Lilly sat at the corner table, her hands trembling as she cling to her phone. The air around her felt heavy, suffocating, but she couldn't pull her gaze away from the entrance of Angelo's. The warm light of the restaurant gleamed softly over the plates of food being served to couples and families, but her mind was in a state of doubt. Every second felt like a lifetime as she wondered if Ethan would even show.
He had to. She had given him the final terms.
"Tonight, you'll know who I really am".
Her pulse quickened when the door swung open, and there he was. Ethan.
Her heart sank a little as she watched him walk into the restaurant, scanning the room like he was searching for something or someone he didn't quite recognize.
"Please, don't make this harder than it already is."
She said as her eyes followed him, her breath catching in her throat as she noticed the way his expression shifted when he saw the tall, glamorous girl sitting at a table just a few seats away. Lilly's stomach twisted into a tight knot.
But she wasn't going to run this time. She wouldn't hide.
She rose from her seat, her legs shaking beneath her, and took a deep breath. It was now or never. She couldn't back down. She couldn't let Ethan continue to see her as someone she wasn't. Lilly stepped forward, determined, though her heart hammered in her chest.
"Ethan," she whispered, but loud enough to be heard over the noise of the restaurant.
He turned.
Ethan looked up, startled, and his eyes landed on Lilly. For a moment, he looked displeased, and then his expression changed to one of surprise.
"What do you want?" he asked gruffly.
"I'm LyricalDreamer," Lilly said, her voice shaking .
Ethan's eyes widened in disbelief. "You're...you're LyricalDreamer?" he stuttered.
" yes I am" Lilly replied
" No you are not. I already told you I can't date someone like you. Why do you keep doing this? Now you are lying to me. How the hell do you get to know am looking for lyricalDreamer. You must be joking". Ethan said and stormed out.
Lilly stood there, frozen, her heart pounding as Ethan stormed out of the room. The weight of his words hung in the air, heavy and suffocating. She had thought that maybe, just maybe, this moment would bring them closer, that Ethan would see her for who she really was. But instead, he seemed angrier than ever.
She stared at the door where he had disappeared, feeling like every ounce of courage had been drained from her body. Her fingers trembled as she pulled out her phone, scrolling to the last message she had sent him online as LyricalDreamer. Her hand hovered over the keyboard, and she paused.
Was it even worth it? Would he ever understand?
Taking a deep breath, she began typing.
"Ethan, I never wanted to lie to you. I didn't want to be anyone other than myself, but I couldn't keep being invisible in the shadows. You think you know me, but you don't, and that's the problem. You only see what's on the surface."
She stared at the message for a moment, unsure if she should send it. But then she cleared the message and left.
On getting to school the next day, Lilly noticed a lot of students were looking at her and laughing. She was so confused. She checked her body if something was wrong with her cloth but she didn't see anything. She kept checking while walking. Not until a girl stood at her front.
" oh! Who do we have here? " she asked walking around me. She knew she and her gangs are here to bully her again today.
They've always been bullying her for a while now. Ever since the whole school got to know she wrote Ethan a letter. "lyricalDreamer" one of the girl replied her. Which made me shocked. How did they found out ?
" how did you know?" I asked
" omg she must be really feeling herself " she replied and they all laugh. Other students are already gathered watching the scene
" what right do you think you've got to ask Ethan to go on a date with you. You even had the audacity to lie to him about you being the lyricalDreamer you this fatty monger!."
She said using her finger to push my head. I tried to talk back I was not lying but she pushed me and I landed on the floor. .
Lilly's breath caught in her throat as she stared up at the girl who had just shoved her to the ground. The laughter of the other students felt like a barrage of needles stabbing into her skin, each sound twisting deeper into her heart.
The girl's smug face was just inches away, holding up her phone like it was some kind of weapon, showing the video of her and Ethan in the Angelo cafe. Lilly thought had been their private moment, their brief connection.
"I-I wasn't lying," Lilly tried to speak, but her voice wavered, almost drowned out by the mocking tone in the crowd. She stood up, wiping the dust from her uniform, but the sting of being humiliated in front of everyone was too much.
Lilly looked up, seeing the sneers on the faces around her, their eyes filled with judgment and cruelty. Her heart pounded, and she felt the urge to run, to escape from this nightmare.
Suddenly, she heard a voice. "Stop."
"Ethan?" Lilly muttered
The crowd fell silent, the shock in his voice cutting through the tension. Lilly turned to see Ethan pushing through the group of students, his expression hard, his jaw clenched.
"Why the hell are you guys making fun of her?" Ethan demanded, stepping up to Lilly's side.
The girl with the phone raised an eyebrow. "Ethan, you don't get it. She lied to you. She's the one who messed everything up, thinking she could trick you into liking her."
Ethan glanced down at Lilly, and she could see the confusion in his eyes, the lingering doubt. But instead of turning away, he reached out, gently taking Lilly's hand.
"Lilly didn't lie," he said firmly, his voice strong.
"I might have been angry at first, but that's no reason for anyone to treat her like this. She's not the joke. You are."
The girl's face twisted in disbelief. "You're really going to defend her?" she spat.
"I'm defending her because I'm the one who messed up," Ethan said, not letting go of Lilly's hand.
"I treated her wrong, and I didn't give her a chance to explain herself."
Lilly felt a surge of emotions, relief, disbelief, and a strange sense of hope that maybe Ethan wasn't just here to save face. He was here for her, really here.
The crowd started to murmur, but Ethan held his ground, his arm protectively around Lilly.
"Now, as for the video....." Ethan looked at the girl with the phone.
"Delete it. You have no right to humiliate anyone like that."
The girl hesitated for a moment, glaring at Ethan. But then, with a sneer, she turned her phone toward herself, deleted the video, and shoved the phone back into her bag. "Whatever," she muttered, before walking away with her friends.
The rest of the students seemed to lose interest and began to scatter, leaving Ethan and Lilly standing in the middle of the now empty space.
"Ethan whyy…" Lilly tried talking to Ethan but she was cut off by Ethan
"Lilly I did that for myself not for you. Don't misunderstand me. You're just a nobody" Ethan said in a very rough voice
"What? " Lilly was being shocked.
" I only did that because this stupid heart of mine kept feeling guilty. And that was because you said you're lyricalDreamer. The skyline high school band won't be needing your song anymore. Just shut the fuck off and leave my fucking life" Ethan said leaving her dumbfounded
Lilly got home and cried out her eye. She was actually happy for a moment thinking he changed. She stood up and went to meet her dad at the sitting room.
" dad " she called her dad in a very shakily voice
" yes my daught…oh my god! Lilly what's wrong with you? Why are you crying?"
" I want to leave Skyline High School" Lilly said with a full confidence.