So... I feel like absolute shit for making you all wait so long. Explanation will be at the bottom of the chapter.
Lydia's POV
They wouldn't stop staring.
It was like I was made of magnets, and every student at Forks High suddenly had metal eyeballs. Everywhere I went, there were people following me. Not talking to me, or offering sympathy, or anything humane like that, oh no. They wanted to know who set the fire (apparently, arson was the only answer in their minds, even though the fire department already ruled it out). They wanted to know why I went back in for Audrey (she's my best friend!). They wanted to know every single detail.
And, like the idiot I was, I gave it to them.
I told the whole story, exactly like it happened. From getting Lindsey out, to meeting Ethan outside, to getting Audrey out, I told the complete truth, just to get my story out. Except for the boy who caught me after jumping through the window. That was my secret. I wasn't going to share it with anyone.
And Audrey sleeping with my crush. I was definitely taking secret to my grave.
The day seemed to inch by, as if it were mocking me with every minute that finally ticked past. Honestly, were the clocks in this school really that slow before the fire?
Lunch was especially brutal, since the rumor that Audrey was coming back on Monday reached me in the lunch line. People stopped bothering me after that, talking about Audrey and how wonderful it would be when she got back.
Ethan helped cheer me up, though, by calling her a giant slut. Lindsey and Joanna joined in enthusiastically, calling her every rude, slutty name they could think of. It was petty, but it made me feel better. It also confused me. Did Ethan think she was a giant slut when he slept with her himself?
However, this short moment of petty joy was completely erased when Katie walked by and gave me an encouraging smile. Ethan jumped on the chance to humiliate her, calling her… well… the nicest way to put it is "ugly". Katie walked away quickly, sniffling quietly.
Ugh, didn't she know Ethan could be a total tool? She couldn't take what he said to heart.
The only thing that made the day bearable was the knowledge that once school finally let out, I would go straight to Katie's house. I would finally get to officially meet her boyfriend, Seth, and his friends. The way she talked about Seth… it was so cute. She was head over heels in love with the guy.
But, and I just remembered this, someone was depending on me to take her home. I sighed. Why couldn't I have been an only child?
Amanda and her friends hung outside during lunch, even when it was raining. They all wore dark clothes with obnoxiously bright dyed hair, or dyed black hair. I'm sure they're very nice people and all, but they look so… weird. I couldn't get over it.
She was in the middle of the group, laughing at some joke I'm sure I wouldn't have understood even if I heard it.
"Hey Amanda," I greeted her civilly. "I'm going over to a friend's house after school today. Can you catch a ride with one of your friends –" I nodded to her group with a small smile "– or do you need me to drop you off still?"
She gave me a cold stare that almost gave me shivers. She finally turned to one of the tall, skinny boys and asked, "Sky, can you give me a lift today? Preppy wants to visit the burn victim."
"Actually, I'm not going to Audrey's house," I corrected her lightly.
Everyone raised their eyebrows. In unison. How creepy.
"Where else would you go?" Amanda asked with a laugh.
"Katie Carter's," I replied instantly. "We're having a movie night. Chocolate, popcorn, other treats that will freeze my arteries. The usual."
Amanda stopped laughing. "Really? Okay then. Sky?"
"Yeah, I can give you a ride. Have fun at Katie's. She needs more friends," he said, in a tone of voice that implied she needed a better friend than me. I couldn't disagree with that. Katie was too sweet and wonderful for a bitch like me.
"And don't worry, sis, we won't tell anyone you're hanging out with a loser like Katie," Amanda sneered.
"Thanks," I said flippantly, and I walked away.
After school, I gave Katie a ride back to her place. It was a cute white house, with blue trim and a porch.
"So, what song are you going to play for me when we get inside?" I asked as we walked to the front door.
"I don't know. What song do you want to hear?" she asked me as she unlocked the door.
"How should I know what songs you know how to play?" I responded. I thought about it for a moment, though. "I don't know… something… good."
"Something good? Okay," she said happily. "I'll see what I can come up with."
A few minutes later, we were sitting on her living room floor, with a pile of DVDs to choose from, and Katie's guitar in her capable hands.
"I just learned this one a few days ago, so let me know how it is," Katie smiled nervously. I nodded. Then her fingers started moving over the strings like a pro, and I was mesmerized before she even opened her mouth to sing.
"From underneath the trees, we watch the sky,
Confusing stars for satellites.
I never dreamed that you'd be mine,
But here we are, we're here tonight.
"Singing Amen, I, I'm alive
Singing Amen, I, I'm alive
"If everyone cared and nobody cried,
If everyone loved and nobody lied,
If everyone shared and swallowed their pride,
Then we'd see the day when nobody died.
"And I'm singing,
Amen I, Amen I, I'm alive
Amen I, Amen I, Amen I, I'm alive
"And in the air the fireflies,
Our only light in paradise,
We'll show the world they were wrong,
And teach them all to sing along.
"Singing Amen, I, I'm alive
Singing Amen, I, I'm alive
(I'm alive)
"If everyone cared and nobody cried,
If everyone loved and nobody lied,
If everyone shared and swallowed their pride,
Then we'd see the day when nobody died.
"And as we lie beneath the stars,
We realize how small we are.
If they could love like you and me,
Imagine what the world could be.
"If everyone cared and nobody cried,
If everyone loved and nobody lied,
If everyone shared and swallowed their pride,
Then we'd see the day when nobody died,
When nobody died...
"If everyone cared and nobody cried,
If everyone loved and nobody lied,
If everyone shared and swallowed their pride,
Then we'd see the day when nobody died.
"We'd see the day, we'd see the day
When nobody died
We'd see the day, we'd see the day
When nobody died
We'd see the day when nobody died."
Once again, I was completely awestruck. Not just by how awesome of a musician Katie was, but by the transformation she made every time she sang. The shy, quiet, almost invisible girl suddenly shone like a superstar, and her confidence shot through the roof. It was like she became a different person.
"Amazing, but that's no surprise," I said. She blushed.
Her phone buzzed suddenly, and Katie set aside her guitar to reach for it.
"Seth says he and the boys will be here in about fifteen minutes," she said happily.
"Cool," I replied. "Let's check out your closet. I'm almost terrified of what I'll find."
"Well… you'll be terrified, but not for the reasons you're thinking," Katie said cryptically.
Once inside her room and with the closet doors open, her comment made sense. Too much sense.
"Why… would you wear Seth's old sweatshirts… when you could wear… these are some of the most up-to-date fashions, some straight off the runway!" I sputtered. I rummaged through the closet, to examine the damage closely.
"Michael Kors… D&G… Gucci… Lucky… and this gown! It's an Oscar de la Renta original!" I gasped. "This gown could be seen on the red carpet for the Oscars! This is the kind of stuff actors and musicians and super-freaking-rich people wear!"
"Oh, Alice gave me most of this stuff," Katie said offhandedly. "She hates my wardrobe as much as you do. And that dress was supposed to be for junior prom this year, but I'm probably not going."
My surprise from Katie's last statement was enough to distract me from the magnificence of Katie's closet of perfection. "You're not going to prom? Why not?"
She shrugged. "It didn't seem like fun. I don't really know how to dance, and I don't really have any friends at school to hang out with. Except for you, of course, but Audrey and the others would ostracize you if you even spoke to me."
I opened my mouth to contradict her, but she was right. It would just be her and Seth in a corner all night, by themselves. And the school would still make her life hell, even in this dress. It was so sad. It was heartbreaking that she couldn't have this normal high school experience because a bunch of other girls got their rocks off on being cruel.
"You should still wear this dress sometime. It's absolutely gorgeous, and it would look totally fabulous on you," I said finally.
Katie gave me a grateful smile. She must have been glad I didn't press the prom issue.
"Plus," I continued, "you have got to start wearing some of this stuff! It's criminal to hide such stunning fashion in the closet like this!"
"Maybe," Katie replied evasively. She changed the subject quickly. "Why don't we go downstairs and pick a movie before the boys get here?"
"Good idea. I don't want to watch some crappy action flick."
"What about good action movies?"
"Why not? I mean, if it's actually good, of course."
We heard the front door downstairs slam open, and a loud, deep male voice called, "Katie? You here?"
"I guess the boys are here," Katie said happily. "Ready to meet them?"
My right hand brushed my bandages nervously. "Born ready," I said with as much confidence as I could muster.
Apparently, Seth couldn't wait for Katie to meet him downstairs. They ran into one another on the stairs, and shared a quick passionate kiss before Katie turned to me.
"Seth, this is Lydia. Lydia, this is my boyfriend, Seth."
Seth was incredibly tall, and nothing but lean muscle. He looked like he just walked off a photo shoot for a high-fashion magazine… and the photographer just mentioned no photoshopping would be required for this batch of pictures. Only his bright eyes and happy-go-lucky grin gave away his real age and temperament.
"Hi! It's nice to finally meet you!" Seth greeted me enthusiastically.
"You, too. It's weird, with all of the time you spent in the hospital waiting for Katie, we never actually met," I said with a smile. "She never shuts up about you, either."
Katie blushed furiously at this comment.
"Since her guitar is downstairs, I'm pretty sure you talk about more than just me. Besides, I'm boring," Seth said with a grin, his arm around Katie's waist.
She gave him a light glare. "You are anything but boring. Come on, everyone else is downstairs waiting."
He led Katie down, holding her hand. He kept turning to look at her every five seconds, like he couldn't keep his eyes off her for too long. He was just as crazy for her as she was for him; it was as obvious now as when I first saw them together. A small hint of envy hit me, though I knew if anyone deserved this love, it was Katie. I couldn't help but think why can't that be me?
Two other boys who looked like Seth's brothers were lounging on the couches when we walked into the living room. One of them said, "Jeez, did Seth have to save you guys from the monster in the closet? Took you long enough. Where's the food?"
"One track mind, as usual," Katie said with a roll of her eyes. "That's Collin, the perpetually hungry one with the bad jokes."
"Hey! My jokes are fantastic. I always make you guys laugh," Collin huffed.
"Sure you do. And the one next to him is Brady."
Just one glance at Brady's face was all it took to remind me – he was the boy who had caught me after I jumped from the fire.
The shocked look on his face confirmed it.
Not my best chapter, since I editted it in about five minutes, but after receiving a pointed review yesterday asking where the hell I went, I realized I hadn't updated in two months. I've taken my time updating before, but I've never been that late. Truthfully, I just finished my first semester at my new university, and it kicked my ass. I'm a good student, but this school is on a whole 'nother level. I escaped with good grades, but it consumed all of my time. And I had a part time job on top of that. I told you guys before; my education takes first priority over any story on here. So does paying the bills.
I just want to thank everyone who has stuck with me through all of this. I can't believe I have fans! So many reviews that tell me they like not just my stories, but my personal writing style! It's so uplifting, and they get me through the hard days. So if you love my writing or my stories, tell me in a review! If you don't like something (other than the time issue), tell me how to improve. It has helped me so much so far - I read a piece of my work from a few years ago, and it was terrible. I've already improved so much thanks to you guys. But I know I can improve more, and I want to write professionally some day, so the more feedback, the better!
Thanks, everyone! Please review!