Cold. That is how she would describe the day she woke up to. Luckily she was used to it so it doesn't bother her too much. She much prefers that over being hot. One visit to California when she was younger confirmed that. She never got tempted by warm beaches and palm trees again.
"Hey bugs, are you up yet?" Her uncle Matt called from the other side of the door that connects the garage to the house. Pushing up on her bed, and sliding the blankets off her she hollers back to him. "Yep! What's up?"
She stands up and stretches while her uncle hollers back, she could tell he was walking back to the kitchen further in the house. "I made breakfast, come eat before you go to work."
She chuckles at his antics. He had been doing these little wake up calls since she moved in with him and his wife Clara, her aunt. Without fail, the only days he doesn't are the weekends. They all slept in those days. It was rare to find anyone awake before 10 am.
Unfortunately for Lillie, it was not the weekend. With a quick glance at her bedside clock, she groans. The digital clock mocking her as it blinks at 7:25 in the morning. Which means she had less than an hour and a half to get ready for work and eat before she had to go. Which meant she would have to speed through her shower. Wordlessly cursing her fathers sleepy genes she trudges to her bathroom. Hopefully the water would wake her up.
Twenty minutes later, a refreshed looking Lillie walked out of the bathroom, wrapped up in a fluffy robe and towel drying her hair. Walking to her closet she hums a random pop song that had been stuck in her head for actual lyrics of the song she couldn't say, she could only remember the melody. After pulling on some simple work clothes she sits at her desk, which also functions as her vanity. Pulling her damp hair back with a clip, she pulls her makeup bag up in front of her. She liked to keep her makeup light for work. If she put on too much, her face felt heavy at the end of her shift. So instead she dabbed some concealer here and there, brushed on some mascara and tinted lip balm and she was ready. At least make up wise. Her hair was another story. She only had about thirty minutes to wrangle it into order, she could work with that.
Closing her door behind her, the now ready Lillie walked into the Holland kitchen. A plate of eggs, toast, and sausage sat covered on the counter. Her aunt and uncle had apparently left for work already. Which was not surprising, they usually left before she did. Leaving her a plate was the usual, and she loved them even more for it. Although loving them more than she already does is a little impossible.
After her father had died, they took her in with no hesitation. The way they treated her had made dealing with her fathers death so much smoother than it would have been if they were not there. She still had moments of overwhelming grief, but it had become a lot more manageable. Now she could breathe without feeling like someone had a hold of her lungs.
Pulling herself out of her reverie she grabs her plate and puts it in the microwave for a minute before sitting down to eat. While chewing she goes through her purse to make sure she has everything she needs for work. Phone, wallet, keys, lip balm, pen and paper. That's about all she needs, everything else she mainly just keeps at her desk at the station. Like the cardigan and spare fork's proof shoes. She had learned the hard way to not buy shoes that can't handle constant...wet.
A few minutes later, she washes her dishes, grabs her purse and heads out the front door, locking it behind her of course. Walking over to her second hand car she slides in, tossing her purse into the passenger seat like she usually does. It's a short drive to the station so she didn't feel the need to turn on the radio. Instead she took the time to mentally go through her plans for the day.
Her desk was in desperate need of a deep clean, it's Tuesday, which is usually a slow day for the station. So she had the spare time to finally get it done. Not to mention she could finally replace the flickering light bulb in the lamp that rested on her desk. Oh, it had been bothering her for more than a week now. She also had the time to go through and organize her files a lot more thoroughly. She always kept it more or less organized, but getting the files back in perfect order would be great for her sanity.
She pulls her car into the station parking lot, making sure to park in a spot further in the back, more out of the way of everyone. Charlie kept telling her she could park out front, but she didn't see the need. Her little corner spot was her favorite now. No point in changing it.
Grabbing her bag and hopping out she strolls to the front door. The pop song makes a reappearance in her head as she begins to start humming it again. She opens the door and walks to her desk. She sets her purse on the ground behind the desk as she calls out a 'good morning' to everyone that was already there. Most of them called out a good morning to her, but Charlie called her over. Probably needed her help with something involving paperwork. For the most part he could do it all himself, but sometimes there were instances where he wanted a second eye to go over it before it gets filed.
Walking over to the older man's desk she smiles towards him "What's up charlie?"
"I need your help with this, I mean I am pretty sure it's all correct, but I just want to make sure." She knew it, Charlie could be a bit predictable sometimes. She liked that about him, she knew what to expect and that put her more at ease with him.
"Sure Charlie, pass it over." He places the file in her outstretched hand and it's back to wait for her to finish. She opens the folder and scans its contents. It was a report about an arrest he made for drunk driving. Lillie hates people that would drive drunk with a passion.
She hands the report back to him. "It looks all right, I'll file it later-" She gestures to the rest of the paperwork on his desk. "When you get more of these done. Save me some trips." He chuckled and shoos her away. With a warm smile she walks back to her desk.
Lillie sinks into her chair. Spinning to face her computer she boots it up, ready to get her day started. She had splurged on her desk chair, the one that was here before was this old leather monstrosity, so old that it could not even swivel anymore. The one she bought was so much better.
Noon time came around, her desk now finally clean and organized. Now she was working on her files, the folders now spread all around her work area. For the most part she was almost done, she had them all sorted out, now she just needed to put them away in the file cabinets that resided behind her desk.
Swiveling in her chair she catalogs the files into their correct places. Upon hearing the front doors open, she turns around, ready to help wherever it is that just came in. Seeing that it's just Charlie's daughter Bella and her family she gives her a friendly wave. Bella returns it as she, her husband, and their daughter head to Charlie's desk.
She had always thought nice things of Bella, although sometimes her antics confused Lillie. Not to mention how worried Charlie gets about her. Now Bella's husband on the other hand creeps her out. The way he looks at others like he knows everything about them freaks her out. Then again he has always set her on edge. His whole family actually makes her a little wary of them. As if her body is telling her to stay away. They have always been polite to her, so Lillie tried not to be prejudiced against them like many of the kids back in school had been. The last of Bella's little trio, is her and Bella's adopted daughter. That was a whole can of worms Lillie has always decided not to get into. It made her brain hurt just thinking about it. The daughter's name is Renesmee and despite being adopted she looks like the combination of both Bella and Edward, but again little was not about to get too deep into that. The girl was sweet and always displayed good manners to those around her so Lillie made sure to keep her thoughts to herself.
She watches as Renesmee skips around to Charlie and jumps into his arms with a smile. Charlie was made for the grandpa role, with how much he dotes on the girl. It made Lillie a little nostalgic, her grandpa died when she was 10,and her grandmother long before Lillie was born. She did not know about her mothers parents. She didn't want to know either.
After about 20 minutes, the Cullen trio left the station, before leaving they made sure to wave goodbye to everyone. Bella also threw an extra smile in her wave to Lillie. Most days when she would visit they would chat for a few minutes. After a while Bella had realized how much Lillie was creeped out by Edward, and had stopped catching up with her when they visited together. Luckily Renesmee adored charlie so Bella ended up stopping by quite frequently, be it dropping food off for charlie or dropping Renesmee off for a sleepover. Bella would chat with Lillie on those days.
She considered Bella a friend of some sorts, but not as a close friend. They hadn't spent time together outside of school very often other than for school projects. After graduation, that stopped completely, now she only saw her at the station. Lillie didn't really mind that, because even Bella gave her the creeps sometimes. On a few occasions she could have sworn Bella didn't blink for like two minutes. Maybe she had just imagined that though. It's not like she was non-stop staring at her, she probably was just turned away and missed the blinks.
Without the distraction of the Cullen's, the station went back to its quiet hum. The disadvantage of living in a smaller town, not a lot happened. Most of their time was spent on doing reports, animal control calls, etc. Not a lot going on, meant a not very busy police station. Lillie liked that about it though, the peace of forks, well, other than the wild animal issues which pop up at least once every other day. Charlie is their resident animal guy, mainly because he is the one that usually deals with them, so he kind of just got the role. She was their paper person. It was an easy role to fill, and the pay was not too bad.
The day had gone by quickly after the visit. Only a few reports had come in, and they were easy to handle, Charlie didn't even have to leave his desk. He had just sent a few officers to handle things. A few drunk teens on the beach, graffiti on the school sign. Things like that. Lillie had been able to get her desk and files all in order so she felt content with her work. So when it was time to go home she waved bye to everyone with a smile. She drove home happily, with her music playing, blasting the pop song she had finally found the title of.
When she arrived home, the house was empty. Her aunt and uncle would probably not be home for another three or four hours, they liked to go out after work for dates all the time. Lillie thought it was sweet how absolutely in love those two were. It really gave her hope that she might find someone to love that fiercely. She didn't really see that happening anytime soon at least. She barely left the house, so how would she meet anyone and do the whole dating thing.
Parking her car on the side of the driveway, making sure there is plenty of space for her aunt and uncle's cars, she goes inside. She grabs an oatmeal cookie on her way to her part of the house. Swinging her bed open she scarfs down her cookie as she tosses her purse on the bed and starts changing out of her work clothes into something more comfortable. Today that meant a pair of leggings and a simple over sized tee, it was her usual outfit for relaxing. She put her hair in a bun, slid on some tennis shoes, grabbed her purse and went back out the door.
Her uncle had asked her yesterday to pick up some fish from Billy Black down at the reserve. Lillie had no idea what her uncle plan to do with the fish, he liked to keep his meal plans secret from everyone, said he likes the surprise of it. Lillie wasn't going to complain, uncle matt is an excellent cook. He taught her dad everything he knew, which her dad then taught Lillie. Uncle Matt still likes to teach her a few new things here and there. She wouldn't call herself a chef, but she could fend for herself pretty easily.
Getting back in her still warm car she heads out to la push. Thinking to herself she realizes she goes there about once every other week or so for some reason or another. Lillie doesn't really mind it though, she likes nature zipping by as she drives, and then seeing the cliffs and beaches. She took the route her dad always used to take, he called it "the visual tour", which was a very apt description. She recalls the time her father took her down to the la push beach.
It was a rather sunny day, the thirteen year old Lillie couldn't sit still. Her father chuckled in the driver's seat at her antics. She could tell he was excited though, by the way his fingers were tapping on the steering wheel, and the grin he could not wipe off his face. The last few days it had been warming up, but still remained cloudy, then this morning the sky cleared, it was the perfect day to go to the beach. So her father had packed up a bag for them and set off to la push. The la push beach was their favorite one after all. Her father never told her why it was his favorite but she felt more comfortable there for a reason she could not explain. She also liked it more because the people on the reserve were a lot more fun, and they always included her in their games when she was at the beach. Even the teens, like Sam Uley, would be nice to her. She remembered when she was 10 and he helped her when she tripped on a log and had hurt her arm. He had told her she was going to be okay and had taken her to her dad to be patched up.
This day she wore a bright yellow dress that her father had insisted on, saying she looked too adorable to wear something else. She had a butterfly swimsuit underneath, her favorite. Her father had let her pick it out a few weeks ago, she had only gotten the chance to wear it one other time. The weather was rarely beach day permitting.
They arrived at the beach a few minutes later. They did not waste time, jumping out with their bags in their hands they ran down to the beach side by side. Laughing with each other the entire time. They stayed at the beach for hours, until the sun went down and Lillie was having trouble staying awake. Her dad had to carry her inside, she was so tired out.
That day is still one of her most fondest memories. It was not much, but they were so happy. Taking the bend into La Push, she gets a glimpse of the beach through the trees. No wonder she was remembering that day. She had been feeling rather nostalgic lately, and going to Billy's house was probably going to bring up some more memories, both pleasant and unpleasant. She doesn't know how she feels about that, but nonetheless she had to deal with it. She would not let her memories control her life anymore, it just was not healthy. She had fought hard to get to where she is today, and she would not let herself fall back into a depressed state.
Shaking herself out of her mental tirade she notices she had arrived at Billy's. Apparently she could drive there on autopilot, that was good to know. At the same time she would have to pay more attention when she was driving. She could already hear the talking to Charlie would have given her if he had seen how distracted she just was.
Lillie pulls her car off to the side of the road, enough for her car to not be on the road anymore. She had learned over the years that parking in the driveway was not a good idea. Billy's house was like a meeting place, with how many visitors he constantly had. Before she had realized the whole 'always park on the side of the road' thing, she had been boxed in way too many times. Billy had even more visitors that did not drive, and instead would walk or run over to his place. That was something she could not exactly wrap her head around, but she tries not to really judge others. Her father and uncle always liked to say "By judging others you make it easier for others to judge you." That little saying had straightened her out more than once in her angsty teen years.
As soon as she steps out of her car, she sees Billy open his door. She could swear the man had some special power, he always knew exactly when she got there. Her car is pretty quiet, at least it is now that she finally had her transmission fixed. Jacob had finally convinced her to, saying it was making his ears bleed every time she came over. Billy doesn't bother with going beyond the door, he just waves her in and turns around to roll back into the house, leaving the door open behind him. Yep, just like usual, at least she could count on that not changing any time soon. With a small smile she takes a step forward, into familiarity.