Chances

Chapter 17

Don't get too discouraged, Carina thinks to herself. It was kind of expected that Lily wouldn't pay her any mind, but Carina's not here to bribe her or anything. She literally just wants to take care of her a little bit.

So, forcing herself not to frown, Carina timidly saunters towards Lily's side of the room and carefully places the cup of hot chocolate on her end table, followed by a box of Reese's Pieces, a pack of tissues, a bottle of water, and some cold medicine. Carina's cheeks warm when she can practically feel Lily's eyes watching her face the entire time.

And she would stay for a bit, but she herself has to get to class so without a single word exchanged between them, Carina gathers up all of her things and heads back out. Hopefully her little gesture just now will show Lily that no matter what kind of bullshit is happening between them, Carina will still always care about her. Lily could hate her and Carina would still care.

Amanda suddenly appears out of the corner of Carina's eye on the way to class and the two girls hug each other politely.

"Hey!" she greets cheerily, her grin radiant and contagious. "Is Lily alright? She looked kind of shitty in class earlier."

As much as Carina trusts and adores Desi, Naomi, and Amanda, it's probably best to keep things just between them right now. So, instead, she replies, "Uhm, Lily just caught a cold or something last night." That's not technically a lie. She's simply not telling Amanda everything .

"Oh," Amanda frowns a bit. "Well, you take good care of her for me, alright?"

Carina smiles for the first time in over a day. "Always."

Amanda winks and pats her arm gently before she goes off in the opposite direction merrily. She's the type of person that will always leave you feeling so nice and warm after just a simple conversation with her. Amanda exudes nothing but ease and comfort and it's impossible not to smile at least once around her. Carina's grateful for her, especially now. She feels a little bit more positive about things now.

That is until she makes it back into her dorm after class to find that everything that she bought for Lily is left completely untouched. Everything looks the exact same way it did when Carina put it there and now she doesn't even try to hide the deep frown forcing its way upon her face. Lily is currently asleep now, so Carina can visibly sulk as much as she wants.

Is Lily really that upset with her that she won't even accept Carina's gesture of trying to take care of her? It's not like she had the intention of this being like some sort of peace offering or bribe. She would've done the exact same thing for Amanda, Desi, and/or Naomi in a heartbeat.

But Lily obviously doesn't want to have anything to do with Carina right now so she might as well just leave her alone and let her sleep. Besides, she needs a friend right now. And she knows exactly who to go to.

-

"Thanks for meeting me," Carina mumbles against Daniel's shirt as they exchange a hug near the fountain at the front of the school. "I've been having a bad day."

"Of course," he pats her cheek lightly. "What are fake boyfriends for?"

That wins a laugh from Carina and she lightly punches him on the arm. She and Daniel then take a seat on the stone structure of the fountain, the sound of gentle splashing of water behind them. There are only a handful of other people here, but they're nothing to worry about. They're minding their own business, as they should be.

"So," Daniel begins again, his golden eyes covered behind sunglasses, "why is this day so awful for you? Is everything alright?"

"Uhm..." Carina's quiet as she looks down at her lap. Daniel smoothly hooks an arm around her shoulders, encouraging her to go on. "Well, Lily and I aren't really in the best place right now."