The old man from before was strolling in front of his mansion until he spotted Lillian.
"Oh you're here! Welcome! I've been waiting for you!" He greeted.
"Good afternoon, umm… sorry I don't know what to call you," Lillian replied.
"Call me Grams, I'd like that."
"B-but… I thought it would be something more.. polite… or professional."
The old man burst out laughing.
"Then… call me Master when you start working here, yeah?"
"Ahaha Okay.''
Lillian was taken for a tour around the huge mansion. One of the maids gave her a uniform that she must wear every day.
"My name is Nori, nice to meet you," The maid smiled.
"My name is Lillian, nice to meet you, too," Lillian replied
"We have a young master here, he'll be bringing his friends over so we'll be busy in the kitchen. We would like a little help from you."
"Sure, I work at a restaurant before."
"Great!"
They headed to the kitchen that was bigger than the restaurant Lillian worked at. The chef ordered the maids to cut the vegetables the way he instructed. This job might be fun, Lillian thought. She worked on preparing the food until night falls. The hot steamed dinner the chef made was displayed on the table, mocking the new maid. After the foods were delivered to the young master and his guests, the maids and butlers sat back to relax. Nori tapped on Lillian's shoulder
"Umm Lillian, would you be willing to stay here for the night to help us clean up?" Nori asked.
"S-stay here for the night?!" Lillian replied in surprise.
"Yes.. Some of the maids have to go home early so they can't stay back… only a few can…."
"But where will I sleep?"
"There's a room upstairs that preserves for maids who stay back for the night to clean."
"…Wow, this mansion has a lot of rooms,"
Nori giggled.
"Many rooms are use for the guests that come to rest here, such as young master's parents or his friends."
"Ohh I see.."
"So will you be willing to?"
"Sure…"
"Great! We'll be sharing room!"
"Sound fun!"
The guests left around ten o'clock. Everyone began to wash the dirty dishes and clean the mess.
"Lillian, can you bring water up to our young master? Second room to the left when you reach the second floor," Nori asked and winked at Lillian. She leaned close to her, "The young master is pretty cute, the other maids would be dying to see him."
The new maid laughed.
"I see, okay, I'll go visit him."
Lillian followed Nori's instruction and went to the second floor, second room to the left. She gently knocked on the door.
"Come in," The young master demanded.
His voice sent chills down her spine. She heard this voice before. In her heart, she hoped that it was just someone who might coincidentally sound like one of her classmate. Lillian slowly turned the door knob and looked through the opened crack. A boy was sitting on his spinning chair, facing his computer. He spun his chair to face her and his emerald green eyes focused on Lillian.
"What are you doing here?" Cam asked.
"I works here…" Lillian replied nervously.
"ah.. so you're the new maid Grandpa was talking about."
"Sure?"
"How come I didn't see you serving the food?"
"You don't need to."
Lillian set the tray with glass of water on the table next to him. Cam grabbed her hand, giving her a surprise.
"Is that the way you talk to your master?" Cam ask.
His voice sent chill down her spine, she could feel goose bumps all over her body.
"S-sorry, young master."
The new maid ran out of the room to get away from the tension her young master gave her.
"How was it?" Nori asked.
"Horrible.." Lillian replied.
"Horrible? How come? Normal girls would be charm by his look or something like that."
"Those girls have problems, but you don't seem to be attract to him, either."
Nori smile at her friend.
"I have a boyfriend that I think is cuter than anyone else."
"Haha, no wonder."
Lillian felt so relaxed to have met Nori. She was able to make friend for the first time since her freshmen year.
Midnight came when everyone finished cleaning the mansion.
"Good job on working hard!" A butler said.
The maids and Nori yawned.
"We better go to sleep for tomorrow," Nori announced.
They changed out their maid uniforms and into the pajamas that were prepared in the closet. Everyone else grabbed a pillow and prepared to sleep.
"This place has everything! Even girls pajamas," Lillian said in amaze.
"Right? Master suggested us to buy supplied for maids or butlers that are going to stay overnight," Nori explained.
"Is that so? Well, Good night."
"Night."
That night, Lillian couldn't sleep at all, maybe she was nervous because she would be working under Cam. She wanted to go down stairs for some water so she carefully tried not to make any noises when exiingd the room. In the dark hallway, she desperately tried to find the stairs to the first floor. As she walked further while leaning on the left, knowing that she was closer to the stairs, she bumped into the edge of a banister with her waist. She accidentally let out a high-pitched scream but quickly covered her mouth. She took a few deep breaths while the pain eased away. The door to her right located in front of her suddenly creaked open. Cam stared at her with a straight face.
"What are you doing?" Cam asked.
"I-uh-uh..Stairs….um... dark.." Lillian trembled as she spoke, feared that she might had woke him up with her scream.
The young master sighed and opened his door wider to let the light run through the hallway. The way to the stairs was easier to see now.
"T-thank you…"
"While you're down there, get me a glass of water, too."
"Y-y-yes, young master."
Lillian rushed down the stair and brought up a glass of cold water.
"Thanks, go back to sleep," Cam said.
"okay."
She stumbled back down stair to a small table in the kitchen. She rested her head on the flat surface and fell asleep. By morning, her wrist watch alarmed her to wake up.
"Wh-what?" Lillian said looking around the room.
In panic, she rushed upstairs to get ready for school but she tripped on the last step. She got dressed into her uniform and redo her hair bun with a pen like usual. Her white shirt still had the stain from yesterday food but Lillian decided to leave it like that. She stepped outside the mansion and encountered the old man.
"G-good morning!" Lillian greeted.
"Good morning, up so early?" The old man asked.
"I have to go to school, see you in the afternoon, um… Grams…"
The old man seemed to be happy about Lillian calling him Grams. He burst out laughing in joy.
"Have a good day,"
Lillian felt like a zombie this morning. She was dragging her foot rather than walking like normal human.
"Two hours of sleep… I'm so tired… I feel like falling down to the ground and just fall asleep like a hobo here," Lillian mumbled.
When she reached the school, it was opened but was emptied. She arrived earlier than she thought she would even though she was only dragging herself. She entered her homeroom which was always left unlocked for students who came early. Lillian rested her head on the table and drifted to sleep.
Ash and Cam entered the classroom ten minutes after Lillian since the young master knew his new maid was getting ready for school in the early morning.
"Lillian's sleeping… She's very lucky it is us that enter the room after her," Ash whispered.
"She's reckless like that," Cam replied.
Ash bend down in front of Lillian and rested his arms on her desk. He blew onto her bang that had fallen down from her hair.
"Ash, stop messing with her," Cam warned.
"Hehe, she's cute when she's sleeping," Ask answered.
"She won't be cute when she wakes up, though."
Lillian opened her eyes to found Ash staring at her.
"grrrrr…" Lillian growled.
"Someone woke up as a zombie today."
"Noisy people…"
"You look like you haven't slept for thousands years,"
"…."
Lillian went back to sleep again but soon the class became noisy. Nancy and her friends were flirting with Cam like normal. Some other girls were all over Ash who was still in front of the sleepy girl. The boys behind were talking about their hilarious night and laughed throughout the room. The room went deep silent when Cam slammed his hand on the table. All eyes were on him except for Lillian's.
"You, get out of that seat," Cam demanded, his eyes look directly to Nancy's eyes.
"W-w-what?" Nancy stuttered.
"You're too noisy, I hate your high-pitch voice."
"B-but I was just—"
"I said get out of that seat."
"But I won't have another place to sit…"
Cam stood up from his desk and walked over to the new girl that was still sleeping soundly despise all of the noises. He pulled her by the wrist and yanked her up. Lillian was unable to gain her balance due to sudden force acting upon her. So she fell down to ground but Cam caught her. Her eyes were still out of focus, but she was curious at the silence in the classroom.
"Hey Cam! That's just being too rash!" Ash yelled.
Cam ignored him and turned to Nancy who was about to tears up.
"This seat is for her. She's quieter unlike you who can't shut up."
Nancy's idol's words hurt her like thousands of daggers stabbed into her heart. She ran to the bathroom with tears streamed down her eyes.
"You bastard…" Lillian muttered. She had finally gained her vision and balance.
She pushed Cam away and gave him an angry stare.
"It is not necessary for you to say that to Nancy, someone who is in love with you," Lillian yelled.
"She annoys me," Cam replied with plain expression.
"It still don't give you the right to hurt someone who desperately trying to show you her love and that she exist."
Cam was lost for words, he couldn't stare into Lillian's honest eyes. She stopped her voice when those familiar cold gaze of the girls cast onto her, as if telling her, stop talking to him. Lillian knew something will happen if she talked to Cam for too long. She wasn't scare of being beat up or being curse at, she was scare to get in troubles that would make the principal kick her out. A long sig0h escaped her, she was tired and exhausted.
"You got a lot of words out of her," Ash said.
" I never even thought she would ever talk for more than 6 words," Cam answered.
"Sometime she does, but rarely."
Cam stared at the girl sitting beside him, she was half dead and half alive. He somewhat became interested in her.
Class lessons were hard for Lillian. She was half-asleep during the teaching. Her notes were disorganized and messy because she couldn't focuse. During lunch, the new girl was waddling with a tray of food in her hand.
"Oh great.. Three days into this school and I'm already sleeping in class. How am I going to aim for a perfect score? If my grade drops, I would be kick out for sure… That would be so humiliating," Lillian murmured. She forced herself to stuff her tummy with freshly baked food to get energy.
After that, she went back to her classroom for a nap. Cam, Ash, Laney, and Georgia were already there when Lillian entered, but she was exhausted to do anything. The two girls glanced at her in disgusts as if she was garbage that was thrown into the room. Lillian yawned and rested her cheek on the table with her arms wide opened.
"What an unpleasant sight," Laney said.
"Now now, Laney, don't be so mean," Ash replied.
"It wasn't a lie," Cam added.
Lillian stood up from her chair and slammed her hand on the table. She began to somnambulated to the door, where she can exit the noisy room that only filled with harsh words. She went to the washroom and splashed her face with cold water.
"Wake up!" Lillian demanded to her reflection. She returned to class as soon as the bell rang.
The whole P.E class continued the dodge-ball game with the last two teams from yesterday. It ended shortly after 5 minutes because the players weren't as challenging as Cam and Ash. Lillian could had had more time resting if the teams didn't finished their games so fast. The coach decided to create two superior teams, which contained members that were great at throwing and dodging. As expected, Ash and Cam were in it. Unfortunately, Lillian was picked to be in the game, too. But she was on Ash's team this time. He smiled at her and patted her back.
"Come on, Lillian. Let's beat Cam this time!" Ash said excitedly.
The girl was still drowsy from over-working and lack of sleep yesterday. Even in P.E she couldn't lift up her eyelashes. When the whistle echoed through the gym, rubber balls were being thrown back and forth but the atmosphere was much more competitive. During the whole game, Lillian only moved to the right and left while the others were struggling to eliminate their opponents.
"7 minutes left!" the coach yelled.
It was five against three this time.
"You're outnumbered, Ash!" Cam shouted.
"Tsk! Just watch when you lose!" Ash replied.
"Not gonna happen!"
For some reasons, Lillian knew her team have fewer members than Cam's but she did not want to lose to him. Perhaps it was her anger that she stored inside her chest since the beginning of the day? Or maybe she just hated him? She grabbed the ball that sat quietly on the floor next to her and threw it to the other side with powerful force. It smacked the boy's chest with a throb. Everyone stared at her in disbelieve. A girl like her could give such a powerful throw.
"Nice! I've been trying to get him out for awhile, thanks!" Ash said then he turned to Cam. "Look like she's in the mood, you're dead!"
A girl from Cam's team tried to throw the ball at Lillian with all of the strength but she caught it.
"Out! Now hurry up and finish the game, I want to know the winner! You got 5 minutes!" The coach shouted.
Three against three, this was a chance to be the winner.
"Watch out for Lillian, she'll go super Saiyan on you!" Ash shouted to Cam.
Again, there were cold stares upon her, like yesterday's. Ash stared at Lillian who stood motionlessly beside him. He pulled her close to him which surprised her.
"Don't worry about them, they won't be able to do anything to you as long as I'm around," Ash smiled.
"Thank you…" Lillian whispered.
"HEY! NO CHATTING! We only got 4 minutes left!" The coach shouted
Cam took the chance to eliminated Ash while he was distracted.
"Darn it!" Ash shouted.
In the end, it was Cam and Lillian who would be fighting for their team victory.
"Lillian, beat him up for me!"
"2 minutes! I swear you two better settle this game right now!"
"GO CAM!"
The two students in the center looedk at each other. Neither of them did anything, they were waiting for their opponent to make a move.
"1 minute! Come on! time is ticking!"
The intensity in this room became stronger. The spectators were silent and confused.
"Why aren't they doing anything?"
Lillian let out a long sigh and squeezed the ball tightly in her hands. She knew that Cam would catch the ball if she was to throw it at him. Instead, she decided to threw all the balls from the floor to the corner, far away from him. Cam would have no choice but to throw the ball back at her. If Lillian could catch it, he would be out. Then, the bell rang.
"FOOLS! I TOLD YOU TO MAKE IT QUICK!" The coach yelled.