Lies, Betrayal, And Love

New Friends

As I'm walking back into the apartment, the door hits something hard. Lilly is behind the door. I look at her funny.

Lilly: I couldn't help myself.

Me: Your ok. I just made plans for tomorrow to pick up my things from my ex's place. I'm going to go take a shower now.

Lilly: Enjoy.

She goes back to her games and I head to the bathroom. Just like I would've thought, the bathroom is pink too. There's a rag and towel already in there for me. I turn the water on so it can heat up. I step into the shower and let the water wash the dirt away. I watch as dirt and leaves fall onto the shower floor. Boy was I dirty. I put soap on my rag and latter it up. This shower feels great. I'm feeling refreshed now. I cut the shower off and grabbed my towel. I step out and whip the fog off the mirror. I look and feel completely different than I did earlier. I dry my hair and body, then get dressed. I gather the leaves out of the drain and place them in the trash can.

I headed back to the living room where Lilly is still playing the game. She's completely zoned, then she notices me. She pulls her headset down.

Lilly: Feel better?

Me: Yeah. Much better. Mind if I watch you play?

Lilly: You wanna play? I got an extra controller.

Me: Oh no. I've never played video games before. I don't want to mess you up.

Lilly: You'll be on my team. I'll help you out.

She hands me a controller and plops down next to me. She helped me make up an account on her Playstation. She starts up a zombie shooting game. I didn't catch the name of it. She shows me the controls and I mimic her, so I understand better. She then hops back on the mic.

Lilly: Hey, my friend is joining, and she's new to gaming. All of you know the rules.

I started following her in the game. She's protecting me, and I'm doing my best to keep up. The games end with us winning, but no thanks to me. We started up another game. This time I got at least 2 kills. We go again. This time I got 3 kills.

Lilly: See. You're getting the hang of it. Your a natural.

Me: You think so? It's pretty fun. Like I've said, I've never played before.

Lilly: I'm excited now that I have a new gaming partner besides Leon.

The mention of his name makes me think back to earlier.

Me: Do you mind if I ask a question?

Lilly: Sure. What's up?

Me: You and Leon are really close. Are you his sister? Or girlfriend perhaps?

She laughs. I looked down, feeling embarrassed for asking such a dumb question.

Lilly: Well, if I were his girlfriend, you sure as hell wouldn't be staying here, nor would I have helped him save you earlier. I'm his older sister.

She tells the people we were playing with that she logging off. She powers down the Playstation and takes her headset off. She stands up and heads to the kitchen. She pulls down two cups.

Lilly: Want some liquor, juice, coffee, soda?

Me: I'll have some coffee. Ill come help.

Lilly: Are you sure? After the night you had, I would think you just wanted to take shots.

Me: No, a nice cup of coffee will do.

She gets the sugar and creamer while I start the coffee. She leans back against the counter.

Lilly: Leon and I grew up in a well-off household. Our dad was a doctor and our mom was a nurse. That's how they met. Life was great, but I guess my parents felt a void in our family. They always wanted a big family. But my father got diagnosed with testicular cancer. He felt like he crushed my mother's dream of a big family. But my mom never felt that way. She pitched adoption. So we went to a foster home and that's where we met Kai. He's the tatted blonde one. He was sitting alone at a table. Leon approached him, and they seemed to hit it off immediately. I went up to meet him and asked a few questions. Like how are you? Why are you by yourself? He told me he was five years old and that no one there liked him. That they made fun of him because of his clothes. Leon and I both knew we wanted him to come home with us. We rushed him to our parents and gave him the biggest hug, showing our parents we had found our new little brother. They agreed and, after a while, we were able to bring him home. We showed him to his room, which he would share with Leon. His face lit up, and we could see how much he wanted to be part of a family. Ever since, the three of us have been inseparable.

Me: Your parents sound like they are amazing people.

Lilly: Yeah, we all love each other. Blood or not.

I smile. Feeling happy to know a little more about them. We make our cups of coffee and just girl talk about everything. Cup after cup, before we know it, the sun is coming up.

Lilly: Oh s**t. It's so late.

Me: I know.

She looks at her phone. She starts typing away like a maniac.

Lilly: Leon said he'd be here at nine, but I told him we're just now be going to bed, so make it three.

Me: Do you have to work?

Lilly: Nah, I'm off today.

Me: Ok good. I would've felt bad if you did.

Lilly: If I did have to work, I would've been asleep before you got here.

It was late when we got here. It was two in the morning. We both let out a loud yawn. We laughed. I can already see I'm going to love living here.

Lilly: Night chicky.

Me: Night Lilly.

She goes to the kitchen, washes her cup out, then heads to her room. I do the same. I pulled the covers back and climbed in bed. I close my eyes and go to sleep in my new comfy bed.

There's a knock on my door. I drag myself out of bed. I opened the door. It's Lilly. She looks exhausted and irritated.

Me: Everything OK?

Lilly: Yeah. Lover boy is here for you.

Me: Ok. I'll get dressed. Tell him to hold on.

Lilly: Ok.

Lilly yelled at him to hold on, then brought me an extra pair of clothes. I go to the bathroom and change into them. I change and fix my hair when she walks in.

Lilly: I think you should wear a little makeup.

Me: For him? It's not a date.

Lilly: I know. But do you want your ex to see you looking like you've been through hell? You gotta show him what he's missing. Plus you'll be showing up with 3 guys. It'll intimidate him. He'll be begging to have you back, but he can't.

Me: You're right. But I've never worn makeup before.

Lilly: I got you girl.

She has me sit on the toilet and starts applying the makeup. Once she was done, I stood up and looked in the mirror. I look like a whole new person. We both leave the bathroom and enter the living room. Leon stands up. He just stares at me.

Me: What? Do I look bad?

Leon: No. It's just uh....uh you look....

Lilly: He was trying to say you look good. It would help if you picked your mouth up off the floor and stopped drooling.

Leon: Yeah what she said. Minus the last part.

I see him wipe the corner of his mouth, then lower his head and mumble. When he looks back up, he runs his thumb over his bottom lip. I can't bring myself to stop looking until Lilly clears her throat. It's like we snapped out of a trance.

Leon: Shall we go?

Me: Yeah.

Lilly: Here take this. You'll need something to put your stuff in.

Lilly hands me a duffle bag. Leon took it from my hands. He then walks to the door and opens it. We both leave. I wave bye to Lilly, who waves back. We get in the elevator and head down. We were walking through the lobby when we bumped into the girl from yesterday. She just rolled her eyes and kept walking. We get outside, and his friends are there.

Me: Hey Briggs. Hey Kai. Sorry, I've never introduced myself to you guys. I'm Melanie. Nice to meet you.

I hold my hand out. Briggs just nods. Kai shakes my hand. He shakes my hand longer than expected. Once I looked down, he noticed we were still holding hands and quickly pulled away.

Kai: Nice to meet you Melanie. Don't worry about Briggs. He's not much of a talker.

Leon: Enough chit-chat. We ain't got all day. Let's head out. Where do you live?

Me: I'm from Twinston.

Leon: That not far. Maybe a twenty-minute drive. Alright, let's go.

He opens the passenger door and I get in. He closes the door, then everyone else hops in the back. He starts the car, and we head for my old home to collect my things.