DIE FOR YOU

27

T: ej was always loyal to gina but he never considered himself to be close to lily and vice versa. i'm guessing you knew a lot about the rivalry between gina and lily, right?

N: um, no, could you tell me what happened? from lily's perspective?

T:  i guess the best way i could word it is that lily was popular, and she was always seen as the main it girl in east high until gina porter arrived. gina was well, charismatic, enthsaistic and sometimes bossy and too competitive. gina saw lily as a threat and well, because she was dating ej, he thought she was a bad egg, which couldn't be further from the truth of course

N: wow, i didn't really know that-

T: me either to be honest but i knew lily was getting badly bullied by someone, she would often come home in bruises and scars which looked far too deep

N: unless... unless she was tortured by someone? or something?

T: you're catching on really quickly nini

N: so, tell me, when did you first spot her scars and bruises?

T: near to the end of her junior year. she was tying her hair up for cheer practice and i noticed her bruises and asked, "who did this?". at the time, she didn't say anything, just looked at me and screamed "get out!"

N: what happened next? so after all of this?

T: lily started losing weight and became obsessed with the way she looked in the mirror was concerning but during this time, she was noticed by, no other than your alibi richard bowen

N: he's not my alibi

T: he sure seems like it but anyways, ricky seemed to like lily for her looks, not for her personality and it always concerned me. as a sister, the last thing i wanted was for a boy to take advantage of her body so i confronted ricky and he...

N: he what?!

T: he laughed and acted like a jerk and from that moment on, i wanted to protect my sister inside and out so i started watching him like a hawk. i would watch them as they kissed, which was not a pleasant sight at all and i watch as he would make stupid excuses just to take drugs

N: what?! how did i not know about this?!

T: you can't trust him nini, i'm sorry but this next piece of information is going to make you feel sick

N: just tell me, i wanna get this over with

T: there were multiple party's that occurred every month and the night lily died was one of those parties that made everyone sit up and listen. ricky was hosting the party as he had the house all to himself and he invited his friends, kourtney, jet, big red, carlos and of course lily. he didn't consider me as a friend, despite us having multiple family gatherings with my mum and dad and his mom and dad. thomas, however, was the only person who actually liked me and treated me like a person. almost my entire life, i felt second place to lily so it felt good to have someone who truly understood. 

N: so what happened? how did the two of you meet? 

T: me and thomas?

N: yeah

T: he had a bad reputation and people were giving him a hard time and it felt almost impossible to not give him a second chance. why? because i desperately wanted to feel loved or maybe i was in love with the idea of love that i was too blinded to see that he was a bad person

N: ok, back to the party? did you arrive together or did you and lily go to the party together?

T: this is when things become bad nini so brace yourself. i didn't tell lily a lot of things about me, mainly because she didn't want to hear it. she was going through a toxic relationship with ricky and i knew that so i didn't tell her that i was going with thomas

N: how did she respond?

T: she knew all about his accusations about pushing someone down the stairs but i tried to argue my case. i told her that ricky was abusing her so she was one to talk and then, ricky arrived. he looked mad but was hiding it really well with a fake smile as i linked arms with thomas and made my way to the party.

T: the whole time i was there, lily didn't even once look at me but when people start drinking, people suggest stupid things. ashlyn, as you already know suggested seven minutes in heaven and basically, lily waited, occasionally looking at the door that her boyfriend and her enemy were in.

T: she got up and cried and ej followed as i tried to move past some drunk boys standing near the doorway and i watched as she hiccuped and yelped. i remember her saying "why? why did this have to happen?" and ej just stayed there, hugging her.

T: it was a while before gina and ricky came out and i hid behind a bush, watching from the distance as the two looked at their ex boyfriend/girlfriend

N: what happened then?

T: honestly, it was so muffled but i heard a slap and then ricky walked away

N: did he slap lily?

it was a few moments before she answered and in my head, i kinda was hoping it wasn't true. the ricky i knew wouldn't do that but as i have been told and should have learned...

you really can't anyone so why did i have to go ahead and trust him?

moments passed before she eventually answered but it felt like an eternity.

T: i honestly don't know, all i know is that as soon as i looked up, liy screamed and her head was covered in a black bag

N: so it couldn't have been ricky?

T: it might have been, he might have directed whoever took her that night

N: so what did you do?

T: well i tried to follow them of course, he was carrying her bridle style but she was clearly out of it. they got into the back of a mercedes car but lily was in the boot and the person driving looked old so i knew it couldn't have been ricky

T: i needed to ask someone, anyone for help so i went back inside and asked thomas. he was busy with his friends and he was drunk but at this point, my main priority was lily.

T: we got in whatever car we could see and followed not only the mercedes but weirdly, a blue car that was driving to where we are now

N: did you recognise anyone in the car?

T: i didn't but thomas could make out the girl in the car

N: who was it?

T: gina