Aspire

Chapter 5

   After our walker marathon, I decided to go and ride my bike to Lilly's house to see her. She had texted while I was watching TV and said she wasn't doing anything, as always, and that I could stop by whenever. I rode the two blocks to her house and rested my bike on the side of her yellow house. The sun shone brightly, making the house almost illuminate in front of me.

   I knocked on the door and Lilly's mother, Ms. Gaines, answered. "Hey, Crys. How are you?" I smiled and responded, "Fine, thanks. Is Lilly in her room?" She nodded and stepped out of the way. I walked down a hallway, hearing my Converse softly tap the dark hardwood. I opened the door a crack and softly said, "Lilly?" I could here her laugh softly and respond, "Yes, dummy, who else would it be?" I smiled and walked in sitting down on her bed where she sat reading a book with her legs crossed.

   "So, how've you been lately?" Lilly asked me, turning a page. "Pretty good, I guess." I grabbed her scrapbook she created of pictures of celebrities she always wanted to meeting of her bedside table. Jennifer Lawrence, Benedict Cumberbatch, basically all of the Avengers, loads of Youtubers and more. Lilly had plans of meeting them all one day, but since she got cancer it was less and less likely she could. I set the scrapbook back onto the table. Trying to hide my emotions I ask, "And how have you been doing, Lilly?"

   •

   After talking for a while, I said it was time to go and I told her I'd be back here tomorrow to pick her up at 11:00 sharp. We said our goodbyes and I rode my bike home, not thinking about the car I passed that looked similar to the one parked in our driveway when Dad made an unexpected appearance.

   "Hey, I'm back," I called when I entered my house. "In here," my mom responded from the kitchen. I could see her stirring something up in a bowl and could see she was combining ingredients for chicken salad. "Looks good, Mom." She smiled. "Thanks, bro." I laughed at her awkward response, even though we talk to each other like that all the time. I went to my room and decided to look on my laptop for more college ideas.

•

   After about an hour and a half of college browsing, I went to eat dinner. Mom had set out the lettuce I had gotten from the produce stand, bread, plates, and the bowl of chicken salad. I made my sandwich and sat down at the small table that sat next to the living room. Mom and Tyler were already sitting, taking their first few bites of a sandwich.

We chatted about Lilly and I told them I had plans to take Lilly to all of her favorite places the following day. "Sounds great, sweetie." My mom half smiled but I could tell her mind was some place else. "What's up, Mom?" I asked her.

    She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, making some of it pull over her shoulder. "Just thinking about your father and what he's up to. I just have a feeling he's still here, waiting to take you guys from me. Why is he like this?" She sighed again and hugged Tyler with one arm and reached out and held my hand from across the table with the other. "It's okay, Mom. We'll always stay. I don't trust him, either." Tyler nodded and we sat for a while, Dad on our minds.

   •

   I checked my phone. 10:27, read the big white numbers across the top of my lock screen. I gasped, grabbed my phone, a plain red shirt, jeans, socks and ran to the bathroom. "What's the rush?" My mom called as I passed her room down the hallway. "I'm gonna be late! Crap, how did I sleep through my alarm?" I cursed myself and closed the bathroom door.

   I started running the water and quickly undressed, jumping into the lukewarm water. It progressively heated up as I let the water pour over my face and then my hair. Since I was wearing jeans I saw no need to shave and quickly used a wet cloth to lather up and rinsed, then washed my hair.

   After getting out I quickly dried off and checked my phone-- 10:38. I turned on my typical playlist and rang out my hair with a towel. Literally seven minutes, Crys. Then you gotta go. I rushed to get dressed, jumping around on each leg to put on my socks lastly. I tried drying my hair with the blow dryer but it took too long, so I threw it up into a messy bun. I covered up a few pimples with concealer and then hastily applied mascara.

   I figured I could use Lilly's bathroom to put on eyeliner and lipstick when I got there, so I grabbed my eyeliner and a dark red lipstick and ran for the door. My Converse sat next to the coat rack and key cupboard near the door, and I slipped them on and tied up the white laces. I grabbed the keys, a brown leather jacket, and my wallet. Yelling goodbye to my mom I ran out the door and started my old car.

   I pulled into Lilly's driveway at 11:18 and ran to the door, knocking on the wood twice. Lilly opened the door and rolled her eyes as I apologized about being late. "You're late everywhere, Crys. It's not a surprise you didn't come at '11:00 sharp'." Lilly said. We both laughed and I told her I needed to use her bathroom, holding up the makeup I brought with me. She nodded and I entered the house and headed to the purple painted room and shut the door. I applied the rest of my makeup and we went out to the car to start venturing out into the town.

   "You look great, Lilly." I said as I drove to a shop she wanted to visit. She was wearing a green halter top, blue jeans, and black high-top Converse, just like mine. "Thanks! You look really great, too." I smiled at the compliment and parallel parked outside of a small shop that had loads of cool handmade jewelry, paintings, and home decor.

   "Crys, come check this out!" Lilly called to me from over at the shop's bulletin board. "Look at this poster." I glanced at the pink paper that read: "We are always looking for new art here. If you have art you would like us to sell, bring it over and we will pay you what it's worth." Lilly looked over at me to see my reaction. "Sounds like a pretty good way to kick off your art career, huh?" I smiled while still looking at the poster. "I guess so. But do you really think my art is good enough to sell yet?" Lilly rolled her eyes and gave me a light shove. "Of course it is. Your art is amazing." I laughed at that. "Okay, maybe I'll try selling here. It could be a pretty good start."

   Lilly and I set what we had bought in the back seat and drove to get lunch. I had bought some cool earrings and a ring holder, and Lilly had gotten a pretty necklace with a matching set of bracelets. We eventually got to the restaurant and I got us a booth. We both sat down across from each other and ordered our drinks. "So, any news from the doctors?" I questioned Lilly.

   "Nothing much. Obviously it's a big deal, and I'm starting chemo tomorrow." Lilly stroked her long brown hair and pouted, only to follow with a smile. "I'm gonna miss this hair." I laughed as our drinks arrived and thought, I'm gonna miss you, Lilly. We ordered our food and talked for a while, but I couldn't shake the thought that my best friend in the world didn't have much time left.

   •

   After a day full of hanging out with Lilly, I finally dropped her off at her house around 3:40 and drove away from the bright yellow house. I smiled and cried at the same time as I sped over the somewhat bumpy road, thinking about all the fond memories Lilly and I had together. I added today to those memories and soon I was pulling into my driveway. There was a car already parked in the gravel. I finally recognized whose it was. Dad had come to visit again.