Knives & Waterlilies

3. Return

I had been twitching all night. It felt dreadful not having Lily with me again. And it was as if the whole school were watching me while I chewed my nails. You looked after me well, but I still had a great sense of loneliness.

You sat next to me at breakfast the next morning. I barely touched my food. Curtis didn't look too comfortable either. He ate but in very small amounts. Toby seemed distracted, he was too busy reading letters sent from worried people. Being the Agony Aunt of the school newspaper looked quite stressful for Toby.

Since he was so focused, he barely spoke a word to anyone, until he looked up from his notes. He beamed as he stared at the entrance to the canteen. He didn't even need to say anything, we just turned and saw Lily wonder into the room. Her eyes dart around the room as stares collected towards her.

Slowly, she shuffled over to our table in silence. The attention was soon off her, but you, Curtis, Toby and I still watched her.

When she was about 2 metres away from our table, I rushed to her and hugged her tightly. She didn't hug me back, but I didn't even notice that for another 5 minutes. I was just relieved she was here.

Curtis and Toby shuffled along the bench so that there was enough space between them for Lily to sit. They both put their arms round her.

"How are you feeling?" Toby asked desperately.

"I'm fine..."

Everyone bombarded Lily with questions. Toby had pretty much forgotten that he was writing notes. Only Curtis seemed to sit in silence.

"You know, I'm going to get some breakfast... You want any Lils?" he said as he picked up his plate.

"Nah I'm good thanks. Had some before I got here," Lily responded.

We continued interrogating Lily with questions, until Toby spoke. "Hey, why don't we just leave her a bit? Give her some space!"

Lily smiled at Toby in relief. Curtis returned seconds later. Suddenly, we heard the bell ring. We turned towards the stage at the end of the canteen where the head master was standing. Everyone obediently fell to quiet so they could listen to what he had to say.

It was all rather boring news about certain clubs. Some stuff was nothing to do with us, but what caught our attention was when he started talking about the end of term.

"For those who did not know this, we have a Christmas ball at the end of this term. You may come as couples and dress smartly. This is only warning. We will give you more information in a few weeks. Thank you and have a good day," he finishes his speech.

The crowd went back to talking and whispering. I turned to you instantly. "So Kevin, you wanna go?" I asked.

I remember you had your mouth slightly open, because you were just about to ask me. You nodded and smiled, your black hair flicking slightly. "Sure," you said. "How about you guys? You going at all?" You turned to the others.

Curtis sighed. "I'm thinking I'm gonna bunk off," he responded.

Lily instantly agreed. "Yeah, I'm not going either," Lily said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because it's obviously going to be really lame..." Curtis said, turning to the others awkwardly.

"It's not like we have anything better to do?" I suggested.

"Look, we're not going," Lily said firmly.

I sighed then finally turned to Toby. "Please say you are going," I begged. "I don't want to go on my own!"

You coughed loudly and I turned towards you. I put my arm round you and gave you a quick kiss on the cheek. "It will be fine to be with you," I said. "But I really want people from the gang to come with us."