blond hair Mary had seen earlier, which was on the floor now. Mary stared at the hair for a full minute before she realized what Will was trying to tell her. She looked up, a confused expression still on her face, she gave a slight raise of her eyebrows. Will responded with a small smile. The only thing she could manage to say in her state of shock was,

"How is that...even possible..." She trailed off, her mouth hanging open. Will was about to tell her everything about his day with Lyra, now that Mary had figured it out there was no point in denying it. Just as he was opening his mouth to begin his story Mary turned her head, aware of a commotion outside in the hallway. They heard a high pitched voice talking frantically to one of the doctors presumably. Then the voice started yelling and in the next second the door burst open and a small, mousy girl tumbled through. Her huge brown eyes were filled with tears of worry and anxiety. As soon as she saw Will her expression relaxed a bit, but she still looked anxious. She practically flew across the room, her bright yellow canary demon flitting after her. When she reached Will's bed he tried to say something, but she put her finger over his lips and caressed his hair adoringly,

"Shhh, no need to say anything, I'm just glad you're ok." Sarah whispered soothingly. "I came straight from softball practice when I heard you were missing, I've been helping the police search. I came right over when I heard they had found you." She continued to stroke his hair and soon found his hand and entwined their fingers. Will was feeling increasingly uncomfortable under her touch and was trying to squirm away without her noticing. Mary saw his discomfort and cleared her throat. Sarah's head snapped around and she practically leapt out of her kneeling position; as if she hadn't even noticed Mary was there.

"I think Will should rest now Sarah. The doctors say the longer he rests the sooner he'll get better." Mary said firmly. Sarah was still frozen in a half standing position, it made her uneasy that someone had been watching her be so affectionate; she didn't normally display her love publically.

"Of course..." Sarah mouthed her words barely audible in her dazed state. "I'll come by and visit tomorrow if you're not already out of the hospital, ok?" Will, nodded mutely, still unable to comprehend her strange actions in the past few minutes. They had always been best friends, but it was a shallow friendship. They didn't really share their feelings, like he and Lyra did. They would talk at school or eat lunch together, but they only talked about small things. Like what teacher was good, and who got sent to the principal, stupid things like that.

It wasn't until today that he realized why they had always acted that way. Mary looked at Will, her eyebrows raised in that, 'I told you so' look. Will sighed Mary was right, there was something more between Sarah and Will. Both of them had been ignoring it for two years. They were both unconsciously waiting for something, for Will to move on. It wasn't until today that they were both made aware of their predicament, that of hidden love.