Fractured from the Fall

Saved by the Bell

"Oh daaaad," Lily said in an overly loud tone. "I didn't recognize your voice at first. You sound really sick," she said as she pulled the cord as far away from the woman as possible. Her fib seemed to fool the woman enough for her to lose interest and she went back to clacking away on the computer.

"Ford?" Lily whispered, cupping her hand over the phone. "What are you doing? Where are you?"

"Coach stepped outta his office for a meeting so I thought I'd give you a call."

"You're gonna get in trouble," Lily smiled. She secretly loved the fact that he was taking a risk just to speak to her.

"You're worth it," he replied and Lily's grin turned into a ridiculously huge smile that she couldn't wipe off her face.

"Lils?" he asked, unsure if she was still on the line.

"I'm here," she said softly, as the lady at the front desk was eyeing her again. She tried to tone down her smile.

"Wanna get in trouble with me?"

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Meet me in the theater after class."

Now Lily's face was beet red and her heart raced at the thought of what he was implying.

"I can't, I..."

"Tell me you haven't thought about it every second since I left that barn?"

It was arrogant, but true. Lily's face was now full on crimson and she felt hot. She looked around to see who was listening. The woman from the front desk had stopped typing and was focused on Lily, trying to hear what she was saying.

"I haven't," Lily said quietly. She bit her nail trying to hide her expression.

"Liar," Ford laughed and Lily tried to suppress a giggle. Now the lady was rising from her chair and making her way around the desk.

"I don't know what to tell ya dad," Lily suddenly spoke in a comically loud voice to deter the woman from coming closer. "I can't miss school to come home and take care of you."

"I know one way you could come and take care of me," Ford teased.

"You're sick," Lily replied, trying not to grin.

"Then come make me feel better," there was a seductiveness to his voice and it drove Lily crazy. He was messing with her on purpose. He knew this was all happening in the office and that someone would be watching. He was enjoying this.

"You love making me squirm, don't you?"

"You can say that again."

Lily almost dropped the phone. She had walked right into that one without seeing it somehow. The woman from the desk was just a foot away from Lily now.

"Well, I gotta go dad. Got a big test next period," she said loudly.

"Meet me in our spot," Ford repeated.

"Yep, uh huh dad. Sounds good. I'll see you there. Err, I mean, at home, I'll see you at home."

The woman from the front desk stood in front of Lily, one hand on her hip, and the other held out, palm up, indicating that Lily should give her the phone, all the while chomping on her gum.

"That was my dad. He's sick, really sick," Lily said as the woman looked on incredulously. "He's always been a little bit of a wuss when it comes to that stuff." The woman looked at her and didn't say a word, so Lily continued to ramble. "You know how those tough guy types are: they can wrangle a horse but the second they get a little sniffle it's like the end of the world," Lily laughed awkwardly while shaking her hands in the air. She wasn't sure if the woman was buying her story.

"Oh honey, tell me about it," the woman finally spoke. "When I'm sick, I still have to cook dinner and do the dishes and put the kids to bed, but when my husband is sick, oh Lordy, it's like the whole world is ending. He can't even be bothered to get up off the couch to get the remote."

"I hear that," Lily said, even more awkwardly. She couldn't believe the woman had believed her lie and she couldn't believe she just uttered the phrase "I hear that."

"Well I better get back to class," Lily said pointing towards the door. She wanted to get out of there before the woman asked more questions. She didn't want to keep lying. She wasn't sure how long she'd last.

"Have a nice day, honey," the woman shouted at Lily as she stepped out of the office just as the bell rang. Thankfully she'd missed the rest of class and successfully avoided another embarrassing moment in front of the entire class, but then she realized she'd probably just have another embarrassing moment in her next class and the next one after that. As long as she couldn't stop daydreaming about that day in the barn, she was doomed to fail all her classes.

That's when Lily thought, maybe she should go see Ford in their secret meet up spot. Maybe if she saw him again she could stop obsessing over what had happened. Maybe it was just because it was her first time. Maybe it wouldn't seem like that big of a deal, Lily thought to herself, if it happened...again.