Stolen

Lily Grant stood at her locker, looking into its new emptiness. Just twenty minutes before it had been filled with pictures and books, symbols of her year, and now it was empty, waiting for someone new to fill it with their stuff.
“If you’re done staring into your locker could we maybe get going now?” Sophie Evans, Lily’s best friend, asked impatiently from where she stood in the empty hallway.
School had finished half an hour before, but Lily had been slow about emptying out her locker and Sophie had stuck around to keep her company.
“Yeah, sorry, I was just thinking about how awesome this year was.” Lily smiled and grabbed her bag full of stuff as she joined Sophie in the hallway.
“Well this year may’ve been awesome, but this summer is going to be absolutely amazing! Not to mention that next year we’ll be seniors!” Sophie cheered and did a little victory dance as they walked through the deserted hallways; teachers weren’t even lingering around anymore.
Lily looked around as Sophie continued her excited babbling about the upcoming summer. There was no way that Lily was going to miss school, but she found it strange that she wouldn’t see the hallways again for two months.
“Hey, you dropped this!” A voice called from behind Lily and Sophie.
Lily turned to see a guy holding a picture in his hand. He was tall, blonde and blue-eyed, pretty hot by Lily’s standards.
“Thanks so much.” Lily smiled appreciatively and a little flirtatiously as the guy handed Lily a picture of herself, Sophie and Lily’s boyfriend, Alex Foster.
“No problem, it’s a nice picture. I’m Kyle by the way.” He smiled kindly and Lily was hit with a pang of recognition. His blue eyes and perfect smile seemed so familiar.
“I’m Lily, nice to meet you.” Lily smiled politely, as hot as Kyle was, she felt like she should probably walk away before she did something she would regret.
“I’m Sophie in case you were wondering.” Sophie smiled and played with her hair as she took a step towards Kyle, obviously very interested.
“Nice to meet you Sophie.” Kyle smiled politely.
“Well, we really do need to go; our ride is waiting for us. Come on Soph.” Lily smiled and pulled Sophie away.
“Why did you do that? He was gorgeous Lily!” Sophie whined as Lily continued to drag her all the way down the school steps.
“What were you thinking Sophie? We don’t even know him; I’ve never even seen him around the school before!” Lily scolded as they made their way to the parking lot.
“You were being flirty too! Besides, you’re the one with a boyfriend.” Sophie mumbled sullenly.
“I was not being flirty in the slightest!” Lily exclaimed as they neared Alex’s car, she prayed that his window wasn’t open.
“Oh whatever, you don’t have to lie to me.” Sophie laughed and climbed into the backseat of Alex’s beat up Ford truck.
“Lily never lies; she’s too good for that.” Alex laughed as he started the engine, oblivious to what they were even talking about.
“Oh please.” Sophie snorted from the backseat.
The drive to Lily’s house only took about ten minutes, but it seemed to take a lifetime. Sophie was loyal, but she tended to speak her mind, and Lily worried the whole way to her house that Sophie would say something about Kyle who she had admittedly been a little bit flirty with.
“You two are definitely being way too quiet. Usually you won’t shut up for even two minutes.” Alex observed as they neared Lily’s big house just outside of the city.
“That’s not true; Lily and I are the quietest people you’ll ever meet.” Sophie joked and punched Alex amicably in the arm.
“Well here we are Lily, home sweet home.” Alex announced as he pulled into the large driveway.
“Thanks so much for the ride Alex. I’ll see you tomorrow, I love you.” Lily smiled and kissed Alex.
“Yeah, I’ll pick you up after work. I love you too.” Alex smiled back.
“Are we still on for tomorrow night?” Sophie asked hopefully, she and Lily had been planning to hit the new club, Spark.
“Of course, it should be fun.” Lily smiled and slammed Alex’s car door shut.
She watched the car drive off down the road. Just as Lily was stepping inside a crack of lightening went across the sky.
“Lily, is that you?” Lily’s mother, Jillian, called from somewhere in the large house.
“Who else would it be?” Lily laughed and walked through to the kitchen where her mom stood, making dinner.
“Well, you’re father promised to be home early to eat dinner before leaving on another business trip. I was hoping he would keep his promise.” Lily’s mother sighed as she stirred a pot of sauce.
“I’m sure he’ll be home before five.” Lily smiled, but knew her dad would probably phone soon with an excuse of some sort.
“You’re right. Dinner’s in an hour.” Lily’s mother smiled as she continued to methodically stir the sauce.
Lily nodded in acknowledgement and ran up the spiraling stairs to her room. Her father hadn’t been home for dinner in almost two weeks and Lily felt bad for her mother. She worked hard on every meal, hoping to entice him to come home early.
In an effort to waste time, Lily sat down at her computer and decided to check her e-mail. Her inbox was filled with the normal things, notifications and ads, but then Lily stumbled upon an e-mail with an address she had never seen before. It was from Seelie_K@hotmail.com. Curious, Lily clicked on the mysterious e-mail and was surprised when actual writing popped up. It was quite long and read:
Dearest Lillianna,
I have missed you. I know that your “birth name” is Lillian, but I am here to tell you that your real name most certainly is Lillianna. I know your true self better than even you do and I wish to speak with you about your life. I know this must be quite confusing to you, but I assure you that I am here to help you any way I can. Please meet me tonight at the nightclub called “Spark”. I will meet you at six o’clock, please don’t be late.
Love,
Kinley
Lily could do nothing but stare at the screen when she finished reading the strange note. Who was Kinley? She had never heard that name in her life. She was tempted to hit the delete button and just forget that she had ever received the e-mail, but she decided against it. Something inside of her was encouraging her to go, even if it was dangerous and incredibly stupid. Something about the e-mail called to her. Lily had a feeling that not going would be a big mistake, something that would haunt her for the rest of the night.
Finally swallowing her fear, Lily hopped in the shower so that she could look her best for what she was about to do. She knew that she could very well be kidnapped or killed, but she had to go even if she was being ridiculously stupid and naïve.
An hour later, Lily’s mother called her down before she was finished, but she still had an hour to do her hair and get to the club; it was plenty of time.
When Lily got downstairs, she was surprised to see that the table had been set for three instead of just two.
“Hello darling.” Lily’s father, Jacob smiled as he sauntered into the dining room, glass of white wine in his large hand.
“Nice to see you Daddy.” Lily smiled and sat down at the table.
“Isn’t it wonderful that your father made it home for dinner before he had to leave for his business trip?” Lily’s mother beamed as she brought through the chicken she had worked so hard on all afternoon.
“Well I can’t very well leave for a week before saying good bye now can I?” Lily’s father said jovially as he heaped food onto his plate as if he hadn’t had a decent meal in weeks, which Lily guessed was probably an accurate assumption.
“Mom, do you mind if I go out with Sophie tonight to that new club, Spark?” Lily asked sweetly as she picked at her chicken.
“I thought you had to be eighteen to get into a club?” Lily’s mother asked suspiciously.
“This one’s different. You can start going when you’re sixteen, you just can’t drink.” Lily informed her mother.
“Yes, I suppose you can, just please be careful and don’t do anything stupid.” Lily’s mother warned seriously.
“Of course not Mom; you know me better than that.” Lily smiled.
The rest of the dinner passed slowly and rather awkwardly. Neither Lily nor her mother knew what to talk about with Lily’s father at the table, normally Lily listened to her mother complain about how inconsiderate he was.
“May I be excused?” Lily asked when she could no longer take the awkward silence surrounding the table; as if they were all strangers instead of a family.
“Yes, have fun tonight and try not to be too terribly late.” Lily’s mother smiled and winked from across the table. Lily hadn’t really had a curfew since she was fifteen.
Lily cleared her plate and ran to her room, finally able to breathe normally; her father tended to be a bit intimidating.
Lily quickly fixed her hair, straightening the waves so that her blonde hair looked like a waterfall of silky gold.
Lily left the house silently, avoiding the awkward good bye moment she knew she would have to have with her father if she bothered to tell her parents she was leaving.
Lily’s silver Honda Accord sat waiting for her in the three car garage. Lily hardly ever used it during the school year because normally Alex drove her everywhere.
At the thought of Alex, Lily paused. What would he think of her going out to meet some strange guy that had e-mailed her? He would probably be jealous, angry and very worried. Lily thought about turning around and going inside. If Alex found out about this stupid idea, she would lose him, no questions asked. He was a protective guy and he didn’t like when she didn’t tell him about things, especially stupid plans that could possibly get her killed, but Lily knew she had to do it. She wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she didn’t go to find out what this guy was talking about.
With a deep breath, Lily started her car and pulled out of the garage. It may’ve been one of the stupidest decisions she had ever made, but she just had to know who Kinley was.