On one morning, Lilly was woken up by her phone ringing loudly and she cursed at whoever was calling her this early in the morning.
"Gwen!" she groaned into the phone after receiving the call.
"Get up! Get up! We are going out!" Gwen sang loudly.
"Go away Gwen," Lilly mumbled before cutting the phone. But that didn't stop caller from calling. Ah, she should have put it in silent! Lilly stuffed her head into the pillow, "I swear to God-"
"Don't you dare cut my call or I will hunt you down. We are going to see little kittens at a farmhouse!" Hearing the word kittens in her sentence Lilly's ears perked up, "I have other IMPORTANT things to talk about so you better get your ass out of the bed right now," and the call got cut.
"My precious sleep," Lilly sighed, sitting up on her bed and rubbing her eyes with a yawn.
When Lilly met Gwen at the coffee shop, she seemed anxious yet excited. Apparently, Cole hadn't been so patient as he had asked her to be his girlfriend yesterday and she had given him a yes. She wondered if it was going too fast but who was she to judge when she had no past relationship experience. Gwen was a responsible girl and Cole seemed to be a nice guy. Like she had thought-if its right, it is right. And when Cole and Ace arrived, Gwen looked happy with him.
"So where is this farmhouse?" Lilly questioned to be answered by Ace.
"It is about twenty-six kilometers from here. All the trees which you might like and Cole wanted to spend time with Gwen."
"More like he wa-" Cole said before he was kicked under the table by Ace.
Finishing their coffee, they left for the farmhouse in their motorcycles. It took nearly an hour before they reached the cottage like a farmhouse. Ace was right though, there were trees and trees and endless trees which was also because they were in a forest like a place. Unlike Gwen and Cole who shared a good rapport, Ace and Lilly didn't speak a word after leaving the coffee shop. Exploring the house, and the lake behind it, they took a walk around the plantations before Ace showed her a small nest in a tree with little pink eggs that laid in it.
Gwen wasn't fond of cats, therefore, Cole had taken her to the lake while leaving her and Ace in the house. She now sat surround by little kittens trying to learn to walk, awing every time it mewed. There weren't just kittens but also grown up cats and she picked one of them to place it on her lap, giving it a head massage with her fingers. Time passed quickly and the sky turned from blue to orange in the evening.
"How're the ghosts at the haunted house?" Lilly asked striking a conversation with Ace.
"She's doing well. Only if all souls had turned to spirits," he murmured, his voice quiet but audible enough for her to hear.
"Why do you say that? There would be population explosion on that side of the wall if that happened?" this made him chuckle.
"Maybe. I lost someone dear to me years ago. Do you see that star there?" he asked, pointing his hand towards a shiny star which was yet to make its complete appearance, "She told me that she had turned to a star and was watching over me. But I think she is still here, around," he said smiling.
Lilly wasn't sure what to say, therefore decided to stay silent on the matter. She didn't know the pain of losing someone. She had never met her biological parents and it didn't bother her as she had found her happiness with her adoptive parents.
"I'm sorry, how did she die?" Lilly asked him.
"That's alright. She contracted some kind of rare disease which the doctors couldn't diagnose soon enough. It was a long time ago..so it's okay," he added, giving her a brief smile which she returned back.
Days passed and so did school.
Lilly sat in the front seats of the class, Gwen a few seats away from her but in the same line. That was one reason she disliked going late to a class. The usual seat she sat in, next to the window was taken by someone else now. It was rare for them to be sitting so close to the teacher. Having two hours of the same class in the same seat had made everyone exhausted and they exhaled when the bell rang.
It was noon and fortunately, they didn't have any more class for the day.
"Thank the lord," Lilly's forehead hit the desk.
"I did," Gwen had left her seat and had come to sit next to the empty seat next to her.
"Promise me. Promise me that we won't be late again to any class in the future. It feels like years has passed by," she said holding Gwen's hands, "What time are we going to the Bastion's?"
"Around five and we have free time until then. Come on, we need to move out before the next class starts," Gwen patted her back.
With what she heard, Cole and Ace were also going to be there to witness the second match in this season. She knew Ace and Cole weren't in their final year of high school as they looked a year or two elder to them. When she had asked Gwen, she had replied with telling that Bastion school also had a college next to it. Sending a text to her mother that she would be late, she began packing her books into the bag.
Before they had reached the field, she had received a message from Ace asking if she was coming to the match today. Hadn't he heard it from Cole that she was coming? She looked at the screen of her phone as they took seats in the free benches wondering if Ace would send another text but he didn't. With days that had passed, they exchanged few messages with each other. Biting her lip she placed her phone back in her pocket.
"Milady here is your soda," Gwen came back after buying the cold drinks. Lilly had been lazy to get out of her seat after sitting and had instead sent Gwen to buy them.
They cheered for their team as their team scored and it wasn't an easy match. Sam was back on the field taking his form while Marc kept looking at the audience before making an eye contact with them and waving like a child. She felt empty in her chest, sitting next to Gwen. It had been an hour since the game had begun and neither Ace or Cole had shown up. She was too stubborn to ask if they were coming here or if they had a sudden change of plans. What was she doing waiting for him to reply? Placing on her thumping heart she shook her head.
When Lilly returned back, she caught sight of Cole sitting next to Gwen but Ace was nowhere to be seen.
"Hey Lilly," Cole greeted her with a wave.
"Hey. Did you just arrive?" she asked taking the other seat next to Gwen.
"Just a minute ago. I see the match is tough. Do you guys know who's gonna win?" he asked scrunching his brows while taking a look at the players.
"Our team!" the girls replied simultaneously making him smile.
"Of course."
"You're enjoying the game. Do you like soccer?"