CHAPTER 7
877 Words
The next morning, Maple Ridge High woke beneath a blanket of gray clouds. The air carried the fresh scent of rain, and students hurried through the front gate before the first bell could ring.
Lily arrived earlier than usual.
She liked the quiet moments before the hallways filled with voices. It gave her time to organize her books, review her notes, and settle her thoughts before another busy day began.
As she walked toward her classroom, she noticed someone standing by the window at the end of the hallway.
It was Mrs. Carter.
"Good morning, Lily."
"Good morning, Mrs. Carter."
The teacher smiled warmly.
"I've been meaning to tell you something."
Lily waited patiently.
"Several of your teachers have mentioned how well you've been doing. Your grades are excellent, and you've been helping your classmates without being asked."
"Thank you, ma'am."
"I know transferring schools isn't easy. You've handled it with remarkable maturity."
Lily lowered her eyes for a moment.
"I'm trying my best."
Mrs. Carter nodded. "Keep doing that."
Those simple words stayed with Lily as she entered the classroom.
For the first time in a long while, she felt that someone saw her for who she was—not for the rumors that had followed her from her previous school, but for the person she was trying to become.
---
By lunchtime, the rumors around school had only grown.
Some students insisted Ethan and Lily were already a couple.
Others claimed they had known each other before she transferred, inventing stories with surprising confidence.
Noah sighed as he overheard another conversation in the cafeteria.
"People really have active imaginations."
"They'll get bored eventually," Ethan replied.
"I hope so."
Across the room, Lily sat with a book open in front of her, though she wasn't reading it. She could hear the whispers whenever groups walked by.
She had experienced this before.
Rumors often started as harmless guesses.
Then they became stories.
Eventually, people treated those stories as facts.
She quietly closed the book.
"I'm going outside," she said.
Ethan noticed the sadness she tried to hide.
"I'll come with you."
Together they walked to the restored garden.
The cherry tree swayed gently in the afternoon breeze, its branches casting dancing shadows across the stone path.
"It still amazes me how different this place looks," Ethan said.
Lily smiled.
"I think gardens and people are similar."
"How?"
"If they're cared for, they grow."
Ethan looked at the flowers around them.
"And if they're ignored?"
"They don't stop being beautiful."
Her answer lingered in the air.
Ethan wasn't sure whether she was talking about flowers anymore.
Before he could respond, Lily's phone vibrated inside her bag.
She glanced at the screen.
The smile on her face disappeared.
Unknown Number.
She hesitated before answering.
"...Hello?"
For several seconds she remained completely silent.
Then her expression changed.
"You... how did you get this number?"
Ethan couldn't hear the voice on the other end.
He only saw Lily's fingers tighten around the phone.
"I don't want to talk about the past."
More silence.
Finally she whispered,
"Please don't call me again."
She ended the call immediately.
"Lily?"
She forced a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
"It was nothing."
"It didn't look like nothing."
She looked away toward the flower beds.
"Sometimes people from your past don't understand that you've moved on."
Ethan wanted to ask more.
Instead, he simply nodded.
"If you ever want to talk..."
She looked back at him.
"I know."
"And if you don't..."
"Thank you."
She appreciated that he hadn't pressured her.
Most people would have.
---
After school, basketball practice kept Ethan at the gym while Lily stayed in the library to finish their history project.
As she searched through old newspapers, the librarian approached her.
"Working hard again?"
"I'm almost finished."
"You remind me of someone."
"Really?"
"A former student."
Lily smiled politely.
"I hope that's a good thing."
"Oh, it is."
The librarian laughed softly.
"She was always helping others, even when she had problems of her own."
Lily thought about those words long after the librarian walked away.
Was she really helping others?
Or was she simply trying to stay busy enough to avoid thinking about the past?
Outside, rain began tapping gently against the library windows.
She watched the droplets race down the glass.
For the first time since transferring, memories she had worked so hard to bury began creeping back into her mind.
A crowded hallway.
Whispers.
Students turning away.
Someone saying, "Don't believe her."
Lily blinked quickly.
"No," she whispered to herself.
"Not anymore."
She closed the notebook in front of her.
Maple Ridge was different.
The people here had given her a chance before judging her.
She wasn't going to let old memories steal that away.
As she packed her bag, her phone lit up once more.
This time it wasn't a call.
It was a text message from the same unknown number.
«You can't keep running forever. We'll meet again soon.»
Lily stared at the message.
A chill ran through her despite the warm library.
Without replying, she locked the phone and slipped it back into her pocket.
Outside, the rain had stopped.
But she couldn't shake the feeling that a storm was only just beginning.
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