You Can Have What's Left of Me

The rain poured down like a waterfall, beating pitilessly on the ground. Lily rushed through the wet streets, listening to her loud steps and her heavy-breathing. She groaned slightly as she pushed herself forward, never stopping, never giving up. Several passers-by actually sprang out of the way, as she zoomed past them in a whirl.

Gasping for breath, she wanted to stop and rest her feet. But she couldn’t. No. She needed to hurry. There was no time. Biting her lip, Lily launched herself forward in a mad sprint.

After what seemed to be an eternity, she stood out in the rain, her clothes were soaking wet and her hair matted and stuck to her skull. She was standing just outside Marie’s house, staring at the sitting blonde-haired girl.

“It’s not true…” Marie whispered. Her cerulean empty eyes stared back at the newcomer. “It’s not t-true.” Her voice threatened to fail her.

“I saw it with my own eyes.” A tall figure was leaning against the door. He was wearing, dark navy blue clothes and a long coat that matched. A small hood was covering half of his features.

“No…” She said with one hand covering her mouth as tears fell down her pale face. “LIAR! YOU DID THIS! YOU MADE HIM LEAVE!” She said hysterically as she walked towards him. He was caught off guard as her fist made contact with his chest. “You did this!” She shouted with all her strengths.

He tried to hold her but she was too agitated. After a great effort to calm her down, they were both on the floor; she was resting her head on his shoulder as she cried hard. He stood there emotionless, holding her as both the rain and her tears soaked his robes.

He didn’t know how long he held her in his arms, but he knew it was a long time now. She had her eyes closed and breathed softly, her eyes had purple rings around and her face was red of crying.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered.

Lily sniffed quietly as she stared at her friend, “She’ll be okay.” She whispered back as her heart squeezed tightly at her own words, “She’ll be okay.” She repeated more softly, trying to convince herself.

Matt nodded slowly. He also wanted to believe Lily’s words “Help me to get her inside.” Lily said as she inhaled deeply.

The dark-haired boy carefully snaked his arms around Marie’s waist. He held his breath as he slowly stood up, bringing a sleeping Marie with him. Lily shot him a nervous smile as she opened the door. Both of them didn’t need to turn the light on as they were familiarized with the house. Matt slowly and gently placed the sleeping blond down on the sofa. He eyed her for a brief moment before he walked out of the house without saying another word.

Lily opened her mouth to say something but chose not to. Let him go, she thought as she sat on a chair, listening to the rain. The initial torrent had slackened to drizzle and then picked up again to a steady downpour. She looked at the silent sleeping blond-haired girl and sighed deeply. She could see still the tears on Marie’s beautiful face.

No one saw it coming. She didn’t see it coming. She was Marie’s best friend and didn’t see it coming; she didn’t read the signs even though they were there for everyone to see it. As her best friend, Lily had the obligation to take notice in those things. Guilt sunk in her stomach. It felt like some monster had its claws in her organs, pulling them outside. Painfully.

What shocked Lily the most was him. How could he do something like this? She always thought that Ryan was a logical, reliable person. How could he just cheat on her like that? Lily had to bite into her lower lip in order not to scream in sheer anger. She wanted to go all the way to his house and make him suffer like no one has ever suffered. She would start with his teeth; make sure that when she was done he was toothless. Then, she would break both of his legs and finally, she would do it so that he could never make use of his manhood. Again.

Marie fidgeted in her sleep and Lily froze in her seat. Marie opened her eyes, blinking softly. Jaded-green eyes met sorrowful blue ones, “Lil…” Marie’s voice was throaty, “I’m going to wait for him.”

Lily eyes widened at that, “What?” She asked, not sure if she was hearing correctly.

“Tomorrow.” Marie whispered softly as her eyelids started to become heavier, “Tomorrow, I’m still going to wait for him.”

Lily covered her mouth to suppress a loud sob. She could feel her eyes swell with tears. Her heart thumped strongly against her chest, deafening her, “Marie…”

The blond smiled sadly, “Idiot, what are you crying for?”

Tears escaped down Lily’s pale features, “You’re the idiot.” She said as she wiped the tears off with her sleeve, “You know he won’t come.”

Marie closed her eyes, “I know.”

“Then why?!” Lily questioned, shouting, “Why? Why’d you do something like this?!” Standing up, she walked toward her friend and then fell into her knees, “Marie… please, don’t do this.”

“I have to.” Marie replied softly, refusing to open her eyes. She didn’t want to look at Lily. Because if she did, her resolution would be broken in a matter of seconds.

“That’s… that’s crazy.” Lily retorted, feeling her stomach twist in worry.

“Yeah.” Marie chuckled lightly, surprising her friend, “Which is why I’m doing it.”

Lily lowered her head, “Idiot.”

“Yeah, I know. I know.”
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It was still raining. It hadn’t stopped ever since last night. Lily looked down at her mobile phone, worry imprinted all over her face. She looked up at Matt. He had his eyes set on the basketball courtyard. Lily followed his gaze, her lips parted in shock as she stared at a tall red-haired boy. “Ryan.” She said gritting her teeth. Her stomach twisted uncomfortably. She looked down at her mobile phone. It was 3 o’clock… which meant that Marie had been waiting for Ryan for two hours.

“That son of a bitch.” Matt groaned as he started to walk toward the courtyard. Lily gasped as she watched him approach Ryan.

“Matt!” She exclaimed knowing that things were not going to end well. She cursed under her breath as both boys started to push each other. There was loud yelling and cheering. Lily groaned as she pushed through the gathering crowd. Her eyes widened as she spotted Matt on the floor. Ryan was kicking him in the stomach not giving him the chance to stand up or defend himself.

“You have nothing to do with what I chose to do!” Ryan exclaimed angrily, spitting on Matt’s face.

A cold shiver ran up and down Lily’s spine as she heard the police sirens. She jumped startled as Ryan delivered another kick straight at Matt’s groin. She didn’t know how or when but before she knew it she was right at his side, her hand was holding his wrist and then she twisted it behind his back. “Stop it.” She hissed feeling the adrenaline rush through her veins.

“You stupid bitch.” Ryan groaned as he managed to yank his arm away from her tight grasp. He tried to punch her but she easily blocked it and then punched him in the mouth with her right fist, the nose with her left and again in the cheekbone with her right.

Ryan fell on his knees, holding into his bleeding nose. Lily was only brought back to reality when the cops were dragging her to the car. She bit her lip as her entire body started to tremble. She had just beaten up a person. Well a person that whole heartedly deserved it but still…

She broke her promise. She could already predict her mother’s lecture. Her mother taught self-defense classes as a part-time job and Lily had been forced to learn.

Lily took in a deep breath as she was taken to an empty room. There were two chairs and a table. She took a seat down, placed her trembling hands on her lap and stared at the wall. It didn’t take too long for her mother to appear accompanied by a dark-skinned woman.

“Lily!”

“Mom…” Lily whispered softly.

“Thank God you are okay.” Lily’s mother heaved a long relieving sigh. “I heard you were involved in a street fight.”

Lily rolled her eyes, “It was not a street fight.”

“Mrs. Lachey,” The dark-skinned woman started gently, “Your daughter is being charged of aggression.”

“What?” Lily’s eyes widened in absolute horror, “I was just protecting my friend!”

Mrs. Lachey shook her head, “It’s alright.” She whispered, “I’m sure we can solve this.”

“Mom!” Lily started, “He was hurting Matt! I couldn’t just stand there and do nothing!”

Lily’s mother stared at the other woman and then at her daughter. She opened her mouth to say something but it was the other woman who spoke first.

“It’s not that simple. Mr. Potter has been hospitalized. He has to be submitted to a plastic surgery and is charging you of both aggression and psychology damages.”

Lily blinked as the information sunk inside her head. Things didn’t look that pretty…
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The rain beat hard against the windowpane as she sat with a cup of hot cocoa, looking out. Lily stared at the empty dark streets, her green eyes fixed themselves on the white ground where the rain crashed, and infinite particles flew at every direction. A delicate sigh escaped her fully rose lips as she breathed in the warm scent of the hot cocoa.

“I’ll be fine.” She whispered as Matt and Marie carried on staring at her.

Marie sniffed softly, “I can’t believe it. I… it’s my fault…”

Lily shook her head and looked over her shoulder toward her best-friends, “No. It’s not.” She said sternly. She didn’t want them to blame themselves, “Besides it’s only a year.”

“Only a year?” Matt asked, clutching his hand into a fist, “You’re going to be locked up in this school filled with weirdoes.” His eyes widened slightly as he spotted a faint smile on her face.

“So?” Lily asked as she fully turned around to face her friends, “This is just another brick wall that needs to be broken down.” She said using her favorite saying, “I’ll be fine. Besides, if I do my best-behavior I get to leave at weekends.”

She then turned back around to face the window, hiding her frown. She had heard of it. It was a school for those who lost their way. She rolled her eyes at the words of the judge. It was practically a school for kids who got into fights, drugs, alcohol and theft. Lily’s heart sunk as her thoughts drifted to her mother. Lily’s mother had been raising her by herself. A whole year without her daughter… it would destroy her.

Marie and Matt traded worried looks.