That's Just The Price I Pay

"Hey Zack! Thanks for the ride; I would've called someone else but Jason already left for school a while ago and Rian's way to school is a bit out of the way and I had already asked for a ride earlier this week." Lily got in and threw her book bag into the backseat next to mine before slipping her other foot in and closing the door.

I smiled over at her, "No problem, you know you can come to me for anything." She smiled back, and I couldn't help but feel slightly guilty. I've liked her since I met her last year, but she had had a boyfriend since before then. It's not that I ever thought of wanting them to break up, because I didn't really want anyone to get hurt, but he didn't seem to treat her that well. Out of all of the guys, she was definitely closest to Rian, but I figured I was right up there. Even though he was more of a brother type, I knew that she still came to me to talk about a lot of more serious things; I had proved to be a good listener. I never minded her company, and when something went wrong with Jason, something that seemed to happen quite often, I was the comforting friend who had a shoulder to cry on. I accepted the best friend role a long time ago, but that was expected.

The ride to school was silent however, at least on our part. Otherwise, I did have music playing. Occasionally, out of the corner of my eye, I saw her bobbing her head of tapping her foot. She could probably have made a good musician, if she wanted to be. I know she said she used to play clarinet but didn't enjoy it and quit band. I didn't blame her though; to make music you need passion for it, and maybe she just didn't find the instrument that fit her. Luckily for her, she had other interests and talents, one of them being her commitment to the track team for the past few years.

"Thanks again Zack, you're seriously amazing." Lily said once we were parked and out of the car. She gave me a quick hug before running to catch the door to enter the school before it closed on us.

"It's really no big deal, any friend would do the same." I shrugged smiling, mostly because the hug was a bit unexpected, but I never objected to hugs.

She shook her head, falling into place next to me, "Some people might mind. I don't like to bother people, and I wouldn't ask for a ride if my car weren't still being used by my aunt." She turned to me, her bangs falling into her brown eyes as she shook her head.

I shook my head, "You know I don't mind. If you ever need anything I'm here." I smiled a full smile back at her.

"Yeah, but I feel like I already come to you for a lot," she grimaced, "but, uh, I have to go somewhere," she looked around, and seemed slightly uncomfortable, "I've got stuff to do before class actually starts, sorry I could walk around with you since we never do, but I mean…"

"It's ok, don't worry. We'll find other time to make up for these mornings." She beamed, and waved goodbye before walking away into the crowd of people going off in her direction. At this point, I knew Lily met up with her boyfriend every morning, and it didn't bother me-not too much. I just didn't like him. Not because I was jealous in any way, but because of the things she's told me about him when he hurt her and left her in pieces. He's cheated on her, used her, and ditched her for multiple reasons, among other things. I had no idea why she continued to stay with him, and it frustrated me because I didn't want to see her get hurt, ever, but this guy just kept finding ways to do just that. Some day I would ask her that, but I wasn't exactly sure if I ever would go through with that.

Alright, I'll admit it. The more time I spent with Lily, the more I cared about her, and the stronger my affection for her grew. It was wrong, I knew that, and it made me feel pretty guilty a lot of the time. But she was just too sweet, too smart, and too pretty to let go of. Part of me thought it was stupid to try to hold onto the thought that something could happen with us, while the other was positive it couldn't last between them.

But I shook my head in an attempt to clear my thoughts. I didn't need to get mad over something I couldn't do anything about; and I didn't need to spend my whole morning mad over it either. I had other things to focus on in my first class, especially since it was science. That actually took some thinking, even if we were just mindlessly taking notes half of the time.

I got to class, and was surprised to see Alex already in his seat. Then again, his head was down and he seemed to be napping on what could have been the homework that was given out the other day to be collected today. However, he seemed to "wake up" once I sat down next to him at our lab table.

"Oh hey bro. Did you do the homework at all? I just finished the part I didn't understand a few minutes ago. I ended up asking someone else." He shrugged and looked back down at the paper.

"Yeah, I did most of it last night, and ended up leaving probably two blank or something. I don't think it's that big of a deal if it's only a couple."

"Yeah, you should be fine. It's not like science matters really, not that much at all. I wish I didn't have to take it. And honestly, I'd rather be sleeping right now instead of having facts thrown at me."

I laughed, "It's too early to learn such a serious topic. I'd rather be doing other things, maybe not sleeping, but I've definately got other things in mind..." Just as my mind was about to go off in different directions, it quickly snapped back into focus once the bell rang. Alex yawned again, and shot me a "here we go again" look. I was just thankful that after this class I had a free period.